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Research connected to the social impacts of climate change often focuses on past societies. In the present study I consider seven case studies concerning the Medieval Warm Period and addressing the question how societies devised adequate adaptation techniques in historical times. In two from these cases there was not sufficient evidence available to underline any connection between climate change and social behaviour, however in the other five and well-documented situations it was clear that for a successful adaptation the state of the society was more important than the features of climate change. Summing up the related literature the paper concludes that a stable and a well-organized society could tolerate extreme weather conditions even in the long run: fast adaptation to environmental stress (resilience), collective memory and knowledge about the local environment and optimal level of resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]