Mobility in ancient societies?

by Mithras_Stoneborn

Starting from the Neolithic settlements, what do we know about how mobile the people were? Is it assumed that as the humans transformed from a hunter-gatherer to an agrarian society, mobility declined and people remained relatively isolated from each other in their cities, hence giving way to different languages etc.? But then again, did not people start having relations with foreign societies via trade, pilgrimage, marriage (as evident from Abrahamic texts)?

goodluck_outthere

Your question is quite broad so I'm going to limit my answer to the Northeast of North America and give a brief summary of mobility. Archaeologists look at a number of differences in artifact raw material and type to determine how mobile people were before the introduction of agriculture and sedentary life.

During the Paleoindian tradition that ends around 10,000 B.P. people are assumed to have been highly mobile. The stone tools we find are generally constructed out of one or two types of stone and can be found hundreds of kilometres away from the source. This implies that the people were highly mobile as they would range from the lithic source and migrate over large areas before returning to replenish their stone tools.

Gradually we see mobility decrease before the rise of agriculture in the Northeast as stone tool sources become more local and pottery is developed. It is difficult to travel hundreds of kilometres with a pot strapped to your back. We also see the rise of mound building and cemeteries, which may imply a type of ownership over the land.

Finally once non-indigenous cultigens (maize, squash, and beans) are introduced we see the first villages. These are generally associated with Iroquoian speakers and these peak around A.D. 1000. However Iroquoian villages were still mobile. Every generation or so the First Nations groups would pack up and move to a different location. Meanwhile Algonquian speaking groups maintained a seasonal round even though they were practicing agriculture. I'm unclear as to if they were planting maize in the spring, leaving, and then returning in the fall or if they settled to plant cultigens throughout the summer and leave during the winter months.

So in conclusion, generally as more and more people occupied Northeastern North America mobility also decreased. However, the evidence suggests that although mobility was decreased First Nations groups in the area were still very mobile even after the introduction of agriculture. So agriculture does not necessarily inhibit mobility.

For further reading:

Birch and Williamson 2015 Navigating ancestral landscapes in the Northern Iroquoian world. Journal of Anthropological Anthropology

Munoz et al. 2010 Synchronous environmental and cultural change in the prehistory of the northeastern United States. PNAS

Before Ontario: The Archaeology of a Province. Edited by Marit Munson and Susan Jameison