Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-xxrs7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T08:06:08.092Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 3 - Comparative Frames for the Diachronic Analysis of Complex Societies

Next Steps

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2011

Michael E. Smith
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Get access

Summary

The top scientific discovery according to the journal Science in 2007 (Kennedy 2007) was the finding that the DNA of all humans is not alike. More specifically, the extent of person-to-person genomic diversity is much greater than was expected (Pennisi 2007). To place this breakthrough in context, it was less than ten years ago that the same publication proudly announced the unraveling of “The Human Genome” (Jasny and Kennedy 2001), although in fairness the future comparison of different human genomic sequences was anticipated. What geneticists initially conceived to be a species-wide genomic pattern encompassing relatively minimal elements of individual variation has even at this early date been shown to be more diverse than most scientists imagined.

Although these research findings in evolutionary biology have been played out at warp speed, perhaps this path of discovery and interpretation has a degree of analogical utility for those of us who study human societies over long temporal scales or deep history. More than a century ago, early social scientists recognized broad patterns of human societal diversity (e.g., Morgan 1877). Yet the first recognitions of such diversity were often mistakenly commingled with elements of human biology. More than a half century later, similar overarching schemes of human organization were resurrected and reframed as Marxist and neoevolutionary theoretical perspectives. But by this time (e.g., White 1959), these ideas were appropriately estranged from the simple biological explanations of prior eras. Nevertheless, the latter conceptual approaches, like those of an earlier era, stressed broad modes of societal diversity (such as Service’s [1971] categories of bands, tribes, chiefdoms, states) that were organized and differentiated by distinct degrees of politico-economic complexity. As with the 2001 early genomic work, the emphasis in these studies was understandably on the broad-brush modal patterns. Thus key works of this era featured titles such as The Evolution of Culture (White 1959), Primitive Social Organization (Service 1971), The Evolution of Political Society (Fried 1967), and The Evolution of the Prehistoric State (Haas 1982). The focus of this comparative work was on similarity, and much discussion centered on evaluating the relative merits of different prime movers that might uniformly account for the transition to more hierarchical modes of organization (such as the state) in different regions of the globe.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acemoglu, Daron 2005 Constitutions, Politics, and Economics: A Review Essay on Persson and Tabellini’s The Economic Effects of ConstitutionsJournal of Economic Literature 18 1025CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, DaronRobinson, James A.Verdier, Thierry 2004 Kleptocracy and Divide-and-Rule: A Model of Personal RuleJournal of the European Economic Association 2 162CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adams, Robert McC 2004 Review of Understanding Early Civilizations: A Comparative StudyThe International History Review 26 349CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alcock, Susan E.D’Altroy, Terrence N.Morrison, Kathleen D.Sinopoli, Carla M. 2001 Empires: Perspectives from Archaeology and HistoryCambridge University PressCambridgeGoogle Scholar
American Political Science Association Task Force Report 2004 American Democracy in an Age of Rising InequalityASPA Task Force Report 2 651Google Scholar
Armillas, Pedro 1957 Cronología y Periodificación de la Historia de América PrecolumbinaEscuela Nacional de Antropología e HistoriaMexicoGoogle Scholar
Baines, JohnYoffee, Norman 1998 Order, Legitimacy, and Wealth in Ancient Egypt and MesopotamiaArchaic States199School of American Research PressSanta FeGoogle Scholar
Bates, Robert H.Donald Lien, Da-Hsiang 1985 A Note on Taxation, Development, and Representative GovernmentPolitics and Society 14 53CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanton, Richard 1990 Theory and Practice in Mesoamerican Archaeology: A Comparison of Two Modes of Scientific InquiryDebating Oaxaca Archaeology1University of MichiganAnn ArborGoogle Scholar
Blanton, Richard 1998 Beyond Centralization: Steps toward a Theory of Egalitarian BehaviorArchaic States135School of American Research PressSanta FeGoogle Scholar
Blanton, RichardFargher, Lane 2008 Collective Action in the Formation of Pre-Modern StatesSpringerNew YorkCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanton, Richard E.Feinman, Gary M.Kowalewski, Stephen A.Peregrine, Peter N. 1996 A Dual-Processual Theory for the Evolution of Mesoamerican CivilizationCurrent Anthropology 37 1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanton, Richard E.Kowalewski, Stephen A.Feinman, Gary M.Finsten, Laura M. 1993 Ancient Mesoamerica: A Comparison of Change in Three RegionsCambridge University PressCambridgeGoogle Scholar
Boas, Franz 1932 The Aims of Anthropological ResearchScience 76 605CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boehm, Christopher 1993 Egalitarian Society and Reverse Dominance HierarchyCurrent Anthropology 34 227CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brumfiel, Elizabeth M. 1992 Distinguished Lecture in Archeology: Breaking and Entering the Ecosystem – Gender, Class, and Faction Steal the ShowAmerican Anthropologist 94 551CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryant, Joseph M. 2004 An Evolutionary Social Science? A Skeptic’s Brief, Theoretical and SubstantivePhilosophy of the Social Sciences 34 451CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cashdan, Elizabeth A. 1980 Egalitarianism among Hunters and GatherersAmerican Anthropologist 82 116CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chase, Ivan D.Tovey, CraigSpangler-Martin, DebraManfredonia, Michael 2002 Individual Differences versus Social Dynamics in the Formation of Animal Dominance HierarchiesProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99 5744CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Claessen, Henri J. M 1985 From the Franks to France: The Evolution of Political OrganizationDevelopment and Decline: The Evolution of Sociopolitical Organization196Bergin and GarveySouth Hadley, MAGoogle Scholar
Claessen, Henri J. M 2000 Structural Change: Evolution and Evolutionism in Cultural AnthropologyResearch School CNWS, Leiden University, LeidenThe NetherlandsGoogle Scholar
Claessen, Henri J. M.Skalník, Peter 1978 The Early StateMouton PublishersThe HagueCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collins, Randall 1988 The Micro Contribution to Macro SociologySociological Theory 6 242CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coon, Carleton S. 1962 The Origin of RacesAlfred A. KnopfNew YorkGoogle Scholar
D’Altroy, Terence N.Earle, Timothy K. 1985 Staple Finance, Wealth Finance, and the Inka Political EconomyCurrent Anthropology 26 187CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diamond, Jared 1999 Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human SocietiesW.W. NortonNew YorkGoogle Scholar
Diamond, Jared 2005 Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or SucceedVikingNew YorkGoogle Scholar
Domhoff, William G. 2006 C. Wright Mills 50 Years LaterContemporary Sociology 35 547CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doyle, Michael W. 1986 EmpiresCornell University PressIthacaGoogle Scholar
Drennan, Robert D. 1991 Cultural Evolution, Human Ecology, and Empirical ResearchProfiles in Cultural Evolution113University of MichiganAnn ArborGoogle Scholar
Drennan, Robert D.Peterson, Christian E. 2006 Patterned Variation in Prehistoric ChiefdomsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103 3960CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Earle, Timothy 1997 How Chiefs Came to Power: The Political Economy in PrehistoryStanford University PressStanfordGoogle Scholar
Earle, Timothy 1991 Chiefdoms: Power, Economy, and IdeologyCambridge University PressCambridgeGoogle Scholar
Ember, MelvinEmber, Carol R.Russett, Bruce 1997 Inequality and Democracy in the Anthropological RecordInequality, Democracy, and Economic ⁠Development110Cambridge University PressCambridgeGoogle Scholar
Fargher, Lane F.Blanton, Richard E. 2007 Revenue, Voice, and Public Goods in Three Pre-Modern StatesComparative Studies in Society and History 49 848CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feinman, Gary M. 1995 The Emergence of Inequality: A Focus on Strategies and ProcessesFoundations of Social Inequality255Plenum PressNew YorkCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feinman, Gary M. 1998 Scale and Social Organization: Perspectives on the Archaic StateArchaic States95School of American Research PressSanta FeGoogle Scholar
Feinman, Gary M. 2000 Dual-Processual Theory and Social Formations in the SouthwestAlternative Leadership Strategies in the Prehispanic Southwest207The University of Arizona PressTucsonGoogle Scholar
Feinman, Gary M. 2001 Mesoamerican Political Complexity: The Corporate-Network DimensionFrom Leaders to Rulers151Kluwer Academic/Plenum PublishersNew YorkCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feinman, Gary M. 2010 Dual-Processual Perspective on the Power and Inequality in the Contemporary United States: Framing Political Economy for the Present and the PastIn Pathways to PowerSpringerNew YorkGoogle Scholar
Feinman, Gary M.Lightfoot, Kent G.Upham, Steadman 2000 Political Hierarchies and Organizational Strategies in the Puebloan SouthwestAmerican Antiquity 65 449CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feinman, Gary M.Marcus, Joyce 1998 Archaic StatesSchool of American Research PressSanta FeGoogle Scholar
Feinman, Gary M.Neitzel, Jill 1984 Too Many Types: An Overview of Sedentary Prestate Societies in the AmericasAdvances in Archaeological Method and Theory 7 39CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flanagan, James G. 1989 Hierarchy in Simple “Egalitarian” SocietiesAnnual Review of Anthropology 18 245CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flannery, Kent V. 1983 Divergent EvolutionThe Cloud People: Divergent Evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec Civilizations1Academic PressNew YorkGoogle Scholar
