Rise of the war machines: Charting the evolution of military technologies from the Neolithic to the Industrial Revolution.

ABSTRACT: What have been the causes and consequences of technological evolution in world history? In particular, what propels innovation and diffusion of military technologies, details of which are comparatively well preserved and which are often seen as drivers of broad socio-cultural processes? Here we analyze the evolution of key military technologies in a sample of pre-industrial societies world-wide covering almost 10,000 years of history using Seshat: Global History Databank. We empirically test previously speculative theories that proposed world population size, connectivity between geographical areas of innovation and adoption, and critical enabling technological advances, such as iron metallurgy and horse riding, as central drivers of military technological evolution. We find that all of th

SUBMITTER: Turchin P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8528290 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature