It seems like a perishable foodstuff couldn't have been the backbone for an entire economy, but the only info I can find on google is from non-reputable sources. Does anyone know more about this subject? Please include any info about the Mayans and Olmecs as well, if you know about them.

Other than during the early church, where they were the minority religion everywhere?

Are they honestly saying that an understanding of the cycle of seasons is a form of superstition?

I'm attempting to write a paper over this subject but i'm having trouble finding good information that is relevant to my topic. Any help or suggestions for sources I can look into?

Or if Gaia/Terra was the name placed, was there any attempt to popularise it?

Hope this question makes sense and isn't too 'anytime through history' as we can narrow it down to around the early 20th/ late 19th century

I also have a minor, probably unanswerable, side question. If I remember correctly, the mythological centaur character Chiron was famed for his wisdom and mentorship. But I've heard that the idea of centaurs was inspired by Greek interactions with nomadic steppe peoples like the Scythians. I thought that the Greeks disdained foreigners like the Scythians as 'uncivilized barbarians,' so how did a centaur become an ironically wise and respected character?

All I could find about them was they were "star worshippers" of Harran.

If they are such an obscure sect, how come they are mentioned in the Koran along with Jews and Christians, while Zoroastrians, Manicheans etc. are not?

What is the view on historical developments in combat when using swords vs spears? The Romans famously used swords and defeated spear- (or pike-) using Greeks, but that to me seems to be the exception rather than the norm; is that correct? Are there cultures (La Tene?) that switched from primarily using swords to spears, or vice versa, why, and what was the effect?

Finally, what would be good books to consult for history on individual soldier, rather than army level, warfare?

How long would it take for the news to reach the borders of the empire, and who brought the news? Was it an official of the king, or was it word of mouth, told by travellers?

I ran into this quote in a recent Reddit thread, and I thought it was really funny. So much so that I immediately became a bit sceptical about it. Is there any proof that Voltaire actually said/wrote this?

Bonus question: If he did, what was the context of the remark?

I found a reference in a essay by Cornelius Castoriadis (The Destinies of Totalitarianism) about some receptions of Stalin's death on concentration camps. Castoriadis says:

"At the time of Stalin's death, the situation must have been a mixture of apathy and opposition (as witnessed by the outbursts and revolts in the concentration camps)"

Anyone could help me in finding the source of these witnesses? The essay is from 1980, so a couple of years after the publishing of 'Gulag Archipelago'. But i also didn't found any information in Solzhenitsyn book that could point for the Castoriadis statement of revolts in concentration camps after 1953. I would be very grateful if someone could help me. Thanks.

I was listing to a history podcast and the host claimed that the story of the famous Russian sniper Vasily Zaytsev was likely a fiction created by soviet propaganda. How much do we know about Zaytsv's actions during the war and were they possibly exaggerated?

I always heard in western media ( Newspaper moslty ) that Algerian jihadist back in the time of France occupation they are terrorist and and used terror to fight France, How most of Historian from non-Arab world see this Revolution ?