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Chiefdoms

Power, Economy, and Ideology

Edited by Timothy Earle

The study of chiefdoms has moved from preoccupation with their formal characteristics to a concern with their dynamics as political institutions. The contributors to this volume are interested in how ruling elites retain power through control over production and exchange, and then legitimize that control through an elaborate ideology. These 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 society apart. Chiefdoms offers a rich and varied interpretation of sociopolitical power.

1982. 396 pp., 4 maps, 60 figures, 9 tables, glossary, notes, references, index, 6 x 9

Contributors: Richard Bradley, Robert Drennan, Timothy Earle, Gary Feinman, Yale Ferguson, Antonio Gilman, Patrick Kirch, Kristian Kristiansen, Candelario Sáenz, Vincas P. Steponaitis

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  1. The evolution of chiefdoms Timothy Earle
  2. Chiefdoms, states, and systems of social evolution Kristian Kristiansen
  3. The pattern of change in British prehistory Richard Bradley
  4. Property rights and the evolution of chiefdoms Timothy Earle
  5. Lords of the waste: predation, pastoral production, and the process of stratification among the Eastern Twaregs Candelario Sáenz
  6. Chiefship and competitive involution: the Marquesas Islands of eastern Polynesia Patrick Kirch
  7. Trajectories towards social complexity in the later prehistory of the Mediterranean Antonio Gilman
  8. Chiefdoms to city-states: the Greek experience Yale Ferguson
  9. Contrasting patterns of the Mississippian development Vincas Steponaitis
  10. Demography, surplus, and inequality: early political formations in highland Mesoamerica Gary Feinman
  11. Pre-Hispanic chiefdom trajectories in Mesoamerica, Central America, and northern South America Robert Drennan
There are no working papers for this book at the present time.