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By studying chiefdoms--kin-based societies in which a person's
place in a kinship system determines his or her social status and
political position--this book addresses several fundamental
questions concerning the nature of political power and the
evolution of sociopolitical complexity. In a chiefdom, the
highest-status male (first son by the first wife) holds both
authority and special access to economic, military, and ideological
power, and others derive privilege from their positions in the
chiefly hierarchy.
A chiefdom is also a regional polity with institutional governance
and some social stratification organizing a population of a few
thousand to tens of thousands of people. The author argues that the
fundamental dynamics of chiefdoms are essentially the same as those
of states, and that the origin of states is to be understood in the
emergence and development of chiefdoms. The history of chiefdoms
documents the evolutionary trajectories that resulted, in some
situations, in the institutionalization of broad-scale, politically
centralized societies and, in others, in highly fragmented and
unstable regions of competitive polities. Understanding the
dynamics of chiefly society, the author asserts, offers an
essential view into the historical background of the modern world.
Three cases on which the author has conducted extensive field
research are used to develop the book's arguments--Denmark during
the Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages (2300-1300 b.c.), the high
Andes of Peru from the early chiefdoms through the Inka conquest
(a.d. 500-1534), and Hawaii from early in its settlement to its
incorporation in the world economy (a.d. 800-1824). Rather than
deal with each case separately, the author presents an integrated
discussion around the different power sources. After summarizing
the cultural history of the three societies over a thousand years,
he considers the sources of chiefly power and how these sources
were linked together. The ultimate aim of the book is to determine
how chiefs came to power and the implications that contrasting
paths to power had for the evolutionary trajectories of societies.
It attributes particular importance to the way different power
bases were bound together and grounded in the political economy.
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Inka Storage Systems (Paperback)
Terry Y. LeVine; Foreword by Craig Morris; Contributions by Coreen E Chiswell, Terence N. D'Altroy, Timothy K Earle, …
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Inka storage systems financed the largest prehistoric New World
empire, the Inka state, which extended almost three thousand miles
along the west coast of South America and into the Andean
highlands. In this volume, prominent anthropologists and
archaeologists explore for the first time how Inka storage was
integrated into the Inka administrative system, and how Inka
authorities consolidated their power by controlling access to
concentrated resources. The massive wealth accumulated in Inka
storehouses was legendary in sixteenth-century accounts of the
Spanish invasion of the Andes. Archaeological studies reported here
reveal how and why circular and rectangular Inka structures, known
as qollqa, were built at high elevations where climatic conditions
protected and preserved the contents. The Inkas tailored the
administration of their vast economy - which was without currency -
to the resources of each region and political sophistication of the
local population. They filled storehouses with agricultural
products, textiles and other manufactured goods, and oro from
state-owned mines, through an elaborate system of taxation based on
corvee labor. As organization and deployment of economic surpluses
became more efficient, Inka rulers were able to tighten their
control. This major contribution to Andean studies presents
research from several regions and from major Inka storage
archaelogical sites - Huanuco Pampa, Pumpu, Hatun Xauxa, Valle
Calchaqui and Huamachuco. The discussions range from theoretical
considerations of Inka political economy to excavation and analysis
of individual storage structures. Inka Storage Systems is unique -
focusing on storage and emphasizing archaeological data
complemented by ethnohistorical interpretations.
This book, a comparative study of specialized production in
prehistoric societies, examines both adaptionist and political
approaches to specialization and exchange using a worldwide
perspective. What forms of specialization and exchange promote
social stratification, political integration and institutional
specialization? Can increases in specialization always be linked to
improved subsistence strategies or are they more closely related to
the efforts of political elites to strengthen coalitions and
establish institutions of control? Are valuables as important as
subsistence goods in the developmental process? These and other
questions are examined in the contexts of ten prehistoric
societies, ranging from the incipient complexity of Mississippian
chiefdoms through to the more complex systems of West Africa,
Hawaii and Bronze Age Europe, to the agrarian states of
Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, Peru and Yamato Japan. Each society is
the subject of a separate study by a scholar whose own research has
provided new insights into the interplay of specialization,
exchange and social complexity in the region studied.
The study of chiefdoms has moved from a preoccupation with their formal characteristics to a concern with their dynamics as political institutions. The contributors are interested in how ruling elites retain power through control over production and exchange, and then legitimize that control through an elaborated ideology. The ten case studies look at particular chiefdoms, originating in specific historical conditions. Despite obvious differences between the chiefdoms, certain common underlying processes are revealed. The collection recognizes how complex and interdependent are the sources of power in society, as well as the forces of instability that constantly threaten to tear it apart.
The study of chiefdoms has moved from a preoccupation with their
formal characteristics to a concern with their dynamics as
political institutions. The contributors are interested in how
ruling elites retain power through control over production and
exchange, and then legitimize that control through an elaborated
ideology. The ten case studies look at particular chiefdoms,
originating in specific historical conditions. Despite obvious
differences between the chiefdoms, certain common underlying
processes are revealed. The collection recognizes how complex and
interdependent are the sources of power in society, as well as the
forces of instability that constantly threaten to tear it apart.
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