Diplomacy in a Global Early Modernity: The Ambiguity of Sovereignty

Abstract

This is a concluding comment on the chapters of this special issue. After a discussion of the articles, we will take a closer look at the new view of European diplomacy and foreign relations. The historiographical change regarding early modern foreign relations has fundamentally altered the way we interpret the roles, the agencies and the loyalties of early modern envoys. Taking the conclusions of this research into account, we ask if diplomatic actors of the ancient regime differed distinctly from their Asian counterparts at all. Then, as a final point, we examine how fundamental changes in the Sattelzeit–particularly in Europe, but also in the context of global power relations–affected intercultural diplomacy.     

Prehistoric demography of North America inferred from radiocarbon data

Large radiocarbon datasets are increasingly used as a paleodemographic proxy, although potential sources of bias in such records are poorly understood. In this paper, we use more than 25,000 radiocarbon dates extracted from the Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database (CARD) to estimate long-term population trends in North America, while critically examining biases in such records. The frequency distribution of CARD dates shows a positive curvilinear pattern, such that older dates exist in lower numbers than more recent dates, which in part reflects the removal of cultural carbon from the archaeological record through processes such as erosion and dissolution. The average annual growth rate of radiocarbon dates in CARD was calculated and used to derive estimates of the population of North America from the Paleo-Indian to the Contact Periods. While taphonomic bias has likely affected the CARD data, other factors, such as the overrepresentation of Paleo-Indian and Archaic radiocarbon dates, may have offset any bias due to taphonomy. A quantitative reconstruction of Native American population shows that population increased rapidly around 2000 cal yr BP, reaching a maximum of 2,500,000 people by ～AD 1150. From this time until European contact, the population declined, possibly due to the effects of increased sedentism and population density.