Expedition to the ancestors. Prisoners of river valleys. Where did they come from

Stone sickle of the Negada culture I, IV millennium BC. e. Museum stories and art, Geneva

"Hello, Hapi,
Coming out of this land.
Coming to feed Egypt.
Creating barley.
Growing spelled...
When he rises, the earth rejoices,
All people are happy
Everyone's backs are shaking with laughter,
All teeth tear food..."
Hymn to the Nile.
N. Petrovsky, A. Belov.
Big Hapi Country
(M., Detgiz, 1955) P.103

Migrants and migrations. Judging by the number of responses, VO readers approved the cycle “Expedition to the Ancestors.” Although, it is clear that their opinions were divided. Some people like him, some don't. Only there are not enough arguments for those who find many flaws in it, but it would be quite possible to write a detailed material in response with links to my data, so that I, as the author, could compare my sources with the sources of my opponents. But... what is not there is not there.

But the remark that the text is presented in an overly generalized form, that, for example, it would be possible to write not one, but two articles about the domestication of plants and animals, is quite fair. But here everything is tied to the supply of material in a certain volume. That is, you can write in “broad strokes”, not particularly paying attention to the “little things” (but then a lot will be missed), or you can talk about the “little things”, but then the article can become so drawn out that “you won’t be able to see the forest for the trees.”

And today we will just try to get away from excessive generalization of this topic and touch on its individual details in more detail. Again, associated with the migrations of our distant ancestors, who once settled not “somewhere out there,” but in places well known to us all, namely: in the river valleys of such great rivers as the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates. And also in the river valleys of India and China, in other words, in areas where the most ancient civilizations of representatives of the human race were formed.

Well, we’ll start with Egypt, because this region is still the most famous for each of us, not to mention the fact that many Russians have been there and continue to go there to relax and admire the ruins of the ancient Egyptian civilization. But where did it come from?

Map of the river valleys of North Africa, Western Asia and Western India, where the first civilizations arose

The climate is everything!

Let's start with the natural-geographical features of this territory, because they are very important for us. And this is what has already been proven: in Egypt in the early Neolithic the climate was more humid, but also cooler than now. The vast areas around the Nile Valley were also not the bleak desert they have become today. Where today only sun-scorched sands are visible, over which sultry winds blow, grass and even shrubs grew. These places were favorable for wild donkeys, antelopes, gazelles and giraffes, which fed on predators such as lions and leopards.

Map of Ancient Egypt. Flood areas during Nile floods

In the gorges - wadis, now waterless, cutting through the elevated banks of the Nile, water flowed (at least this was the case in the spring) and tall trees grew. The Nile was also wider and deeper. The dense coastal thickets and forests were home to many different birds and animals, and the waters of the river abounded in fish.

It is not at all surprising that these places constantly attracted tribes of hunters who left their stone products along its banks. But at the same time, none of them settled here for a long time, it was too swampy and damp. It’s not very pleasant to live in a swamp, when the steppes lie all around, full of all kinds of living creatures that hunters could easily hunt with a bow and arrow in their hands.

So people began to settle in the Nile Valley only when they had already fully mastered the Neolithic technology of stone processing, learned ceramics and began to move on to breeding domestic animals and cultivated plants. The beginning can be attributed to the XNUMXth millennium BC. e. In any case, it has been proven that already at the end of the XNUMXth and even more so in the XNUMXth millennium, ancient farmers already lived on the banks of the Nile.

But the question is, where did they come from?

What was east of the Nile Delta?

It is known that 18–10 thousand years BC. e. in the eastern Mediterranean there was the so-called Kebar (Kebaran) culture. It was named after the location of the finds in the Kebar Cave, south of the city of Haifa. The people of this culture were nomadic hunters and gatherers. They hunted mainly gazelles, of which they left a lot of bones. According to the time of its existence, it was attributed to the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic. It is also considered the direct ancestor of the Natufian culture.

Could they have reached at least the Nile Delta during their migrations? They probably could, but they haven’t been able to prove it yet.

But there is such a find in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem: a stone mortar and pestle from the Kebaran culture, 22–000 years ago. Height: 18 cm; diameter: 000–29 cm. Weight 25 kg. That is, the ancient Kebarians already crushed cereal seeds? Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel

The next culture that existed in the Levant was the Natufian archaeological culture of the era, again, of the Mesolithic. Age approximately 12–500 BC. e. It developed on the basis of the earlier Kebar culture, and some other local cultures.

The Natufians not only hunted, but also collected grain from wild cereals, as evidenced by the found reaping knives and granaries. Some researchers even believe that it was the Natufians who made the transition from gathering to cultivating cereals, and were the first farmers of the planet.

Beads. Representatives of the Badari culture liked to hang themselves with such beads, ca. 4400–3800 BC e. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

This, it turns out, is where the first domestic dog was buried!

And they, together with representatives of the neighboring Zarzian culture, were the first to domesticate dogs. This is evidenced by their burials approximately 10 years ago. BC e., in which they found the skeletons of both puppies and adult dogs, which were buried along with people.

Stone mortars were also found in the Rakefet cave on the southeastern side of Mount Carmel in Israel, and an analysis of what was left there showed that the Natufians were already producing beer from wheat and barley about 13 thousand years ago! They didn’t know bread yet and didn’t know how to bake it, but they drank beer! True, it was very thick and looked more like... “drunk porridge” than a foamy drink.

It was possible to conduct a genetic analysis of the remains of six Natufians from the territory of Israel, and several hunter-gatherers from the territory of Iran. And it turned out that both of them were, so to speak, Eurasians to the core, and had practically no admixture of Neanderthal genes!

Then, on the territory of the Sinai Peninsula and the Negev Desert, the Kharif or Kharifian archaeological culture was discovered. It is dated to the period around 8800–8200. BC e. In time – the end of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. The place of residence is very close to the Nile Delta.

Did the Kharifians really not look there? Or they stopped by, but didn’t stay...

And in Egypt itself at that time it was like this...

People of the Thasian culture lived there - the oldest among all other archaeological cultures of the predynastic period, which spread throughout Upper Egypt and existed around 4500 BC. e. The burials were found between the cities of Asyut and Akhmim, and they seemed to be very easy to recognize, because very characteristic “ceramics with a black top” were placed in the grave with the deceased. Why it was decorated in this way and not in some other way cannot be said. One thing is clear: the Thasians liked this kind of ceramics.

