An Introduction to Seshat: Global History Databank

Peter Turchin; Harvey Whitehouse; Pieter François; Daniel Hoyer; Abel Alves; John Baines; Marta Bartkowiak; Jennifer Bates; Julye Bidmead; Peter Bol; Alessandro Ceccarelli; Kostis Christakis; David Christian; Alan Covey; Franco De Angelis; Timothy K. Earle; Neil R. Edwards; Gary Feinman; Stephanie Grohmann; Philip B. Holden; Árni Júlíusson; Andrey Korotayev; Axel Kristinsson; Jennifer Larson; Oren Litwin; Victor Mair; Joseph G. Manning; Patrick Manning; Arkadiusz Marciniak; Gregory McMahon; John Miksic; Juan Carlos Moreno Garcia; Ian Morris; Ruth Mostern; Daniel Mullins; Oluwole Oyebamiji; Peter Peregrine; Cameron Petrie; Johannes Preiser-Kapeller; Peter Rudiak-Gould; Paula Sabloff; Patrick Savage; Miriam Stark; Barend Ter Haar; Stefan Thurner; Vesna Wallace; Nina Witoszek; Liye Xie

doi:10.1558/jch.39395

An Introduction to Seshat: Global History Databank

Peter Turchin, Harvey Whitehouse, Pieter François, Daniel Hoyer, Abel Alves, John Baines, Marta Bartkowiak, Jennifer Bates, Julye Bidmead, Peter Bol, Alessandro Ceccarelli, Kostis Christakis, David Christian, Alan Covey, Franco De Angelis, Timothy K. Earle, Neil R. Edwards, Gary Feinman, Stephanie Grohmann, Philip B. HoldenÁrni Júlíusson, Andrey Korotayev, Axel Kristinsson, Jennifer Larson, Oren Litwin, Victor Mair, Joseph G. Manning, Patrick Manning, Arkadiusz Marciniak, Gregory McMahon, John Miksic, Juan Carlos Moreno Garcia, Ian Morris, Ruth Mostern, Daniel Mullins, Oluwole Oyebamiji, Peter Peregrine, Cameron Petrie, Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, Peter Rudiak-Gould, Paula Sabloff, Patrick Savage, Miriam Stark, Barend Ter Haar, Stefan Thurner, Vesna Wallace, Nina Witoszek, Liye Xie

Computer Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This article introduces the Seshat: Global History Databank, its potential, and its methodology. Seshat is a databank containing vast amounts of quantitative data buttressed by qualitative nuance for a large sample of historical and archaeological polities. The sample is global in scope and covers the period from the Neolithic Revolution to the Industrial Revolution. Seshat allows scholars to capture dynamic processes and to test theories about the co-evolution (or not) of social scale and complexity, agriculture, warfare, religion, and any number of such Big Questions. Seshat is rapidly becoming a massive resource for innovative cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary research. Seshat is part of a growing trend to use comparative historical data on a large scale and contributes as such to a growing consilience between the humanities and social sciences. Seshat is underpinned by a robust and transparent workflow to ensure the ever growing dataset is of high quality.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Cognitive Historiography
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1558/jch.39395
Publication status	Published - 6 Nov 2020

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10.1558/jch.39395

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Turchin, P., Whitehouse, H., François, P., Hoyer, D., Alves, A., Baines, J., Bartkowiak, M., Bates, J., Bidmead, J., Bol, P., Ceccarelli, A., Christakis, K., Christian, D., Covey, A., Angelis, F. D., Earle, T. K., Edwards, N. R., Feinman, G., Grohmann, S., ... Xie, L. (2020). An Introduction to Seshat: Global History Databank. Journal of Cognitive Historiography. https://doi.org/10.1558/jch.39395

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title = "An Introduction to Seshat: Global History Databank",

abstract = "This article introduces the Seshat: Global History Databank, its potential, and its methodology. Seshat is a databank containing vast amounts of quantitative data buttressed by qualitative nuance for a large sample of historical and archaeological polities. The sample is global in scope and covers the period from the Neolithic Revolution to the Industrial Revolution. Seshat allows scholars to capture dynamic processes and to test theories about the co-evolution (or not) of social scale and complexity, agriculture, warfare, religion, and any number of such Big Questions. Seshat is rapidly becoming a massive resource for innovative cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary research. Seshat is part of a growing trend to use comparative historical data on a large scale and contributes as such to a growing consilience between the humanities and social sciences. Seshat is underpinned by a robust and transparent workflow to ensure the ever growing dataset is of high quality.",

