FWIW, I recently read (don't have the source handy) that in none of the barbarian invasions of W Europe were the invaders ever more than 5% of the population, the sole and drastic exception being of course the Angle/Saxon/Jute invasion of England. I note that the use of French was declining rapidly among the upper classes in England 150 years after the Norman Conquest, and the French component of the population reached 20% by the end of William I's reign. Assuming similar cultural and linguistic processes, it would surprise me if the Hammer, living over 200 years after a conquest in which there were far fewer conquerors, spoke German at all.

Love your footnote. Enough to blog it, even. ;)

OK, now that I've done that, I'm going to question the applicability of your reference to the "rule of 150." Numerous organizations of all types, including polities, several orders of magnitude larger than this function at least reasonably well. Commitments to continuous improvement, personal excellence, and even tradition are powerful forces for homeostasis; and modern communication technologies make formal processes -- which are what is required in the absence of intimate personal knowledge -- much easier to create.

I again refer anyone struggling with the historical sciences to the epilogue of Guns, Germs, and Steel. To be sure, the idea of history as a science has been dreadfully tainted by charlatans. But just as the popularity of astrology does not render astronomy (or, in particular, cosmology) meaningless, a truly scientific study of human history need not lie forever beyond our grasp.

Diamond's is also the best (actually, pretty much the only) explanation I've seen for why the ranks of anti-evolutionists include the occasional physicist or chemist -- or even biochemist.

Aw, c'mon, Razib, we all know you keep your horns filed off so they won't show. ;)

Sharp observation by Dienekes, as usual. A balance between a relatively rigid core and freely-changing periphery maximizes adaptability.

You're welcome (for the Jared Diamond ref). I'll comment more once I've actually read this entire thing. ;)

Lots of good stuff here, as always; I would mention only the possibility that a liberal political order arose where it did because of the "optimal fragmentation" of Europe and the character of both societies, Christian and pagan, that were in contact there -- a case of a "verge" producing something which neither could have produced alone. (See http://accounting-net.actg.uic.edu/Articles/Management%20Accounting/The%20Ideal%20Form%20of%20Organization%20-%20Dec%2012%2000%20-%20WSJ.htm for Jared Diamond on optimal fragmentation.)

I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the Slate article with the accompanying ad for a Barney video. ;)

Selection pressures in Africa may involve not only sexual behavior but ability to create and maintain functioning institutions, in the form of public supplies of drinking water adequate to control helminthic (parasitic worm) infections. Until this infrastructure is in place, handing out symptom-treating drugs may well produce counterintuitive and unpleasant effects.