By studying chiefdoms—kin-based societies in which a person’s place in a kinship system determines his or her social status and political position—this book addresses several fundam
The study of chiefdoms has moved from a preoccupation with their formal characteristics to a concern with their dynamics as political institutions. The contributors to this volume are interested in how ruling elites retain power through control over production and exchange, and then legitimize that control through an elaborate ideology. The eleven case studies look at particular chiefdoms, originating in specific historical conditions. Despite obvious differences between the chiefdoms, certain common underlying processes are revealed. The collection recognizes how complex and interdependent the sources of power in society are, as well as the forces of instability that constantly threaten to tear the society apart. Chiefdoms offers a rich and varied interpretation of sociopolitical power.
Inka storage systems financed the largest prehistoric New World empire, the Inka state, which extended almost three thousand miles along the west coast of South America and into the Andean highlands.
