Episode 13: The Bones at Star Carr

Created, narrated, and produced by Professor Dagomar Degroot of Georgetown University, The Climate Chronicles reveals how climate change shaped humanity’s past, and explores what history can tell us about the future of global warming. With clear, dramatic storytelling, each episode brings history to life through vivid storytelling and cutting-edge science. In the second episode of our third season, Into the Holocene, Professor Degroot focuses on the archaeological site of Star Carr, where - just over 11,000 years ago - a group of families settled beside a small lake in what is now northern England. He takes listeners through the history of the archaeological and scientific research that has gradually revealed the extraordinary resilience of that little community in the face of the abrupt climate changes of the early Holocene. He reflects on what it might have been like to live in that community, then considers whether the resilience of people so unlike us, who lived so many years ago, can be cause for hope in a rapidly warming world.

Season three of The Climate Chronicles takes listeners on an immersive journey through the remarkable changes in climate and human culture that shaped the early history of the Holocene, the geological epoch in which humans became the dominant species on our planet. It zooms in on small communities and follows continental trends across thousands of years, all while unpacking the creative detective work that distinguishes the sciences of the past.

For an episode trailer and a transcript complete with citations, as well as maps, graphs, infographics, and other images, visit TheClimateChronicles.com.