Climate Change along the Silk Road and Its Influence on Scythian Cultural Expansion and Rise of the Mongol Empire

Climate change and cultural exchange both influenced development along the continental Silk Road during late Holocene, but climate its influence on nomadic civilizations that time has yet to be systematically assessed. In this study, we analyzed records of covering key periods in based multiproxies from various archives including lake sediments, shorelines/beach ridges, peatlands, ice cores, tree rings, aeolian moraines, historical documents. Combined with archaeological data, assessed expansion representative pastoral nomadism. Our results show most notable changes Central Asia were characterized by decreasing temperature, expanding glaciers, increasing precipitation, humidity transitions Sub-Boreal Sub-Atlantic Period (ca. 9–8th century BC) Medieval Warm Little Ice Age 13–14th AD). The two coincided Scythian Cultural across steppe landscape rise Mongol Empire, respectively. These temporal coincidences are interpreted as causally related, where temperature fall glacial advance may have forced nomadism southward migration. Coeval wetness migration beneficial for these expansions, which spanned Eurasian arid semi-arid zone westward. Therefore, period when productivity was underdeveloped, although expansions closely related internal social structures, possibly critical controlling factor sustainability collapse.