Why the West Rules—for Now

by Morris, Ian;

  Against Homo sapiens/Neanderthal interbreeding: Krings et al. 1997; Caramelli et al. 2003. In favor: Zilhao 2006. Genome evidence: R. Green et al. 2010. Continuing human evolution: Cochran and Harpending 2009, Jakobsson et al. 2008, Voight et al. 2006, E. Wang et al. 2007. Movement out of Africa: Gunz et al. 2009. Dates of migration: Endicott et al. 2009, O’Connell and Allen 2004. First modern humans in China: Shen et al. 2002, 2007, Shang et al. 2007.

  Multiregional model: Wolpoff 1996, Wolpoff and Caspari 2002, Cochran and Harpending 2009. New Zhoukoudian finds: Shang et al. 2007. New Xuchang finds: http://www.chinadaily.com/cn/opinion/2008-01/28/content_6424452.htm, with comments http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5inq53Ltnn7sNiN7mspQ6tDxCqQOA. Statistical analysis of bones: Manica et al. 2007.

  First humans in America: Dillehay et al. 2008, Gilbert et al. 2008, Goebel et al. 2008.

  Ancient climate: N. Roberts 1998. Ice core data: EPICA 2004.

  Lewis-Williams 2002 provides a lively interpretation of Ice Age cave art and Bahn and Vertut 1997 collect the evidence with fine illustrations. Altamira dates: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/specials/artistic_spain/article5904206.ece. Hohle Fels figurine: Conrad 2009. Xuchang bird: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/28/content_11274877.htm.

  2. THE WEST TAKES THE LEAD

  There is a vast literature on the origins of agriculture. The good news is that archaeologists have recently produced several excellent global surveys (especially Mithen 2003, Bellwood 2005, Barker 2006, Fuller 2007, and Cohen et al. 2009), which discuss most of the sites I mention in this chapter. The bad news (in a sense, anyway) is that this field moves so quickly that these works are already out of date. I cite additional works below on details or to update the surveys.

  Black Sea flood: Major et al. 2006; Yanko-Hombach et al. 2007.

  Energy and history: Smil 1994 remains the classic. Plants and photosynthesis: Morton 2007.

  Lost civilizations: Hancock 2003.

  Earliest pottery: Boaretto et al. 2009, Kuzmin 2006.

  Comets and the Younger Dryas: Kennett et al. 2009.

  Nightfall: Asimov 1941.

  Hilly Flanks: in addition to the surveys already mentioned, see Cappers and Bottema, eds. 2002; Akkermans and Schwartz 2003; Bar-Yosef 2004.

  Domestication of dogs: Savolainen et al. 2002. Garbage and sedentism: Hardy-Smith and Edwards 2004. Eastern sedentism: Liu 2010.

  Abu Hureyra: A. Moore et al. 2000; rye and the Younger Dryas, Hillman et al. 2001, Willcox et al. 2008.

  Archaeology of religion: Renfrew 1985. Evolutionary psychology of religion: Boyer 1999, Dennett 2007.

  Early religious sites in the Hilly Flanks: Baumgarten 2005. Longwangcan: X. Wang 2008.

  Fig trees: Kislev et al. 2006. Earliest granaries: Kuijt and Finlayson 2009.

  Farming and birth-spacing: Bocquet-Appel and Bar Yosef 2008.

  çatalhöyük: Hodder 2006; http://www.catalhoyuk.com. People domesticating themselves: Hodder 1990.

  Marriage, inheritance, and farming: Goody 1976 remains a classic.

  Violence in prehistory: LeBlanc and Register 2003, Otterbein 2004. Jericho fortifications: McClellan 2006. Doubts about the original affluent society: D. Kaplan 2000.

  Agricultural dispersal across Europe: emphasizing colonization, Renfrew 1987; Cavalli-Sforza et al. 1994; Bellwood 2005. Some essays in Renfrew and Boyle 2000 and Bellwood and Renfrew 2003 move toward consensus.

  Inevitability of agriculture: Richerson et al. 2001.

