Human: Difference between revisions

Although some scientists equate the term ''humans'' with all members of the genus ''[[Homo]]'', in common usage it generally refers to ''Homo sapiens'', the only [[Extant taxon|extant]] member. [[Anatomically modern human]]s emerged around 300,000 years ago in Africa, evolving from ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]'' or a similar species and migrating [[Recent African origin of modern humans|out of Africa]], gradually replacing local populations of [[archaic humans]]. For most of history, all humans were [[nomadic]] hunter-gatherers. Humans began exhibiting [[behavioral modernity]] about 160,000-60,000 years ago. The [[Neolithic Revolution]], which began in [[Southwest Asia]] around 13,000 years ago (and separately in a few other places), saw the emergence of [[agriculture]] and permanent [[human settlement]]. As populations became larger and denser, forms of governance developed within and between communities and a number of [[civilization]]s have risen and fallen. Humans have continued to expand, with a global population of over 7.9 billion as of 2022.

Humans are apes ([[Hominoidea|superfamily Hominoidea]]).<ref>{{Cite book| vauthors = Tuttle RH |title=International Encyclopedia of Biological Anthropology|date=2018-10-04|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons, Inc.]]|isbn=978-1-118-58442-2| veditors = Trevathan W, Cartmill M, Dufour D, Larsen C |place=[[Hoboken]], [[New Jersey]], [[United States]]|pages=1–2|language=en|chapter=Hominoidea: conceptual history|doi=10.1002/9781118584538.ieba0246|s2cid=240125199|author-link=Russell Tuttle|access-date=2021-05-26|chapter-url=https://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9781118584538.ieba0246}}</ref> The [[Lineage (evolution)|lineage]] of apes that eventually gave rise to humans first split from gibbons (family [[Hylobatidae]]) and [[orangutan]]s (genus ''Pongo''), then [[gorilla]]s (genus ''Gorilla''), and finally, [[chimpanzee]]s and [[Bonobo|bonobos]] (genus ''[[Pan (genus)|Pan]]''). The last split, between the human and chimpanzee–bonobo lineages, took place around 8–4 million years ago, in the late [[Miocene]] epoch.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Tattersall I, Schwartz J|year=2009|title=Evolution of the Genus ''Homo''|journal=Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences|volume=37|issue=1|pages=67–92|bibcode=2009AREPS..37...67T|doi=10.1146/annurev.earth.031208.100202}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Goodman M, Tagle DA, Fitch DH, Bailey W, Czelusniak J, Koop BF, Benson P, Slightom JL | display-authors = 6 | title = Primate evolution at the DNA level and a classification of hominoids | journal = Journal of Molecular Evolution | volume = 30 | issue = 3 | pages = 260–6 | date = March 1990 | pmid = 2109087 | doi = 10.1007/BF02099995 | s2cid = 2112935 | bibcode = 1990JMolE..30..260G }}</ref><ref name="Ruvolo1997">{{cite journal|vauthors=Ruvolo M|date=March 1997|title=Molecular phylogeny of the hominoids: inferences from multiple independent DNA sequence data sets|journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=248–65|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025761|pmid=9066793|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Brahic C |title=Our True Dawn |journal=New Scientist|volume=216 |issue=2892 |pages=34–37 |year=2012 |doi=10.1016/S0262-4079(12)63018-8 |bibcode= 2012NewSc.216...34B }}</ref> During this split, [[chromosome 2]] was formed from the joining of two other chromosomes, leaving humans with only 23 pairs of chromosomes, compared to 24 for the other apes.<ref name="fusion">{{cite web|title=Human Chromosome 2 is a fusion of two ancestral chromosomes|url=https://www.evolutionpages.com/chromosome_2.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809040210/https://www.evolutionpages.com/chromosome_2.htm|archive-date=9 August 2011|access-date=18 May 2006|work=Evolution pages|vauthors=MacAndrew A}}</ref> Following their split with chimpanzees and bonobos, the [[Hominini|hominins]] diversified into many species and at least two distinct genera. All but one of these lineages—representing the genus ''[[Homo]]'' and its sole extant species ''Homo sapiens''—is now extinct.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McNulty |first=Kieran P. |year=2016 |title=Hominin Taxonomy and Phylogeny: What's In A Name? |url=https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/hominin-taxonomy-and-phylogeny-what-s-in-142102877/ |access-date=2022-06-11 |website=Nature Education Knowledge |language=en}}</ref>

