Two volcanoes trigger crises of the late antiquity

Contemporary chronicles, archaeological studies and physical evidence all point to severe climatic changes and ensuing social crises in the middle of the 6th century. New data from ice cores suggest that these events were caused by two major volcanic eruptions. An international team led by scientists at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and the Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics at the University of Oslo have reconstructed the effects using state-of-the-art climate models.