Foundations of Social Inequality / Edition 1

by T. Douglas Price, Gary M. Feinman

Overview

In this authoritative volume, leading researchers offer diverse theoretical perspectives and a wide-range of information on the beginnings and nature of social inequality in past human societies. Their illuminating work investigates the role of status differentiation in traditional archaeological debates and major societal transitions. This volume features numerous case studies from the Old and New World spanning foraging societies to agricultural groups and complex states. Diachronic in view and archaeological in focus, this book will be of significant interest to archaeologists, anthropologists, and students.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306449796
Publisher:	Springer US
Publication date:	07/31/1995
Series:	Fundamental Issues in Archaeology
Edition description:	1995
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.03(d)

Table of Contents

I. Introduction.- 1 • Foundations of Prehistoric Social Inequality.- II. Theoretical Perspectives.- 2 • Pathways to Power: Principles for Creating Socioeconomic Inequalities.- 3 • Social Inequality, Marginalisation, and Economic Process.- 4 • The Cultural Foundations of Inequality in Households.- 5 • Social Inequality at the Origins of Agriculture.- III. Studies in Emerging Social Inequality.- 6 • Chiefly Power and Household Production on the Northwest Coast.- 7 • Equality and Hierarchy: Holistic Approaches to Understanding Social Dynamics in the Pueblo Southwest.- 8 • Social Inequality and Agricultural Resources in the Valle de la Plata, Colombia.- 9 • Prehistoric European Chiefdoms: Rethinking “Germanic” Societies.- IV. Conclusion.- 10 • The Emergence of Inequality: A Focus on Strategies and Processes.

Editorial Reviews

Ten papers by scholars in the area of social differentiation and inequality contain a variety of theoretical perspectives and specific case studies from the Old and New World, from foraging societies to agricultural groups and complex states. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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