The genus ''Homo'' evolved from ''[[Australopithecus]]''.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Strait DS |title=The Evolutionary History of the Australopiths |journal=Evolution: Education and Outreach |date=September 2010 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=341–352 |doi=10.1007/s12052-010-0249-6 |s2cid=31979188 |url=https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s12052-010-0249-6 |language=en |issn=1936-6434}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Dunsworth HM |title=Origin of the Genus Homo |journal=Evolution: Education and Outreach |date=September 2010 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=353–366 |doi=10.1007/s12052-010-0247-8 |s2cid=43116946 |url=https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s12052-010-0247-8 |language=en |issn=1936-6434}}</ref> Though [[Human fossils|fossils]] from the transition are scarce, the earliest members of ''Homo'' share several key traits with ''Australopithecus''.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kimbel WH, Villmoare B | title = From Australopithecus to Homo: the transition that wasn't | journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences | volume = 371 | issue = 1698 | page = 20150248 | date = July 2016 | pmid = 27298460 | pmc = 4920303 | doi = 10.1098/rstb.2015.0248 | s2cid = 20267830 }}</ref><ref name=Villmoare2015>{{cite journal | vauthors = Villmoare B, Kimbel WH, Seyoum C, Campisano CJ, DiMaggio EN, Rowan J, Braun DR, Arrowsmith JR, Reed KE | display-authors = 6 | title = Paleoanthropology. Early Homo at 2.8 Ma from Ledi-Geraru, Afar, Ethiopia | journal = Science | volume = 347 | issue = 6228 | pages = 1352–1355 | date = March 2015 | pmid = 25739410 | doi = 10.1126/science.aaa1343 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2015Sci...347.1352V }}</ref> The earliest record of ''Homo'' is the 2.8 million-year-old specimen [[LD 350-1]] from Ethiopia, and the earliest named species are ''[[Homo habilis]]'' and ''[[Homo rudolfensis]]'' which evolved by 2.3 million years ago.<ref name=Villmoare2015 /> ''[[Homo erectus|H. erectus]]'' (the African variant is sometimes called ''[[Homo ergaster|H. ergaster]]'') evolved 2 million years ago and was the first [[archaic human]] species to leave Africa and disperse across Eurasia.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zhu Z, Dennell R, Huang W, Wu Y, Qiu S, Yang S, Rao Z, Hou Y, Xie J, Han J, Ouyang T | display-authors = 6 | title = Hominin occupation of the Chinese Loess Plateau since about 2.1 million years ago | journal = Nature | volume = 559 | issue = 7715 | pages = 608–612 | date = July 2018 | pmid = 29995848 | doi = 10.1038/s41586-018-0299-4 | bibcode = 2018Natur.559..608Z | s2cid = 49670311 }}</ref> ''H. erectus'' also was the first to evolve a characteristically human [[body plan]]. ''Homo sapiens'' emerged in Africa around 300,000 years ago from a species commonly designated as either ''[[Homo heidelbergensis|H. heidelbergensis]]'' or ''[[Homo rhodesiensis|H. rhodesiensis]]'', the descendants of ''H. erectus'' that remained in Africa.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hublin JJ, Ben-Ncer A, Bailey SE, Freidline SE, Neubauer S, Skinner MM, Bergmann I, Le Cabec A, Benazzi S, Harvati K, Gunz P | display-authors = 6 | title = New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo sapiens | journal = Nature | volume = 546 | issue = 7657 | pages = 289–292 | date = June 2017 | pmid = 28593953 | doi = 10.1038/nature22336 | bibcode = 2017Natur.546..289H | url = https://kar.kent.ac.uk/62267/1/Submission_288356_1_art_file_2637492_j96j1b.pdf }}</ref> ''H. sapiens'' migrated out of the continent, gradually replacing local populations of archaic humans.<ref>{{cite journal|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=May 13, 2005|title=Out of Africa Revisited|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|type=This Week in ''Science''|volume=308|issue=5724|page=921|doi=10.1126/science.308.5724.921g|issn=0036-8075|s2cid=220100436}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Stringer C | title = Human evolution: Out of Ethiopia | journal = Nature | volume = 423 | issue = 6941 | pages = 692–3, 695 | date = June 2003 | pmid = 12802315 | doi = 10.1038/423692a | s2cid = 26693109 | author-link = Chris Stringer | bibcode = 2003Natur.423..692S }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Johanson D |author-link=Donald Johanson|date=May 2001|title=Origins of Modern Humans: Multiregional or Out of Africa?|url=https://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/johanson.html|access-date=November 23, 2009|website=[[actionbioscience]]|publisher=[[American Institute of Biological Sciences]]|location=Washington, DC}}</ref> Humans began exhibiting [[behavioral modernity]] about 160,000-70,000 years ago,<ref name="Marean et al 2007">{{cite journal |last1=Marean |first1=Curtis |display-authors=etal |date=2007 |title=Early human use of marine resources and pigment in South Africa during the Middle Pleistocene |journal=Nature |volume=449 |issue=7164 |pages=905–908 |bibcode=2007Natur.449..905M |doi=10.1038/nature06204 |pmid=17943129 |s2cid=4387442}}</ref> and possibly earlier.<ref name="Brooks">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Brooks AS, Yellen JE, Potts R, Behrensmeyer AK, Deino AL, Leslie DE, Ambrose SH, Ferguson JR, d'Errico F, Zipkin AM, Whittaker S, Post J, Veatch EG, Foecke K, Clark JB |year=2018 |title=Long-distance stone transport and pigment use in the earliest Middle Stone Age |journal=Science |volume=360 |issue=6384 |pages=90–94 |bibcode=2018Sci...360...90B |doi=10.1126/science.aao2646 |pmid=29545508 |doi-access=free}}</ref>  

