New Delhi, April 15 -- Economic inequality between the rich and poor may seem like a modern problem, but new archaeological evidence suggests it has existed for over 10,000 years.

A recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that human settlements with greater material inequality tended to last for longer periods. However, the authors clarified that this correlation did not imply causation - inequality was not necessarily the reason for the longevity of these settlements.

"What we found is that, as humankind's systems become larger and more complex, inequality has tended to increase alongside longer persistence. But the two are not mutually dependant, showing that humankind might be able ...