This session investigates how abrupt Holocene climate events—such as the 8.2 ka cooling, 4.2 ka aridification, and the Little Ice Age—disrupted human-environment systems and influenced the rise, transformation, or collapse of civilizations. We welcome interdisciplinary contributions that integrate high-resolution palaeoenvironmental proxies, archaeological evidence, and climate-society modelling to reconstruct past climate dynamics and human responses. Of particular interest are case studies from climatically sensitive and culturally rich regions, which reveal how environmental stress was either a tipping point for societal breakdown or a catalyst for resilience and innovation. This session aims to foster dialogue across the earth sciences and archaeology to better understand the long-term interplay between climatic instability and societal trajectories.