ANTH 235
CASE STUDY, EARLY COMPLEX SOCIETIES
“complex society” versus “civilization”
Complex societies possess the following common features
(after V. Gordon Childe):
1. densely populated settlements (often, but not always,
including cities)
2. food and labor surplus controlled by an elite
3. specialization of labor and craft production
4. social stratification
5. monumental public works
6. a system of record keeping (e.g., writing, the Inca khipu,
Aztec codices...)
Inca khipu (or quipu); early 16th century CE, Peru. An extremely sophisticated
mnemonic device employing knotted strings of varying lengths and colors.
The Aztec Codex Boturini, page 19; 1530-1541 CE, Mexico
7. a state-level political organization
EXPLAINING THE EVOLUTION OF
CIVILIZATION: The idea that complex human
phenomena such as the origins of civilization may require
complex explanations is not new.
“It is both a natural and proper desire to learn, if possible,
how…savages, advancing by slow, almost imperceptible
steps, attained the higher condition of barbarians; how
barbarians, by similar progressive advancement, finally
attained to civilization.”
Lewis Henry Morgan, (Ancient Society, 1877)
The Explanation of Race: Mid-19th century: Gustav
Klemm (Germany) & Count J. A. de Gobineau (France)
both argued that race was the key factor in the
development of civilization. Each civilization was unique
because of biological factors.
Classic Maya site at Tikal, Guatemala occupied from ca. 200-850 CE
The Great Zimbabwe in southern Africa. Citadel of the Mutapa Empire,
continuously under construction and occupied between 400-1400 CE.
Environmental Determinism:
“Man can apparently live in any region where he can
obtain food, but his physical and mental energy and his
moral character reach their highest development only in a
few strictly limited areas.”
Ellsworth Huntington, (Civilization and Climate, 1924)
According to this view, environments that were too “easy”
or too naturally productive did not foster cultural
development. If people were not challenged by their
environment – did not need to invent things to survive –
they would not be obliged to advance. On the other hand,
if the climate was too rigorous, people would be too caught
up in the necessities of survival to progress beyond mere
subsistence. Only climates falling somewhere between too
rigorous and too generous would lead to the development
of civilization. (One might think of this colloquially as the
“Goldilocks Theory” for the origins of complex
societies…!)
Unilinear Evolution: First attempt to explain cultural
development through cultural explanations, but still heavily
influenced by Darwinian evolutionary perspective. This
idea is essentially materialistic and economically based;
hence it formed the basis for many Marxist interpretations
of the origins of complex societies.
LEWIS HENRY MORGAN’S
CULTURAL EVOLUTIONARY MODEL (1877)
CIVILIZATION
Alphabet & Writing

UPPER BARBARISM
Iron Tools

MIDDLE BARBARISM
Domestication of Plants and Animals

LOWER BARBARISM
Pottery

UPPER SAVAGERY
Bow & Arrow

MIDDLE SAVAGERY
Hunting Subsistence & Fire

LOWER SAVAGERY
Fruit & Nut Subsistence
The “Hydraulic Hypothesis” of Karl Wittfogel in which
early irrigation technology, requiring the harnessing of
large numbers of people in cooperative labor, led to the
development of more complex societies.
The Circumscription Hypothesis of Robert Carneiro
who said that civilized states came about through a series
of rational choices among the people involved; that only
coercion or force can explain this developmental
trajectory. Populations grow, resources diminish, so
territory must be expanded and other people’s toes are trod
upon. Conflict and force leads to more complex
organization.
CURRENT THINKING ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF
COMPLEX SOCIETIES:
Kernel question: “Why did civilization happen?”
Joseph Tainter’s taxonomy of hypotheses for the origins
of civilization (The Collapse of Complex Societies, 1988):
1. Managerial hypotheses maintain that civilization
developed in response to a need for more complex forms
of political integration. Managerial hierarchies arose to
accomplish complex tasks (canal building, management
of trade, etc.), leading to social stratification and other
trappings associated with civilization. (e.g., Wittfogel’s
Hydraulic Hypothesis)
2. Internal conflict hypotheses suggest that class conflict
is the principal (though not only) cause of social
complexity. Institutions arise to protect the wealth and
power of a privileged few. Marxism is an example.
3. External conflict hypotheses suggest that the
institutions of civilization arose in response to an
external threat. Goals are to successfully respond to the
threat and administer groups defeated in warfare (e.g.,
Carniero’s Circumscription Hypothesis).
4. Synthetic hypotheses are those that combine several
interrelated processes, including those referred to above.
Most archaeologists today believe that #4 – synthetic
hypotheses – offer the best explanations for the origins of
complex societies. They avoid simplistic monocausal
“prime mover” explanations.
CONCLUSIONS:
 Myriad factors impinging on agricultural groups in the
Indus and Nile valleys, in Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica,
China, South America, North America, southern and
western Africa, Southeast Asia, and elsewhere seem to
have set in motion forces whose ultimate impact on these
societies was enormous.
 At least in the broadest sense, we are all still living with
the consequences of those changes in our post-industrial
complex societies…
Make-up Exam: One comprehensive, essay-type make-up
exam, covering the entire semester’s material, will be given
on Thursday, 10 December (12:30-1:45 PM, Haury
Anthropology Building Room 215; BRING A BLUE
BOOK!).
You MAY take the make-up exam in substitution
of the lower of your two midterm scores.
There is no make-up available for the final exam nor
are substitutions or deadline extensions possible for
the paper assignment.
Final Exam: Non-comprehensive; format similar to
midterms with multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank
sections, plus one 50-point essay. Tuesday, 15 December,
8:00-10:00 AM, Haury 215. All you need to bring is a pen.