u/IAmNiceISwear

Land is circumscribed in PNG, but the island also has some of the most difficult to govern terrain imaginable- thick rainforest on mountains. Even large imperial states struggled to exert authority over the interior of PNG, so it does not seem strange to me that large states were unable to form on the island, even under conditions of competition and conflict.

If geography is taken into account, as far as I can see, the circumscription theory of state formation seems fairly plausible, at least when considering PNG. Competition for resources led to conflict, and the formation of social hierarchies, but geography constrained the capacity for small communities to expand their influence and dominate new territories, as PNG’s terrain significantly restricts the capacity for expansion. So PNG remained divided into a large number of small communities, who often fought one another.

Is there any merit to this perspective, or is there something I am missing?

I don’t know very much about telecoms, but from my understanding, when a phone is turned on, it sends out requests to connect to nearby towers, and if the network is functioning as intended, a nearby tower will respond and allow the phone to connect.

My question is “how does this process occur?”.

Specifically, how does the phone identify which signals are coming from nearby towers, as opposed to coming from a different source? Is it pre-programmed to search certain frequencies?

And when the phone requests to connect, how does the tower recognise this initial request as coming from a phone on the network? Is there a dedicated frequency for establishing contact with nearby towers?

I sort of understand how a phone can send and receive signals once it is connected to a tower, but I am still confused about how the phone manages to identify and register with a tower, given that it is probably receiving signals from many different sources. How does it identify which signals are coming from a tower?

Thanks for your help.

I don’t know very much about telecoms, but from my understanding, when a phone is turned on, it sends out requests to connect to nearby towers, and if the network is functioning as intended, a nearby tower will respond and allow the phone to connect.

My question is “how exactly does this process occur?”.

Does each tower constantly send out some kind of ID/test signal that phones can use to see it as a potential source of signal that can be contacted? If so, is this ID signal on its own dedicated frequency, broadcasting 24/7? If not, how does the phone identify the relevant signal as the ID of a tower, out of all the signals it receives?

Also, when the phone is registering with the tower, does this also happen on its own dedicated frequency, or would it happen on the same frequencies used to send messages and carry phone calls? And if so, does that mean that if a tower was overloaded, then a phone wouldn’t be able to connect to it?

I sort of understand how a phone can send and receive signals once it is connected to a tower, but I am still confused about how the phone manages to identify and register with a tower.

Thanks for your help.

Thanks for your help. Music starts around 1:10.

Is there information available about their agricultural practices? I have done some basic googling and found very little, so far, but maybe I am using the wrong terms.

What I’m hoping to find out is basic information about how they farmed. Did they use rivers for irrigation, or rainfall? Did they regularly relocate their settlements to overcome issues of soil exhaustion, or could they remain in the same place for extended periods of time (decades or more)? Did they construct infrastructure to help them farm, like irrigation channels and terraces, or could the terrain in which they lived be farmed with relatively little investment?

If any of you have any information about Olmec farming practices, or any links or sources you think might be useful, I would appreciate hearing what you have to say (whether or not it specifically answers any of the questions above).

Thanks for your time, and any help you may be able to provide.

Or, conversely are there terms for organisms that are reproducing at or below replacement?