1. Studying Complex Societies
Chiefdoms and States
Chiefdoms
Studying Complex Societies
State Formation
States in World Areas

2. Chiefdoms
Society with social ranking in which political integration is achieved through an office of centralized leadership.
Segments of tribe are structurally and functionally similar, Chiefdom is made up of parts that are different from one another.
Has ranking system
some lineages and individuals have higher or lower status.
These also have different roles in society.

3. Chiefdoms Chiefdom has set office as a chief.
Centralized governing center, which is closely tied to redistribution.
Goods are sent to the chief who gives feasts and sponsors ritual ceremonies (“Big Man”).
Chief can distribute labor as well as food.
Chiefdoms found in some pastoral groups, but mostly in groups with agriculture.

4. Chiefdoms Regulation of behavior and Conflict Resolution.
Internal violence is reduced in chiefdom because chief has authority to make judgement and punish deviants and resolve disputes.
Chief's authority is backed by his control of symbolic, supernatural, administrative, economic and military power.
Permits more stability than in tribes because less internal feuds but sometimes violent.
To emphaisze th importance of this offices for the society, offenses against the chief are punishable by death.

5. V. Gordon Childe: Characteristics of complex societies
These include:
urban centers between 7-20,000 people
specialized division of labor
ruling class of religious, civil and military leaders
food surplus
monumental architecture
writing system
developments of arithmetic, geometry and astronomy
art and long-distance trade
institutionalized form of political organization-the state

6. Do all complex societies have these characteristics?
Do they have to have all the characteristics to be termed complex?
Variations might be Agricultural States which had some of these characteristics but was primarily composed of inequality based on control of food surplus.

7. How do we study Complex Societies?
Written Language
some complex societies had written language, but not all.
*i.e. The Andean societies had special historians to remember events.
writing systems began as pictures or pictographs, called Ideographic Writing Systems.
*i.e. Chinese writing system developed in this way, has as many as ,000 characters that represent a meaning.
Hieroglyphic writing simplifies a picture into a symbol, this is the Egyptian writing system.
Syllabic writing the characters express sounds, Semitic systems such as Arabic or Hebrew.
Alphabetic writing where a symbol represents a sound.

8. How do we study Complex Societies?
Specialization-people involved in nonagricultural activities such as pottery, metalworking, and weaving.
Status and Social ranking-archaeologists can observe differences in houses and material goods.
*i.e. Teotihuacan occupied around 1200 years ago had 120 k people and a wide variety of houses.
Trade and Exchange-with increased social complexity, trade expanded.
Religion
many elements of complex society is involved in religion, but studying it is difficult.
can understand practical items, but how do we get to know what a religion meant to people.
*i.e. any item whose function is not known has a tendency to be explained as a ritual object.

9. How do we study Complex Societies?
Monumental Architecture
Helps to locate sites, provides information about political organization, ritual beliefs and lifeways.
*i.e. Sumerian ziggurats (5,000 B.P.) served as religious and food distribution centers.
Egyptian pyramids-first built by Pharaoh Djoser 4,680 B.P. built as burial chambers.
The Great Pyramid at Giza is 481 feet tall and covers 13 acres.
Mayan stone temples and Mississippian mounds.

10. State Formation
Integrationist Theories-Society benefited from state organization.
Perspectives:
Hydraulic Hypothesis-bureaucracies were developed due to an increase in intensive agriculture and the need to develop systems of waterways.
Trade and Exchange-organization to produce trade items required administration.
Warfare-population growth in an area where land is scarce leads to warfare over land rights and states developed as a way to organize war. Used this to explain the development of state in Mesoamerica.
Systems Models-the importance of centralized government in all aspects of complex society.

11. State Formation Conflict Theories Economic and Political
State organization arose from the ability of some groups to control others, and the only benefits are for the elite.
Economic and Political
Economic-population growth caused land shortage and domination of one group over another to control land.
Political-elimination of competition by reducing power of some groups, then increasing their own power through organizational reforms.

12. States of the World SW Asia Africa Asia Americas
Sumerian civilization, ca. 5,000 B.P.
Phoenicians, ca. 3,000 B.P.
Africa
Egypt, ca. 5,100 B.P.
Nubia, ca B.P.
Great Zimbabwe, 1000 B.P.
Asia
China, 5,000 B.P.
Southeast Asia, ca. 1,000 B.P.
Americas
Mesoamerica, ca. 3,500 B.P.
Olmec-3,500 B.P.
Maya-2,500 B.P.
Aztec-500 B.P.
Andes (Inca), ca. 1,000 B.P.
North America, ca. 1,000 B.P.

13. Egypt The Pyramid of Menkaure, son of Khafre.
King Sneferu’s Bent Pyramid
Khufu, son of King Sneferu. The Great Pyramid is the only surviving member of the Seven Wonders of the World (Height: m ( ft) Length of Side: ).

14. Ancient Chinese Civilizations
Dunhuang and the Cave of Manuscripts 111 BC
Northern end of the Mogao cliff face, pitted with caves for shelter 366 A.D.

15. Americas Monks Mound, Mississippian, Illinois Inca, Machu Picchu, Peru
Maya, Central America