Humanities

Frequent disturbances enhanced the resilience of past human populations

P. Riris, F. Silva, et al.

This study reveals how prehistoric populations developed resilience over 30,000 years of human history. The research shows that disturbances can enhance a population's capacity to recover from downturns, influenced by their land-use patterns. Conducted by a diverse team of authors, this work uncovers valuable insights into the trade-offs of adopting new agricultural strategies.

00:00

Playback language: English

Index

Abstract

This study synthesized resilience across a broad sample of prehistoric population time-frequency data, spanning 30,000 years of human history. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of population decline show that frequent disturbances enhance a population’s capacity to resist and recover from later downturns. Land-use patterns are important mediators: farming and herding societies are more vulnerable but also more resilient overall. The results reveal important trade-offs when adopting new land-use strategies.

Publisher

Nature

Published On

May 23, 2024

Authors

Philip Riris, Fabio Silva, Enrico Crema, Alessio Palmisano, Erick Robinson, Peter E. Siegel, Jennifer C. French, Erlend Kirkeng Jørgensen, Shira Yoshi Maezumi, Steinar Solheim, Jennifer Bates, Benjamin Davies, Yongje Oh, Xiaolin Ren

Related Publications

Explore these studies to deepen your understanding of the subject.

Earth Sciences

Climatic windows for human migration out of Africa in the past 300,000 years

R. M. Beyer, M. Krapp, et al.

Social Work

The effect of social media engagement on social integration of elderly migrants in China: the mechanism of perceived social support and psychological resilience

L. He, H. B. M. Adnan, et al.

Interdisciplinary Studies

The political and social contradictions of the human and online environment in the context of artificial intelligence applications

R. Rakowski and P. Kowaliková

Sociology

The effects of COVID-19 on the resilience of urban life in China

H. Han, X. Bai, et al.

Listen, Learn & Level Up

Over 10,000 hours of research content in 25+ fields, available in 12+ languages.

No more digging through PDFs, just hit play and absorb the world's latest research in your language, on your time.

listen to research audio papers with researchbunny