Re:Ancient Eastern European mega-sites: a social levelling c...
by defrost on Wednesday May 15, 2024 @06:37AM
(#40365140)
> periodic burning of villages because that's what warlords do to peaceful settlements.
Or not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burned_house_horizon
There's sparse evidence for exposure to archaeological literature.
Re:Ancient Eastern European mega-sites: a social levelling c...
by Trow839rn on Wednesday May 15, 2024 @06:31AM
(#40365116)
> be evidence of periodic burning of villages because that's what warlords do to peaceful settlements
Not really. Look at "pax Romana" or Aztecs. Warlords bring peace!
If villages are part of the same empire, they are at peace. Without central force there is constant local bickering and fight. Warlords take their tributes (including soldiers) and wage war far away. Or they punish population by killing one man in family. There is no need to burn entire village, it hurts profit.
People at that time were able to build huge megalithic structures. It is safe to assume they could organise small army of a few thousands (enough to dominate 20k settlements).
Also it is likely that the notion of "elites" is different in our age than in the era before the invention of money. Our elites are not elites of mind, soul, or even body. They are sitting on their hordes of extracted wealth. Earlier any sort of elites in an agrarian society (which presumably precludes strongmen type of "elite") would likely be based on group psychology and charismatic power (shaman, priests, divine representative, etc.)