Open AccessReply to Comment on “Emergence of complex societies after sea level stabilized”
Author(s) -
Day John W.,
Gunn Joel D.,
Folan William J.,
YáñezArancibia, Alejandro,
Horton Benjamin P.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2007eo420012
Subject(s) - productivity , estuary , indus , riparian zone , floodplain , mesopotamia , margin (machine learning) , oceanography , geography , geology , ecology , archaeology , paleontology , biology , cartography , structural basin , machine learning , habitat , computer science , economics , macroeconomics
Washington [this issue] raised a number of interesting points that serve to clarify the origins of civilizations on continental margins. We linked the initial development of civilizations to coastal margin productivity [ Day et al. , 2007]. Washington argues that a number of early civilizations were not related to marine productivity, but rather were centered around the exploitation and cultivation of riparian grains. However, we defined coastal margins to include upwellings, estuaries, and lower floodplains affected by coastal water levels. Thus, the Nile, Mesopotamia, Indus, Mississippi, and Yellow societies were influenced by coastal margin productivity.