And... not only they liked it. Because very similar black and red pots are also found at a later time in the burials of another culture - the Badari, a culture of the developed Neolithic, 4500-3250 BC. e. It was very widespread along the Nile. About six hundred graves of Badaris from 40 settlements are known.

Map of the distribution of Badari culture in Egypt

Black and red vessel of the Badari culture. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

They started studying it a long time ago. And, in particular, even scientists from the USSR times at the Institute of the History of Natural Science and Technology suggested that the Badaris were migrants from Asia. That it was they who brought the beginnings of copper metallurgy, that is, researchers then put forward the hypothesis that the ancient Egyptian culture anthropologically originated from the Asian continent.

Pot for cooking food. Badari culture. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

But more recently, namely in 2023, it was reported that anthropological finds from burials in ancient Egypt in the XNUMXth millennium BC. e. in the area of ​​El Badari and Naqada do not show demographic dependence on the Levant. That is, if the Badaris came from somewhere to the banks of the Nile, then it was the South, that is, Africa, and not the East.

And they were the first farmers there!

Figurine of a Badari woman. Hippopotamus bone carving, ca. 4000 BC uh, British Museum

Another Badari female figurine. Louvre

The first farmers in the Nile Valley

The ancient Badaris chose a place for settlements away from the Nile, since it was very humid in the lowlands, and during the Nile floods they were undoubtedly flooded.

The Badaris were a skilled people: they had beautiful polished axes made of various stones, knew bows and arrows, and could make pottery. In their burials they found not only excellent flint arrowheads of a typically Neolithic shape, but also weapon, like a wooden boomerang, also decorated with an ornament in the form of pits.

By the way, this is the oldest example of this throwing weapon in the world, which it is not clear how our ancestors came up with.

Bone figurine. Negada I – Negada II, 3900–3500 BC. e. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

However, here they found chaff in one of the pots, and grain husks in another. Among the Badarians' inventory, they also found flint serrated blades, which most likely served them as blades for sickles. They also made vessels from stone (!), ivory (!), and even... from very hard basalt.

Arrowhead, 3900–3500 BC. e. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Badari culture was replaced by the Amrat culture or the Negad I culture, and there were three of these Negad cultures (another name for Nakada). It received its name from the place of discovery - the city of El-Amra in Central Egypt.

What's left of her?

Quite a lot, and most importantly, all the artifacts are very interesting. First of all, this is polished red ceramics with white painting, found in burials. The first copper objects also appeared, that is, the people of the Amrat culture already knew copper.

Bowl decorated with a characteristic white ornament. El-Amra. Martin von Wagner Museum, Wurzburg, Germany

Again, based on the finds, we can say that they were engaged in hoe farming, cattle breeding and hunting, both on the banks of the Nile and on the hills surrounding it.

The Amrat culture was replaced by the Gerzean culture, which in turn is divided into three periods, but at the same time is... the culture of Negad II.

Following the Gerzean culture was the pre-dynastic Semanian culture or Negada III (3600–3300 BC), but since from that time another history began, in fact, the history of Ancient Egypt itself, the events of this time will be told as some other time...

This beautiful stone vessel is on display at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. It was made during the Negad period in Egyptian history

To be continued ...

Comments

[Kote Pan Kokhanka]

Thank you!
Vyacheslav Olegovich never revealed the reasons for the settlement of the Nile Delta, but even advanced “land users” were faced with land depletion. This means that all the inconveniences from the climate turned out to be less significant in comparison with constant migration due to the impoverishment of the land.
Good morning everyone!

[Korsar4]

Good morning Vladislav!

The question is - how quickly does this exhaustion occur?

If in our area we came to slash-and-burn agriculture. And the soil fertility was restored after a long time. What happened near the great rivers? It was enough to throw it too.

But I don’t even know whether there is any periodization in the everyday “life of one tribe.”

[Richard]

what was around the great rivers? It was enough to throw it too

In this case, there was a risk of being left without fertile soils. It’s not for nothing that all the Cossack troops of the Republic of Ingushetia, located along the great rivers, established a tax for their residents to strengthen the banks - if you have money - pay, if you don’t have money - work physically: drive piles, weave willow fences, carry stones, etc. And no one complained - everyone treated this with understanding, as a necessity. And the Cossacks always traditionally fertilized the soil with river silt.

[Richard]

do physical work: drive piles, weave willow fences, carry stones, etc.

And I forgot the most important thing - of course, forest plantations along the coastline

[Korsar4]

I’m also trying to imagine - the Nile, of course, is great. But not the ocean. And everything has a limit.

And how the nature of land use has changed over the millennia.

It’s impossible to imagine it in detail.

[kalibr]

Dear Vladislav, about the Nile and impoverishment this will only be the beginning...

[Revolver]

Quote: Kote pane Kohanka

“land users” faced land depletion.

This is why the Nile was good in comparison with, say, the same Kazakh virgin soil, which was heroically raised by Dear Comrade Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev under, of course, the wise leadership of Comrade (or also Dear?) Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, the then Secretary General.
The Nile will overflow, deposit silt, here comes fertilizer, free, natural, certified organic. Just now, there will be enough for a couple of harvests in a year, and in a year the Nile will fertilize again. And so without fail, from generation to generation.
And in the virgin lands, several record harvests were harvested, and that’s all. Well, the truth is that the wind also “helped”, it blew away the fertile layer, no longer connected by the roots of the steppe grasses. And from then on, either apply too much fertilizer or forget about the harvest. Yes, and with fertilizers up to those initial record levels, like before China in the knee-elbow situation.

[paul3390]

The Nile will overflow, deposit silt, here comes fertilizer, free, natural

But it’s not so simple... As soon as the water goes away, in the climate there your fertilizer will instantly dry up into an asphalt crust... And nothing will grow without water - because it’s not close to the river without a spill, you can’t drag it with a bucket. .. Normal agriculture is possible there only after creating a system of canals in which water is retained and then distributed to the fields when necessary. And only so. And this, whatever one may say, presupposes the presence of both not frail knowledge in this area, and the presence of some kind of central authority that can provide such work over a fairly large territory.. Actually, maintaining the canal system was the main sacred function of the pharaoh ..

By the way, in Sumer, the conditions of Lower Mesopotamia were similar.

