The Origins of the Appropriation of Spaces by Humans (Neolithic Era)
The Neolithic Revolution, or the invention of sedentary agriculture 12,000 years ago, independently in different parts of the world, was the most radical change in human history. It caused exponential population growth, and therefore a race for the technological progress needed to feed increasing numbers of humans on a finite planet, exacerbated tensions between communities that had now claimed territories, a never-ending increase in social inequality and, finally, constant deterioration of the environment – ushering in what we now call the Anthropocene. But was all this inevitable? Didn’t some of the societies of the past make different choices?
By Jean-Paul Demoule, Emeritus Professor of European Protohistory at Université Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne) and former President of Inrap
