THE NATURE OF STATES
The following introduction to more complex societies prepared by Brian Fagan for his UCSB Anthro 3 course will provide a meaningful background for your thoughts:
Sumerians and Ancient Egyptians, Olmec, Maya, and Aztec, Moche, Chimu, IncaÑthe cultural achievements of the world's pre-industrial civilizations (state-organized societies) were revealed to an astonished world during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The first literate civilizations developed in the Near East by about 300 BC, having evolved out of village communities within a millennium, a tiny segment of time by prehistoric standards. In the millennia that followed, state-organized societies emerged elsewhere in the Old World, in India, Greece, China, and southeast Asia. They also developed out of village societies in Mexico and the Andes after about 1500 BC.It was at about 3000 BC that our world system began to change. Food production led to major changes in human life, vastly enhancing people's ability to exploit and manipulate the natural environment. But human societies everywhere were closely adapted to their environments, living in fundamental ecological balance with their surroundings. With the emergence of state-organized societies, the pre-industrial civilizations with their dense urban populations and new social orders, human societies became more interdependent and in more constant competition for land and resources. Slowly, the world order changed until, with the emergence of regional, then global, empires, the myriad societies of the globe were linked through ties significant and insignificant in an intricate web of economic, cultural, and political interdependence.
This assignment discusses the origins of state-organized societies and some of the theoretical controversies surrounding these origins. Then we explore the earliest civilizationsÑAncient Egypt and MesopotamiaÑbefore discussing the state-organized societies of Mexico and the Andes. Please be warned that this is a somewhat lengthy and demanding assignment, but the work is well worth it, for you will emerge with a new perspective on a critical development in human history.
First, we return to several observations relating to the chronology of world prehistory. Note: (1) the broadly contemporary appearance of Sumerian and Ancient Egyptian civilization, in about 3250 BC, (2) the more-or-less simultaneous development of more complex, state-organized societies in the Aegean area and Greece, and in the Indus Valley by 2500 to 2000 BC, (3) the later emergence of state-organized societies in China and South-east Asia, by 2000 BC, and (4) emerging cultural complexity and then of state-organized societies in Mexico by at least 1500 BC, and in coastal Peru by about the same time.
Other than noting these general points, keep the table close by for reference, as we will assume from here on that you have access to chronological information regarding each civilization or cultural development discussed in our assignments.
STATE-ORGANIZED SOCIETIES
What is a state-organized society, a "civilization?" Definitions abound in the academic literature and surround three institutions-the notion of civilization itself, and what is called a state-organized society. This latter contrasts dramatically with pre-state societies. It's now time to look more closely at pre state and state-organized societies.
Pre-State societies are small scale societies based on the community, the band, or the village. They vary greatly in their degree of political integration. In many, the community is the largest political unit, with no centralized authority whatsoever. In others, several communities may join together for some cooperative political or social activity, but there is no permanent political authority over all of them. Still other pre-state societies are much more elaborately organized, with many communities under the overall authority of a centralized or supreme political authority, which can sometimes be a hereditary leader. However, these societies lack the highly stratified class structure and other characteristics of the state .
State-organized societies (commonly called pre-industrial states) are on a large scale. They first emerged in the Near East about 5,000 years ago. Similar societies developed in India, China, the Americas, and other parts of the world somewhat later. All state-organized societies are autonomous political units, with many communities within their boundaries. They share a number of common features:
A centralized political structure and a central bureaucracy that runs the state.
Rigid social stratification that concentrates power in the hands of a privileged elite at the head of the social pyramid. Other classes include artisans, priests, and other specialists. Most people were commoners, farmers, fisherfolk, and other food producers. Slaves were the lowest of the low and below commoners.
Intensified food production capable of supporting large numbers of non-food producers. Such intensification took many forms, but often involved state-organized water control and distribution systems. For example, irrigation canals were vital in Egypt and Mesopotamia, while the Aztecs of Mexico developed a huge system of swamp gardens to support more than 600,000 people.
Elaborate public buildings, which served as temples, administrative centers, and dwellings for the elite.
Writing, or some equivalent form of record keeping.
States were not necessarily advantageous to everyone. All pre-industrial states were societies where inequality was a reality, where government was coercive. Government was usually controlled by a very small number of people. The elite maintained a monopoly on the use of force, and on the justice system. It was no coincidence that the rulers of many of these civilizations were perceived as having a special relationship to the gods. For example, Ancient Egyptian pharaohs were considered to be gods on earth. It was they who presided over the lavish public ceremonies that paid homage to the gods, recited the familiar chants that validated both the authority of the deities and their state.
Very often, social inequality was justified through elaborate fictions. For instance, the Shang rulers, who governed much of northern China 3,500 years ago, were considered intermediaries between the gods, the revered ancestors, and the living. They lived in isolated compounds, surrounded by a landscape of humble farming villages that has been called the "Green Circle." Shang lords and their successors maintained an elaborate fiction of their direct kin ties not only with the gods, but with the common people, who lived apart from them. In reality their authority was based on their monopoly of force to back their draconian decisions.
One of the most complex of all state-organized societies was ancient Rome, which for centuries presided over a vast empire centered on the Mediterranean Basin and extending at times far into Asia and as far as the Rhine and Danube Rivers. This was a highly centralized state, in the hands of a patrician elite that controlled not only political and social life, but most of the empire's wealth as well. The elite presided over a highly ranked society of merchants, artisans, and commoners. The lowest of the low were slaves, criminals and prisoners of war, who worked war galleys, labored in state mines, and on other public works. The empire was based on a highly efficient and very productive agricultural system, supported by a complex infrastructure of merchant ships and roads that allowed the authorities to move both food and armies from one end of the empire to the other with great dispatch. This infrastructure was essential, for Rome's grain was grown not in Italy, but in outlying provinces like North Africa, Spain, and Egypt.