[tlauicol]

You have already forgotten the beginning of the article, talking about the “climate of that time.” Read it again

[paul3390]

It is you who do not want to read anything other than brochures. In the Nile Valley there was more or less decent precipitation only at the end of the Ice Age. By the time any agriculture appeared there, rains had already become quite rare. So - the climate of that time, of course, was not as harsh as the current one, but the silt in the sun instantly turned into a crust even then.

To understand this, just look stupidly at the remains of the first buildings. By the way - not only the first ones. Almost all of them are built from raw brick, simply sun-dried clay. Which, with even minimal precipitation, would turn sour again within a season. But they - however, have survived to this day. What conclusions can we draw from this?

[tlauicol]

The Priory Castle in the Leningrad Region is made of clay. In England, clay houses last for 500 years. What conclusions can we draw from this? That's right, it doesn't rain in England

[paul3390]

Okay to write something...

Priory - the only one preserved in Russia an architectural structure built mainly using earthmoving technology: layers of compressed loam spilled with lime mortar. The palace walls, fences, and palace buildings were built using this technology. The retaining wall is made of the famous Pudost stone, with which many Gatchina buildings were laid out. The palace tower is built of Paritsa stone.

Can you see the difference between it and a brick made from stupidly sun-dried silt? Or not again? Besides, how old is he? What about Egyptian buildings? And pay attention - it is the only one preserved. In just 300 years. Because he was carefully looked after. But the rest are not. Alas for you...

Yes - there are still remains of earthen structures, say, in China. But there the technology is different again! Dense, careful layer-by-layer compaction of earth, with retaining walls. And by the way, here they are - somehow not very well preserved. The Pyramid of the Sun is also rammed earth with mortar and stone cladding. And we are talking about a banal hut made of shit and sticks! Which for some reason managed to survive in a supposedly humid climate..

[tlauicol]

Well then, the cards are in your hands! Stupidly show us huts made of shit and sticks from pre-dynastic times. Trivially preserved

[paul3390]

You know, I’m too lazy to scour the Internet to satisfy your curiosity. You have exactly the same search capabilities as I do.

But the first thing that came to mind, even later, was the tomb of Hora-Akha in Abydos...

And also, for example, a grave in the sand of the early Badari period..

Do you think that all this could have survived in a damp climate?

[tlauicol]

Read it again - there is not a word in the article about the damp climate.
As far as I understand, you didn’t find any houses made of g and sticks. Especially during the pre-dynastic period

[Foma Kinyaev]

So adobe houses were built back in the 20th century. In some places they still stand, and this is okay in the climate of the Caucasian foothills with high humidity. So yes, you are both wrong. Clay buildings are quite durable and can be used in a humid climate.

[Arkadich]

Vyacheslav Olegovich never revealed the reasons for the settlement of the Nile Delta,

It seems to me that this was the reason for the relocation of farmers closer to the river delta, because there is the strongest annual river flood, which compensates for the depletion of the land.

[paul3390]

relocation of farmers closer to the river delta

Yes - but for some reason the first farmers known to us did not appear in river deltas, but in Anatolia and Syria, where water supply is somehow not very common... As well as with overflowing rivers. The same Çatalhöyük...

And if you believe Vavilov, all the centers of distribution of cultivated plants are also for some reason not in the most convenient places for farming.. Which are considered to be the valleys of large rivers.

Again, the Mekong Delta is hell on earth.. And living in the Yellow River Valley in its original form is generally a lottery, with its tendency to constantly change its course.. Accompanied by epic floods..

[tlauicol]

Jericho stood on the banks of the thin Jordan. But he built a wall and a dam to prevent the overflow of this river. It's a desert there now

[3x3zsave]

Jericho stood on the banks of the thin Jordan.
Modern Jordan, the place of Christ's baptism.

On the opposite bank is the Jordanian border post.

[Korsar4]

And Ephrat, who saw the wave in 2007, is modest. True, it is difficult to judge a river based on one area.

[paul3390]

And who told you that the wall there is precisely a protection against a spill?? Alas, this is just one version, driven simply out of desperation. From the inability to clearly explain why the hell such powerful defensive structures were needed in the pre-ceramic Neolithic..

[tlauicol]

Quote: paul3390

And who told you that the wall there is precisely a protection against a spill?? Alas, this is just one version, driven simply out of desperation. From the inability to clearly explain why the hell such powerful defensive structures were needed in the pre-ceramic Neolithic..

If a version answers a question, it is already, at a minimum, a hypothesis, and at a maximum, an answer.
And if the version, instead of answering the question, asks the following question: “this is a defensive wall, Why is it in the Neolithic?” , then this is not a version, but crap and a conspiracy theory

[paul3390]

Doesn't answer. Because the labor costs for such powerful structures are in no way offset by flood protection. Moreover, such a stream as the Jordan. No - of course it could have been fuller, but it’s hardly more substantial than some small river in our region. This is not the Nile or the Volga. It’s easier to fill up the shore if you really have to live here. But certainly not walls with towers...

[tlauicol]

Well, here we go again, “walls with towers”. I think I already answered you how many centuries passed before the walls with towers from this wall

[paul3390]

I don’t know what you answered there - but this structure, like the wall nearby, dates back to about 8000 BC. e. Pre-ceramic Neolithic. And this is from floods??? A stream that can be surpassed? Yes, a tenth of the material and effort would be enough to stupidly raise the bank, if it’s really stuck...

[tlauicol]

Quote: paul3390

Yes, a tenth of the material and effort would be enough to stupidly raise the bank, if it’s really stuck...

[]

It wouldn't be enough. The year before last, 7 people died from floods

[paul3390]

faced land depletion

It is argued that the Natufians flourished in the endless fields of wild wheat that covered the steppes of modern Syria... And they flourished for at least a thousand years, until climate change destroyed those fields. It’s curious - how come those wild cereals don’t deplete the earth?

[Arkadich]

It’s curious - how come those wild cereals don’t deplete the earth? what

I will answer as an amateur summer resident. Monocultures growing in one place for a long time and human activity deplete the land. This does not happen in nature; the laws of substitution come into play.

Yes - but for some reason the first farmers known to us did not appear in river deltas, but in Anatolia and Syria, where water supply was somehow not very common.

Arguing with Vavilov over modesty I won’t, but I will express my opinion
1. Changes occur where they are needed (fire was “tamed” in the north, and not in Africa, agriculture arose on the border of zones where hunting no longer provided complete certainty of food, and it was necessary to engage in gathering, but at the same time it also could not naturally satisfy human needs.

