Archaeologists discover historical link between inequality and sustainability

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The study lead by Professor Dan Lawrence, of Durham University in the UK, found that across ten millennia, more unequal distributions of wealth correlated with longer-term human settlement. 

However, the team are keen to stress that one factor is not causally dependent on the other, giving hope that humankind’s survival is not linked to ever increasing inequality.

The research is part of a Special Feature of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), entitled Global Dynamics of Wealth Inequality.

Sustainability is defined by the UN as ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. The study investigated the relationship the two key aspects of this definition, continuity and equality.

The team used data on house size from across the world, covering the last 10,000 years, analysing records of over 47,500 homes across over 2,990 archaeological sites.

Differences in house size were used as a measure of inequality during different time periods. This data was then analysed alongside information on the duration of occupation, in simple terms how long people lived in a settlement before it was abandoned.

The findings revealed a correlation between the two measures – with more unequal settlements (as measured through house sizes) tending to persist for longer. However, this relationship was not found to be causal, and instead both factors rose with the increased scale and complexity of human systems. 

The research team believe the findings could help inform interventions to improve future sustainability.

Speaking about the research, Professor Dan Lawrence, Department of Archaeology at Durham University said: “The UN definition of sustainability references our societies not only continuing to exist but becoming more equal.

“We wanted to understand the relationship between those two aspects and ask whether equality or inequality is historically more sustainable.

“What we found is that, as humankind’s systems become larger and more complex, inequality has tended to increase alongside longer persistence. But the two are not mutually dependant, showing that humankind might be able to achieve sustainable persistence without the need for increased inequality.

“It is not the case that inequality is simply a necessary by-product of building complex, sustainable societies.

“We need to be aware of, and attentive to the historical interplay between inequality and sustainability.

“At a time of ever-increasing wealth inequality and sustainability challenges including climate change, the lessons from the past 10,000 years could be invaluable for helping us to achieve a more equal, truly sustainable future.”

The study was authored by researchers from across Europe and the USA, drawing on a database collected by archaeologists from across the world. It is published as part of a special feature of PNAS, which has examined the origins and drivers of inequality from multiple angles.

Each of the studies has utilised a specially compiled data set on house sizes across the world from the last 10,000 years, as well as information on societies across time, such as structures, hierarchies, agriculture etc.

Professor Dan Lawrence, Department of Archaeology, Durham, has also been co-author on eight other papers as part of this special feature.

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