Evolution, Civilization and History

Reconstructing the History of Harappan Civilization

The Harappan Civilisation (HC) was spread over large parts of western region of the Indian Subcontinent. Its earliest roots can be found from 7000 BC in Mehrgarh but its peak urban period is around 2500 to 1900 BC. It declined completely by 1300 BC. At its peak, it covered more than 30 per cent of the present landmass of the Indian Subcontinent. The entire evidence for it is archaeological. It ...

Civilization and the Evolution of Short-Sighted Agents

Are individuals within modern societies more short-sighted than in previous generations? If so, what are the plausible changes in the environment and composition of society that could yield such a result? The model begins by assuming the population consists of two types (phenotypes) of individuals, (shortsighted/aggressive and foresighted/docile). These phenotypes interact with each other. Thes...

French History Textbooks as a Tool for Teaching Civilization

Savage numbers and the evolution of civilization in Victorian prehistory.

This paper identifies 'savage numbers'--number-like or number-replacing concepts and practices attributed to peoples viewed as civilizationally inferior--as a crucial and hitherto unrecognized body of evidence in the first two decades of the Victorian science of prehistory. It traces the changing and often ambivalent status of savage numbers in the period after the 1858-1859 'time revolution' i...

Why We Should Study the History Oe Western Civilization

O ver the years I have gotten into trouble more than a few times for things I have written or said in public, but I suppose the chief cause of my notoriety is a speech I gave to the freshmen of Yale College suggesting that they would be wise to make the study of Western civilization the center of their pursuit of a liberal education. In that speech I focused on our needs as Americans. I pointed...