Search

Transformations of human societies and environments are closely interwoven. Due to improved possibilities of paleoecological reconstruction and archaeological methods, we are now in a position to empirically collect detailed data from a variety of records. The Collaborative Research Centre 1266 'Scales of Transformation' has developed a concept in which both deductive and inductive transformation dimensions are compared on different temporal and spatial scales. This concept includes the connection between the environmental and social spheres, which are often inseparable. Accordingly, a holistic principle of socio-environmental research is developed, which is exemplified by the contributions to this special issue of The Holocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is little question that societal scale and mode of production from foraging to farming correlate with increases in economic inequality, there is no consensus over the relative importance of those factors or the role of institutions in the variance of inequality across time and space. To better understand the dynamics of economic inequality, it is necessary to expand our analytical horizon beyond the present into the deeper past. However, an analytical protocol especially oriented towards the systematic study of economic inequality with archaeological data is lacking. Here we propose the utility of grave size as a reliable proxy for estimating prehistoric social inequality and provide a methodological framework for analyzing this type of data. Our case studies using grave-size data from two Neolithic settlements in North and East China suggest that the asymmetric double Pareto distribution can be used as an alternative model to fit to the size distribution of grave wealth usually skewed and long-tailed. Based on the analytical connection between the probability density function and the Lorenz curve, a parsimonious algebraic expression of the Gini coefficient was derived. This analytical protocol also can serve as a convenient tool for quantifying economic inequality in prehistoric societies using other types of archaeological data such as land and house areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories of the economic evolution of societies and their diversity are critically examined, paying particular attention to the evolution of hunter-gatherer societies. An interdisciplinary approach drawing on anthropology and economics is adopted. Currently, three main stereotypes of the nature of hunter-gatherer societies exist. While these indicate that they were diverse, they fail to capture the full extent of their diversity. It is argued that this diversity increased with the passage of time and was shaped by the varied local eco-geographic conditions in which these societies evolved. This raises the question of whether this development had the same basis as speciation in the biological theory of natural selection. This is discussed and then particular attention is given to Adam Smith’s vision of the economic evolution of human societies. In conclusion, it is hypothesized that the evolutionary path of modern economies and societies has diverged from that of prehistoric societies—they have become less diverse. Modern societies may also have become more ultrasocial, a process which accelerated following the commencement of agriculture.

Theories of the economic evolution of societies and their diversity are critically examined, paying particular attention to the evolution of hunter-gatherer societies. An interdisciplinary approach drawing on anthropology and economics is adopted. Currently, three main stereotypes of the nature of hunter-gatherer societies exist. While these indicate that they were diverse, they fail to capture the full extent of their diversity. It is argued that this diversity increased with the passage of time and was shaped by the varied local eco-geographic conditions in which these societies evolved. This raises the question of whether this development had the same basis as speciation in the biological theory of natural selection. This is discussed and then particular attention is given to Adam Smith's vision of the economic evolution of human societies. In conclusion, it is hypothesized that the evolutionary path of modern economies and societies has diverged from that of prehistoric societies—they have become less diverse. Modern societies may also have become more ultrasocial, a process which accelerated following the commencement of agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]