Pink Apple
ANT 104-B
Shepardson
April 6, 2017
o Characteristics of State Level Complexity
 Written system; codified language
 Centralized government
 Social hierarchy
 Standing military
 Centralized religion
 Centralized political system
 Organized economy
 Intensive agricultural production
 Major technological developments
 Craft specialization
o Wealth & Political Economy
 Accumulation of surplus leads to capital
o Centralized Authority & Divine Leadership
o Writing
 5 OG systems
 Indus Script
 Cuneiform
 Hieroglyphics
 Oracle Bones (Chinese script)
 Olmec Glyphs (New World system)
o Militarism
 Common disposition towards conquering neighboring societies
o Consolidation of Power
 Military
 Economic
 Ideological
 Political power
o Voluntaristic
 Certain people spontaneously, rationally, and voluntarily gave up individual
sovereignties to organize a larger political unit with other communities
o Coercive
 Force is the mechanism by which political evolution has led from
autonomous villages to the state
 Driven by ambitious individuals
o Coercive Hypothesis
 Economic Stratification
 Need to protect private property
 Conquest
Pink Apple
ANT 104-B
Shepardson
 Reinforce inequalities between people resulted from conquest
 Military/ political leaders
 Circumscription
 Over limited resources led to conflict with winners and losers
o Loser assumed a lower rank
o Voluntaristic Hypothesis
 Hydraulic
 Complex irrigation requires cooperation
 Automatic
 Surplus led to craft specialization
 Redistribution of resources required to support new crafts, leading
to political inequalities
 Trade
 Long distance trade networks developed key locations such as ports
or oases; invention of wheel for transportation
(Finish class with video about cities within the Indus Valley civilization)