A new study led by Amy Bogaard , Professor of European Archaeology, School of Archaeology , University of Oxford, reveals that high wealth inequality in human societies over the past 10,000 years was encouraged by land-hungry farming practices. Where land became scarce, wealth inequality often grew among households, but where land was abundant, wealth was more equally distributed.
Past societies are often presumed to be egalitarian, but our research shows that high wealth inequality could become entrenched where ecological and political conditions permitted. The emergence of high wealth inequality wasn't an inevitable result of farming... It emerged where land became a scarce resource that could be monopolised.
Professor Amy Bogaard, School of Archaeology
The study is published as part of a Special Feature of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science s, co-edited by Bogaard and Tim Kohler (Washington State University) and involving 27 scientists from around the world who analysed around 47,000 houses from more than 1700 archaeological settlements. This new database of ancient housing is now launched as an open-access resource .
Professor Amy Bogaard, School of Archaeology, said: 'Past societies are often presumed to be egalitarian, but our research shows that high wealth inequality could become entrenched where ecological and political conditions permitted.
'The emergence of high wealth inequality wasn't an inevitable result of farming. It also wasn't a simple function of either environmental or institutional conditions. It emerged where land became a scarce resource that could be monopolised. At the same time, our study reveals how some societies avoided the extremes of inequality through their governance practices.'
Special Feature of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 'The Global Dynamics of Economic Inequality over the Long Term'. Image credit: Johnny Miller/Unequal Scenes.Extreme wealth inequality in northern Jakarta, Indonesia, has juxtaposed large, prosperous houses (left) and smaller, poorer houses (right). A collection of articles in a Special Feature of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ('The Global Dynamics of Economic Inequality over the Long Term') used size differences among houses to estimate degrees of wealth inequality at archaeological settlements around the world, from the beginning of the Holocene up to the first millennium CE. Together, the articles explore patterns of inequality, wealth, and social power across diverse societies. Image credit: Johnny Miller/Unequal Scenes.
In the study, researchers including Oxford archaeologists Shadreck Chirikure and Helena Hamerow considered the implications for wealth distribution of variation in house sizes and their storage capacities within settlements, and how land use and farming practices impacted this variation.
They found that in regions with land-intensive farming systems, such as those with specialised animal traction for ploughing, high wealth inequality became persistent, with a small number of households controlling productive land. In regions without traction animals, land became highly valued through terracing, irrigation or drainage. While such engineering projects could begin as cooperative endeavours, a minority of households often gained control of these landscapes.
The study shows how high wealth inequality emerged in diverse world regions. If land came under pressure, for example through local population growth, investments like terracing and irrigation or specialized plough animals boosted production, but also made land more valuable, fuelling competition. Over time, larger settlements developed as hubs of wider settlement hierarchies and were sustained through land-intensive farming systems.
The findings challenge the idea that high wealth inequality is inevitable. Instead, it was often a localised consequence of expanding societies with a lack of political mechanisms to deal fairly with land constraints. The researchers argue that some ancient societies practising land-intensive farming avoided extreme high inequality through governance. Examples include Teotihuacan in Mexico and Mohenjo-daro in the Indus River Basin.
Professor Amy BogaardUltimately, this illustrates that wealth inequality has been a long-standing challenge, but governance and changes in farming practices could curb high wealth inequality. The researchers argue that studying past societies can provide valuable lessons for addressing inequality today.
'High wealth inequality has been a challenge for thousands of years,' Bogaard said. 'Understanding how wealth inequality has changed over the very long term enables us to understand the role of land-use systems that promoted competition. The past offers us lessons to navigate these pressing issues today. The good news is that societies can and have resisted the extremes of high inequality through governance.
'Shifts in farming practice and wealth inequality are woven through global prehistory. By studying these changes, we can better address their implications for the future. If we can understand how inequality emerged and evolved, we are in a better position to mitigate its extremes and harmful impacts today.'