[Arkadich]

2. In the deltas, due to flooding, it was not possible to live a settled life, and farming implies exactly this.

[paul3390]

agriculture arose on the border of zones where hunting no longer provided complete certainty of food

Hmm... Usually the soil is suitable for agriculture - and without humans it is overgrown with various cereals... And if so, gigantic herds of ungulates are sure to hang out on them. So, there shouldn’t seem to be any problems with the food?

[tlauicol]

Quote: paul3390

agriculture arose on the border of zones where hunting no longer provided complete certainty of food

Hmm... Usually the soil is suitable for agriculture - and without humans it is overgrown with various cereals... And if so, gigantic herds of ungulates are sure to hang out on them. So, there shouldn’t seem to be any problems with the food?

For hundreds of people in so many units of area there are no problems. And for a thousand? Wheat will provide more calories per unit area and stores well. This means that the human population can grow

[paul3390]

Not again. Let's look at the experience of North American Indians. Tribes that practiced agriculture - well, somehow they are not more numerous than the tribes of naked hunter-gatherers. I would say that they are even thinner, let’s compare the numbers of, say, the Pawnee and Sioux. So, it wasn’t that digging in the ground really helped them... However, they themselves honestly said that they were doing this kind of crap not because it was more profitable, but only because the gods told them to do so. But the closest neighbors were not told to do so; they didn’t give a damn about it. Despite the supposed benefits of growing food...

[tlauicol]

That is, you have already counted both populations and divided them by area?
And the Pawnees hunted more and picked their noses more often than the ground.
And how could they justify their benefits? Mathematical calculation? That's all sorts of divine bullshit they explained

[Fat]

Quote: paul3390

It’s not like digging in the ground really helped them...

Greetings, Pavel. In the northeastern United States around Lakes Erie and Ontario in the 5th–45th centuries. lived the Iroquois. The question of their origin has not yet been finally resolved. For a long time they were considered relatively recent newcomers from the south of North America, but now there is an increasingly widespread belief that the Iroquois culture developed for a long time in the northeastern United States. But supporters of both points of view agree that some features of the Iroquois culture, and in particular, agricultural skills, appeared among the Iroquois as a result of borrowing. By the discovery of America, the cultivation of crops was already the main occupation of the Iroquois. Their farming was slash-and-burn, a type of farming that was widespread in the forested areas of America. The most important agricultural crop of the Iroquois was corn. Next in importance were beans and pumpkin. In addition, the Iroquois also cultivated tobacco, sunflower, pear, and squash. The Iroquois cultivated up to II varieties of corn (soft, hard, sugar varieties). According to travelers, the stalks of some varieties of corn reached XNUMX m in height, and their cobs were XNUMX cm in length. The Iroquois corn fields covered thousands of hectares and, according to one early traveler, it was easier to get lost in them than in the forest. The main agricultural tool of the Iroquois was a digging stick, which was used to make depressions in the soil where seeds were thrown.
The agriculture of the Iroquois was similar to that of their neighbors, the southern Algonquins, as well as the Indians of the southeastern United States: Creeks, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Powhatans, etc.
Agriculture was much more developed among the so-called Pueblo and Pima Indians in the southwestern United States. This is an area with an arid climate, and without artificial irrigation the development of agriculture here is impossible. The Indians dug irrigation ditches and lined them with stone slabs, built dams to retain water, and stored rainwater in special reservoirs. By tradition, the economy of these Indians was closely connected with the high agricultural cultures of Mexico.
You are always "pulling the blanket" to the mid-west of North America.

[Senior seaman]

Quote: Thick

The most important agricultural crop of the Iroquois was corn. Next in importance were beans and pumpkin.

I happened to read that these breeds are equivalent in the local conditions.
The corn shoots up, the beans climb up its trunk, and the squash leaves below block the light and choke out the weeds. It turns out to be a kind of triune symbiosis that gives maximum yield at minimum costs.

[Fat]

Greetings, Ivan. And so it was. It would also be worth noting that Iroquois women, unlike men, had the right to property. What was planted by the “lady” on communal land is her property. One more moment. digging sticks were enough because the seeds of the “sisters” were planted pre-germinated in the same furrow. Minimum costs, when a settlement was 200 souls away from the plantings by 1 km, the change of sites occurred once in 1 years. (they were changed several times as they became exhausted; a noticeable part of the prepared areas rested). In larger settlements, “rotation of personal lands” took place for 10 years.... The economy of the confederation was ruled by women - property owners, providing more than 50 thirds of the community's reserves.

[Kote Pan Kokhanka]

You are always "pulling the blanket" to the mid-west of North America.

Borisych thank you for your detailed comment!!!

[Fat]

Oksti, Vladislav How many years have we been playing “Indians”, ahem? Information is accumulating.
PS I still think whether V.O. concern “technical” crops. Sunflower, cotton, flax and others. This is no longer just the “wandering” of tribes around the valleys and villages, but the beginning of the formation of “technologies of settled life”

[Sergey Sfiedu]

Let's look at the experience of North American Indians.

I am by no means an expert on Indians, but I have read that not everything is as simple as you are trying to imagine here.

[Arkadich]

Hmm... Usually the soil is suitable for agriculture - and without humans it is overgrown with various cereals... And if so, gigantic herds of ungulates are sure to hang out on them. So, there shouldn’t seem to be any problems with the food?

It is not a fact that it is overgrown with cereals and edibles.
As you correctly noted, they are just hanging around. Those. they can hang around the parking lot, or they can wander further away, and my sixth sense tells me that that’s exactly what they did, away from the predatory bipeds.
By the way, there were no refrigerators then, which means that when hunting it was necessary to kill, if possible, more than was necessary for food.

[paul3390]

In general, animals usually wander around the steppe with a purpose. Nomadic routes are stable, just like those of people. Because far from sources of water - they can’t get away. This is where you can make a long stopover.

[Arkadich]

Nomadic routes are stable, just like those of people. Because far from sources of water - they can’t get away. This is where you can make a long stopover.

They don't go in circles around one source. In Mongolia, they sometimes return to the same pasture after several months. Accordingly, there is no thought about farming in the countryside.

