Evaluating Social Complexity and Inequality in the Balkans Between 6500 and 4200 BC

Porčić, Marko

doi:10.1007/s10814-018-9126-6

Cited by 24 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 118 publications

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“…Non-documentary archaeological sources of evidence are the only means of charting wealth distribution for vast stretches of the human past, and different approaches have emerged (e.g. based on grave goods and house sizes; Windler et al 2013;Kohler & Higgins 2016;Kohler et al 2017;Kohler & Smith 2018;Porcǐć2018). Given the unique potential of archaeological evidence to investigate patterning in inequality over the very long term, there is a clear need for the development of robust measures of wealth inequality that are comparable across differing time periods, cultures, technologies and political systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing ancient inequalities: the challenges of comparability, bias and precision

2019

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing ancient inequalities: the challenges of comparability, bias and precision

2019

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“…In southeastern Europe, there is evidence for the presence of social inequality in Late Neolithic communities 35,36 , and it seems that these inequalities increased or at least persisted until the EBA. A debate has arisen surrounding the mechanisms perpetuating status and wealth and it is hypothesized that in complex societies such as Bronze Age chiefdoms, kinship networks and affinal ties served as conduits through which the leadership distributed wealth, controlled labor, and reinforced its own status 30,34 .…”

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confidence: 99%

Ancient genomes provide insights into family structure and the heredity of social status in the early Bronze Age of southeastern Europe

Žegarac

Winkelbach

Blöcher

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Twenty-four palaeogenomes from Mokrin, a major Early Bronze Age necropolis in southeastern Europe, were sequenced to analyse kinship between individuals and to better understand prehistoric social organization. 15 investigated individuals were involved in genetic relationships of varying degrees. The Mokrin sample resembles a genetically unstructured population, suggesting that the community’s social hierarchies were not accompanied by strict marriage barriers. We find evidence for female exogamy but no indications for strict patrilocality. Individual status differences at Mokrin, as indicated by grave goods, support the inference that females could inherit status, but could not transmit status to all their sons. We further show that sons had the possibility to acquire status during their lifetimes, but not necessarily to inherit it. Taken together, these findings suggest that Southeastern Europe in the Early Bronze Age had a significantly different family and social structure than Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age societies of Central Europe.

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“…And yet, the assumption that the political economy of complex societies will inevitably stratify remains firmly entrenched, even in settings where there is no empirical evidence for a separate group of rulers who are better off than everyone else. For example, a popular argument is that there is a causal link between urbanization, increasing agricultural labor demands, and wealth disparity (Bogaard et al 2018(Bogaard et al , 2019Fernández-Götz and Krausse 2017;Fochesato et al 2019;Porčić 2019;Smith et al 2018). Even in contexts where archaeologists are confident that power is diffuse and collectivity predominates, it is often assumed that wealth stratification lies behind large societal endeavors.…”

Section: Do Complex Societies Necessarily Have a Ruling Class?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Killing the Priest-King: Addressing Egalitarianism in the Indus Civilization

Green

2020

J Archaeol Res

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The cities of the Indus civilization were expansive and planned with large-scale architecture and sophisticated Bronze Age technologies. Despite these hallmarks of social complexity, the Indus lacks clear evidence for elaborate tombs, individual-aggrandizing monuments, large temples, and palaces. Its first excavators suggested that the Indus civilization was far more egalitarian than other early complex societies, and after nearly a century of investigation, clear evidence for a ruling class of managerial elites has yet to materialize. The conspicuous lack of political and economic inequality noted by Mohenjo-daro’s initial excavators was basically correct. This is not because the Indus civilization was not a complex society, rather, it is because there are common assumptions about distributions of wealth, hierarchies of power, specialization, and urbanism in the past that are simply incorrect. The Indus civilization reveals that a ruling class is not a prerequisite for social complexity.

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Evaluating Social Complexity and Inequality in the Balkans Between 6500 and 4200 BC

Cited by 24 publications

References 118 publications

Comparing ancient inequalities: the challenges of comparability, bias and precision

Comparing ancient inequalities: the challenges of comparability, bias and precision

Ancient genomes provide insights into family structure and the heredity of social status in the early Bronze Age of southeastern Europe

Killing the Priest-King: Addressing Egalitarianism in the Indus Civilization

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