Ranking, Resource and Exchange
Aspect of the Archaeology of Early European Society

Ranked societies are characterized by disparities in personal status which are often accompanied by the concentration of power and authority in the hands of a few dominant individuals.

Colin Renfrew (Edited by), Steven Shennan (Edited by)

9780521105095, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 March 2009

176 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 0.1 cm, 0.27 kg

Ranked societies are characterized by disparities in personal status that are often accompanied by the concentration of power and authority in the hands of a few dominant individuals. They stand between the sophistication of developed, states and the relative simplicity of most hunter-gatherer groups and early agriculturalists. In some places and times they represented relatively brief phases of transition to more complex forms of organization; in others they existed as stable forms of adaptation for thousands of years. They are thus of great interest for archaeologists seeking to understand the dynamics of cultural evolution.

1. Socio-economic change in ranked societies Colin Renfrew
Part I. The emergence of hierarchical structure : 2. Mobile resources: settlement and exchange in early agricultural Europe Andrew Sherratt
3. From minimal to moderate ranking Susan Shennan
4. Exchange and ranking: the role of amber in the earlier bronze age of Europe Stephen Shennan
5. Autonomy, ranking and resources in Iberian prehistory Robert Chapman
6. Social boundaries and land boundaries Andrew Fleming
Part II. The development of salient ranking: 7. Fortification, ranking and subsistence Timothy Champion
8. Exchange and ranking: the case of coral Sara Champion
9. Gradual growth and sudden change - urbanisation in temperate Europe John Collis
10. Wealth, prestige and power: the dynamics of late iron age political centralisation in south-east England Colin Haselgrove
Part III. The resource base of early state societies: the Aegean: 11. A friend in need is a friend indeed: social storage and the origins of social ranking Paul Halstead and John O'Shea
12. Leadership and 'surplus' production Clive Gamble
13. Settlement patterns, land tenure and social structure: a diachronic model John Bintliff
Part IV. Post-collapse resurgence: culture process in the Dark Ages: 14. The evolution of gateway communities: their socio-economic implications Richard Hodges
15. Stress as a stimulus for socio-economic change: Anglo-Saxon England in the seventh century C. J. Arnold
16. Rank, rights and resources: an archaeological perspective from Denmark Klaus Randsborg
Part V. Discussion: contrasting paradigms: 17. Materialism and socio-economic process in multilinear evolution John Gledhill and M. J. Rowlands
18. The identification and interpretation of ranking in prehistory: a contextual perspective Ian Hodder
19. Comments on 'Explanation' Robert Whallon
Part VI. Epilogue: 20. Meaning, inference and the material record Lewis R. Binford.

Subject Areas: Archaeology [HD]