Birth Spacing, Aggression and Chiefly Cycling: The Evolution of Social Complexity

1/22/03


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Table of Contents

Birth Spacing, Aggression and Chiefly Cycling: The Evolution of Social Complexity

Introduction

Sequence of Societies

Three Paradigms for Modeling Evolution of Complex Societies

Three Paradigms for Modeling Evolution of Complex Societies (cont’d)

Three Paradigms for Modeling Evolution of Complex Societies (cont’d)

Model 1: Decision Making Mediated by Culture

Ethnographic Basis for Constructing a Decision Rule

Characterization of Female Activities

Criterion for Decisions

Decision Rule

Simulation: Implementation of the Decision Rule

Multi-agent Simulation: Simulation events for each simulation year

Decision Rule for Birth Spacing

Change in Parameters

Stabilized Population Size

DemographicTrajectory: Three Simulations

Demographic Trajectory Through Time

Effect of Change in Resource Density

Carrying Capacity versus Stabilized Population Size

Australian Data

Model 2: Competition Between Groups

Competition Between Two Groups

Phase State, Equilibrium Between Two Populations

Three Groups, Small Resource Patches

Change in Competition, Coalescence of Groups 1 and 2

Fission (No Change in Population Density)

Yanomamo Cycling

Highland New Guinea Cycling

Seasonal Variation in Resources, Large Patch Size

Seasonal Resource Abundance, Implications for Coalescence

Coalescence Leads to Increase in Population Density: Combined Group 1 + Group 2 Wins Out

Transition from Troop to Hunter-Gatherer Form of Social Organization

Groups of Individuals

Band society

Implications for Chiefly Cycling

Chiefdom (Simple)

Chiefdom (Complex)

Implications for State Society

State Structure (top down structure)

That’s All Folks!

Author: Dwight Read

Email: dread@anthro.ucla.edu

Other information:
Talk given at the Cotsen Institute, UCLA on January 17, 2003

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