Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com - Have you ever wondered what life was like for people who lived in remote mountain regions thousands of years ago? How did they cope with the challenges of their environment, such as cold weather, scarce resources, and limited mobility? How did they maintain social bonds and cultural identities in such isolated conditions?
View from the Tibetan plateau to the Himalayan mountains. Credit: Adobe Stock - lihana
Living in remote mountainous regions can often lead to a sense of isolation, particularly due to the challenging environment that restricts mobility. However, certain ancient communities managed to forge social connections and develop distinct cultural identities in spite of these harsh conditions. The mechanisms and motivations behind their ability to do so are intriguing subjects for exploration.
A research team from Washington University in St. Louis has traced the roots of longstanding cultural interactions across the Tibetan Plateau to prehistoric times, as early as the Bronze Age. Nicknamed the "roof of the world," the one million-square-mile Tibetan Plateau is the highest landmass in the world, averaging 14,000 feet in altitude.
Even in the face of harsh conditions, humans have managed to maintain a continuous presence in these regions since prehistoric times.
What Factors Contributed To The Formation of Cultural Identity Across The Tibetan Plateau In Ancient Times?
The significant contribution of farming and herding to the economy of the Tibetan Plateau, both in the present day and historically, is truly admirable. To optimize the challenging environment, farmers, agropastoralists, and nomadic herders engaged in cooperative interactions and movements that shaped the economic landscape and enriched the cultural geography of this plateau. This dynamic interplay is a testament to their resilience and ingenuity.
Tibetan family. Credit: Antoine Taveneaux - CC BY-SA 3.0
To understand what methods ancient societies across the Tibetan Plateau relied on to establish social relationships, the research team used advanced geospatial modeling to compare environmental and archaeological evidence that connects ancient mobility and subsistence strategies to cultural connections forged among farmers and herders in the Bronze and Iron Ages.
The research results indicate that these strategies had a significant impact on the settlement patterns and the dissemination of ceramic styles. This includes aspects such as the materials employed, distinct characteristics, and decorative elements of pottery among remote prehistoric communities across the plateau.
"When we overlay the mobility maps with the social network, we see a strong correlation between routes for subsistence-oriented mobility and strong ties in material culture between regional communities, suggesting the emergence of 'mobility highways' over centuries of use," Michael Frachetti, an archaeology professor in Arts & Sciences at WashU, who also serves as the corresponding author of the research the study said.
"This not only tells us that people were moving according to needs for farming and herding—which was largely influenced by environmental potential—but that mobility was key for building social relationships and the regional character of ancient communities on the Tibetan Plateau."
Simulated "mobility highways" of farmer-herder interactions overlaid with the geolocated archaeological sites dated between ca. 3600 and 2200 before present. Credit: Xinzhou Chen
Initially, the researchers created models of the most efficient routes of movement utilized by ancient farmers and herders, taking into account factors such as land cover and the environment's ability to sustain their crops or livestock.
For instance, highland herders usually traverse areas abundant in grass resources before reaching the relatively scarce arable lands on the plateau. These simulations revealed recurring patterns that statistically correlated with the geographical locations of numerous prehistoric sites across the Tibetan Plateau.
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In order to examine the potential impact of these routes on social interaction, the researchers assembled a comprehensive database of archaeological discoveries from Bronze and Iron Age locations across Tibet. They then created a social network using shared technologies and ceramic designs found at these sites. The resulting network indicates that even remote locations were closely linked and communicated with each other thousands of years ago across the Tibetan region.
According to Professor Frachetti, the study was a significant endeavor made possible due to the progress in geospatial data analysis and high-resolution remote sensing.
The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports
Written by Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com Staff Writer