  Domestication: Diamond 1997 is the classic account, and Fuller 2007 the most up-to-date. Peru: Dillehay et al. 2007. Oaxaca: Pohl et al. 2007. Indus Valley: Fuller 2006. New Guinea: Denham et al. 2005. Sahara: Marshall and Hildebrand 2002. Bottle gourds: Erickson et al. 2005.

  East Asia: in addition to the global surveys, see L. Liu 2004; Chang and Xu 2005, pp. 27–83; Stark 2006, pp. 77–148. Chang’s Archaeology of Ancient China (1986) has long been the only detailed overview, but Liu and Chen 2010 now supersedes it. Japan: Habu 2004. Korea: Nelson 1993. Barnes 1999 covers China, Korea, and Japan. Bryan Gordon of Carleton College maintains a website on the origins of rice (http://http-server.carleton.ca/~bgordon/Rice/paper_database.htm).

  Yangzi Delta sites: Jiang and Liu 2006, Jiang 2008. Pigs: Yuan and Flad 2002, Yuan 2008. Wei valley agricultural tools: Chang and Xu 2005, pp. 60–64. I largely follow Fuller 2007 and Fuller et al. 2007 on Chinese domestication, although G. Lee et al. 2007 and Liu et al. 2007 challenge these arguments (the debate continued in the 2008 online edition of the journal Antiquity).

  Rice paddies: Zong et al. 2007.

  Jiahu: J. Zhang et al. 2004, X. Li et al. 2003. Early Chinese writing: Keightley 2006. ‘Ain Ghazal: Schmandt-Besserat 1998. Shamans: Chang 1983. Tarim Basin mummies: Barber 1999. Ancestor worship: Liu 2000.

  East Asian agricultural expansion: Bellwood 2005, pp. 128–45; Barker 2006, pp. 199–230; Stark 2006, pp. 77–118; Sanchez-Mazan 2008.

  Early farmers’ skeletons: C. Larsen 1995, 2006; Armelagos and Harper 2005. Elite cuisines: Goody 1982.

  Malinowksi’s A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term (1976) describes his time in the Trobriand Islands; Kuper 1983 explains his place in the history of anthropology.

  3. TAKING THE MEASURE OF THE PAST

  Herbert Spencer: Francis 2007. Trigger 1995 is the best account of the history of archaeology. On archaeology and social evolution more generally: Sanderson 2007, Trigger 1998. Pluciennek 2005 presents the case against evolutionism.

  Talcott Parsons’s Societies: Evolutionary and Comparative Perspectives (1966) is the most important neo-evolutionary study, but archaeologists refer more to Service 1962 and Fried 1967. Social development indices: Naroll 1956 and Carneiro 1962, 1968, and 1970.

  Eddington’s experiments: Isaacson 2007, pp. 256–62.

  Criteria for evaluating traits and indices: Naroll 1956, Gerring 2001.

  The UN Human Development Programme’s annual reports can be downloaded from http://hdr.undp.org/. Ray 1998, pp. 27–29, neatly summarizes the criticisms.

  Contemporary statistics: United Nations Organization 2006, Food and Agriculture Organization 2006, Institute for International Strategic Studies 2009. Earlier energy statistics rely on very scattered data, but Maddison 2003, Allen 2006b, and Allen et al. 2005 and 2007 are valuable. On agriculture, Perkins 1969 and Slicher van Bath 1963 are indispensable. Early industry: Crafts 1985, Mokyr 1999, Morris-Suzuki 1994. Smil 1991 and 1994 are outstanding overviews. Generally, see http://www.ianmorris.org.

  Roman pollution: de Callatay 2005 summarizes the evidence then available; more recent studies include Boutron et al. 2004, Kylander et al. 2005, and Schettler and Romer 2006, covering the various sources of evidence.

  Robert Hartwell’s papers from the 1960s remain the standard treatments of Chinese iron and coal, particularly Hartwell 1967. Donald Wagner (2001a, 2001b, 2008) criticizes Hartwell’s assumptions and use of evidence but generally accepts his results. I would like to thank Professor Wagner for discussing the issues with me.

