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No Way Back, 2025An excerpt from a self-published edition which, by comparing historical artifacts, examines how regional, diverse and sustainable societies function in practice. Illustrated through a selection of artifacts from The Met Collection (CC0), dating from 5600 BC to 1600 AD. The study examines the selection from the perspective of deep ecology, focusing on Arne Næss’s ideas in There Is No Point of No Return. The end date of 1600 AD falls immediately before the period of intense global colonial expansion and industrial extraction of raw materials, allowing the study to focus on local, self-sufficient ways of life before these were disrupted on a global scale and became the exception rather than the rule.
By pairing and contrasting different objects across cultures and time periods, this analysis demonstrates how different societies have found functionally or morphologically comparable, albeit distinct, solutions to fundamental social and environmental challenges. Rather than viewing sustainability as a single, universally applicable rule, historical evidence shows that sustainable living is always shaped by local contexts. It grows naturally from the specific physical constraints of a landscape and the collective knowledge of a community. Therefore, our planet acts as a flexible space of possibilities, supporting many different stable cultures that fit their own specific local conditions. 
The point where these stable societies break down is explained by Næss’s idea that problems begin when humans displace other humans and size their resources. This turning point can be seen in artifacts that show a shift away from local, balanced resource use and toward systems based on conquest, political expansion, or unfair trade dominance.
This series of objects is therefore not intended as a model for a return to the past, but as a proof of existence. It shows that over millennia, radically different, inherently stable material cultures were possible. Connecting these findings with Næss’s idea of the many paths, this study concludes that cultural and ecological diversity itself is the necessary foundation for long-term sustainability. 
In short, there is no way back to societies that belong to the past, but there is a way back to ecological sustainability. In fact, there is not just one way but many ways, so that widely different, sustainable cultures are possible.

Of course, there is no way back in general, but it is important to remember that global unsustainability is something very new and that for a wide variety of stable cultures, our planet was a tremendously big, rich, eminently hospitable, and benign world. Difficulties had to arise only when human beings pressed away other human beings from the areas where life was easiest, or at least not a greater challenge than desired.

It is to be hoped that an everincreasing minority will view unsustainability as an undignified, stupid – if not plainly ridiculous – state of affairs. One also hopes that an increasing minority will express this attitude with increasing boldness – but without arrogance, since few activists can avoid making use of the facilities offered in the industrial societies.

Arne Næss, There is No Point of No Return, 2021: p. 98, p. 99.


L: Big Daisy Mold, New Kingdom, ca. 1390-1352 BC
R: Bead in the form of a daisy, New Kingdom, ca. 1390-1352 BC
L: Bead ornament of Hapiankhtifi, Middle Kingdom, ca. 1981-1802 BC
R: Beads and pendants, Middle Kingdom, ca. 1981-1640 BC
L: Carriage-wheel stone bracelet (sharinseki), Japan, 4th century AD
R: Chlorite spouted carinated cup, Minoan, ca. 2000-1800 BC
L: Bronze ring key, Roman, 3rd-4th century AD
R: Cylindrical Vessel, Maya, 1st-2nd century AD
L: Architectural Ornament, Bunch of Grapes, New Kingdom, ca. 1390-1352 BC
R: Amulet, Fish, Middle Kingdom, Second Intermediate Period, ca. 1981-1550 BC
L: Faience bowl, Cypriot, ca. 1300-1200 BC
R: Glass mosaic fragment, Greek, Eastern Mediterranean, ca. 2nd century BC
L: Ear Stud, New Kingdom, ca. 1390-1352 BC
R: Eye inlay for a statue, Sumerian, ca. 2600-2500 BC
L: Earring with garnet, Roman, 1st-3rd century AD
R: Earring, Avar, 3rd century AD
L: Glass bottle with three feet, Roman, mid-1st century AD
R: Furniture support, lions leg, Old Assyrian Trading Colony, ca. 18th century BC
L: Glass die, Roman, 1st-2nd century AD
R: Glass ligula (ear pick), Roman, 1st century AD or later
L: Limestone incense burner on four legs, Cypriot, 6th century BC
R: Lock, Byzantine, 11th century AD or later
L: Glass double cosmetic flask (kohl tube), Roman, Syrian, 4th century AD
R: Deep Vessel with Handles, Japan, 3500-2500 BC
L: Jewelry element in the form of a djed pillar, Middle Kingdom, ca. 1878-1805 BC
R: Jewelry element in the shape of a star, New Kingdom, ca. 1390-1352 BC
L: Glass needle, Roman, ca. 1st century AD
R: Heart Amulet, New Kingdom, Ramesside, ca. 1295-1070 BC
L: Key, Late Roman or Frankish, 3rd-5th century AD
R: Knob with an eight-petaled rosette, Assyrian, ca. 883-859 BC
L: Glass pin, Roman, 1st century AD
R: Glass ribbed bowl, Roman, 1st-3rd quarter of 1st century AD
L: Gold Belt Mount with Loop, Avar, 7th century AD
R: Goblet, Iran, ca. 3365-3030 BC
L: Glazed disk in the shape of rosette, New Kingdom, ca. 1279-1213 BC
R: Gold pendant with granulated ornament, Cypriot, ca. 1400-1050 BC
L: Ewer, 12th century AD
R: Ox leg dish, New Kingdom, ca. 1550-1295 BC
L: Patchwork of Woven Textiles, China, 13th–14th century AD
R: Pin, Late Roman, 3rd-4th century AD
L: Glass stirring rod, Roman, ca. 1st–2nd century AD
R: Glass stirring rod, Roman, 1st century AD
L: Spoon, Coptic, 580-640 AD 
R: Pitcher, French, 13th century AD
L: Chlorite pestle, Cypriot, ca. 1600-1050 BC 
R: Chlorite mortar, Cypriot, ca. 1600-700 BC