An Empirical Perspective on Little Ice Age Climatic Change on the Great Plains

Discussions of climatic conditions on the Great Plains during the Protohistoric and Historic periods often focus on the concept of a “Little Ice Age, “a period of time during which precipitation in the region is argued to have been significantly greater and temperatures significantly lower than during the twentieth century. This paper reviews the available data on the Little Ice Age climate of the Great Plains, emphasizing historical records and dendroclimatic studies. These data provide only partial support for the accepted reconstruction of Little Ice Age climatic conditions, and particularly do not support an inference of increased precipitation throughout the entire period of interest. Greater year to year variability in climatic conditions, however, does seem to have characterized the Little Ice Age on the Plains, and this pattern has important implications for analyses of human/environment interactions during this time.