Site size hierarchy in middle-range societies

What does the bell-distribution hide? Spatial behavior and demographic development of the Funnel Beaker culture populations in Bronocice region, Poland

“…Recent studies in paleodemography presented archaeological and ethnographical evidence that cannot be explained from the perspective of simple relationships between group size, environment, subsistence strategies, or socio-political organization (Diachenko and Zubrow 2015;Fletcher 2006;Hamilton et al 2007a;2007b;. Different forms of economy and social organization can overlap the deep non-linear trends in demographic development (Duffy 2015;Feinman 2011;. The formation of low-level social hierarchy in Bronocice micro-region does not contradict the results of our simulations.…”

Essential Tensions: A Framework for Exploring Inequality Through Mortuary Archaeology and Bioarchaeology

“…As a result, there are many well-reasoned yet contrasting opinions about the degree of inequality in different archaeological contexts. Returning to European archaeology, the issue of the presence, influence, and roles of elites continues to be the subject of extensive debate from the Neolithic (Porčić, 2012;Arponen et al 2015) through the Copper Age (Díaz-del-Río & García Sanjuán 2006;Honch et al 2006;Chapman 2008;Kienlin 2010;Nocete et al 2010;Gilman 2013) and the Bronze Age (see Gilman 1981, Harding 1984, O'Shea 1996, Earle 2002, Parkinson 2002, Duffy 2010, Earle, Kristiansen 2010, Harding 2011, Kienlin, Zimmerman 2012, Nicodemus 2014, Duffy 2015, Kristiansen, Earle 2015. The multiple positions scholars have taken on the degree of inequality that characterized European societies in Late Prehistory is often informed by the geopolitical context of localized case studies (e.g., as part of a Mediterranean interaction network; in procurement or consumption zones -see Sherratt 1993), variable importance being placed on metal as an index of elites (see Pare 2000;Nocete 2006), or by their interpretation of particular archaeological measures that are often subject to significant interproject variation in data production and resolution (see Duffy [2015] for a discussion of analytical and interpretive variability in settlement patterns).…”

“…The appearance of institutionalized inequality continues to be a critical issue in European archaeology (see Childe 1930, Childe 1951, Shennan 1982, O'Shea 1996, Parkinson 2002, Kristiansen, Larsson 2005, Chapman 2008, Earle, Kristiansen 2010, Duffy 2010, Kienlin 2010, Parkinson, Gyucha 2012, Nicodemus 2014, Duffy 2015. The mortuary record has provided evidence central to arguments for and against the emergence of institutionalized inequality at various times over the course of the European prehistoric record (see Renfrew 1983, Chapman 1995, O'Shea 1996, Quinn 2015.…”

Territorial Expansion in the Virú State: Updating Old Settlement Patterns to Explore New Ideas

“…Various geographic, economic, political, and cultural variables may factor into site placement strategies and can affect the life history of individual settlements and of entire regions (Davies et al 2014;Duffy 2015;Verhagen et al 2015). Drawing from ethnohistoric and archaeological evidence, Duffy (2015) has recently argued that it incorrect to assume that a hierarchical pattern in site size automatically demonstrates a hierarchical political relationship. Instead, Duffy (2015) demonstrates several cases of size hierarchies that occurred due to subsistence resource aggregation, seasonal occupations, and communities that split in two.…”

“…Drawing from ethnohistoric and archaeological evidence, Duffy (2015) has recently argued that it incorrect to assume that a hierarchical pattern in site size automatically demonstrates a hierarchical political relationship. Instead, Duffy (2015) demonstrates several cases of size hierarchies that occurred due to subsistence resource aggregation, seasonal occupations, and communities that split in two.…”