McDONALD INSTITUTE CONVERSATIONS

Social inequality
before farming?
Multidisciplinary approaches to the study
of social organization in prehistoric and
ethnographic hunter-gatherer-fisher societies

Edited by Luc Moreau

Social inequality
before farming?
McDONALD INSTITUTE CONVERSATIONS

Social inequality
before farming?
Multidisciplinary approaches
to the study of social
organization in prehistoric
and ethnographic hunter-
gatherer-fisher societies

Edited by Luc Moreau

with contributions from

Hervé Bocherens, Alberto Buela, Andrea Czermak, Christophe Darmangeat,
William Davies, Mark Dyble, Kate Ellis-Davies, Ben Fitzhugh, Douglas
P. Fry, Mietje Germonpré, Matt Grove, Emmanuel Guy, Brian D. Hayden,
Rowena Henderson, Emmanuelle Honoré, Joe L. Jeffery, Charles A. Keith,
Marta Mirazón Lahr, Noa Lavi, Robert H. Layton, Martina Lázničková-
Galetová, Julia Lee-Thorp, Sheina Lew-Levy, Paul Pettitt, Rachel Reckin,
Paul Roscoe, Mikhail V. Sablin, Rick J. Schulting, Patrik Söderberg,
Duncan N.E. Stibbard-Hawkes, Ilga Zagorska, Gunita Zarina
Published by:
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research
University of Cambridge
Downing Street
Cambridge, UK
CB2 3ER
(0)(1223) 339327
[email protected]
www.mcdonald.cam.ac.uk

McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, 2020

© 2020 McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

Social inequality before farming? is made available
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ISBN: 978-1-913344-00-9

Cover design by Dora Kemp and Ben Plumridge.

Typesetting and layout by Ben Plumridge.

Edited for the Institute by James Barrett (Series Editor).

Contents
Contributorsvii
Figuresix
Tablesx
Prefacexi

Introduction Social inequality without farming: what we can learn from how foraging
societies shape(d) social inequality? 1
Luc Moreau

Part I Social inequality and egalitarianism in extant hunter-gatherer-fisher societies

Chapter 1 Social inequality among New Guinea forager communities 21
Paul Roscoe

Chapter 2 Mobility, autonomy and learning: could the transition from egalitarian to
non-egalitarian social structures start with children?  33
Rachel Reckin, Sheina Lew-Levy, Noa Lavi & Kate Ellis-Davies

Chapter 3 The impact of equality in residential decision making on group composition,

cooperation and cultural exchange 51
Mark Dyble

Chapter 4 Surplus, storage and the emergence of wealth: pits and pitfalls 59
Christophe Darmangeat

Chapter 5 Leadership and inequality among the Iñupiat: a case of transegalitarian

hunter-gatherers 71
Alberto Buela

Chapter 6 Egalitarianism and democratized access to lethal weaponry: a neglected approach 83

Duncan N.E. Stibbard-Hawkes

Chapter 7 Adaptation and cumulative processes in human prehistory 103

Robert H. Layton

Part II Social inequality in Upper Palaeolithic Europe

Chapter 8 Did secret societies create inequalities in the Upper Palaeolithic?  117
Brian D. Hayden

Chapter 9 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources:

inequality, storage and mobility  131
William Davies

Chapter 10 A comparative perspective on the origins of inequality 167

Matt Grove

Chapter 11 Could incipient dogs have enhanced differential access to resources among
Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers in Europe? 179
Mietje Germonpré, Martina Lázničková-Galetová, Mikhail V. Sablin & Hervé Bocherens

v
Chapter 12 Social ecology of the Upper Palaeolithic: exploring inequality through
the art of Lascaux 201
Paul Pettitt

Chapter 13 Naturalism: a marker of Upper Palaeolithic social inequalities?  223

Emmanuel Guy

Part III Social inequality in prehistoric Holocene hunter-gatherer-fisher societies

Chapter 14 Reciprocity and asymmetry in social networks: dependency and hierarchy
in a North Pacific comparative perspective 233
Ben Fitzhugh

Chapter 15 Exploring fisher-forager complexity in an African context 255

Joe L. Jeffery & Marta Mirazón Lahr

Chapter 16 Unequal in death and in life? Linking burial rites with individual life histories 279
Rick J. Schulting, Rowena Henderson, Andrea Czermak, Gunita Zarina,
Ilga Zagorska & Julia Lee-Thorp

Chapter 17 Did prehistoric people consider themselves as equals or unequals?