[tlauicol]

Well, if cereals grow there without irrigation, then what's the problem? The first people do not need any states, no irrigation, irrigation, pharaohs.
And after a thousand years, knowledge and the state and the population allowed people to dig canals and live closer to the river. Where is the riddle?

[paul3390]

If everything is growing like this - why the hell then do people then have channels and pharaohs?

[tlauicol]

Quote: paul3390

If everything is growing like this - why the hell then do people then have channels and pharaohs?

The population is increasing. Well people love this thing

[Sergey Sfiedu]

(fire was “tamed” in the north, not in Africa

Is there any evidence? In fact, it is generally accepted that in Africa, the most ancient hearths have been found in sites. But at many Neanderthal sites no foci were found.

[Arkadich]

Is there any evidence? In fact, it is generally accepted that in Africa, the most ancient hearths have been found in sites. But at many Neanderthal sites no foci were found

Thank you for your comment. I specifically clarified this question for myself. Indeed, some of the most ancient and long-burning fires have been discovered in northern Africa and the Middle East.
But what difference does this make? Only the geography of fire origin is a little further south. Those. the theory that man invented something out of necessity. Regarding fire in areas where it was needed periodically, in areas closer to the equator it was not vitally necessary and was used occasionally.

[Fat]

Quote: Arkadich

in areas closer to the equator it was not vital

Is it about fire? Fire, or rather smoke, is necessary for “preserving” production, in the absence of other storage methods. Maybe there were some, the continent is rich in fossil salt...
Did you use fire occasionally? Unlikely in a humid tropical climate. Rather, they saved what they had once obtained.

[Arkadich]

Is it about fire? Fire, or rather smoke, is necessary for “preserving” production, in the absence of other storage methods. Maybe there were some, the continent is rich in fossil salt...
Did you use fire occasionally? Unlikely in a humid tropical climate. Rather, they saved what they had once obtained.

I don't deny your arguments. We can only speculate.
In hot areas, I don’t think there was any point in bothering too much with fire-smoking; I cut down the meat and increased the shelf life. Therefore, I think they used fire from time to time, it’s good, but not critical. Due to the fact that they led a nomadic lifestyle, carrying fire is always associated with its loss. And since they were nomadic, it is difficult to detect traces of fires, unlike sedentary people who maintained a fire in one place for possibly a very long time. I read in France that a layer of ash in a cave indicates that the fire had been burning for hundreds of years.

[Foma Kinyaev]

Fire was used for heat treatment of food in order to reduce energy costs for its digestion - hence the reduction of the digestive apparatus and brain growth.

[Eugene Zaboy]

Quote: paul3390

faced land depletion

It is argued that the Natufians flourished in the endless fields of wild wheat that covered the steppes of modern Syria... And they flourished for at least a thousand years, until climate change destroyed those fields. It’s curious - how come those wild cereals don’t deplete the earth?

Logical. The following point is especially important:

Quote: paul3390

And they flourished - for at least a thousand years, until climate change destroyed those fields.

The conclusion suggests itself that before the Ice Age, the climate in the indicated area was the same as after the Ice Age. Consequently, the spreading fields of wild cereals were destroyed by the sun long before the Ice Age began. Accordingly, where did the iconic ones come from if the climatic conditions for their cultivation are unfavorable?

[Sergey Sfiedu]

Consequently, the spreading fields of wild cereals were destroyed by the sun long before the Ice Age began.

Hence nothing. Wild wheat and barley are still found there. Naturally not in the desert. Usually they write - in the foothills.

[Luminman]

Next to the Gerzean culture was the Predynastic Semanian culture or Negada III (3600–3300 BC)

Probably, from this period it already begins alternative history...

[Arkadich]

It was possible to conduct a genetic analysis of the remains of six Natufians from the territory of Israel, and several hunter-gatherers from the territory of Iran. And it turned out that both of them were, so to speak, Eurasians to the core, and had practically no admixture of Neanderthal genes!

Doesn't the lack of Neanderthal genes indicate that they were African?
Recent studies have shown that only the peoples of Africa are the only ones who lack Neanderthal genes.

[Richard]

Recent studies have shown that only the peoples of Africa are the only ones who lack Neanderthal genes.

The most recent research suggests something completely different. A new genome comparison method has identified Neanderthal DNA in Africans. American researchers from Princeton University have found that Africans have significantly more Neanderthal genes than previously thought. New computational methods helped discover them. The study results will be published in the journal Cell in 2022.

PS. This became possible after the Neanderthal genome was read in 2009 and scientists from Princeton University, led by Joshua Akey, developed a new method for digital processing of genetic information that allows one to search the genome for evidence of Neanderthal ancestors.

[Arkadich]

The most recent research suggests something completely different. A new genome comparison method has identified Neanderthal DNA in Africans.

Thanks, I didn't know. But after reading it, I still remained unconvinced. After all, the detected genes account for tenths of a percent, while other races have 1-3 percent.
Scientists give a version about the return of some people back to Africa.

[paul3390]

only the peoples of Africa are the only ones who lack Neanderthal genes

Not all the peoples of Africa, but mostly the Khoisan, who apparently are the aborigines, who never left those lands at all. The rest of the blacks are the descendants of secondary migrations back to the African continent..

[Eugene Zaboy]

Quote: Arkadich

Doesn't the lack of Neanderthal genes indicate that they were African?
Recent studies have shown that only the peoples of Africa are the only ones who lack Neanderthal genes.

Is this really true if:

Accordingly, African individuals have approximately 33% as much detected sequence compared to non-African individuals.

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(20)30059-3?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0092867420300593%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

[Frettaskyrandi]

It is known that 18–10 thousand years BC. e. in the eastern Mediterranean there was the so-called Kebar (Kebaran) culture.

It is completely incomprehensible why the author decided to “measure” the prehistory of the emergence of a productive economy on the territory of Egypt from the Levant and the Kebar culture? Why is the Upper Nile Valley and the Qubbani culture, for example, worse in this regard? Or from Kadanskaya? Or other cultures - Halfa, Safakh, Taram?

[kalibr]

Quote from Frettaskyrandi

Qubbani culture

It would be possible, of course, but they are very ancient. And we have already come close to Chatal Huyuk and agriculture in Palestine. So starting over again... What's the point?

