Quite a few religions, ranging from the Norse religion to Christianity imagine an apocalypse (often including war, famine and pestilence) followed by a new world in which a reduced number of people enjoy plenty.
Has anyone looked at the idea that this may represent a cultural memory or understanding of the kind of plenty which followed for a generation or two after a severe war, famine, pestilence or another disaster greatly reduced the population, leaving the survivors with a surfeit of arable land, relative to the number of mouths to be fed?
DePonySum 