When did humans start marking their land with borders?

Answer 1

i would say , from the time when the actual land was bought or swapped or divided out of a larger parcel, this would establish true boundary's of ownership....there are ancient references dating back to the middle ages where actual surveyors were ordered to establish the kingdom's boundary so no other pagan could lay claim.....

Answer 2

That is actually an interesting question. I guess you could tie it to the advent of writing. I know some primitive tribes today use landmarks such as rock formations to mark hunting territories. I know that most animals will mark hunting territory. It is possible our own ancestors did the same with the methods of marking territory changing with evolution.

Answer 3

If you look at primates like chimpanzees, it is observed that they hunt and have territories. These territories have fluctuating borders depending on the strength of the troop and these borders also overlap with neighbouring troops. As-of-such, the actual advent of the hunting-gathering subsistence structure would only have been stable enough to create "soft" borders with their neighbours. Even in the homesteads of modern hunter-gathering societies it is witnessed that everywhere outside the individual family dwellings is communal so the only demarcation of land is the walls and entrance of their dwelling, but that is not putting borders on "land". With pastoralism you have the introduction of areas bordered for holding animals, but in smaller groups especially these corrals, once again, are frequently a communal holding for their animals. By the time writing, as a symbolic system of retaining facts, came about, our bordering system would already have been part of our social structure as the first relics of writing are clearly the remnants of large scale bartering, and this type of bartering that needed record keeping required much larger holdings then hunter-gatherers had, so we need to look at the roots of such hoarding and trade. The social/technological change that would have seen the introduction of numerous "hard" borders would have been the introduction of agriculture. It was this step in our technological level that now required our species to clearly demarcate borders so that each individual would not only know his wealth/holdings/production, but also to know which area was his responsibility for producing for his family and the greater society seeing as frequently these land holdings/use required payment to an emperor, king or religious figure. With the sedentary nature of agriculture this also encouraged hoarding and an increased sense of the value of commodities. Land increasingly became seen as a producer of commodities and eventually as a commodity itself. Agriculture also allowed for the development of cities and a division of social responsibilities such that everyone was no longer tied to the land, yet for their security all these people still wanted a clearly marked off entitlement to what was theirs. The feudal system redefined some of these relationships such that the King owned all the land and granted use to his Lords while some people (serfs) belonged to certain pieces of land, but even this system had clear borders and was simply a social re-ordering so that it would be easier to draft for military campaigns. Anyways, despite the social structure around it, agriculture was the original impetus towards the clear demarcation of land. It is generally accepted that this adaptation first began in the Fertile Crescent between the Tigris and the Euphrates at around 9500 BC, and that by 7000 BC it was entrenched as a subsistence system in Egypt as well. Agriculture also emerged independently in the Americas. I'm not sure of its date of origin in the Americas, but that is not important; simply that it came about and allowed for the demarcation and development of large cities and farms with clear "hard" demarcating borders as well there. Wherever agriculture thrives, these borders are sure to follow!

Answer 4

Ha ha, in the caves. Primates do as well. Many animals mark "their" territory, including dogs,cats, bears, and wolves. Of course it all started with the critters. Read "The Territorial Imperative" by Robert Ardrey. Great question!

Answer 5

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