Mediterranean Holocene climate, environment and human societies.

This paper introduces the reader to a special issue of articles that explores links and processes behind societal change, climate change and environmental change in a Holocene perspective in the Mediterranean region. All papers are, by purpose, co-authored by scientists representing different disciplines. The cross-cutting theme has been to reach beyond simple explanations of potential climate-society relationships and advance our understanding on how to improve research methods and theories in the field. The thirteen papers in this issue address these questions in three different ways, by i) conceptual/methodological approaches; ii) review papers; and iii) case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]