The [[Recent African origin of modern humans|"out of Africa" migration]] took place in at least two waves, the first around 130,000 to 100,000 years ago, the second ([[Southern Dispersal]]) around 70,000 to 50,000 years ago.<ref name="Posth">{{cite journal | vauthors = Posth C, Renaud G, Mittnik A, Drucker DG, Rougier H, Cupillard C, Valentin F, Thevenet C, Furtwängler A, Wißing C, Francken M, Malina M, Bolus M, Lari M, Gigli E, Capecchi G, Crevecoeur I, Beauval C, Flas D, Germonpré M, van der Plicht J, Cottiaux R, Gély B, Ronchitelli A, Wehrberger K, Grigorescu D, Svoboda J, Semal P, Caramelli D, Bocherens H, Harvati K, Conard NJ, Haak W, Powell A, Krause J | display-authors = 6 | title = Pleistocene Mitochondrial Genomes Suggest a Single Major Dispersal of Non-Africans and a Late Glacial Population Turnover in Europe | journal = Current Biology | volume = 26 | issue = 6 | pages = 827–33 | date = March 2016 | pmid = 26853362 | doi = 10.1016/j.cub.2016.01.037 | hdl-access = free | s2cid = 140098861 | hdl = 2440/114930 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Karmin M, Saag L, Vicente M, Wilson Sayres MA, Järve M, Talas UG, Rootsi S, Ilumäe AM, Mägi R, Mitt M, Pagani L, Puurand T, Faltyskova Z, Clemente F, Cardona A, Metspalu E, Sahakyan H, Yunusbayev B, Hudjashov G, DeGiorgio M, Loogväli EL, Eichstaedt C, Eelmets M, Chaubey G, Tambets K, Litvinov S, Mormina M, Xue Y, Ayub Q, Zoraqi G, Korneliussen TS, Akhatova F, Lachance J, Tishkoff S, Momynaliev K, Ricaut FX, Kusuma P, Razafindrazaka H, Pierron D, Cox MP, Sultana GN, Willerslev R, Muller C, Westaway M, Lambert D, Skaro V, Kovačevic L, Turdikulova S, Dalimova D, Khusainova R, Trofimova N, Akhmetova V, Khidiyatova I, Lichman DV, Isakova J, Pocheshkhova E, Sabitov Z, Barashkov NA, Nymadawa P, Mihailov E, Seng JW, Evseeva I, Migliano AB, Abdullah S, Andriadze G, Primorac D, Atramentova L, Utevska O, Yepiskoposyan L, Marjanovic D, Kushniarevich A, Behar DM, Gilissen C, Vissers L, Veltman JA, Balanovska E, Derenko M, Malyarchuk B, Metspalu A, Fedorova S, Eriksson A, Manica A, Mendez FL, Karafet TM, Veeramah KR, Bradman N, Hammer MF, Osipova LP, Balanovsky O, Khusnutdinova EK, Johnsen K, Remm M, Thomas MG, Tyler-Smith C, Underhill PA, Willerslev E, Nielsen R, Metspalu M, Villems R, Kivisild T | display-authors = 6 | title = A recent bottleneck of Y chromosome diversity coincides with a global change in culture | journal = Genome Research | volume = 25 | issue = 4 | pages = 459–66 | date = April 2015 | pmid = 25770088 | pmc = 4381518 | doi = 10.1101/gr.186684.114 }}</ref> ''H. sapiens'' proceeded to colonize all the continents and larger islands, arriving in [[Eurasia]] 60,000 years ago,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Armitage SJ, Jasim SA, Marks AE, Parker AG, Usik VI, Uerpmann HP | title = The southern route "out of Africa": evidence for an early expansion of modern humans into Arabia | journal = Science | volume = 331 | issue = 6016 | pages = 453–6 | date = January 2011 | pmid = 21273486 | doi = 10.1126/science.1199113 | url = https://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/69197/title/Hints_of_earlier_human_exit_from_Africa | url-status = live | access-date = 1 May 2011 | bibcode = 2011Sci...331..453A | s2cid = 20296624 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110427201317/https://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/69197/title/Hints_of_earlier_human_exit_from_Africa | archive-date = 27 April 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Rincon P | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12300228 | title = Humans 'left Africa much earlier' | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120809051349/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12300228| archive-date=9 August 2012 | work = BBC News | date = 27 January 2011 }}</ref> Australia around 65,000 years ago,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Clarkson C, Jacobs Z, Marwick B, Fullagar R, Wallis L, Smith M, Roberts RG, Hayes E, Lowe K, Carah X, Florin SA, McNeil J, Cox D, Arnold LJ, Hua Q, Huntley J, Brand HE, Manne T, Fairbairn A, Shulmeister J, Lyle L, Salinas M, Page M, Connell K, Park G, Norman K, Murphy T, Pardoe C | display-authors = 6 | title = Human occupation of northern Australia by 65,000 years ago | journal = Nature | volume = 547 | issue = 7663 | pages = 306–310 | date = July 2017 | pmid = 28726833 | doi = 10.1038/nature22968 | bibcode = 2017Natur.547..306C | s2cid = 205257212 | hdl = 2440/107043 }}</ref> the Americas around 15,000 years ago, and remote islands such as Hawaii, [[Easter Island]], [[Madagascar]], and [[New Zealand]] between the years 300 and 1280 CE.<ref name="Lowe">{{cite web| vauthors = Lowe DJ |year=2008|title=Polynesian settlement of New Zealand and the impacts of volcanism on early Maori society: an update|url=https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/10289/2690/1/Lowe%202008%20Polynesian%20settlement%20guidebook.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100522032853/https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/10289/2690/1/Lowe%202008%20Polynesian%20settlement%20guidebook.pdf|archive-date=22 May 2010|access-date=29 April 2010|publisher=University of Waikato}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Appenzeller T | title = Human migrations: Eastern odyssey | journal = Nature | volume = 485 | issue = 7396 | pages = 24–6 | date = May 2012 | pmid = 22552074 | doi = 10.1038/485024a | bibcode = 2012Natur.485...24A | doi-access = free }}</ref>  

