A video lecture by Raghu Murtugudde, University of Maryland, on the historic record of human activity from the start of the Holocene period, 11,000 years ago, to the Little Ice Age. This video lecture is part 2 of a 3-part lecture series titled ‘Climate Change on Historic Timescales’ of a MOOC. This MOOC is titled ‘Climate Change’ and has been developed by the National Resource Centre on Climate Change at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, India.

Students will learn about the impact of human activities on Earth’s climate throughout human history. They will also learn how ancient civilizations such as the Indus Valley civilization, the Vikings, Nile River civilizations, the Mayans and the European civilizations expanded during the Holocene optimum. They will further understand the decline of these civilizations during the last glacial maximum. In addition, students will also learn about the Little Ice Age, colonisation, war and disease.