EMERGING COMPLEXITY
Since the basis of human social organization rested on the
family, it is this dimension of society that underwent change as more complex
means for social ordering emerged. Chiefdoms are larged defined on the
basis of ranked clans - very large family groups that confirm relationships
and obligations. In egalitarian societies, clans were mechanisms for support
and cooperation such as in the case of the Anasazi or Hopi of today. It
was increasing population size that probably created some measure of scalar
stress on societies leading to a need to adjust socially so that decisions
could be made more efficiently and effectively. The ranking of families
would have been a relatively easy adjustment that would have structured
societies in a way to lessen the stress of decision making. The emergence
of ascribed status and social differentiation is a significant element
of more complex social organization. It is a measure of inequality and
very distinct from egalitarianism. This shift was by no means a black and
white issue or a switch that could simply be turned on. Societies needed
to balance the interplay of the two as the change toward a more complex
way of life evolved. Yet the pendulum of change had shifted. Increased
specialization, surplus and wealth, status, and the ability to feed a growing
and expanding population all fed a change that societies throughout the
world would deal with in their own unique ways - but all with a measure
of complexity that was often difficult to hold together.