An [[urban revolution]] took place in the [[4th millennium BC|4th millennium BCE]] with the development of [[city-state]]s, particularly [[Sumer]]ian cities located in [[Mesopotamia]].<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Garfinkle SJ, Bang PF, Scheidel W | veditors = Bang PF, Scheidel W |date=2013-02-01|title=Ancient Near Eastern City-States|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195188318.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195188318-e-4|access-date=2021-04-16|website=The Oxford Handbook of the State in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean |language=en |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195188318.001.0001|isbn=9780195188318}}</ref> It was in these cities that the earliest known form of writing, [[cuneiform script]], appeared around 3000 BCE.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Woods C | chapter = The Emergence of Cuneiform Writing|date=2020-02-28 |title = A Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Languages|pages=27–46| veditors = Hasselbach-Andee R |edition=1st |publisher=Wiley|language=en|doi=10.1002/9781119193814.ch2|isbn=978-1-119-19329-6 | s2cid = 216180781}}</ref> Other major civilizations to develop around this time were [[Ancient Egypt]] and the [[Indus Valley civilisation|Indus Valley Civilization]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Robinson A | title = Ancient civilization: Cracking the Indus script | journal = Nature | volume = 526 | issue = 7574 | pages = 499–501 | date = October 2015 | pmid = 26490603 | doi = 10.1038/526499a | bibcode = 2015Natur.526..499R | s2cid = 4458743 }}</ref> They eventually traded with each other and invented technology such as wheels, plows and sails.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Crawford H |title=The Sumerian World|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=978-1-136-21911-5 |pages=447–61|chapter=Trade in the Sumerian world}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{cite journal| vauthors = Bodnár M |date=2018|title=Prehistoric innovations: Wheels and wheeled vehicles|url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=714342|journal=Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae|language=English|volume=69|issue=2|pages=271–298|doi=10.1556/072.2018.69.2.3|s2cid=115685157|issn=0001-5210}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Pryor FL |date=1985|title=The Invention of the Plow|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/178600|journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History|volume=27|issue=4|pages=727–743|doi=10.1017/S0010417500011749|jstor=178600|s2cid=144840498|issn=0010-4175}}</ref><ref name="Carter">{{cite book|vauthors=Carter R |url=https://www.academia.edu/1576775|title=A companion to the archaeology of the ancient Near East|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2012|isbn=978-1-4051-8988-0|veditors=Potts DT |location=Chichester, West Sussex|pages=347–354|chapter=19. [[Watercraft]]|access-date=8 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428190743/https://www.academia.edu/1576775/Watercraft|archive-date=28 April 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Astronomy and mathematics were also developed and the [[Great Pyramid of Giza]] was built.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Pedersen O |title=Early physics and astronomy: A historical introduction.|publisher=CUP Archive|year=1993|isbn=978-0-521-40340-5|page=1|chapter=Science Before the Greeks}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Robson E |title=Mathematics in ancient Iraq: A social history.|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2008|pages=xxi}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Edwards JF |date=2003|title=Building the Great Pyramid: Probable Construction Methods Employed at Giza|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25148110|journal=Technology and Culture|volume=44|issue=2|pages=340–354|doi=10.1353/tech.2003.0063|jstor=25148110|s2cid=109998651|issn=0040-165X}}</ref> There is evidence of a [[4.2-kiloyear event|severe drought]] lasting about a hundred years that may have caused the decline of these civilizations,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Voosen P | title = New geological age comes under fire | journal = Science | volume = 361 | issue = 6402 | pages = 537–538 | date = August 2018 | pmid = 30093579 | doi = 10.1126/science.361.6402.537 | bibcode = 2018Sci...361..537V | s2cid = 51954326 }}</ref> with new ones appearing in the aftermath. [[Babylonia]]ns came to dominate Mesopotamia while others,<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Saggs HW |title=Babylonians|publisher=Univ of California Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-520-20222-1|page=7}}</ref> such as [[Poverty Point culture]]s, [[Minoan civilization|Minoans]] and the [[Shang dynasty]], rose to prominence in new areas.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Sassaman KE |date=2005-12-01|title=Poverty Point as Structure, Event, Process |journal=Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory|language=en|volume=12|issue=4|pages=335–364|doi=10.1007/s10816-005-8460-4|s2cid=53393440|issn=1573-7764}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lazaridis I, Mittnik A, Patterson N, Mallick S, Rohland N, Pfrengle S, Furtwängler A, Peltzer A, Posth C, Vasilakis A, McGeorge PJ, Konsolaki-Yannopoulou E, Korres G, Martlew H, Michalodimitrakis M, Özsait M, Özsait N, Papathanasiou A, Richards M, Roodenberg SA, Tzedakis Y, Arnott R, Fernandes DM, Hughey JR, Lotakis DM, Navas PA, Maniatis Y, Stamatoyannopoulos JA, Stewardson K, Stockhammer P, Pinhasi R, Reich D, Krause J, Stamatoyannopoulos G | display-authors = 6 | title = Genetic origins of the Minoans and Mycenaeans | journal = Nature | volume = 548 | issue = 7666 | pages = 214–218 | date = August 2017 | pmid = 28783727 | doi = 10.1038/nature23310 | pmc = 5565772 | bibcode = 2017Natur.548..214L }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Keightley DN |title=The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-521-47030-8 | veditors = Loewe M, Shaughnessy EL |pages=232–291|chapter=The Shang: China's first historical dynasty}}</ref> The Bronze Age suddenly [[Late Bronze Age collapse|collapsed]] around 1200 BCE, resulting in the disappearance of a number of civilizations and the beginning of the [[Greek Dark Ages]].<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Kaniewski D, Guiot J, van Campo E |date=2015|title=Drought and societal collapse 3200 years ago in the Eastern Mediterranean: a review |journal=WIREs Climate Change |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=369–382 |doi=10.1002/wcc.345 |s2cid=128460316}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Drake BL |date=2012-06-01|title=The influence of climatic change on the Late Bronze Age Collapse and the Greek Dark Ages |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=39|issue=6|pages=1862–1870 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2012.01.029 }}</ref> During this period iron started replacing bronze, leading to the [[Iron Age]].<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Wells PS | chapter =The Iron Age|date=2011 | title = European Prehistory: A Survey|pages=405–460| veditors = Milisauskas S |series=Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology|place=New York, NY|publisher=Springer|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-1-4419-6633-9_11|isbn=978-1-4419-6633-9 }}</ref>

