Mystery Behind Evolution of Societies Solved using Math Model

Researchers claim to have solved the mystery behind the transformation of small wandering groups of humans into present day complex societies using a mathematical model.

A trans-disciplinary research team at the University of Connecticut, the University of Exeter in England, and the NIMBioS (National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis) conducted this research. The study emphasizes the role of warfare as the precursor to the development of these complex societies.

Using a cultural model the researchers zeroed in on the major areas where this transformation took place.  A simulation model of  landscape familiar to the Afro-Eurasian landmass  during 1,500 BCE to 1,500 CE was formed, which  compared with the historical records.

This change was also associated with the modernization of horse-related military innovations like cavalry and chariots in Afro-Eurasia

The researchers also linked geography with the evolution of societies. The agrarian societies inhabiting the Eurasian Steppe were affected by the migrants who moved out of the steppe belt and spread the modern warfare methods.

"What's so exciting about this area of research is that instead of just telling stories or describing what occurred, we can now explain general historical patterns with quantitative accuracy. Explaining historical events helps us better understand the present, and ultimately may help us predict the future," Sergey Gavrilets , the co-author of the study, director for scientific activities at NIMBioS, said in a press release.

This study concentrated on the interactions between the increasing innovations and developments in the warfare, the geography and the ecology. According to the researchers,  the selection for ultra-social institutions, which permit  cooperation among large groups of hereditary unrelated people and huge states was larger at places where the warfare was more severe.

The study is also published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.