Research results show that 'agriculture' and 'military (iron weapons & cavalry)' had a strong influence on the great evolution of human society.
Over the last 10,000 years, human society has evolved enormously and intricately. Various factors are considered as to what promoted evolution, but evolution anthropologist Peter Turchin and colleagues at the University of Connecticut at Stories are based on the theoretical framework of cultural cataclysm for quantitative verification. Developed a general dynamic model. Using this model and the database of the international scientific research project Seshat: Global History Databank, the combination of 'improvement of agricultural productivity' and 'invention and introduction of military technology (especially iron weapons and cavalry)' complicates society. I came to the conclusion that it has a strong causal relationship.
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Archaeologists agree that the improved agricultural productivity has made it possible to increase the settled population and divide the labor, and the society has become more complex, but the war is a society. It is said that the majority of archaeologists have a negative view on the allegations that promoted the complexity of the society. 'We don't want to think that war is horrifying and can have a positive impact,' Tarchin said.
In measuring 'complexity of society,' Turchin et al., 'The size of the territory of the society,' 'the complexity of the ruling class,' 'the existence of professional military personnel, priests, and bureaucrats, and the complexity of the code and court system, etc.' We have set three quantifiable indicators: 'How specialized is the government?' We asked Seshat, which gathers information about more than 400 societies around the world, to break down aspects of ancient life into various variables. For example, 'Was there a full-time bureaucrat in the Ayyubid dynasty that ruled South Yemen in the 12th century? (Answer: Yes)' and 'What was the population of the Wari Empire that existed around Peru today? (Answer: 10) 10,000 to 500,000 people) '.
The research team divides hundreds of societies into 30 groups by region. Then, social variables such as the degree of military evolution and the degree of agricultural development are classified into 17 buckets, and the data obtained from each bucket can predict the growth of the three indicators defined as the complexity of society. I have developed an algorithm to judge.
As a result, the factors that stood out in the complicated society were 'agriculture' and 'military (especially iron weapons and cavalry)'. Equipped with excellent iron weapons and organized cavalry, a society protects itself from rivals and has the power to overwhelm its opponents. This competition will create a bureaucratic government to build a hierarchical army for the more complex and complex battles of society, and to manage diverse resources and a growing population. That's why.
However, in sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific islands, the 'complexed societies' have prospered for thousands of years, but conquer the vast territories of Eurasia and North Africa. There are few giant empires to do. This is probably because the government was not classy or professional.
The Inca Empire was also an exception, with a huge population and complex governance without iron and horses, which is believed to have overwhelmed rivals by using llamas for transportation.
Robert Drennan, an archaeologist at the University of Pittsburgh, who was not involved in this study, said, 'I think it is a convincing study,' and said, 'How agriculture and the military have formed society.' Is a fairly limited consideration. '
In addition, William Taylor, an archaeologist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, who evaluates 'a study that emphasizes the importance of horses as a leader in social change,' also said that 'riding' was 'riding' in this study around 1000 BC. The exact age and location of what is presumed to have originated in the
Monique Bolgerhof Malder, a human behavior ecologist at the University of California, Davis, also described the study as 'an innovative macro-level quantitative approach to history.' 'It will take too long to be convinced of the impact between the development of agriculture and military technology and the development of social complexity. Military technology must be seen as a predictor far away. I don't. '
'In the end, even if war has affected the complexity of human society, it's not a pleasure. It's' competition ', not' violence 'that is essential to evolution,' he said. rice field.
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