Recent comments in /f/history

its_the_abdulwahab t1_jbtacw3 wrote

One theory suggests that during the Ice Age (where everything on Earth was frozen–even the oceans) was the time when some of the hunter gatherer or nomadic tribes from Serbia (now in Russia) crossed the Bering Strait (A strait between the eastern end of Russia and the Western part of Alaska, today)

{Strait:- A narrow passage of water connecting two seas.} (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Relief_map_of_USA_Alaska.png).

They crossed this strait unknowingly in search of food, as this is what the tribes whould do every now and then in order to survive at that time. They would relocate time to time setting camp from one place to another hunting and gathering food for their survival, hence nomadic (as farming was not known at that time hence the main source of food for the humans were other animals–more specifically meat. Even if farming was known at that time, it would have been really difficult to grow anything given the situation).

Then when the time passed, eventually the Ice Age ended and the oceans were back to being watery/liquid as they are. The people who already crossed didn't have any way back nor did they remember any way back, plus even the boats/ships were not invented at that time to cross huge bodies of water–provided if a question arises in your mind that "why didn't they use boats".

So these people eventually ended up settled in the Americas and became native to it.

This is as simple as I could explain. But if you want deep information regarding this then you can search it on YouTube, where you can easily learn more about it with visuals.

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Thibaudborny t1_jbt722b wrote

With a massive workforce of (off-)seasonal labourers, performing tasks for the state in an effort that saw a massive amount of the state's resources thrown into the fray. Calculations cited by Toby Wilkinson in "The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt", show that the effort of Cheops' (Khufu) pyramid could have been done by two crews of about 4000 men could have completed the job (to quarry, to haul & set in place 2.000.000+ blocks) + an equal number of men to construct and maintain the logistics of construction (ramps, scaffolding, etc) & other small army of workers for specific tasks (carpentry, pottery, cooking, etc) - all in all suggesting an estimated workforce of around 10.000 people. Most of these would only have been there according to the seasons (farmers off duty), with a small dedicated core tending to the site all-year round.

The shape of the pyramid is simple in conception, but the whole planning of the work (like the specific alignment of the building ) is nothing but impressive.

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Rusty_Shakalford t1_jbt61z0 wrote

What happened to the indigenous population of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast when it was formed by the Soviet Union?

Been on a kick lately reading about the formation, rise, and downfall (at least as a hotspot of Jewish culture) of the JAO but this is something I haven’t been able to find any info about. There must have been people already living there when the Soviets decided to create the territory. Was curious if there was any response to suddenly finding out the new designation of the land they were on.

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bangdazap t1_jbt4reb wrote

The year in Ancient Egypt was divided into two parts: harvest season and flood season, when the banks of the river Nile overflowed. That meant that for half of the year, the Egyptian state had access to large numbers of idle laborers.

Add to that that they had long experience in building monuments (the Great Pyramid was hardly the first colossal monument built by Egypt).

They also had a stable system of government, which meant that they could build their monuments over a long period of time.

Also, the pyramids were built next to a quarry, and a short way from the Nile meaning that they could easily ship in stones.

We also have writings of the engineering teams who built the pyramids, along with other archeological evidence from the construction.

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WeatherChannelDino t1_jbsxv8z wrote

I'm trying to learn more about trade and trade routes and came across some really interesting ones (amber trade from Lithuania, tin trade in the Near East, the Indian Ocean trade network). There are some obvious ones as well I haven't looked into (Columbian exchange, Trans Saharan trade routes, Mediterranean trade routes) but what are some less well known but still cool ones y'all know of?

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turbodogger t1_jbswcf3 wrote

How common were medieval communes that had liberty/some degree of equality for peasants and were generally independent from the lords/feudal system?

Were market economies and prosperity associated with them?

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Thibaudborny t1_jbsqra7 wrote

Check out Robin Lane Fox for Graeco-Roman history, he is a reknown historian on this era. Adrian Goldsworthy wrote some good works too (Fall of Rome) and particularly on the fall of Rome side, check out Peter Heather & Chris Wickham. I loved the Hellenistic World by Tarn & Griffith (ed.), but it is by now in some fields somewhat outdated, a more modern work on the Hellenistic world is Age of Conquests by Angelos Chianotis.

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