37
votes
Why are most of the world's oldest buildings in Europe and not in the Fertile Crescent?
If you look at the details of the oldest buildings on your list, all of them are built from fieldstone or minimally-shaped quarried stone. Further, the building materials were either found on-site or ...
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21
votes
Why are most of the world's oldest buildings in Europe and not in the Fertile Crescent?
Actually, some of the oldest known man-made structures are in the Fertile Crescent (FC). The list in your question purposefully excludes sites like Göbekli Tepe, Tell es-Sultan, and Tell Qaramel, each ...
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14
votes
Are there historical instances of settlers who were largely uncontacted and undisturbed after settling?
It doesn't reach the bars in the OP of 200 settlers and 3 centuries, but in case you are interested in a smaller experience, Pitcairn Island was settled in 1790 by 27 people. The community they built ...
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13
votes
Accepted
When and where arose the first civilization?
Many historians go so far as to equate the term "Civilization" with writing. So let's look at that.
Egypt and Sumer (in Modern-day Iraq between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) both founded literate ...
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13
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Why are most of the world's oldest buildings in Europe and not in the Fertile Crescent?
It's not just Europe but even narrower. You'll notice the top 3 listed are all in France. Of the rest of the top 10, 4 are in the British Isles.
I think Mark has about half of the answer: These ...
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11
votes
Did migrating people ever maintain contact across the Bering Strait?
On a cultural level, yes. The Yupik peoples have inhabited both sides of Bering Straight for at least a couple of millennia, though there are distinctions between the Siberian and various Alaskan ...
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10
votes
Accepted
Did Bamako exist as a major settlement of trade and culture during the Mali empire?
Short Answer
There is no solid evidence that Bamako was a settlement of any importance during the period of the Mali Empire (c. mid 13th century to early 17th century). While there is substantial ...
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10
votes
Are there historical instances of settlers who were largely uncontacted and undisturbed after settling?
Sentinelese people from Andamans Sentineli and the North Sentinel Islanders, are an indigenous people who inhabit North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal in India. They are considered one of the ...
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8
votes
Why are most of the world's oldest buildings in Europe and not in the Fertile Crescent?
Civilisations not only build buildings, but destroy and reuse them. Many ruins were effectively used as quarries by local people and stones, e.g. bricks from Roman buildings ended up in an early ...
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7
votes
When and where arose the first civilization?
The term "high culture" is a bit subjective. I believe, however, the earliest site as it predates the Neolithic Revolution, is Göbekly Tepe in Turkey: Göbekli Tepe (Wikipedia).
EDIT
The question ...
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7
votes
Accepted
Historical Instances like the settlement of Pitcairn Island
According to the Wikipedia article linked to in the question, the mutineers on Pitcairn were isolated from outside contact for less than 20 years (1790-1808).
There have been countless small ...
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5
votes
Accepted
Did Indigenous Australians burn land to get Europeans to move on, and did Europeans follow suit?
Many pre-invasion aboriginal cultures managed land by burning. The effects of this were regular fuel reduction, open bush suitable for large game hunting, and the development of desired fire friendly ...
- 14.5k
4
votes
Accepted
Information on first stages of road formation between villages and towns
From Encyclopedia on Society and Culture in the Ancient World vol.3 (New York: Facts on File, 2008), pp. 882-893:
Roads and Bridges: Introduction
The earliest roads in the ancient world consisted of ...
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4
votes
How were settlers' houses in Kamchatka built?
James Forsyth's 'A History of the Peoples of Siberia' suggests that settler constructions were similar to those used in Siberia.
Before the Russian's arrival (in the early eighteenth century) the ...
- 294
3
votes
Accepted
How did the layout of a Medieval European village typically change as it grew into a town?
I would start with a brief explanation on how I'd classify township development in the Middle Ages. I don't expect this to be exhaustive, but rather illustrative of the few lines of development that I ...
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3
votes
How did the layout of a Medieval European village typically change as it grew into a town?
If a city was able to hold markets, settlements often grew around a central market square (replace with Suq for Islamic cities). In many european cities, this (former) market square, often in ...
- 1,198
2
votes
How was real estate from Germans expelled after WWII redistributed?
It happened in different countries and it was different, of course.
In the Czech Republic there were four stages of gaining the former German estates. At start practically anyone could move in and ...
- 7,275
2
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Why are most of the world's oldest buildings in Europe and not in the Fertile Crescent?
In a word - bias (when unconscious) and deception (when done deliberately and consciously).
It’s the role of a professional historian to aim at the truth and to see through bias/deception in ...
- 2,610
1
vote
Why did nucleated communities never form in medieval Iceland?
Firstly, agriculture (at least not plant-based farming) was not as viable in Iceland as in most of Europe, this is because of two reasons. The first is that Iceland is cold, with even summer ...
1
vote
Why are most of the world's oldest buildings in Europe and not in the Fertile Crescent?
How about a little different angle: local culture and tradition of "digging". While technically true that a building can stand for thousands of years, even if they do, generally they do in ...
- 1,205
1
vote
Accepted
Did families heading west ever settle along the Oregon Trail (instead of at the final destination)?
This will help you find your answer.
The first expeditions using the Oregon Trail were in 1839-1841 and in 1846 the route became passable for wagons all the way to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. ...
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible