Using the Maximal Entropy Modeling Approach to Analyze the Evolution of Sedentary Agricultural Societies in Northeast China.

Ido Wachtel,Gideon Shelach-Lavi,Royi Zidon

doi:10.3390/e22030307

Abstract

The emergence of agriculture and the evolution of sedentary societies are among the most important processes in human history. However, although archeologists and social scientists have long been studying these processes, our understanding of them is still limited. This article focuses on the Fuxin area in present-day Liaoning province in Northeast China. A systematic archeological survey we conducted in Fuxin in recent years located sites from five successive stages of the evolution of agricultural sedentary society. We used the principles of Maximal Entropy to study changes in settlement patterns during a long-term local trajectory, from the incipient steps toward a sedentary agricultural way of life to the emergence of complex societies. Based on the detailed data collected in the field, we developed a geo-statistical model based on Maximal Entropy (MaxEnt) that characterizes the locational choices of societies during different periods. This combination of high-resolution information on the location and density of archeological remains, along with a maximal entropy-based statistical model, enabled us to chart the long-term trajectory of the interactions between human societies and their natural environment and to better understand the different stages of the transition to developed sedentary agricultural society.

Highlights

The transition to agriculture was arguably the most significant ‘revolution’ in human history [1,2]
We focus on a specific sub-region within this large region, that of Northeast China, in an attempt to flesh-out the ecological basis for the socio-economic transformation that occurred there from the incipient transition to agriculture and sedentary life-ways to the formation of complex societies
1), was collaborative project thatresearch brought in together archeologists and students from the Research

Summary

Introduction

The transition to agriculture (including the domestication of plants and animals and the development of a sedentary way of life) was arguably the most significant ‘revolution’ in human history [1,2]. This transition gradually led to a dramatic increase in population size and density, in craft specialization and the division of labor, to the initiation of social dynamics and the accumulation of resources that are linked to the development of socio-political stratification, and to the appearance of large regional states.

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