In the 5th century BCE, history started being [[Historiography|recorded as a discipline]], which provided a much clearer picture of life at the time.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Hughes-Warrington M |title=History as Wonder: Beginning with Historiography.|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2018|isbn=978-0-429-76315-1 |location=United Kingdom|chapter=Sense and non-sense in Ancient Greek histories}}</ref> Between the 8th and 6th century BCE, Europe entered the [[classical antiquity]] age, a period when [[ancient Greece]] and [[ancient Rome]] flourished.<ref>{{cite web|date=2015-10-02| vauthors = Beard M | title = Why ancient Rome matters to the modern world|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/02/mary-beard-why-ancient-rome-matters|access-date=2021-04-17|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Vidergar AB |date=2015-06-11|title=Stanford scholar debunks long-held beliefs about economic growth in ancient Greece|url=https://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/june/greek-economy-growth-061115.html|access-date=2021-04-17|website=Stanford University|language=en}}</ref> Around this time other civilizations also came to prominence. The [[Maya civilization]] started to build cities and create [[Maya calendar|complex calendars]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Inomata T, Triadan D, Vázquez López VA, Fernandez-Diaz JC, Omori T, Méndez Bauer MB, García Hernández M, Beach T, Cagnato C, Aoyama K, Nasu H | display-authors = 6 | title = Monumental architecture at Aguada Fénix and the rise of Maya civilization | journal = Nature | volume = 582 | issue = 7813 | pages = 530–533 | date = June 2020 | pmid = 32494009 | doi = 10.1038/s41586-020-2343-4 | bibcode = 2020Natur.582..530I | s2cid = 219281856 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Milbrath S |date=March 2017|title=The Role of Solar Observations in Developing the Preclassic Maya Calendar |url= https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1045663516000043/type/journal_article |journal=Latin American Antiquity|language=en|volume=28|issue=1|pages=88–104|doi=10.1017/laq.2016.4|s2cid=164417025|issn=1045-6635}}</ref> In Africa, the [[Kingdom of Aksum]] overtook the declining [[Kingdom of Kush]] and facilitated trade between India and the Mediterranean.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Benoist A, Charbonnier J, Gajda I |date=2016|title=Investigating the eastern edge of the kingdom of Aksum: architecture and pottery from Wakarida|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45163415|journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies|volume=46|pages=25–40|jstor=45163415|issn=0308-8421}}</ref> In West Asia, the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Empire's]] system of centralized governance became the precursor to many later empires,<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Farazmand A |date=1998-01-01|title=Administration of the Persian achaemenid world-state empire: implications for modern public administration |journal=International Journal of Public Administration|volume=21|issue=1|pages=25–86|doi=10.1080/01900699808525297|issn=0190-0692}}</ref> while the [[Gupta Empire]] in India and the [[Han dynasty]] in China have been described as [[golden ages]] in their respective regions.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Ingalls DH |date=1976|title=Kālidāsa and the Attitudes of the Golden Age|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/599886|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=96|issue=1|pages=15–26|doi=10.2307/599886|jstor=599886|issn=0003-0279}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Xie J |date=2020|title=Pillars of Heaven: The Symbolic Function of Column and Bracket Sets in the Han Dynasty|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0066622X20000015/type/journal_article|journal=Architectural History|language=en|volume=63|pages=1–36|doi=10.1017/arh.2020.1|s2cid=229716130|issn=0066-622X}}</ref>

Throughout the [[early modern period]] (1500–1800), the [[Rise of the Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] controlled the lands around the [[Mediterranean Basin]],<ref>{{cite book | chapter = Ottomans and Europe|date=1994-01-01| chapter-url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004391659/BP000019.xml|title = Handbook of European History 1400-1600: Late Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation|pages=589–635| veditors = Brady T, Oberman T, Tracy JD |publisher=Brill |doi=10.1163/9789004391659_019|isbn=978-90-04-39165-9|access-date=2021-04-17}}</ref> Japan entered the [[Edo period]],<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia| vauthors = Goree R |title=The Culture of Travel in Edo-Period Japan|date=2020-11-19|url=https://oxfordre.com/asianhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277727-e-72|encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.72|isbn=978-0-19-027772-7|access-date=2021-05-07}}</ref> the [[Qing dynasty]] rose in China<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = Mosca MW |date=2010|title=CHINA'S LAST EMPIRE: The Great Qing|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/a516602ac28aba8955507e46ab41483e/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=25135|journal=Pacific Affairs|volume=83}}</ref> and the [[Mughal Empire]] ruled much of India.<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = Suyanta S, Ikhlas S |date=2016-07-19|title=Islamic Education at Mughal Kingdom in India (1526-1857)|url=https://journal.tarbiyahiainib.ac.id/index.php/attalim/article/view/228|journal=Al-Ta Lim Journal|volume=23|issue=2|pages=128–138|doi=10.15548/jt.v23i2.228|issn=2355-7893}}</ref> Europe underwent the [[Renaissance]], starting in the 15th century,<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Kirkpatrick R |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/893909816|title=The European Renaissance, 1400-1600|date=2002|isbn=978-1-317-88646-4|location=Harlow, England|page=1|oclc=893909816}}</ref> and the [[Age of Discovery]] began with the exploring and [[Colonialism|colonizing]] of new regions.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Arnold D |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/859536800|title=The Age of Discovery, 1400-1600|date=2002|isbn=978-1-136-47968-7|edition=Second|location=London|pages=xi|oclc=859536800}}</ref> This includes the [[British Empire]] expanding to become the [[Largest empire|world's largest empire]]<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Palan R |date=2010-01-14|title=International Financial Centers: The British-Empire, City-States and Commercially Oriented Politics|url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.2202/1565-3404.1239/html|journal=Theoretical Inquiries in Law|volume=11|issue=1|doi=10.2202/1565-3404.1239|s2cid=56216309|issn=1565-3404}}</ref> and [[European colonization of the Americas|the colonization of the Americas]].<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Dixon EJ |date= January 2001 |title=Human colonization of the Americas: timing, technology and process |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews|language=en|volume=20|issue=1–3 |pages=277–299|doi=10.1016/S0277-3791(00)00116-5|bibcode= 2001QSRv...20..277J }}</ref> This expansion led to the [[Atlantic slave trade]]<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = Lovejoy PE |date=1989 |title=The Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa: A Review of the Literature|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/182914|journal=The Journal of African History |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=365–394 |doi=10.1017/S0021853700024439 |jstor=182914|s2cid=161321949 |issn=0021-8537}}</ref> and the [[Genocide of indigenous peoples#Native American Genocide|genocide of Native American peoples]].<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Cave AA | chapter = Genocide in the Americas|date=2008 | title = The Historiography of Genocide|pages=273–295 | veditors = Stone D |place=London|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|language=en|doi=10.1057/9780230297784_11|isbn=978-0-230-29778-4}}</ref> This period also marked the [[Scientific Revolution]], with great advances in [[mathematics]], [[mechanics]], [[astronomy]] and [[physiology]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Delisle RG | title = Can a revolution hide another one? Charles Darwin and the Scientific Revolution | journal = Endeavour | volume = 38 | issue = 3–4 | pages = 157–8 | date = September 2014 | pmid = 25457642 | doi = 10.1016/j.endeavour.2014.10.001 }}</ref>

[[File:Distribution-of-earths-mammals.png|thumb|upright=1.5| Humans and their domesticated animals represent 96% of all mammalian biomass on earth, whereas all wild mammals represent only 4%.<ref name="Bar-On"/>]]

 