Fracchia, JosephLewontin, Richard C. 1999 Does Culture EvolveHistory and Theory 38 52CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fried, Morton H. 1967 The Evolution of Political Society: An Essay in Political AnthropologyRandom HouseNew YorkGoogle Scholar
Friedman, David 1977 A Theory of the Size and Shape of NationsJournal of Political Economy 85 59CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldstone, Jack A. 1998 Initial Conditions, General Laws, Path Dependence, and Explanation in Historical SociologyAmerican Journal of Sociology 104 829CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gould, Stephen J. 1987 The Ghost of ProtogorasAn Urchin in the Storm: Essays about Books and Ideas62W.W. NortonNew YorkGoogle Scholar
Grinin, Leonid E. 2004 Democracy and Early StateSocial Evolution and History 3 93Google Scholar
Haas, Jonathan 1982 The Evolution of the Prehistoric StateColumbia University PressNew YorkGoogle Scholar
Hansen, Mogens Herman 2000 Comparative Study of Thirty City-State CulturesThe Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and LettersCopenhagenGoogle Scholar
Hansen, Thomas B.Stepputat, Finn 2006 Sovereignty RevisitedAnnual Review of Anthropology 35 295CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, Marvin 1968 The Rise of Anthropological Theory: A History of Theories of CultureThomas Y. Crowell CompanyNew YorkGoogle Scholar
Herrmann, EstherCall, JosephVictoria-Lloreda, MaríaHare, BrianTomasello, Michael 2007 Humans Have Evolved Specialized Skills of Social Cognition: The Cultural Intelligence HypothesisScience 317 1360CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hobbes, Thomas 2003 LeviathanThoemmes ContinuumBristolGoogle Scholar
Hunt, Robert C. 2007 Beyond Relativism: Comparability in Cultural AnthropologyAltamiraLanham, MDGoogle Scholar
Jasny, Barbara R.Kennedy, Donald 2001 Human GenomeScience 291 1153CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, Allen W.Earle, Timothy 2000 The Evolution of Human SocietiesStanford University PressStanfordGoogle Scholar
Jones, RhysPhillips, Richard 2005 Unsettling Geographical Horizons: Exploring Premodern and Non-European ImperialismAnnals of the American Association of Geographers 95 141Google Scholar
Kennedy, Donald 2007 Breakthrough of the YearScience 318 1833CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, DonaldNorman, Colin 2005 What Don’t We KnowScience 309 75CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
King, Adam 2006 Leadership Strategies and the Nature of Mississippian Chiefdoms in North Georgia73Center for Archaeological Investigations, Occasional PaperSouthern Illinois UniversityCarbondaleGoogle Scholar
Kiser, EdgarHechter, Michael 1991 The Role of General Theory in Comparative Historical SociologyAmerican Journal of Sociology 97 1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kosse, Krisztina 1990 Group Size and Societal Complexity: Thresholds in the Long-Term MemoryJournal of Anthropological Archaeology 9 275CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehman, Edward W. 1969 Toward a Macrosociology of PowerAmerican Sociological Review 34 453CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levi, Margaret 1988 Of Rule and RevenueUniversity of California PressBerkeleyGoogle Scholar
Lichbach, Mark Irving 1995 The Rebel’s DilemmaUniversity of Michigan PressAnn ArborCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lichbach, Mark Irving 1996 The Cooperator’s DilemmaUniversity of Michigan PressAnn ArborCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcus, Joyce 1992 Dynamic Cycles of Mesoamerican States: Political Fluctuations in MesoamericaNational Geographic Research and Exploration 8 393Google Scholar
Marcus, Joyce 1998 The Peaks and Valleys of Ancient States: An Extension of the Dynamic ModelArchaic States59School of American Research PressSanta FeGoogle Scholar
Marcus, Joyce 2008 The Archaeological Evidence for Social EvolutionAnnual Review of Anthropology 37 251CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayr, Ernst 1982 The Growth of Biological ThoughtBelknap HarvardCambridgeGoogle Scholar
Mills, Barbara J. 2000 Alternative Leadership Strategies in the Prehispanic SouthwestThe University of Arizona PressTucsonGoogle Scholar
Morgan, Lewis H. 1877 Ancient SocietyWorld PublishingNew YorkGoogle Scholar
Nichols, Deborah L.Charlton, Thomas H. 1997 The Archaeology of City-States: Cross-Cultural ApproachesSmithsonian Institution PressWashington, DCGoogle Scholar
Northrup, David 2005 Globalization and the Great Convergence: Rethinking World History in the Long TermJournal of World History 16 HHTP://www.historycooperative.orgCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ober, Josiah 2008 What the Ancient Greeks Can Tell Us about DemocracyAnnual Review of Political Science 11 67CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olson, Mancur 1965 The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of GroupsHarvard University PressCambridgeGoogle Scholar
