The year 536 has a grim reputation. A volcanic dust veil is said to have cooled the Northern Hemisphere for eighteen months and, with plague and war, ended Late Antiquity. Futura, writing in French, reports on a study in the journal Klio that questions this. Ice core layers date the veil only to 533 or 534, give or take two years. And the dramatic story was built on scattered local finds.

The researchers instead used large archaeological databases from Israel, Tunisia, Cyprus, Turkey, Egypt, Greece and Jordan, plus shipwreck records as a measure of trade. They found prosperity continuing through the sixth century; the decline came later, for military and political reasons. A clear case of a catchy story that runs ahead of the evidence.

Source: Futura Sciences (French) (2026-11-03)
https://www.futura-sciences.com/sciences/actualites/histoire-on-surnomme-pire-annee-histoire-humanite-selon-chercheurs-tout-naurait-pourtant-pas-ete-si-sombre-k2m6-139025/

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