In 2018, 4.2 billion humans (55%) lived in urban areas, up from 751 million in 1950.<ref name=":12">{{cite web|date=2018-05-16|title=68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, says UN | work = United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) |url=https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html|access-date=2021-04-18 |language=en-US}}</ref> The most urbanized regions are Northern America (82%), Latin America (81%), Europe (74%) and Oceania (68%), with Africa and Asia having nearly 90% of the world's 3.4 billion rural population.<ref name=":12" /> Problems for humans living in cities include various forms of pollution and crime,<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Duhart DT | date = October 2000 | title = Urban, Suburban, and Rural Victimization, 1993–98 | publisher =  U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics | access-date = 1 October 2006 | url = https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/usrv98.pdf }}</ref> especially in inner city and suburban [[slum]]s. Humans have had a dramatic [[Human impact on the environment|effect on the environment]]. They are [[apex predator]]s, being rarely preyed upon by other species.<ref name="pmid24497513">{{cite journal | vauthors = Roopnarine PD | title = Humans are apex predators | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 111 | issue = 9 | pages = E796 | date = March 2014 | pmid = 24497513 | pmc = 3948303 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1323645111 | bibcode = 2014PNAS..111E.796R | doi-access = free }}</ref> Human [[population growth]], industrialization, land development, [[overconsumption]] and combustion of [[fossil fuels]] have led to [[Environmental degradation|environmental destruction]] and [[pollution]] that significantly contributes to the ongoing [[mass extinction]] of other forms of life.<ref name="Stokstad">{{cite web|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/landmark-analysis-documents-alarming-global-decline-nature|title=Landmark analysis documents the alarming global decline of nature| vauthors = Stokstad E |date=5 May 2019|website=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science|AAAS]]|language=en|access-date=9 May 2021|quote="For the first time at a global scale, the report has ranked the causes of damage. Topping the list, changes in land use—principally agriculture—that have destroyed habitat. Second, hunting and other kinds of exploitation. These are followed by climate change, pollution, and invasive species, which are being spread by trade and other activities. Climate change will likely overtake the other threats in the next decades, the authors note. Driving these threats are the growing human population, which has doubled since 1970 to 7.6 billion, and consumption. (Per capita of use of materials is up 15% over the past 5 decades.)"}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Pimm S, Raven P, Peterson A, Sekercioglu CH, Ehrlich PR|date=July 2006|title=Human impacts on the rates of recent, present, and future bird extinctions|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=103|issue=29|pages=10941–6|bibcode=2006PNAS..10310941P|doi=10.1073/pnas.0604181103|pmc=1544153|pmid=16829570|doi-access=free}}* {{cite journal|vauthors=Barnosky AD, Koch PL, Feranec RS, Wing SL, Shabel AB|date=October 2004|title=Assessing the causes of late Pleistocene extinctions on the continents|journal=Science|volume=306|issue=5693|pages=70–5|bibcode=2004Sci...306...70B|citeseerx=10.1.1.574.332|doi=10.1126/science.1101476|pmid=15459379|s2cid=36156087}}</ref> They are the main contributor to global [[climate change]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Climate Change 2001: Working Group I: The Scientific Basis|url=https://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/007.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070601014140/https://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/007.htm|archive-date=1 June 2007|access-date=30 May 2007|publisher=grida.no/}}</ref> which may accelerate the [[Holocene extinction]].<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Lewis OT|date=January 2006|title=Climate change, species-area curves and the extinction crisis|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences|volume=361|issue=1465|pages=163–71|doi=10.1098/rstb.2005.1712|pmc=1831839|pmid=16553315}}</ref><ref name="Stokstad"/>

Compared with other species, human childbirth is dangerous, with a much higher risk of complications and death.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Rosenberg KR |date=1992|title=The evolution of modern human childbirth |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|language=en|volume=35|issue=S15|pages=89–124|doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330350605|issn=1096-8644}}</ref> The size of the fetus's head is more closely matched to the [[pelvis]] than other primates.<ref name="Pavlicev">{{cite journal | vauthors = Pavličev M, Romero R, Mitteroecker P | title = Evolution of the human pelvis and obstructed labor: new explanations of an old obstetrical dilemma | journal = American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology | volume = 222 | issue = 1 | pages = 3–16 | date = January 2020 | pmid = 31251927 | doi = 10.1016/j.ajog.2019.06.043 | pmc = 9069416 | s2cid = 195761874 }}</ref> The reason for this is not completely understood,{{#tag:ref|Traditionally this has been explained by conflicting [[evolutionary pressure]]s involved in bipedalism and encephalization (called the [[obstetrical dilemma]]), but recent research suggest it might be more complicated than that.<ref name="Pavlicev"/><ref>{{cite news|title=The real reasons why childbirth is so painful and dangerous| vauthors = Barras C |date=22 December 2016|publisher=BBC}}</ref>|group=n}} but it contributes to a painful labor that can last 24 hours or more.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Kantrowitz B | date = 2 July 2007 | title = What Kills One Woman Every Minute of Every Day? | work = [[Newsweek]] | url = https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19389326/site/newsweek/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070628160443/https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19389326/site/newsweek/ | archive-date = 28 June 2007 | quote = A woman dies in childbirth every minute, most often due to uncontrolled bleeding and infection, with the world's poorest women most vulnerable. The lifetime risk is 1 in 16 in [[sub-Saharan Africa]], compared to 1 in 2,800 in [[developed countries]]. }}</ref> The chances of a successful labor increased significantly during the 20th century in wealthier countries with the advent of new medical technologies. In contrast, pregnancy and [[natural childbirth]] remain hazardous ordeals in developing regions of the world, with [[maternal death rates]] approximately 100 times greater than in developed countries.<ref name="Rush2000">{{cite journal | vauthors = Rush D | title = Nutrition and maternal mortality in the developing world | journal = The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition | volume = 72 | issue = 1 Suppl | pages = 212S–240S | date = July 2000 | pmid = 10871588 | doi = 10.1093/ajcn/72.1.212S }}</ref>

Humans have a larger and more developed [[prefrontal cortex]] than other primates, the region of the brain associated with higher [[cognition]].<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Stern P |date=2018-06-22|title=The human prefrontal cortex is special|url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.2018.360.6395.twil|journal=Science|language=en|volume=360|issue=6395|pages=1311–1312|doi=10.1126/science.360.6395.1311-g|bibcode=2018Sci...360S1311S|s2cid=149581944|issn=0036-8075}}</ref> This has led humans to proclaim themselves to be more [[intelligence|intelligent]] than any other known species.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Erickson R |date=2014-09-22|title=Are Humans the Most Intelligent Species?|journal=Journal of Intelligence|language=en|volume=2|issue=3|pages=119–121|doi=10.3390/jintelligence2030119|issn=2079-3200|doi-access=free}}</ref> Objectively defining intelligence is difficult, with other animals adapting senses and excelling in areas that humans are unable to.<ref>{{cite web|title=Humans not smarter than animals, just different, experts say|url=https://phys.org/news/2013-12-humans-smarter-animals-experts.html|access-date=2020-10-24|website=phys.org|language=en}}</ref>

Although the exact level of religiosity can be hard to measure,<ref name="Hall2008">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hall DE, Meador KG, Koenig HG | title = Measuring religiousness in health research: review and critique | journal = Journal of Religion and Health | volume = 47 | issue = 2 | pages = 134–63 | date = June 2008 | pmid = 19105008 | doi = 10.1007/s10943-008-9165-2 | pmc = 8823950 | type = Submitted manuscript | s2cid = 25349208 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1232820 }}</ref> a majority of humans profess some variety of religious or spiritual belief.<ref>{{cite news| vauthors = Sherwood H |date=2018-08-27|title=Religion: why faith is becoming more and more popular|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/aug/27/religion-why-is-faith-growing-and-what-happens-next|access-date=2020-10-08|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In 2015 the plurality were [[Christians|Christian]] followed by [[Muslims]], [[Hindus]] and [[Buddhism|Buddhists]].<ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Hackett C, McClendon D |date=2017|title=Christians remain world's largest religious group, but they are declining in Europe|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/05/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe/|access-date=2020-10-08|website=Pew Research Center|language=en-US}}</ref> As of 2015, about 16%, or slightly under 1.2 billion humans, were [[irreligious]], including those with no religious beliefs or no identity with any religion.<ref>{{cite web|date=2017-04-05|title=The Changing Global Religious Landscape|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/05/the-changing-global-religious-landscape/|access-date=2020-10-08|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|language=en-US}}</ref>

Society is the system of organizations and institutions arising from interaction between humans. Humans are highly social and tend to live in large complex social groups. They can be divided into different groups according to their income, wealth, [[power (social and political)|power]], [[reputation]] and other factors. The structure of [[social stratification]] and the degree of [[social mobility]] differs, especially between modern and traditional societies.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=Social Stratification |url=https://web.unitn.it/files/download/8481/srs_schizzerotto_social_stratification_2_as.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320150018/https://web.unitn.it/files/download/8481/srs_schizzerotto_social_stratification_2_as.pdf |archive-date=20 March 2018 |access-date=3 July 2017 |publisher=[[University of Trento]] |vauthors=Schizzerotto A}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=June 2022}} Human groups range from the size of [[Family|families]] to nations. The first form of human social organization is thought to have resembled [[hunter-gatherer]] [[Band society|band societies]].<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Fukuyama F |title=The origins of political order : from prehuman times to the French Revolution|date=2012|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|isbn=978-0-374-53322-9|page=53|oclc=1082411117}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=June 2022}}

{{main|Gender|}}

 

Human societies typically exhibit [[Gender role|gender roles]] that distinguish between [[Masculinity|masculine]] and [[Femininity|feminine]] characteristics and prescribe the range of acceptable behaviours and attitudes for their members based on their [[sex]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Social Role Theory of Sex Differences and Similarities : A Current Appraisal |date=2000 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781410605245-12/social-role-theory-sex-differences-similarities-current-appraisal |work=The Developmental Social Psychology of Gender |pages=137–188 |publisher=Psychology Press |doi=10.4324/9781410605245-12 |isbn=978-1-4106-0524-5 |access-date=2022-06-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2003 |title=Gender Roles and Society |encyclopedia=Human Ecology: An Encyclopedia of Children, Families, Communities, and Environments |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa barbara, CA |url=https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/soc_facpub/1/ |last=Blackstone |first=Amy |editor-last=Miller |editor-first=Julia R. |editor2-last=Lerner |editor2-first=Richard M. |editor3-last=Schiamberg |editor3-first=Lawrence B. }}</ref> The most common categorisation is a [[gender binary]] of [[men]] and [[women]].<ref name="Nadal-re-binary">Kevin L. Nadal, ''The SAGE Encyclopedia of Psychology and Gender'' (2017, {{ISBN|1483384276}}), page 401: "Most cultures currently construct their societies based on the understanding of gender binary—the two gender categorizations (male and female). Such societies divide their population based on biological sex assigned to individuals at birth to begin the process of gender socialization."</ref> Many societies recognise a [[third gender]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Herdt |first=Gilbert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8nf8DwAAQBAJ |title=Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-942130-52-9 |location=Princeton, NJ |pages=21–83 |language=en |chapter=Third Sexes and Third Genders}}</ref> or less commonly a fourth or fifth.<ref>Trumbach, Randolph (1994). ''London's Sapphists: From Three Sexes to Four Genders in the Making of Modern Culture.'' In Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History, edited by Gilbert Herdt, 111-36. New York: Zone (MIT). {{ISBN|978-0-942299-82-3}}</ref><ref name="Graham">Graham, Sharyn (2001), [http://www.insideindonesia.org/weekly-articles/sulawesis-fifth-gender Sulawesi's fifth gender], [[Inside Indonesia]], April–June 2001.</ref> In some other societies, [[Non-binary gender|non-binary]] is used as an umbrella term for a range of [[Gender identity|gender identities]] that are not solely male or female.<ref name="richardsetal">{{Cite journal |last1=Richards |first1=Christina |last2=Bouman |first2=Walter Pierre |last3=Seal |first3=Leighton |last4=Barker |first4=Meg John |last5=Nieder |first5=Timo O. |last6=T'Sjoen |first6=Guy |date=2016 |title=Non-binary or genderqueer genders |url=https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/7279758 |url-status=live |journal=International Review of Psychiatry |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=95–102 |doi=10.3109/09540261.2015.1106446 |pmid=26753630 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626224658/https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/7279758 |archive-date=26 June 2019 |access-date=9 June 2019 |hdl-access=free |s2cid=29985722 |hdl=1854/LU-7279758}}</ref>

