Pathways to Power: New Perspectives on the Emergence of Social Inequality (Fundamental Issues in Archaeology)

There Are Few Questions More Central To Understanding The Prehistory Of Our Species Than Those Regarding The Institutionalization Of Social Inequality. Social Inequality Is Manifested In Unequal Access To Goods, Information, Decision-making, And Power. This Structure Is Essential To Higher Orders Of Social Organization And Basic To The Operation Of More Complex Societies. An Understanding Of The Transformation From Relatively Egalitarian Societies To A Hierarchical Organization And Socioeconomic Stratification Is Fundamental To Our Knowledge About The Human Condition. In A Follow-up To Their 1995 Book Foundations Of Social Inequality, The Editors Of This Volume Have Compiled A New And Comprehensive Group Of Studies Concerning These Central Questions. When And Where Does Hierarchy Appear In Human Society, And How Does It Operate? With Numerous Case Studies From The Old And New World, Spanning Foraging Societies To Agricultural Groups, And Complex States, Pathways To Power Provides Key Historical Insights Into Current Social And Cultural Questions.-- Social Inequality And The Evolution Of Human Social Organization / T. Douglas Price And Gary M. Feinman -- On The Evolution Of The Human Capacity For Inequality And/or Egalitarianism / Kenneth M. Ames -- Degrees And Kinds Of Inequality / Robert D. Drennan, Christian E. Peterson, And Jake R. Fox -- Gimme That Old Time Religion : Rethinking The Role Of Religion In The Emergence Of Social Inequality / Mark Aldendorfer -- Who Benefits From Complexcity? : A View From Futuna / Brian Hayden And Suzanne Villeneuve -- Traces Of Inequality At The Origins Of Agriculture In The Ancient Near East / T. Douglas Price And Ofer Bar-yosef -- Decentralized Complexity : The Case Of Bronze Age Northern Europe / Kristian Kristiansen -- Bitter Arrows And Generous Gifts : What Was A 'king' In The European Iron Age? / Tina L. Thurston -- A Dual-processual Perspective On The Power And Inequality In The Contemporary United States : Framing Political Economy For The Past And The Present / Gary M. Feinman. T. Douglas Price, Gary M. Feinman, Editors. Outgrowth Of A Symposium At The [72nd] Annual Meeting Of The Society For American Archaeology Held In [austin], Tex., In 2007. Cf. Pref. Follow-up To Foundations Of Social Inequality / Edited By T. Douglas Price, Gary M. Feinman: New York : Plenum Press, C1995. Cf. Pref. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. front-matter 2 Preface 6 Contents 8 Contributors 10 1 Social Inequality and the Evolution of Human Social Organization 11 A Definition of Social Inequality 12 Why Are We Still Talking About Social Inequality 12 The Chapters in This Volume 14 Ken Ames 15 Dick Drennan, Christian Peterson, and Jake Fox 15 Mark Aldenderfer 16 Brian Hayden and Suzanne Villeneuve 17 T. Douglas Price and Ofer Bar-Yosef 17 Kristian Kristiansen 18 Tina Thurston 19 Gary Feinman 20 Pathways to Power 20 References 21 2 On the Evolution of the Human Capacity for Inequality and/or Egalitarianism 25 Introduction 25 Constraints and Freedom 29 Prestige, Dominance, Attention Structure, and Costly Signaling 30 The Origins of Inequality or of Egalitarianism 32 Egalitarianism 34 The Persistence of Prestige Seeking 37 On the Evolution of Prestige Technologies 41 The Evolution of Egalitarianism 43 Summary and Conclusions 47 References 48 3 Degrees and Kinds of Inequality 55 Burial Evidence 56 Burials and Social Inequality 64 Household Evidence 67 Public Works Evidence 74 Conclusions 80 References 83 4 Gimme That Old Time Religion: Rethinking the Role of Religion in the Emergence of Social Inequality 87 Religion and What It Does 90 Under What Circumstances Are Religions Traditional or Transformative 91 Maintaining, if Not Extending, Emerging Inequality 94 A Cultic Reaction to Increasing Inequality 96 Religion, Persistent Inequality, and Persistent Leadership 98 Final Remarks 102 References 103 5 Who Benefits from Complexity A View from Futuna 105 Introduction 105 Transegalitarian Studies Provide a Prelude to Studying Chiefdoms 107 Aggrandizers 109 A Prelude to Chiefdoms 114 Traditional and Modern Chiefdoms in Polynesia 116 The Futunan Chiefdom 119 Benefits to Futunan Chiefs 124 Ownership and Control Over Land 124 Labor Contributions 126 Food Contributions 126 Fines and Penalties 133 Multiple Wives 134 Control Over Prestige Goods 134 Wealth Exchanges 134 Political Power 135 Warfare and Feasts in Chiefdom Dynamics 137 Discussion 141 Body Memories and Symbolic Capital 143 The Spiritual