Studying the history of early European farmers reveals an intriguing pattern: large, densely populated settlements emerged but subsequently declined. Scholars attribute this to climate change and overpopulation; however, recent studies point to another factor, writes Live Science.
Researchers believe that proximity to animals likely led to the spread of zoonotic diseases. This, in turn, may have caused residents to abandon crowded areas until people found ways to protect themselves from disease outbreaks. A recent study examined the planning of later settlements to understand how they interacted with disease transmission.
Çatalhöyük, located in modern-day Turkey, is considered the oldest farming village in the world, established over 9,000 years ago. Thousands of inhabitants lived in mudbrick houses so closely packed that residents entered through the roofs.
Researchers suggest that the main activities of Çatalhöyük's residents included herding livestock, growing barley, and making cheese. Despite the absence of upheavals, around 6000 BCE, Çatalhöyük was mysteriously abandoned, and its inhabitants dispersed into smaller communities throughout the region.
Archaeological evidence indicates that human bones and cattle bones are mixed in burial sites, suggesting close contact between humans and animals. Ancient DNA points to instances of tuberculosis in the area as early as 8500 BCE, and salmonella by 4500 BCE. These diseases, exacerbated by the population density in Çatalhöyük, could have posed a serious threat to the city's residents and ultimately contributed to its decline.
By around 4000 BCE, large urban populations reemerged, particularly in the settlements of the Tripolye culture west of the Black Sea. These megasettlements, located in modern Ukraine, housed thousands of people.
However, unlike the densely packed Çatalhöyük, Tripolye settlements featured homes arranged in concentric circles, with neighborhoods organized around public buildings. This layout may have unintentionally limited the spread of diseases, providing a natural form of social distancing long before it became scientifically understood.
To test this theory, researchers conducted simulations based on the planning of Tripolye settlements, assuming that early diseases spread through food, such as milk or meat. They found that infrequent contact between neighbors could significantly reduce disease outbreaks, suggesting that the planning of these settlements helped their populations survive.
Despite their success, these megasettlements were also abandoned over time, possibly due to new diseases like the plague that emerged around 3000 BCE. By that time, other major cities were developing in regions such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China. Unlike earlier settlements, these cities had advanced food management and sanitation systems, including granaries and aqueducts, which likely helped mitigate the impact of diseases.
These ancient urban centers laid the groundwork for modern civilization, and their design and organization evolved under the influence of centuries of human experience in combating diseases. From the earliest farming villages to the first cities, people continuously adapted to the challenges of living in close proximity to both animals and one another.
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