  Roman consumption: Jongman 2007a.

  4. THE EAST CATCHES UP

  There are some excellent recent overviews. For Mesopotamia: van de Mieroop 2007, Snell 2007. Egypt: Kemp 2005. Kuhrt 1995 treats both core areas. China: Liu 2004, Chang 1986, and Chang and Xu 2005 are invaluable.

  More focused studies:

  West—Early Mesopotamia: Postgate 1993. Susa and Eridu: Potts 1999, Pollock 1999. Uruk: Liverani 2006, Rothman 2001. Tell Brak: Ur et al. 2007. Early Egypt: Wilkinson 2003, Wengrow 2006. Pyramids: Lehner 1997. Akkad: Liverani 1993. Syria: Akkermans and Schwartz 2003. Hittites: Bryce 1998, 2002. Aegean: Shelmerdine 2008. Trojan War: Latacz 2004, Strauss 2006. International Age: Liverani 2001. European periphery: Kristiansen and Larsson 2005.

  East—Three Dynasties Chronology Project: Y. K. Lee 2002, X. Zhang et al. 2008. Shandong survey: A. Underhill et al. 2002. Chinese music: von Falkenhausen 1993a. Shamanism: Chang 1983, 1989, 1994. Taosi monument: He 2005. Debates over the Xia: von Falkenhausen
1993b, Liu and Xu 2007. Erlitou and early Shang: Liu and Chen 2003. Environmental change: Qiao 2007, A. Rosen 2007. Shang: Thorp 2006. Anyang bronze foundry: Yinxu Team 2008. Oracle bones: Keightley 2000 (with references to that author’s many important studies), Flad 2008, A. Smith 2008. Peter Hessler’s Oracle Bones (2006) is a wonderful personal account of China, weaving historical analysis (particularly of the oracle bones themselves) with pointed reporting. Shang kingship: Puett 2002, Chapter 1, discussing rival theories. On chariots there is great controversy; I generally follow Shaughnessy 1988.

  Chariots of the Gods?: von Däniken 1968.

  Domestication of the horse: A. Outram et al. 2009.

  Disruptions generally: Diamond 2005. McAnany and Yoffee 2010 provide opposed views. G. Schwartz 2006 reviews several of the disruptions of 2200–1200 BCE. Sing 2007 argues that all Western disruptions had ecological causes.

  Western disruptions have been studied more than Eastern. Liu 2004, Chapter 2, reviews China’s climatic record, and Chapters 6 and 7 look at case studies. For the 2200–2000 BCE Western disruption, see Dalfes et al. 1997. Weiss et al. 1993 discuss Tell Leilan; Cooper 2006 downplays climate change. 1750–1550 BCE: Drews 1988. Hurrians: Wilhelm 1989. Hyksos: Redford 1992. 1200–1000 BCE: Drews 1993 for military factors; Nur and Cline 2000 on earthquakes; Fagan 2004a, Chapter 9, and Sing 2007, pp. 84–89, for references to the numerous discussions of climate.

  5. NECK AND NECK

  There is a huge literature on early states. I draw particularly on North 1981; Tilly 1992; Turchin 2009; Scheidel, forthcoming.

  Overviews of the East: M. Lewis 2007; F. Li 2006, 2009; Nylan and Loewe 2010; von Falkenhausen 2006; Zhao, forthcoming. Overview of the West: Cambridge Ancient History, volumes III–IX, provide enormous detail, with volume 2 of Kuhrt 1995 on western Asia.

  The following more focused studies are also valuable:

  East—Hsu and Linduff 1988, X. Li 1985, and Z. Wang 1982 are thorough but dated; X. Yang 2004 is a partial update. Zhou bronzes: Rawson 1990, J. So 1995. Zhou social organization: F. Li 2003; Chu, Cook and Major 1999. Zuozhuan: Pines 2002. Iron: Wagner 1993, 2001c, 2008. Warfare: Kiser and Cai 2003, 2004; M. Lewis 1990; Yates et al. 2009; Zhao 2004. Writing: M. Lewis 1999. Qin law: Hulsewé 1985. Monuments: Wu 1995. Qin and Han: M. Lewis 2007, Loewe 2006, Portal 2007. Hui 2005 is a fascinating comparison of Qin and early modern European state formation.

