The Emergence of Premodern States: New Perspectives on the Development of Complex Societies

Description

Like many other sciences, archaeology is experiencing a data deluge. The recent accumulation of accessible data on early urban societies, coupled with the re-emergence of comparative studies, puts modern scholars in a position to make significant theoretical advances concerning the key episode of human social organization that provided the foundations of the contemporary world: the formation of the state.A complex systems approach—pioneered at the Santa Fe Institute—involves fully interdisciplinary explorations of long-debated questions. Can basic quantitative analysis of human social evolution reveal macrocultural processes? Can we understand social cohesion by way of cultural genotypes? And does the emergence of social complexity involve the creation of new potential or the realization of latent human capabilities?In this volume, many of the foremost experts in quantitative archaeology and anthropology leverage innovative methodologies—including agent-based modeling, network analysis, and theoretical applications of evolutionary biology—to push the field in new directions.“ . . . this is a stimulating book that brings together developing approaches that open out the stale discussions on the origin of complex societies in interesting new directions.” —Stephen Shennan, The Cambridge Archaeological Journal PART I: BACKGROUND......Page 8 CH. 1—Extending Our Knowledge of Premodern States......Page 9 CH. 2—The Problem of States: The State of the Problem......Page 22 CH. 3—Systematic Comparative Approaches to the Archaeological Record......Page 38 PART II: NEW RESEARCH......Page 55 CH. 4—Status, Role, and Behavior in Premodern States: A Comparative Analysis......Page 56 CH. 5—Ecological and Social Dynamics of Territoriality and Hierarchy Formation......Page 106 CH. 6—Sociopolitical Evolution in Midrange Societies: The Prehispanic Pueblo Case......Page 132 CH. 7—The Contours of Cultural Evolution......Page 184 PART III: SYNTHESES......Page 215 CH. 8—Cultural Genotypes and Social Complexity......Page 216 CH. 9—Toward a Theory of Recurrent Social Formations......Page 264 CH. 10—Concluding Remarks......Page 289 Appendix......Page 296 Acknowledgments......Page 327 About the Editors......Page 328