Seshat Global History Databank

Seshat: Global History Databank is an international scientific research project founded in 2011 to systematically compile historical and archaeological data from hundreds of human societies across the globe spanning the past 5,000 years. The databank codes hundreds of social variables — including population size, territory, hierarchy levels, governance structures, information systems, and warfare technologies.

The data is used by historians, sociologists, and evolutionary scientists to empirically test competing theories about the rise of social complexity, state collapse, and long-term institutional change. Seshat’s datasets and polity definitions are published openly for academic and historical research.