Scientists have finally solved the mystery of the death of the Tibetan Empire

The Tibetan Empire was the highest mountain empire in the world, located at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters above sea level. Its heyday occurred in 618-877 AD. However, after that it began to fade away, and then disappeared completely. For a long time, scientists could not understand what exactly led to the death of the state.

To finally unravel the mystery of the collapse of ancient civilization, scientists from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research turned to geological data from lake sediments. As a result, they came to the conclusion that the extinction was due to changing natural conditions. Their study Quaternary Science Reviews published this story.

Warm and humid weather trends were strong during the heyday of the Tibetan Empire. This contributed to the development of agriculture and cattle breeding. But over time, apparently, a severe drought occurred, which coincided with the collapse of the state, the authors of the work note.

The researchers were prompted to this idea by the remains of microscopic unicellular algae discovered in one of the lakes in Tibet. They noticed clear signs of a transition from planktonic species (drifting inside the lake, closer to the surface) to benthic forms (living close to the bottom of the reservoir). This means that its level was once much higher. That is, over time the lake partially dried up.

In the course of analyzing other reservoirs in the region, the authors of the work came to the conclusion that climate change affected the entire highland, and was not limited only to the study area.

The drought probably lasted for 60-70 years. This would have caused crop failure, and the lack of food in those times often led to social unrest, as well as religious and political problems, the researchers concluded.