[Frettaskyrandi]

It would be possible, of course, but they are very ancient

Kubbanian culture - 22,5-19,6 thousand years BC, Kebar culture - 23,9-13,8 thousand years BC.
That is, cultures existed in parallel, but in different regions - the first in Upper Egypt, the second in Palestine.
What I mean is that the XNUMXth or even the XNUMXth millennium BC. Egypt was a transit region - a borderland between Asia and Africa, in which there was a constant movement of different ethnic groups, so considering archaeological cultures before the Neolithic era in terms of the origins of the Egyptians hardly makes sense. In modern language, during the X-V millennium BC. e. The Nile Valley was far from the most advanced country of the Stone Age.

[kalibr]

Quote from Frettaskyrandi

In modern language, during the X-V millennium BC. e. The Nile Valley was far from the most advanced country of the Stone Age.

Yes, and I seem to have written about this, although it’s just so clear - no.

[Frettaskyrandi]

Yes, and I seem to have written about this, although it’s just so clear - no.

From the very beginning of the series, you and I have been talking about primary sources, but you do not indicate this point in your publications. Meanwhile, this would allow us to evaluate the “level” of the article and expand the basis of the discussion.

[kalibr]

Quote from Frettaskyrandi

You do not indicate this point in your publications. Meanwhile, this would allow us to evaluate the “level” of the article and expand the basis of the discussion.

Here it was necessary to do this from the very beginning or not to do it at all. It didn’t work out at first, but now let’s start? However, why not? There are two Oxford atlases. One recently came out on AST in the same series as my book “The Brilliant Middle Ages..” This is one source, the other is 20 years older than it - Atlas Reader's Digest with a very respectable team of authors. It's old, yes, but it has great cards. Book by Roy Burrell 2009 All the wars of antiquity. It's quite childish, but it also has good cards. Well, sources from Wiki. Where there are links to relevant articles. So I read all this, look at the YEARS, look at the MAPS, their mutual correspondence and... this is how the text is born. Which is written in your own words. I don’t take something from one source... Moreover, I take it from some... ha ha just a couple of general phrases. So I don't see much point in citing sources. The most modern in Vik. Maps from different years... You can quite competently comment on these materials yourself. This makes it even more interesting... Look at Pavel, what questions he asks...
But as a conclusion, I will say this, it is pointless to try to say everything, and it is stupid to simply list the same cultures. We have to somehow get through the middle. By the way, this is exactly the kind of work publishers now demand from educational books.

[Kojote21]

Gentlemen, good morning!
Egypt, no doubt, is a very interesting topic, but what about Ancient China?
PS Vyacheslav Olegovich, thank you very much for the article!

[paul3390]

about Ancient China?

And it's not very interesting there. The tales of the Chinese themselves about their incredible antiquity are not confirmed by anything... What they consider to be the remnants of the Xia dynasty, the Erlitou culture - compared to all other contemporaries, actually looks extremely wretched and poor... Something decent appears in those parts only already in the Shang era, by that time the same Sumerians had already disappeared. And even then, there are strong suspicions that the Shan owes its cultural rise to the influence of Indo-European tribes from the west..

[kalibr]

Quote: paul3390

What they consider to be the remnants of the Xia Dynasty, Erlitou culture

Here was my big article about Erlitou culture. You can find it using a search engine...

[paul3390]

Yes, I sometimes read scientific ones - that’s where I get the fuel about the wretchedness of Erlitou..

[kalibr]

Quote: paul3390

Yes, I sometimes read scientific ones - that’s where I get the fuel about the wretchedness of Erlitou..

I like your comments, dear Pavel, precisely because you read them. They are often perplexed. And this is always interesting...

[paul3390]

Thank you.. Well - and you write articles on issues that, as it seemed to me, few people are interested in... But no - and this makes you refresh your memory and adds to the desire to read what's new...

[kalibr]

Quote: paul3390

But no - and this makes you refresh your memory and adds to the desire to learn what’s new.

That’s the calculation, dear Pavel. You develop your intelligence. By the way, you help me develop yours and others... I carefully read all the comments, several times. And I’m writing something out.

[kalibr]

Quote from Kojote21

about Ancient China

There will be more about that ...

[faterdom]

Various tribes settled and made pots, both from the south and from the north.
The holy place will not be empty. As in Mesopotamia or in the Indus and Ganges valleys.
But then the Aryan tribes R1A came to the valleys of Hindustan and southern Transcaucasia, with the wheel, horse riding, early metallurgy and other technologies, becoming the dominant classes in the area.
But the R1 B branch went to the southwest, becoming the basis of many future European nations, I think with approximately the same technologies as the Aryans, and here are the studied DNA of mummies and bones of the pharaohs and nobility of the Old Kingdom - R1B.
That is, those who lived there before the arrival of the R1 groups were conquered by technological aliens, and the state construction known to us began everywhere. Which they brought with them from somewhere in the northeast and north.
Another troublesome source is the proto-Semitic tribes, who lived comfortably in the comfortable “bowl” of the future Cisalpine Gaul in the foothills of the Alps, but then they were driven out from there by certain circumstances, maybe the Albian Celts, the future Gauls, and the Semites settled in the eastern Mediterranean, bringing a lot of interesting things, including navigation, money/trade and the alphabet.

[kalibr]

Quote: faterdom

money/trade and the alphabet.

In general, in ancient times all people did was “wander” back and forth. I named the cycle correctly!

[cpls22]

Very characteristic “black-topped pottery” was placed in the grave. Why it was decorated in this way and not in some other way cannot be said. One thing is clear: the Thasians liked this kind of ceramics.
And... not only they liked it. Because very similar black and red pots are also found at a later time in burials of another culture

Perhaps it’s not a matter of beauty, because then the border of colors would be neater.
As a version, the upper part of the pots was made of clay of a different composition for the sake of strength, because the upper part is subject to heavy loads, the edges break off more easily. M.b. Before firing, the difference between the clays is not so noticeable, and therefore the border is not so clear and neat.

[kalibr]

Quote from cpls22

from clay of a different composition for strength

If only we knew this for sure, it would be a discovery! And you know, you gave me the idea to write to them there at the Metropolitan and ask... What if it works out?

[Fat]

Hello Vyacheslav Olegovich. I hope you succeed. I have thoughts about the “black” part of the vessel. This may be due to the firing technology. The dark parts of the vessel are what can have a noticeable “burn”... Maybe different types of clay, or maybe the specifics of firing.
With respect.

