Evolution of complex ancient societies

thrash · 10-11-2013, 07:44 AM

Peter Turchin, Thomas E. Currie, Edward A. L. Turner, and Sergey Gavrilets. War, space, and the evolution of Old World complex societies. PNAS Early Edition, http://www.pnas.org/content/early/20...25110.full.pdf with supplemental information.

The authors have modeled the evolution of complex societies in the Old World from 1500 BCE to 1500 CE, based on the spread of horse-related military techniques due to warfare and competitive advantage. The model includes a tendency for complex societies to break down when not under selective pressure. They claim to account for 65% of the variation in the historical record with this model.

From a gaming perspective, this model could be implemented on other maps to provide a rich background for fantasy or alternate history settings. The current data could be mined for alternate history turning points: why did history diverge from the model at this point in time?

Turhan's Bey Company · 10-11-2013, 07:51 AM

Downloaded. I'll have to read this closely and see if I can use it to give some more shape to that random history generation article I did for Pyramid a while back.

10-11-2013, 07:44 AM	#1
thrash Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: traveller	Evolution of complex ancient societies Peter Turchin, Thomas E. Currie, Edward A. L. Turner, and Sergey Gavrilets. War, space, and the evolution of Old World complex societies. PNAS Early Edition, http://www.pnas.org/content/early/20...25110.full.pdf with supplemental information. The authors have modeled the evolution of complex societies in the Old World from 1500 BCE to 1500 CE, based on the spread of horse-related military techniques due to warfare and competitive advantage. The model includes a tendency for complex societies to break down when not under selective pressure. They claim to account for 65% of the variation in the historical record with this model. From a gaming perspective, this model could be implemented on other maps to provide a rich background for fantasy or alternate history settings. The current data could be mined for alternate history turning points: why did history diverge from the model at this point in time?

10-11-2013, 07:51 AM	#2
Turhan's Bey Company Aluminated Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: East of the moon, west of the stars, close to buses and shopping	Re: Evolution of complex ancient societies Downloaded. I'll have to read this closely and see if I can use it to give some more shape to that random history generation article I did for Pyramid a while back. __________________ I've been making pointlessly shiny things, and I've got some gaming-related stuff as well as 3d printing designs. Buy my Warehouse 23 stuff, dammit!