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CHIEFDOMS

Yesterday and Today

edited by Robert L. Carneiro, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, Leonid E. Grinin, Russian Academy of Sciences and National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia, and Andrey V. Korotayev, National Research University Higher School of Economics and Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

From the reviews . . .

“[M]any of the contributors to Chiefdoms: Yesterday and Today approached their subject with the idea in mind of evaluating the history of ideas in a critical and productive manner that will enrich anthropological teaching and research. . . . Provide[s] pathways to new and
. . . productive avenues to rethink the chiefdom.”
Richard E. Blanton in Antiquity

“[Robert Carneiro] . . . has long been associated with debates surrounding the chiefdom concept and its significance for understanding the emergence of complex sociopolitical systems. In Chiefdoms, Carneiro . . . [and] other notable contributors to the literature . . . present us with a somewhat eclectic overview of this very broad topic. . . . [T]he book makes a strong case for the continued relevancy of the chiefdom concept.”
Patrick V. Kirch in Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

“Chiefdoms: Yesterday and Today is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in sociopolitical development in the past or present and  
. . . a wake-up call for anyone still clinging to social taxonomies or with neo-evolutionary tendencies. . . . This volume is enlightening and actually affordable . . . in this day of overpriced academic presses.”
Thomas E. Emerson in Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology

“[A]n impressive synthesis of the varied questions of how and in what forms chiefdoms have appeared in human history. Not only are the materials reviewed cross-cultural . . . but the scholarly participation is interdisciplinary and transnational. . . . What is new is the comparative scope and the nuanced depth . . . devoted to the question of emergence and survival of chiefdoms as a key feature of political evolution.”
George E. Marcus in Choice

“Chiefdoms: Yesterday and Today approaches cultural evolution with a historical eye that demonstrates the value of thinking beyond the state in both past and present. The individual chapters, written largely by established scholars, are excellent. This work also provides an additional venue for English-language access to Russian scholarship . . . . The quality of the contributions . . . is obvious in each chapter.”
Scott D. Sunell in Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION

Chiefdoms from the Beginnings Until Now
Leonid E. Grinin and Andrey V. Korotayev

Chiefdoms in Evolutionary Perspective
Robert L. Carneiro

II. CHIEFDOMS AND POLITICAL EVOLUTION

Chiefdoms and Their Analogues: Alternatives of Social Evolution at the Societal Level of Medium Cultural Complexity
Leonid E. Grinin and Andrey V. Korotayev

On Chiefs and Chiefdoms
Henri J. M. Claessen

The Emergence of Multi-Agent Polities of the Northern Central European Plains in the Early Middle Ages, 600–900 A.D.
Ludomir R. Lozny

Heterarchy and Hierarchy Among the Ancient Mongolian Nomads
Nikolay N. Kradin

III. CHIEFDOMS AND STATES

Chiefdom Confederacies and State Origins
D. Blair Gibson

Complex Chiefdom: Precursor of the State or Its Analogue?
Leonid E. Grinin

IV. FROM PAST TO PRESENT

Chiefs, Chieftaincies, Chiefdoms, and Chiefly Confederacies: Power in the Evolution of Political Systems
Timothy K. Earle

Chiefdom at War with Chiefless People While the State Looks On
Petr Skalník

Beyond States and Empires: Chiefdoms and Informal Politics
Patrick Chabal, Gary M. Feinman, and Petr Skalník

V. CONCLUSION

Chiefdoms: Beyond Time?
Leonid E. Grinin and Andrey V. Korotayev

Index

ISBN 978-0-9898249-8-9/paperback/370 pages/illus./March 2017/$34.95