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Climatic change since 850 BC and development of the Scythian culture. The climate shift to more humid conditions at the Subboreal/Subatlantic transition in Northwest Europe is also evident in southern Siberia. Regions that originally were semi-deserts developed into attractive steppe areas with high biomass production, and increased carrying capacity. The central area of southern Siberia is of special interest because of an acceleration of the cultural development and increase of human population density shortly after 850 BC. We hypothesise a causal relationship between the initiation of the humid conditions at the start of the Subatlantic period and the growth and migration of the Scythian population. To cite this article: B. van Geel et al., C R. Palevol 5(2006). (c) 2005 Academie des sciences. Publie par Elsevier SAS. Tous droits reserves.