Strategies of Aggrandizers 143 Cognitive Versus Practical Consequences and Empirical Events 146 Conclusions 147 References 149 6 Traces of Inequality at the Origins of Agriculture in the Ancient Near East 157 The Beginnings of Inequality 157 The Archaeological Evidence 159 The Natufian Culture 159 Early Neolithic: The First Millennium (or the PPNA) 162 Early Neolithic: The Next Two-and-Half Millennia (or the PPNB) 165 Burial and Mortuary Practice During the PPNB 167 House Contents During the PPNB 170 Conclusions 170 References 172 7 Decentralized Complexity: The Case of Bronze Age Northern Europe 179 Introduction 179 Ritual Landscapes and Social Institutions 180 Power Structures and Decentralized Complexity 186 Households and the Political Economya Temporal Outline 191 Beginning of Bronze Age 191 Middle Bronze Age Expansion and Re-organization of Landscape and Society 192 End of Bronze Age/Beginning of Iron Age 192 The Rise and Fall of Bronze Age Political Economies: A Long-Term Trajectory Towards Social Transformation 193 After TransformationDark Age or Creative Democratization The Beginning of a New Evolutionary Cycle 198 References 199 8 Bitter Arrows and Generous Gifts: What Was a `King' in the European Iron Age? 203 Introduction 203 The Twentieth Century Roots of Power Theories in the Social Sciences 204 Alternative Perspectives on Power 211 Power, Heterarchy, and Decentralization in Iron Age Europe 216 The Northern Iron Age 218 What Was a King in the So-Called Viking Age? 219 Ethnographies of Power from the Continental Iron Age 224 Disputed Interpretations of Iron Age Europe 228 Reinterpreting Sociopolitical Development in Iron Age Europe 230 Pre-Roman Italy 237 Sources and Consequences of Contention 245 Retheorizing the Iron Age: Some Thoughts for the Future 247 References 248 9 A Dual-Processual Perspective on the Power and Inequality in the Contemporary United States: Framing Political Economy for the Present and the Past 265 Theoretical Background 267 Why the Contemporary United States? 268 Political Economy: Power, Legitimation, Wealth, and Their Underpinnings 269 The Balance of Governing Power 270 Legitimation 272 The Growing Importance of Personal Networks 273 Economic Underpinnings and Trends 275 Economic Inequality 277 Correlation, Causality, and Comparison 284 Summarizing Thoughts and Implications for the Diachronic Study of Inequality 287 Bridging Theoretical Constructs to Chart Future Directions 289 References 291 back-matter 299 Subject Index 299 Social inequality and the evolution of human social organization / T. Douglas Price and Gary M. Feinman On the evolution of the human capacity for inequality and/or egalitarianism / Kenneth M. Ames Degrees and kinds of inequality / Robert D. Drennan, Christian E. Peterson, and Jake R. Fox Gimme that old time religion : rethinking the role of religion in the emergence of social inquality / Mark Aldendorfer Who benefits from complecity? : a view from Futuna / Brian Hatden and Suzanne Villeneuve Traces of inequality at the origins of agriculture in the ancient Near East / T. Douglas Price and ofer Bar-Yosef Decentralized complexity : the case of Bronze Age northern Europe / Kristian Kristiansen Bitter arrows and generous gifts : what was a 'king' in the European Iron Age? / Tina L. Thurston A dual-processual perspective on the power and inequality in the contemporary United States : framing political economy for the past and the present / Gary M. Feinman. Front Matter....Pages i-ix Social Inequality and the Evolution of Human Social Organization....Pages 1-14 On the Evolution of the Human Capacity for Inequality and/or Egalitarianism....Pages 15-44 Degrees and Kinds of Inequality....Pages 45-76 Gimme That Old Time Religion: Rethinking the Role of Religion in the Emergence of Social Inequality....Pages 77-94 Who Benefits from Complexity? A View from Futuna....Pages 95-145 Traces of Inequality at the Origins of Agriculture in the Ancient Near East....Pages 147-168 Decentralized Complexity: The Case of Bronze Age Northern Europe....Pages 169-192 Bitter Arrows and Generous Gifts: WhatWas a ‘King’ in the European Iron Age?....Pages 193-254 A Dual-Processual Perspective on the Power and Inequality in the Contemporary United States: Framing Political Economy for the Present and the Past....Pages 255-288 Back Matter....Pages 289-298 In a follow-up to their 1995 book Foundations of Social Inequality, the editors of this volume have compiled a new and comprehensive group of studies on the central questions of when and where hierarchy appears in human society, as well as how it operates