Tag Archives: indigenous

The Crucial Role of Taxed Grain in the Formation of Indigenous Nations

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Grain cultivation can produce excess food that can be stored and taxed.

Luis Montaña/Marta Montagna/Science Photo Library

The practice of grain cultivation likely spurred the formation of early states that functioned like protection rackets, as well as the need for written records to document taxation.

There is considerable discussion on how large, organized societies first came into being. Some researchers argue that agriculture laid the groundwork for civilization, while others suggest it emerged from necessity as hunter-gatherer lifestyles became impractical. However, many believe that enhanced agricultural practices led to surpluses that could be stored and taxed, making state formation possible.

“Through the use of fertilization and irrigation, early agricultural societies were able to greatly increase productivity, which in turn facilitated nation building,” says Kit Opie from the University of Bristol, UK.

However, the timelines for these developments do not align precisely. Evidence of agriculture first appeared about 9,000 years ago, with the practice independently invented at least 11 times across four continents. Yet, large-scale societies didn’t arise until approximately 4,000 years later, initially in Mesopotamia and subsequently in Egypt, China, and Mesoamerica.

To explore further, Opie and Quentin Atkinson of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, employed a statistical method inspired by phylogenetics to map the evolution of languages and cultures.

They combined linguistic data with anthropological databases from numerous preindustrial societies to investigate the likely sequence of events, such as the rise of the state, taxation, writing, intensive agriculture, and grain cultivation.

Their findings indicated a connection between intensive agriculture and the emergence of states, though the causality was complex. “It appears that the state may have driven this escalation, rather than the other way around,” Opie notes.

Previous studies on Austronesian societies have also suggested that political complexity likely propelled intensive farming instead of being simply a byproduct of it.

Additionally, they observed that states were significantly less likely to emerge in societies where grains like wheat, barley, rice, and corn were not cultivated extensively; in contrast, states were much more likely to develop in grain-dominant societies.

The results suggested a frequent linkage between grain production and taxation, with taxation being uncommon in grain-deficient societies.

This is largely because grain is easily taxed; it is cultivated in set fields, matures at predictable times, and can be stored for extended periods, simplifying assessment. “Root crops like cassava and potatoes were typically not taxed,” he added. “The premise is that states offer protection to these areas in exchange for taxes.”

Moreover, Opie and Atkinson discovered that societies without taxation rarely developed writing, while those with taxation were far more likely to adopt it. Opie hypothesizes that writing may have been developed to record taxes, following which social elites could establish institutions and laws to sustain a hierarchical society.

The results further indicated that once established, states tended to cease the production of non-cereal crops. “Our evidence strongly suggests that states actively removed root crops, tubers, and fruit trees to maximize land for grain cultivation, as these crops were unsuitable for taxation,” Opie asserted. “People were thus coerced into cultivating specific crops, which had detrimental effects then and continues to impact us today.”

The shift to grain farming correlated with Neolithic population growth but also contributed to population declines, negatively affecting general health, stature, and dental health.

“Using phylogenetic methods to study cultural evolution is groundbreaking, but it may oversimplify the richness of human history,” notes Laura Dietrich from the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Vienna. Archaeological records indicate that early intensified agriculture spurred sustained state formation in Southwest Asia, yet the phenomena diverged significantly in Europe, which is a question of great interest for her.

David Wengrow points out, “From an archaeological perspective, it has been evident for years that no single ‘driving force’ was responsible for the earlier formation of states in different global regions.” For instance, he states that in Egypt, the initial development of bureaucracy appeared to be more closely related to the organization of royal events than to the need for regular taxation.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Evidence of Indigenous Canines in Jamestown Colony during the 17th Century Unearthed through Ancient DNA Analysis

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Multiple studies have demonstrated that European colonization of the Americas caused the extinction of most mitochondrial lineages of North American dogs between 1492 and present, and that they were replaced by European lineages. Historical records indicate that colonists imported dogs from Europe to North America, and that they became objects of interest and exchange as early as the 17th century. However, it is unclear whether the oldest archaeological dogs found from the colonial period were of European, Native American, or mixed ancestry. To determine the ancestry of dogs from the Jamestown Colony in Virginia, scientists sequenced ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from six archaeological dogs dating from 1609 to 1617.

Lithograph “Indian Dog with Rabbit” by John Woodhouse Audubon.

Europeans and Native Americans treasured dogs as pets, used them for similar tasks, and as symbols of identity.

As a result, the dogs reflected the tensions between European and Native American cultures: settlers described Native American dogs as mongrels to emphasize their perception that Native Americans would not breed or own dogs.

Indigenous peoples perceived European dogs as a direct threat to their existence and took steps to restrict their use.

“Previous research had suggested that there were many indigenous dog species in the continental United States, but that they had gone extinct,” said Ariane Thomas, an anthropologist at the University of Iowa.

