Ancient Societies Built Socially Distanced Cities that Kept Them Healthier
New research shows ancient city planners intentionally designed socially distanced layouts to help prevent the spread of disease.
Time is a tricky thing. Our human lifespans are decently long compared to many in Earth’s animal kingdom, but they are very short in the grand scheme of things. We may think our choices and actions are our own, but one day, many years from now, someone will probably find that the events within our lifetime represent one small cog in a giant wheel of transition.
For instance, humans have gone from scattered nomadic hunters and gatherers to billions living permanently in expansive concrete cities, but it’s taken thousands of years to make that transition — and many urban planning strategies to achieve it. Beyond technology limitations, building materials, or layouts to accommodate large populations, urban designers throughout time needed to find ways to keep residents safe — and not just from war or conflict, but disease too.
The Curiosity
R. Alexander Bentley, currently a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, studies everything from culture, social influence, decision-making, and health to time scales…
