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Cited by 242Environmental, Ecological, and Cultural StudiesArchaeology and Natural HistoryArchaeology and ancient environmental studies

Critical perspectives on historical collapse

Open access
Butzer, Karl W., Endfield, Georgina H.·2012·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.1114772109PMC PMC3309742
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Abstract

Historical collapse of ancient states or civilizations has raised new awareness about its possible relevance to current issues of sustainability, in the context of global change. This Special Feature examines 12 case studies of societies under stress, of which seven suffered severe transformation. Outcomes were complex and unpredictable. Five others overcame breakdown through environmental, political, or socio-cultural resilience, which deserves as much attention as the identification of stressors. Response to environmental crises of the last millennium varied greatly according to place and time but drew from traditional knowledge to evaluate new information or experiment with increasing flexibility, even if modernization or intensification were decentralized and protracted. Longer-term diachronic experience offers insight into how societies have dealt with acute stress, a more instructive perspective for the future than is offered by apocalyptic scenarios.

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  • The rise and dispersal of agricultural populations across Earth's land was likely driven by increasing rates of population growth sustained by early agricultural economies, which likely enabled them to dominate Earth's most productive landscapes, where increasingly intensive agricultural systems became established in most regions of the world, despite the periodic collapse of individual societies.

    “The rise and dispersal of agricultural populations across Earth’s land was likely driven by increasing rates of population growth sustained by early agricultural economies (93–95), which likely enabled them to dominate Earth’s most productive landscapes, where increasingly intensive agricultural systems became established in most regions of the world, despite the periodic collapse of individual”

    From Used planet: a global history (2013) · cites this paper as [96]

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Research works printed but not linked: 9

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Authors
Butzer, K. W., & Endfield, G. H.
Affiliations
  • The University of Texas at Austin (US)
  • University of Nottingham (GB)
ORCID
Endfield, Georgina H.
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
2012-02-27
Volume
109
Issue
10
Pages
3628-3631
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.1114772109
PMC
PMC3309742
OpenAlex
W2000139106
Cited by
242
References
49
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 8
FWCI
64.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Environmental, Ecological, and Cultural Studies
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Archaeology and Natural History
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
Keywords
ancient civilizations, social resilience, environmental stress, sustainability, global change, traditional ecological knowledge, societal transformation, environmental crisis, modernization, diachronic perspective, apocalyptic scenarios
MeSH terms
Civilization, Culture, Disasters, Environment, Humans, Politics, Stress, Psychological, History, Ancient

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