[kalibr]

Good evening, dear Andrey Borisovich! When I write a letter, I’ll post it in the comments to one of the materials, and what will they say there and will they answer? The Dresden Armory did not answer the question and neither did the Wallace Collection... Now this is more difficult than before.

[Fat]

One can refer to general ceramic technology and determine when temperatures of 900 - 1100 became available. This is possible...even if native copper is the priority.
PS As a technologist, I completely deny the purity of native copper. All alloys found in products are eutectic. Therefore, what the ancients did with nuggets is a real technological revolution.

[AllBiBek]

And again outdated information from Wikipedia...
The dog was already domesticated in the Kebar culture, as evidenced by their necklaces with dog teeth, and there are obvious traces of domestication on them. And it, like the Natufian, is an Epipaleolithic, and this is a geological concept, Pleistocene - Paleolithic, Holocene - Mesolithic and further, this is geologically traced. And the use of “BC” is unacceptable for the Paleolithic. The Natufians are not Mesolithic, they are Epipaleolithic in its purest form. And - they were never farmers, the first farmers - in those places - were the Khiamians, not even the Tahunians, who replaced the Natufians. The Natufians did not have any tools for cultivating the land, even the simplest ones.
I also don’t understand how the Natufians became the ancestors of the Nile farmers.
The Natufians were confined to a limited area because of the climatic maximum of the late Pleistocene. They are separated from the Tahunis, geologically; material-wise, they have complete continuity.

[kalibr]

Natufian culture is an archaeological culture of the Epipaleolithic (Mesolithic). Existed in the Levant around 12-500 BC. BC [9500], presumably developed on the basis of a hybrid of the local, but earlier Kebar culture, and the Mushabian culture. Among the main activities of the Natufians were hunting, fishing and collecting grain from wild cereals, for which they made special harvesting knives and built granaries. The Natufians were the predecessors of the first agricultural cultures of the region; some researchers believe that the Natufians themselves were the first in the world to make the transition from gathering to the cultivation of cereals. They, along with the neighboring Zarzian culture, were among the first people to domesticate dogs: in their burials dating back to approximately 1 BC. BC, skeletons of puppies and adult dogs were discovered buried next to a person[10]. Material from Wiki. When did this become outdated? There are links to articles from 2020... I looked at what was written there...

[kalibr]

But that's not all. Last time I wrote you this. There was no answer. Perhaps you will give it now?
kalibr (Vyacheslav)
2
9 October 2023 11: 06
+1
Quote: AllBiBek
you are extremely sensitive to criticism.
Not at all, Andrey! But I am interested in substantive criticism, with links to sources. By the way, back in 2020, I asked you to write an article about children’s history camps and various... interesting things. Then you referred to Covid. Like, because of him you can’t go and see. Now we are not talking about going somewhere. You apparently have some sources that I don’t have. Write your material and it will be the best criticism. By the way, “outdated journalism for... (why American, I don’t understand?) schoolchildren” has not been canceled. There are opinions that some consider more correct, but others do not. Do you like Sigurd? Great! Steven Shanam is all I need. So try to overcome your fear of a blank sheet of paper and write... THREE YEARS have been waiting for the promised one, and now they have just passed!

[kalibr]

Quote: AllBiBek

I also don’t understand how the Natufians became the ancestors of the Nile farmers.

Where in the article does it say that they are the ancestors of the farmers of the Nile? What a strange manner of reading into the material something that never happened there in the first place.

[3x3zsave]

The dog was already domesticated in the Kebar culture, as evidenced by their necklaces with dog teeth, and there are obvious traces of domestication on them.
I'm terribly sorry, Anatoly, but a necklace made of grizzly teeth is also their domestication?

[ycuce234-san]

The ancient Badaris chose a place for settlements away from the Nile, since it was very humid in the lowlands, and during the Nile floods they were undoubtedly flooded.

Even then there could have been stilt settlements and floating dwellings on the Nile, since the large river was a serious source of food and a transport route.
https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/zhilische-na-vode-v-zarubezhnyh-stranah-vostoka-i-zapada-retrospektivnyy-analiz

[Foma Kinyaev]

Quote: paul3390

Normal agriculture is possible there only after creating a system of canals in which water is retained and then distributed among the fields when needed.

An absolutely correct statement - the need for complex irrigation and reclamation structures (the fight against swamping of territories was very relevant in the floodplains of rivers) was what actually produced class society and the state. But Shpakovsky, of course, does not know this...

[kalibr]

Quote: Foma Kinyaev

Quote: paul3390

Normal agriculture is possible there only after creating a system of canals in which water is retained and then distributed among the fields when needed.

An absolutely correct statement - the need for complex irrigation and reclamation structures (the fight against swamping of territories was very relevant in the floodplains of rivers) was what actually produced class society and the state. But Shpakovsky, of course, does not know this...

Thomas! There is no need to try to show yourself as an expert where you are not one. You also need to carefully read the materials that are offered to you. And only then write your stupid comments. Because if you read them carefully, you would notice that we have not yet reached any state. While we still have a tribal system, when there was no smell of any state yet. When we reach the state, then...

[Foma Kinyaev]

Quote: faterdom

That is, those who lived there before the arrival of the R1 groups were conquered by technological aliens, and the state construction known to us began everywhere.

Why fantasize so enchantingly - the bronze culture managed quite well without the Aryans, including in Hindustan.

[Foma Kinyaev]

Quote: faterdom

But then the tribes of the Aryans R1A came to the valleys of Hindustan and southern Transcaucasia, with the wheel, horse riding, early metallurgy

It is necessary to write to the river valleys of Hindustan - something is wrong.

[Foma Kinyaev]

Quote: kalibr

I like your comments, dear Pavel, precisely because you read them. They are often perplexed. And this is always interesting...

This is because you read the same pseudoscientific rubbish... brothers, so to speak, are in error...

[kalibr]

Quote: Foma Kinyaev

you are reading the same pseudoscientific rubbish.

So you read scientific literature? Well, then enlighten us orphans and wretches. Write everything in science. This will be wonderful: the reader’s response will not just be stupid comments, but a completely mature, well-founded article. We are waiting...

[Foma Kinyaev]

Quote: paul3390

The rest of the blacks are the descendants of secondary migrations back to the African continent..

Save and preserve...in general, Western Europe was settled through Gibraltar, in many ways...

[Eugene Zaboy]

Quote: Foma Kinyaev

Save and preserve...in general, Western Europe was settled through Gibraltar, in many ways...

