they may have abandoned and burned their settlements every sixty to eighty years; possibly to prevent disease buildup, soil exhaustion, or inequality.
I feel it would be a pain to have to burn your villages of 10,000 people in order to avoid other consequences.
Indus Valley people developed a multi-cropping system that allowed them to plant wheat and barley in the winter and millet, rice, and legumes in summer
It's impressive they were able to develop their own system for crops that would allow for food to be grown during all seasons.
The pyramid contains about 2.3 million stone blocks averaging 5,000 pounds each
That is insane they were able to move all of that with the technology they had. And getting it done in only 12 years is impressive.
Annual floods brought both moisture and rich silt soil to a narrow band along the river's banks
I've never heard flooding be talked about in a positive light. However, I would imagine it takes a load off of people when you don't have to worry about irrigation.
even ancient history can be extremely relevant to the identities that inform people’s ideas of religion, ethnicity, and nationality today.
People are very proud of who they are, where they come from, and who they descend from. Trying to prove or disapprove that will reshape the narrative and origins or a culture will always receive push back.
While bubonic plague is spread by fleas, attacks the lymph nodes, and has about a 50% mortality rate over an illness lasting about two weeks; pneumonic plague is spread by airborne respiratory droplets, attacks the lungs, and has a nearly 100% fatality rate in less than two days
I always thought the bubonic plague was the scariest of any illnesses. Now I realize that the same bacterium was present in a plague from about 5,000 years that was more deadly.
an image of a cart drawn on a ceramic pot found in Central Europe dates back to about 5,500 years ago
I'm always so confused on how scientists are able to look at an ancient drawing and identify what it being depicted in the drawing. For example, the drawing on this pot is supposedly a cart. I would have never guessed that.
It is difficult to determine where the wheel and wheeled carts were first developed
I was told in high school that the wheel was invented in Mesopotamia. I'm not sure if I'm missing something, or if the text is saying that it's difficult to determine where in Mesopotamia.