author = "Peter Turchin and Harvey Whitehouse and Pieter Fran{\c c}ois and Daniel Hoyer and Abel Alves and John Baines and Marta Bartkowiak and Jennifer Bates and Julye Bidmead and Peter Bol and Alessandro Ceccarelli and Kostis Christakis and David Christian and Alan Covey and Angelis, {Franco De} and Earle, {Timothy K.} and Edwards, {Neil R.} and Gary Feinman and Stephanie Grohmann and Holden, {Philip B.} and {\'A}rni J{\'u}l{\'i}usson and Andrey Korotayev and Axel Kristinsson and Jennifer Larson and Oren Litwin and Victor Mair and Manning, {Joseph G.} and Patrick Manning and Arkadiusz Marciniak and Gregory McMahon and John Miksic and Garcia, {Juan Carlos Moreno} and Ian Morris and Ruth Mostern and Daniel Mullins and Oluwole Oyebamiji and Peter Peregrine and Cameron Petrie and Johannes Preiser-Kapeller and Peter Rudiak-Gould and Paula Sabloff and Patrick Savage and Miriam Stark and Haar, {Barend Ter} and Stefan Thurner and Vesna Wallace and Nina Witoszek and Liye Xie",

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month = nov,

day = "6",

doi = "10.1558/jch.39395",

language = "English",

journal = "Journal of Cognitive Historiography",

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Turchin, P, Whitehouse, H, François, P, Hoyer, D, Alves, A, Baines, J, Bartkowiak, M, Bates, J, Bidmead, J, Bol, P, Ceccarelli, A, Christakis, K, Christian, D, Covey, A, Angelis, FD, Earle, TK, Edwards, NR, Feinman, G, Grohmann, S, Holden, PB, Júlíusson, Á, Korotayev, A, Kristinsson, A, Larson, J, Litwin, O, Mair, V, Manning, JG, Manning, P, Marciniak, A, McMahon, G, Miksic, J, Garcia, JCM, Morris, I, Mostern, R, Mullins, D, Oyebamiji, O, Peregrine, P, Petrie, C, Preiser-Kapeller, J, Rudiak-Gould, P, Sabloff, P, Savage, P, Stark, M, Haar, BT, Thurner, S, Wallace, V, Witoszek, N & Xie, L 2020, 'An Introduction to Seshat: Global History Databank', Journal of Cognitive Historiography. https://doi.org/10.1558/jch.39395

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AU - Turchin, Peter

AU - Whitehouse, Harvey

AU - François, Pieter

AU - Hoyer, Daniel

AU - Alves, Abel

AU - Baines, John

AU - Bartkowiak, Marta

AU - Bates, Jennifer

AU - Bidmead, Julye

AU - Bol, Peter

AU - Ceccarelli, Alessandro

AU - Christakis, Kostis

AU - Christian, David

AU - Covey, Alan

AU - Angelis, Franco De

AU - Earle, Timothy K.

AU - Edwards, Neil R.

AU - Feinman, Gary

AU - Grohmann, Stephanie

AU - Holden, Philip B.

AU - Júlíusson, Árni

AU - Korotayev, Andrey

AU - Kristinsson, Axel

AU - Larson, Jennifer

AU - Litwin, Oren

AU - Mair, Victor

AU - Manning, Joseph G.

AU - Manning, Patrick

AU - Marciniak, Arkadiusz

AU - McMahon, Gregory

AU - Miksic, John

AU - Garcia, Juan Carlos Moreno

AU - Morris, Ian

AU - Mostern, Ruth

AU - Mullins, Daniel

AU - Oyebamiji, Oluwole

AU - Peregrine, Peter

AU - Petrie, Cameron

AU - Preiser-Kapeller, Johannes

AU - Rudiak-Gould, Peter

AU - Sabloff, Paula

AU - Savage, Patrick

AU - Stark, Miriam

AU - Haar, Barend Ter

AU - Thurner, Stefan

AU - Wallace, Vesna

AU - Witoszek, Nina

AU - Xie, Liye

PY - 2020/11/6

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AB - This article introduces the Seshat: Global History Databank, its potential, and its methodology. Seshat is a databank containing vast amounts of quantitative data buttressed by qualitative nuance for a large sample of historical and archaeological polities. The sample is global in scope and covers the period from the Neolithic Revolution to the Industrial Revolution. Seshat allows scholars to capture dynamic processes and to test theories about the co-evolution (or not) of social scale and complexity, agriculture, warfare, religion, and any number of such Big Questions. Seshat is rapidly becoming a massive resource for innovative cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary research. Seshat is part of a growing trend to use comparative historical data on a large scale and contributes as such to a growing consilience between the humanities and social sciences. Seshat is underpinned by a robust and transparent workflow to ensure the ever growing dataset is of high quality.

UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/jch.39395

U2 - 10.1558/jch.39395

DO - 10.1558/jch.39395

M3 - Article

SN - 2051-9680

JO - Journal of Cognitive Historiography

JF - Journal of Cognitive Historiography

ER -

An Introduction to Seshat: Global History Databank

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