Abstract
The transition to agriculture is widely recognized as a major turning point in human history, yet considerable variation exists in when and where farming was adopted across societies. This study investigates and tests different hypotheses on whether social and ecological factors are associated to the establishment or separation of large, complex societies. Using data from Turchin et al., 2013, the authors examined relationships among agricultural history, distance from the Steppe, and multiple indicators of social complexity through Pearson and Spearman analyses, as well as generalized least squares (GLS) regression models that accounted for spatial autocorrelation. The results showed that societies with longer histories of agriculture and those who experience intense warfare, based on proximity from the Eurasian steppe, exhibited higher levels of social complexity, with several relationships remaining significant after controlling for geographic and environmental factors. Overall, the study suggests that both the antiquity of agriculture and patterns of geographic distance contributed to long-term cultural evolution, highlighting the importance of historical and spatial processes in shaping cross-cultural variation among human societies.