The record of past human adaptations provides crucial lessons for guiding responses to crises in the future^1,2,3. To date, there have been no systematic global comparisons of humans’ ability to absorb and recover from disturbances through time^4,5. Here we synthesized resilience across a broad sample of prehistoric population time–frequency data, spanning 30,000 years of human history. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of population decline show that frequent disturbances enhance a population’s capacity to resist and recover from later downturns. Land-use patterns are important mediators of the strength of this positive association: farming and herding societies are more vulnerable but also more resilient overall. The results show that important trade-offs exist when adopting new or alternative land-use strategies.

过去人类适应的记录为指导未来应对危机提供了重要的教训^1,2,3。迄今为止，还没有对人类在一段时间内吸收干扰和从干扰中恢复的能力进行系统性的全球比较^4,5。在这里，我们综合了跨越 30,000 年人类历史的史前人口时频数据的广泛样本的复原力。对人口下降的横断面和纵向分析表明，频繁的干扰增强了人口抵抗后期衰退并从中恢复的能力。土地利用模式是这种积极关联强度的重要调节因素：农牧社会更脆弱，但整体上也更具弹性。结果表明，在采用新的或替代的土地利用策略时，存在重要的权衡。