This is what makes all these historical land claims so ridiculous.
Any land where humans can live has changed hands thousands of times. Normally, it changed hands as a result of violence. Add to that that the self-identity of groups has also changed over time. The people who think of themselves as Italians today, once thought of themselves as say Venetians. The Venetians once thought of themselves as Romans. Go back even further and you’ll probably find yet another group.
No group can ever claim that they’re the rightful owners of such-and-such a land, because inevitably somewhere back in history it was forcefully taken by another group.
Even in North America, where the colonists killed off natives to take their land, those natives had killed or driven off different natives to take that land before white people ever set sail from Europe. We know this because the first whites discovered fortified native villages. Why build fortified villages if people aren’t taking others’ territory by force? We also know it because even chimpanzees fight over territory, so it’s a behaviour that goes back to a time before humans even existed.
Fortification goes hand in hand with agriculture, as dependence on growing crops grows, land becomes more important, and people are more likely to both attack and defend it. If you look in areas where the people depended more on hunting you don’t see those same fortifications.
This is what makes all these historical land claims so ridiculous.
Any land where humans can live has changed hands thousands of times. Normally, it changed hands as a result of violence. Add to that that the self-identity of groups has also changed over time. The people who think of themselves as Italians today, once thought of themselves as say Venetians. The Venetians once thought of themselves as Romans. Go back even further and you’ll probably find yet another group.
No group can ever claim that they’re the rightful owners of such-and-such a land, because inevitably somewhere back in history it was forcefully taken by another group.
Even in North America, where the colonists killed off natives to take their land, those natives had killed or driven off different natives to take that land before white people ever set sail from Europe. We know this because the first whites discovered fortified native villages. Why build fortified villages if people aren’t taking others’ territory by force? We also know it because even chimpanzees fight over territory, so it’s a behaviour that goes back to a time before humans even existed.
Fortification goes hand in hand with agriculture, as dependence on growing crops grows, land becomes more important, and people are more likely to both attack and defend it. If you look in areas where the people depended more on hunting you don’t see those same fortifications.