中文摘要
关于国家起源的传统理论认为,农业的采用提高了土地生产率,进而产生了食物剩余;这一剩余是征税精英阶层兴起并最终形成国家的先决条件。我们对这一理论提出质疑,并认为等级制度的出现源于人类转向依赖可挪用的谷物。我们利用跨越数千年、多组数据开展的实证研究表明,谷物的种植对等级制度具有因果效应,而土地生产率并未表现出类似效应。我们还通过若干案例研究进一步支持这些论点。
Abstract
The conventional theory about the origin of the state is that the adoption of farming increased land productivity, which led to the production of food surplus. This surplus was a prerequisite for the emergence of tax-levying elites and, eventually, states. We challenge this theory and propose that hierarchy arose as a result of the shift to dependence on appropriable cereal grains. Our empirical investigation, utilizing multiple data sets spanning several millennia, demonstrates a causal effect of the cultivation of cereals on hierarchy, without finding a similar effect for land productivity. We further support our claims with several case studies.