  West—on iron: Wertime and Muhly 1980 has not yet been superseded. Huge controversy surrounds anything to do with early Israel; Provan et al. 2003 generally support the biblical account, while Finkelstein and Silberman 2001, 2006, and Liverani 2005 are more critical. Assyria is not well served by general studies, but see Yamada 2000 on the ninth century, Mattila 2000 on the aristocracy; Oded 1979 on deportations; and Bedford 2009, M. Larsen 1979, Liverani 1995, and Parpola 1997 on the empire. Urartu: Zimansky 1985. Phoenicians: Aubet 2001. Greece: Morris and Powell 2009. Mediterranean colonization: Hodos 2006, Dietler 2010. Monte Polizzo: Morris and Tusa 2004, Mühlenbock 2008. Persia: Bedford 2007, Briant 2002. Alexander: Bosworth 1988. Rome: Eich and Eich 2005, Eckstein 2007. Literacy: W. Harris 1989. Early writing generally: B. Powell 2009. Western empires compared: Morris and Scheidel 2009.

  Legitimacy as the difference between mafias and states: Gambetta 1994.

  Climate change: Bao et al. 2004, Garcia et al. 2007, Issar 2003, Issar and Zahor 2005, Kvavadze and Connor 2005, P. Zheng et al. 2008. Seasonal mortality: Shaw 1996, Scheidel 2001.

  Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: P. Kennedy 1987.

  Axial Age: Jaspers 1949 is the foundational study. B. Schwartz 1975 is the clearest introduction and Armstrong 2006 the most readable survey, but Bellah 2005 is the most perceptive comparative study. Some scholars, such as Hall and Ames (1995a, 1995b), emphasize long-term differences between Chinese and Western thought over similarities; others, such as B. Schwartz 1985 and Roetz 1993, see more unity. I find the second approach (particularly as developed by Puett 2002) much more convincing. Background to Confucius: Shaughnessy 1997, von Falkenhausen 2006. Legalists: Fu 1996. Connections between Chinese schools of thought: K. Holloway 2009. Early Greek philosophy: Graham 2006. Greek democracy and its critics: Ober 1998. There are several excellent comparisons of Greek and Chinese thought (for example, Lloyd 2002, Lloyd and Sivin 2002, T. Martin 2009, Shankman and Durant 2000, and Sim 2007). Akhenaten and Moses: Freud 1955, Assmann 2008.

  Rome-China contacts: Leslie and Gardiner 1996, Mair 2006. Vagnari DNA: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/ambassador-or-slave-east-asian-skeleton-discovered-in-vagnari-roman-cemetery-1879551.html, The Independent, January 26, 2010. Finds in Egypt: Cappers 1999. Finds at Arikamedu: Begley 1996. Voyage on the Red Sea: Casson 1989. Silk Roads: F. Wood 2002. Bactria: Holt 1999. Steppe highway: Beckwith 2009, Christian 1998, Kohl 2007, Koryakova and Epimakhov 2007. Parthia: Curtis and Stewart 2007. Nomads and China: Barfield 1989; Di Cosmo 2002; Lovell 2006, pp. 66–116.

  6. DECLINE AND FALL

  Overviews of the East: M. Lewis 2007, 2009a. West: Garnsey and Saller 1987 remains the best survey of the earlier Roman Empire, and Cameron 1993a, 1993b of the later empire. Since the 1960s many Roman historians have rejected “decline-and-fall” theories of late Roman history (see particularly Brown 1971, 1978), but more recently historians and archaeologists (for example, Goldsworthy 2009, Heather 2005, Jongman 2007b, McCormick 2001, Ward-Perkins 2005) have insisted—as I do here—on the fall in social development after 200 CE.

  Han and Roman divine kingship: Puett 2002 and Price 1984. Roman triumphs: Beard 2007. Confucian moral cultivation: Ivanhoe 2000.

  Adshead 2000, pp. 4–21, makes interesting comparisons between the Han and Roman empires. Mutschler and Mittag 2009 and Scheidel 2009a are the first systematic English-language studies.

  Eastern economic growth: Bray 1984, Hsu 1980, Peng 1999, Wagner 2001c. Western growth: Bowman and Wilson 2009, de Callatay 2005, Manning and Morris 2005, Scheidel et al. 2007, Scheidel 2009, A. Wilson 2009, and the ongoing work of the Oxford Roman Economy Project (http://oxrep.classics.ox.ac.uk/index.php). Roman and Han economic growth compared: Scheidel 2009b. Greek and Roman standards of living: Morris 2004, Saller 2002. Han houses: Guo 2010. Comparison of Roman and Han housing: Razeto 2008.

  Sources for Figures 6.2 and 6.6: A. Parker 1992, Kylander et al. 2005.

  Monte Testaccio: http://ceipac.gh.ub.es/MOSTRA/u_expo.htm (consulted December 4, 2007). Western golden age: Scheidel 2007, Jongman 2007a.

  Columbian Exchange: Crosby 1972. The best book on the history of disease remains McNeill 1976. Roman epidemics: Scheidel 2002, Sallares 2007. Athenian plague of 430 BCE: Papagrigorakis et al. 2006.

  Climate change: see the works cited in Chapter 5, plus Bao et al. 2004, Garcia et al. 2007, Ge et al. 2003, and B. Yang et al. 2002.

  Qiang: M. Wang 1999. Chinese frontiers: Lattimore 1940 remains a classic. Roman frontiers: Whittaker 1994.

  China after the Han: De Crespigny 1984; A. Dien 1990, 2007; Eberhard 1965; M. Lewis 2009a; S. Pearce et al. 2001; L. Yang 1961. Stirrups: A. Dien 1986.

  Roman animal bones: Jongman 2007b, Ikeguchi 2007. General Western economic decline: McCormick 2001, pp. 25–119; MacMullen 1988, pp. 1–57.

  Sassanid Persia: Daryaee 2009. Rome and Persia: Dignas and Winter 2007. Rome’s Gothic Wars: Kulikowski 2006. Fifth-century Gaul: Drinkwater and Elton 1992. Fall of the western Roman Empire: Goldsworthy 2009, Heather 2005, Kelly 2009, Ward-Perkins 2005. Post-Roman western Europe: Cameron 1993b, Mc-Cormick 2001, McKitterick 2001, Wickham 2005.

  Third-century Chinese culture: Balazs 1964, pp. 173–254; Holcombe 1994. Chinese Buddhism: Gernet 1995, X. Liu 1988, Zürcher 2007. Coming of Christianity: Brown 1971, 1978, Lane Fox 1986. Johnson and Johnson 2007 treat Buddhism and Christianity (plus Islam) comparatively. Late Roman art: Elsner 1999, Trimble 2009. Monasticism: Bechert and Gombrich 1984, Dunn 2000. Conversion: MacMullen 1984, Morrison 1992. Figure 6.9 builds on the approach in Hopkins 1998. Imperial adaptations to Christianity: Brown 1992
, Fowden 1993.

  7. THE EASTERN AGE

  Overviews of the East before the Sui dynasty: A. Dien, 1990, 2007; Eisenberg 2008; Gernet 1995; Graff 2002; M. Lewis 2009a; Pearce et al; 2001. Sui dynasty: Wright 1978, Xiong 2006. Tang dynasty: Adshead 2004, M. Lewis 2009b, Perry and Smith 1976, Rozman 1973, Wright and Twitchett 1973, Xiong 2000. “Five Dynasties” period: G. Wang 2007. Northern Song dynasty: Haeger 1975, Hymes and Schirokauer 1993, D. Kuhn 2009. On the whole period 900–1100: Mote 1999.

  Essential methods: Bray 2001. Rice in Eastern history generally: Bray 1984, 1986.

  Wu Zetian: Guisso 1978, D. Dien 2003, Barrett 2008.