 

Gender roles are often associated with a division of [[social norm|norm]]s, [[practice (social theory)|practices]], [[clothing|dress]], [[social behavior|behavior]], [[rights]], [[duty|duties]], [[Privilege (social inequality)|privileges]], [[social status|status]], and [[power (social and political)|power]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}} As a [[Social constructionism|social construct]],<ref name="www.who.int">{{Cite web |title=What do we mean by "sex" and "gender"? |url=https://apps.who.int/gender/whatisgender/en/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170130022356/https://apps.who.int/gender/whatisgender/en/ |archive-date=30 January 2017 |access-date=26 November 2015 |publisher=[[World Health Organization]]}}</ref> gender roles are not fixed and vary historically within a society. Challenges to predominant gender norms have recurred in many societies.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lc-YBRQkldAC&pg=PA143 |title=Essential Concepts for Healthy Living |vauthors=Alters S, Schiff W |publisher=[[Jones & Bartlett Publishers]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-0763756413 |page=143 |access-date=January 3, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author-link1=Nicole Fortin |vauthors=Fortin N |year=2005 |title=Gender Role Attitudes and the Labour Market Outcomes of Women Across OECD Countries |journal=Oxford Review of Economic Policy |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=416–438 |doi=10.1093/oxrep/gri024}}</ref> Little is known about gender roles in the earliest human societies. [[Early modern human]]s probably had a range of gender roles similar to that of modern cultures from at least the [[Upper Paleolithic]], while the [[Neanderthal]]s were less sexually dimorphic and there is evidence that the behavioural difference between males and females was minimal.<ref>{{Citation |last=Dobres |first=Marcia‐Anne |title=Gender in the Earliest Human Societies |date=2020-11-27 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119535812.ch11 |work=A Companion to Global Gender History |pages=183–204 |editor-last=Meade |editor-first=Teresa A. |edition=1 |publisher=Wiley |language=en |doi=10.1002/9781119535812.ch11 |isbn=978-1-119-53580-5 |access-date=2022-06-10 |editor2-last=Wiesner‐Hanks |editor2-first=Merry E. |s2cid=229399965}}</ref>

All human societies organize, recognize and classify types of social relationships based on relations between parents, children and other descendants ([[consanguinity]]), and relations through [[marriage]] ([[Affinity (law)|affinity]]). There is also a third type applied to [[godparent]]s or [[Adoption|adoptive children]] ([[Fictive kinship|fictive]]). These culturally defined relationships are referred to as kinship. In many societies, it is one of the most important social organizing principles and plays a role in transmitting status and [[inheritance]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Nature of Kinship: Overview|url=https://www2.palomar.edu/anthro/kinship/kinship_1.htm|access-date=2020-10-24|website=www2.palomar.edu}}</ref>&nbsp;All societies have rules of [[incest taboo]], according to which marriage between certain kinds of kin relations are prohibited, and some also have rules of preferential marriage with certain kin relations.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Itao K, Kaneko K | title = Evolution of kinship structures driven by marriage tie and competition | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 117 | issue = 5 | pages = 2378–2384 | date = February 2020 | pmid = 31964846 | pmc = 7007516 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1917716117 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

As farming populations gathered in larger and denser communities, interactions between these different groups increased. This led to the development of governance within and between the communities.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Christian D |url=https://archive.org/details/mapsoftimeintrod00chri|title=Maps of Time|date=2004|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-24476-4|url-access=registration}}</ref> Humans have evolved the ability to change affiliation with various social groups relatively easily, including previously strong political alliances, if doing so is seen as providing personal advantages.<ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Cronk L, Leech BL | date = 20 September 2017 |title=How Did Humans Get So Good at Politics?|url=https://www.sapiens.org/evolution/human-evolution-politics/|access-date=2020-10-24|website=SAPIENS|language=en-US}}</ref> This [[cognitive flexibility]] allows individual humans to change their political ideologies, with those with higher flexibility less likely to support authoritarian and nationalistic stances.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zmigrod L, Rentfrow PJ, Robbins TW | title = Cognitive underpinnings of nationalistic ideology in the context of Brexit | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 115 | issue = 19 | pages = E4532–E4540 | date = May 2018 | pmid = 29674447 | pmc = 5948950 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1708960115 | s2cid = 4993139 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Governments create [[law]]s and [[policies]] that affect the citizens that they govern. There have been [[List of forms of government|many forms of government]] throughout human history, each having various means of obtaining power and the ability to exert diverse controls on the population.<ref>{{cite web| date = 14 February 2011 | vauthors = Melina R |title=What Are the Different Types of Governments?|url=https://www.livescience.com/33027-what-are-the-different-types-of-governments.html|access-date=2020-10-24|website=livescience.com|language=en}}</ref> As of 2017, more than half of all national governments are [[democracy|democracies]], with 13% being [[autocracy|autocracies]] and 28% containing elements of both.<ref>{{cite web| vauthors = DeSilver D |title=Despite global concerns about democracy, more than half of countries are democratic|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/05/14/more-than-half-of-countries-are-democratic/|access-date=2020-10-24|website=Pew Research Center|language=en-US}}</ref> Many countries have formed [[Intergovernmental organization|international political organizations and alliances]], the largest being the [[United Nations]] with 193 member states.<ref>{{cite web |author = National Geographic Society |date=2012-12-23|title=international organization|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/international-organization/|access-date=2020-10-24|website=National Geographic Society|language=en}}</ref>