# The decisive stress was short runs of extreme dry years, not the long trend.

> Most likely: The decisive stress was short runs of extreme dry years, not the long trend.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/bronze-age-collapse/answers/ANS0D4651FA4A11/the-decisive-stress-was-short-runs-of-extreme-dry-years-not  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

---

[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Late Bronze Age collapse](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/bronze-age-collapse)[How severe and how widespread was the climate change around 1200 BC?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/bronze-age-collapse/questions/QST0D464NRA16TQ/how-severe-and-how-widespread-was-the-climate-change-around)Answer

Answer · Late Bronze Age collapse

# The decisive stress was short runs of extreme dry years, not the long trend.

The decisive stress was short runs of extreme dry years, not the long trend.

**Most likely** Answers **1** questionPublished0

## Where it stands

**Most likely** Its tests partly supported it: one piece of evidence for, one against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- Annually resolved records show rare multi-year droughts at the critical moments.

## What would rule it out

- No exceptional multi-year drought in annually resolved records near the destructions.

## Evidence 1 for · 1 against

[Dry years occur regularly in the Gordion record; the run at 1198–1196 BC stands out.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/bronze-age-collapse/evidence/EVD0D4651Q459MY/dry-years-occur-regularly-in-the-gordion-record-the-run-at)

Supported

FOR

[A re-reading counts fifteen significant droughts over a century.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/bronze-age-collapse/evidence/EVD0D4651YY1F7M/a-re-reading-counts-fifteen-significant-droughts-over-a)

Suggestive

AGAINST

## The questions it answers

[How severe and how widespread was the climate change around 1200 BC?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/bronze-age-collapse/questions/QST0D464NRA16TQ/how-severe-and-how-widespread-was-the-climate-change-around)

Part of [What was the principal cause of the end of the Late Bronze Age palace system in the eastern Mediterranean?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/bronze-age-collapse/questions/QST0D464MS26SDY/what-was-the-principal-cause-of-the-end-of-the-late-bronze)

Most likelyA regional shift to drier, cooler conditions lasting about three centuries

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). The decisive stress was short runs of extreme dry years, not the long trend. [Answer ANS0D4651FA4A11]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0D4651FA4A11
```

Key

**ANS** 0D4651FA4A11

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Origin

Published

Version

1

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

Every record is open data. Take this one as JSON, with its links and its history.

[JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/api/v1/records/ANS0D4651FA4A11)