Pearson, Robert W.Sherman, Lawrence W. 2005 The Achievements, Frustrations, and Promise of the Social SciencesAnnals, American Academy of Political and Social Science 600 6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pennisi, Elizabeth 2005 How Did Cooperative Behavior EvolveScience 309 93CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pennisi, Elizabeth 2007 Breakthrough of the Year: Human Genetic VariationScience 318 1842CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Renfrew, Colin 1974 Beyond Subsistence Economy: The Evolution of Social Organization in Prehistoric EuropeReconstructing Complex Societies: An Archaeological Colloquium69Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeGoogle Scholar
Renfrew, Colin 2001 Commodification and Institution in Group-Oriented and Individualizing SocietiesThe Origin of Human Social Institutions93Oxford University PressOxfordGoogle Scholar
Rokkan, Stein 1969 Models and Methods in the Comparative Study of Nation-BuildingActa Sociologica 12 53CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russett, Bruce M. 1964 Inequality and Instability: The Relation of Land Tenure to PoliticsWorld Politics 16 442CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sahlins, Marshall D. 1960 Evolution: Specific and General. In Evolution and Culture12University of Michigan PressAnn ArborCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sahlins, Marshall D.Service, Elman R. 1960 Evolution and CultureUniversity of Michigan PressAnn ArborCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanders, William T.Price, Barbara J. 1968 Mesoamerica: The Evolution of a CivilizationRandom HouseNew YorkGoogle Scholar
Sanderson, Stephen K. 1990 Social Evolutionism: A Critical HistoryBlackwell PublishersCambridge, MAGoogle Scholar
Segraves, Barbara A. 1974 Ecological Generalism and Structural Transformation of Sociocultural SystemsAmerican Anthropologist 76 530CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Service, Elman R. 1971 Primitive Social Organization: An Evolutionary PerspectiveRandom HouseNew YorkGoogle Scholar
Shermer, Michael 2007 The Really Hard ScienceScientific American 297 44Google ScholarPubMed
Sinopoli, Carla M. 2001 In Archaeology at the Millennium: A Sourcebook439Kluwer Academic/Plenum PublishersNew YorkCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 2006 How Do Archaeologists Compare Early StatesReviews in Anthropology 35 5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spencer, Charles S. 1997 Evolutionary Approaches in ArchaeologyJournal of Archaeological Research 5 209CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spruyt, Hendrick 2002 The Origins, Development, and Possible Decline of the Modern StateAnnual Review of Political Science 5 127CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steward, Julian H. 1949 Cultural Causality and Law: A Trial Formulation of the Development of Early CivilizationsAmerican Anthropologist 51 1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stone, Brad Lowell 2008 The Evolution of Culture and SociologyThe American Sociologist 39 68CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tilly, Charles 1975 Western State-Making and Theories of Political TransformationThe Formation of States in Western Europe601Princeton University PressPrincetonGoogle Scholar
Tilly, Charles 1984 Big Structures, Large Processes, and Huge ComparisonsRussell Sage FoundationNew YorkGoogle Scholar
Tilly, Charles 2000 Processes and Mechanisms of DemocratizationSociological Theory 18 1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomasello, Michael 1999 Human Adaptation for CultureAnnual Review of Anthropology 28 509CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trigger, Bruce G. 1989 A History of Archaeological ThoughtCambridge University PressCambridgeGoogle Scholar
Trigger, Bruce G. 1993 Early Civilizations: Ancient Egypt in ContextAmerican University in Cairo PressCairoGoogle Scholar
Trigger, Bruce G. 2003 Understanding Early CivilizationsCambridge University PressCambridgeCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trubitt, Mary Beth D. 2000 Mound Building and Prestige Goods Exchange: Changing Strategies in the Cahokia ChiefdomAmerican Antiquity 65 669CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallerstein, Immanuel 2003 Anthropology, Sociology, and Other Dubious DisciplinesCurrent Anthropology 44 453CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, Duncan J. 2007 A Twenty-First Century ScienceNature 445 489CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
White, Leslie A. 1949 The Science of Culture: A Study of Man and CivilizationGroveNew YorkGoogle Scholar
White, Leslie A. 1959 The Evolution of Culture: The Development of Civilization to the Fall of RomeMcGraw-HillNew YorkGoogle Scholar
Willey, Gordon R. 1999 Styles and State FormationsLatin American Antiquity 10 86CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolf, Eric R. 1982 Europe and the People without HistoryUniversity of California PressBerkeleyGoogle Scholar
Yoffee, Norman 2005 Myths of the Archaic State: Evolution of the Earliest Cities, States, and CivilizationsCambridge University PressCambridgeCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yoffee, Norman 2006 Afterword: Lenses on Mississippian LeadershipLeadership and Polity in Mississippian SocietySouthern Illinois UniversityCarbondaleGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×