“We wanted to understand what it meant: when did it happen, were the dogs culled, were they in competition with European dogs or were they sick?”

Dr. Thomas and his colleagues focused on the Jamestown Colony in Virginia because of the number of dog remains found at the site and evidence of Native American influence.

They were able to identify and analyze 181 bones representing at least 16 different dogs.

Of these, the researchers selected 22 sites that span multiple points in Jamestown's early settlement, from 1607 to 1619.

To better understand the ancestry of these dogs, they extracted and sequenced ancient mtDNA.

Based on body size estimates alone, the researchers found that most of the Jamestown dogs weighed between 10 and 18 kg (22 and 39 pounds), comparable to modern beagles and schnauzers.

Additionally, many of the dog bones bore signs of human damage, including burn marks and cuts.

“Cut marks and other signs of butchery found on the dogs indicate that some of these dogs were eaten,” Dr Thomas said.

“This suggests that when settlers arrived, they did not have enough food and had to rely on the native dogs of the area.”

“Furthermore, DNA sequencing demonstrated that at least six of the dogs showed evidence of Native American ancestry.”

“Our findings indicate that there were indigenous dogs in the region and that they did not quickly become extinct when Europeans arrived.”

“While it is not surprising that dogs could be identified with Native American ancestry, our results suggest that settlers and Native American tribes may have been exchanging dogs and had little concern about potential interbreeding.”

of Survey results Published in the journal American Antiquity.

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Ariane E. Thomas othersTsenacomoco Dogs: Ancient DNA reveals presence of local dogs in Jamestown Colony in the early 17th century. American AntiquityPublished online May 22, 2024, doi: 10.1017/aaq.2024.25

Source: www.sci.news

Indigenous Australians’ management of land through fire spans 11,000 years.

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Aboriginal people use fire to manage the landscape

Penny Tweedy/Getty Images

Analysis of sediment cores taken from ancient lakes shows that Australia's indigenous peoples have been using fire to manage their environment for at least 11,000 years.

michael bird Researchers at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia, say their findings suggest that returning to indigenous regimes of more frequent but smaller fires could reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. This suggests that environmental management could be improved.

It has long been known that Australia's first people, who are thought to have lived on the continent for 65,000 years, carefully managed the landscape, using fire to make it easier to move around and hunt prey. . They also realized that this benefits some of the plants and animals they like and reduces the risk of more dangerous fires.

But how long this has been going on is difficult to establish, Bird said. That's because most waterways dry up completely during the annual dry season, destroying carbon in the sediment.

Girraween Lagoon, near Darwin in the Northern Territory, is a huge sinkhole that covers an area of ​​about 1 hectare and has remained permanently wet for at least 150,000 years. As the climate changed over the millennia, so did the vegetation around the sinkhole. “Girraween Lagoon has 150,000 years worth of sediment that has never dried out,” says Bird.

Bird and his colleagues were able to study three important indicators by analyzing sediment cores from the lagoon floor. It is a measure of the accumulation of fine charcoal particles, the proportion of burnt material in charred vegetation material, and the amount of different types of charcoal. Carbon that remains after combustion.

The first two indicators allow researchers to estimate the intensity of the fire, and the third indicates whether the fire was cold enough to leave traces of grass.

Before the arrival of humans, natural fires in the savanna of northern Australia were ignited by lightning strikes at the end of the dry season, when the vegetation and landscape were almost completely dry. This type of more intense fire burns biomass more completely, especially fine fuels such as grass and trash, leaving less grass uncharted.

Indigenous fires, on the other hand, burn more frequently, but with much lower heat, and their impact is confined to smaller areas and to the ground layer, promoting a mosaic of vegetation and helping to protect biodiversity.

Byrd said recent layers of the core show more frequent fires and clear evidence of grass that hasn't completely burned, indicating the fires are cooler. . This type of fire is very different from traditional natural fire patterns and is evidence of indigenous fire management, he says.

Researchers collect sediment cores in Girraween Lagoon, Northern Territory, Australia

michael bird

This signal can be seen in sediments that are at least 11,000 years old, but the study found that metrics for the proportion of grass and tree debris before that point have become difficult to study. Bird said there are signs of human fire starting 40,000 years ago, but the evidence is less clear.

“This means that savannahs have been growing alongside humans for at least 11,000 years,” he says. “Biodiversity has grown with that fire policy. When you remove this kind of burnout, you start to see serious problems with biodiversity.”

david bowman Researchers from Australia's University of Tasmania say the paper highlights the twin importance of climate and humans in shaping fire regimes.

“Decoupling climate from anthropogenic and, importantly, indigenous fire management is a very important topic,” he says. “As we fight to combat climate-induced wildfires around the world, a long-term perspective like this will be an invaluable addition to current research and development in sustainable fire management. .”

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Source: www.newscientist.com