It is obvious that Western Europe (Spain, France and England) was populated by a specific haplogroup R1B, through Gibraltar. One thing is unclear. Where did it happen? The structure of the language is close to Arabic, but the expressed concept of this haplogroup is only in Western Europe.

[kalibr]

Quote: Foma Kinyaev

settled via Gibraltar

Your level of “scientific” is clear.

[Foma Kinyaev]

Quote: Richard

American researchers from Princeton University have found that Africans have significantly more Neanderthal genes than previously thought.

All this is an anti-scientific heresy, the so-called American scientists. North Africa and Gibraltar were the route of migration to Europe, including Neanderthals, as well as their hybrid forms with other species of people. It actually was like that much later, for example in modern times, and now such is the case. Future archaeologists will definitely discover that Europeans of the 21st century have many genes from Africans... this will also be a discovery... by the way...

[kalibr]

But why, Foma, your rating has dropped so much, huh? Rating: -2. Only 348 comments, but minus 145 points? This is an indicator, by the way. Think about whether everything is as good with you as you think.

[Foma Kinyaev]

Quote: Senior Sailor

The corn shoots up, the beans climb up its trunk, and the squash leaves below block the light and choke out the weeds. It turns out to be a kind of triune symbiosis that gives maximum yield at minimum costs.

This agronomic technique is still used in Kuban. Corn has very deep roots and beans need support, and pumpkins love shade - the abundant foliage in the open sun in the heat quickly degrades. So the reason for planting pumpkins in rows of corn is different.

[Eugene Zaboy]

Prisoners of river valleys. Where did they come from?

The article, while touching on interesting topics, avoids one important point. In many southern regions, during the Ice Age, certain centers of the first cultures appeared, large enough for archaeologists to discover. Moreover, the link specifically to the dating of the Ice Age allows us to draw certain conclusions. It cannot be said that newcomers from the North staged a cultural revolution, but it can be assumed that they acted as a catalyst for this process. In addition, right now We are witnessing another, apparently repeating cycle.

The world's most diverse forest, the Amazon, may also contain more than 10 records of pre-Columbian earthworks (built before the arrival of Europeans), according to a new study. A new study combines cutting-edge remote sensing technology with archaeological data and advanced statistical modeling to estimate how many earthworks may still be hidden beneath the Amazon rainforest canopy and where these structures are most likely to be found.

What's unusual about this? Approximately the same thing is observed in Hindustan and equatorial Africa. What conclusions arise if we compare all these abandoned cities and settlements forgotten by people? Apparently, people created developed crops in tropical zones, destroying forests for agricultural land. After which nature turned on a protective mechanism in the form of drought for hundreds of years. People died or migrated to the North. Those who got there and adapted went through a bottleneck. Those who remained in place and survived returned to the primitive state and forgot everything, starting from the beginning. It is unknown how many times this cycle was repeated. After hundreds of years, the forests were restored and everything started all over again.

Today, humanity is completing another cycle of destruction of tropical forests. We are waiting for nature's response.

Using distribution models and comparing the abundance of large-scale archaeological sites across the area, scientists estimate that between 10 and 000 sites remain undiscovered across the 24 million square miles of Amazon.

[kalibr]

Quote from Eugene Zaboy

It cannot be said that newcomers from the North staged a cultural revolution, but it can be assumed that they acted as a catalyst for this process.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[kalibr]

Quote: Foma Kinyaev

And here, for the most part, office plankton floats - stupid and useless creatures, which, as they say, even waste from the caliber come in.

What kind of categorical judgments do you have, however?

[kalibr]

Quote: Foma Kinyaev

This is an indicator of the intellectual level of the downvoters, and nothing more. Socrates was also downvoted, for example.

That is, they are all bad, are you the only one who is smart and reasonable? So, you know, it doesn’t happen. This is an indicator, yes, of when people twist their finger at their temple.

[Eugene Zaboy]

Quote: Foma Kinyaev

What monstrous nonsense. However, why be surprised. What kind of priest is this and the coming.

The Amazon is recognized as one of the oldest centers of agriculture
Artem Efimov

Manioc

Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen, 1887

Archaeologists have found that more than 10 thousand years ago, the inhabitants of the Llanos de Mojos plain in the Amazon grew some crops (pumpkin, cassava, corn) and possibly grew artificial forests. The article was published in the journal Nature.

Llanos de Mojos is a vast plain in northern Bolivia, covered with savannas and abundant with rivers. It has preserved many traces of development in ancient times, including man-made hills, canals and dams. Small (usually less than a hectare) islands of forest are scattered across the plain, many of which, as scientists have long assumed, are of artificial origin.

Many important crops originate from this region, including cassava, squash, peach palm and canavalia, as well as chili peppers. This suggested that the southwestern Amazon was as ancient a farming hotbed (where many plants were first domesticated) as the Middle East (wheat), China (rice), southwestern Mexico (corn), and Central America (potatoes). ).

A team of scientists led by Umberto Lombardo from the University of Bern used satellite imagery to map 6643 forest islands on the Llanos de Mojos and conducted archaeological research on 82 of them. In 64 cases, they found traces of fertilizer, charcoal and burnt soil - evidence that the soil on which the forests grew had been artificially cultivated. By extrapolation, the researchers concluded that at least 4700 forest islands on the Llanos de Mojos are of artificial origin.

Scientists radiocarbon dated finds from 31 excavations and found that people cultivated the soil from 10850 to 2300 years ago.

Among the dated fossils were a cassava specimen that was about 10350 years old, a squash specimen that was about 10250 years old, and a corn specimen that was about 6850 years old. These datings have led scientists to argue that ancient Amazonians domesticated squash at the same time as people from other regions of South and Central America, and were also working to domesticate corn and cassava crops. As for the latter, there is archaeological evidence of its cultivation in Peru 8500 years ago, in Panama 7600 years ago and in Colombia 7000 years ago.

The question of how exactly the forests appeared on Llanos de Mojos remains not fully clarified. According to one version, they grew by themselves after people left the cultivated and fertilized soil. According to another, people planted forests purposefully in order to protect the soil from weathering and to be able, once they left the cultivated area, to return to it after some time, burn the forest and resume growing crops.

In 2019, the international research project ArchaeoGLOBE released data that already three thousand years ago, agriculture became a special factor influencing the formation of landscapes around the world.

Artem Efimov

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2162-7