A testimony from the last hunter-gatherers of the Eastern Sahara 293
Emmanuelle Honoré

Chapter 18 Social complexity, inequality and war before farming: congruence of

comparative forager and archaeological data 303
Douglas P. Fry, Charles A. Keith & Patrik Söderberg

Appendices to Chapter 9 321 (online edition only)

vi
Contributors
Hervé Bocherens Matt Grove
Department of Geosciences and Senckenberg Centre Department of Archaeology, Classics and
for Human Evolution Palaeoenvironment (HEP), Egyptology, University of Liverpool, UK
University of Tübingen, Germany Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Emmanuel Guy
Alberto Buela Independent researcher, Paris, France
Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Email: [email protected]
University of Vienna, Austria
Email: [email protected] Brian D. Hayden
Department of Anthropology, University of British
Andrea Czermak Columbia, Canada
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, UK Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Rowena Henderson
Christophe Darmangeat School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, UK
Department of Economy, UFR GHES, Email: [email protected]
University of Paris, Paris, France
Email: [email protected] Emmanuelle Honoré
Centre d’Anthropologie Culturelle,
William Davies Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Department of Archaeology, University of Email: [email protected]
Southampton, UK
Email: [email protected] Joe L. Jeffery
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary
Mark Dyble Studies, Department of Archaeology, University
Department of Anthropology, University College of Cambridge, UK
London, UK Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Charles A. Keith
Kate Ellis-Davies Department of Anthropology, University of
Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent Alabama at Birmingham, USA
University, UK Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Noa Lavi
Ben Fitzhugh Department of Anthropology, University of Haifa,
Quaternary Research Center, University of Israel
Washington, Seattle, USA Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Robert H. Layton
Douglas P. Fry Department of Anthropology, University of
Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, Durham, UK
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Martina Lázničková-Galetová
Mietje Germonpré Moravian Museum Anthropos Institute, Brno,
Operational Direction ‘Earth and History of Life’, Czech Republic
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Email: [email protected]
Belgium
Email: [email protected]

vii
Julia Lee-Thorp Mikhail V. Sablin
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, UK Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of
Email: [email protected] Sciences, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
Email: [email protected]
Sheina Lew-Levy
Department of Psychology, King’s College, Rick J. Schulting
University of Cambridge, UK School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, UK
Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

Marta Mirazón Lahr Patrik Söderberg

Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies, Åbo
Studies, Department of Archaeology, University Akademi University, Finland
of Cambridge, UK Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Duncan N.E. Stibbard-Hawkes
Paul Pettitt Department of Anthropology, Durham University,
Department of Archaeology, Durham University, UK
UK Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Ilga Zagorska
Rachel Reckin Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia,
Department of Archaeology, St John’s College, Latvia
University of Cambridge, UK Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Gunita Zarina
Paul Roscoe Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia,
Department of Anthropology, University of Maine, Latvia
USA Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]

viii
Figures

1.1. Nearest neighbour travel time against population density. 25

2.1. BaYaka playgroups tend to consist of a broad range of ages and genders. 38
2.2. Flowchart of potential relationships in egalitarian or non-egalitarian social structures. 41
2.3. Flowchart of potential relationships in egalitarian or non-egalitarian social structures. 43
3.1. Illustrative example of the possible effect of mixed-sibling co-residence on the relatedness of groups. 54
3.2. Number of camps in which the average household is permitted to live.   55
5.1. Composition and kinship relationships of five hunting crews in Wales. 77
6.1. A Hadza man whittling a bow.   88
6.2. A map of the distribution of hand spears and spearthrowers throughout Australia. 89
6.3. A map of the recent historic distribution of blowdart use throughout the Old World.   90
6.4. A map of the recent historic distribution of blowdart use throughout the Americas. 91
7.1. Delayed return as a composite category. 106
8.1. A sketch of an Elk secret society dancer among the Ogalala Sioux on the American Plains. 120
8.2. Bone flutes used to represent the voices of spirits in Californian secret society rituals. 121
8.3. The interior of an Egbo ritual house of the Ekoi tribe in Nigeria.  122
8.4. The interior of an Egbo ritual house at Akangba, Nigeria.   122
8.5. The ‘Sorcerer’ from Les Trois Frères Cave in France. 124
8.6. Small dolmen containing the skull of a high-ranking member of a secret society on Vanuatu.   126
8.7. One of the skull cups recovered from the Solutrean deposits in Le Placard. 126
9.1. Net Primary Productivity and Effective Temperature conditions for extant fisher-hunter-gatherers. 138–9
9.2. Spatio-temporal distributions of NPP and ET in Upper Palaeolithic Europe.   140–1
9.3. Number of days per year with (growing) temperatures above 0°C, 5°C and 10°C. 142–3
9.4. Reconstructed population densities. 147
9.5. The influence of resource predictability and abundance. 148
10.1. Four species share a common ancestor at A. 168
11.1. Lateral view of the Pleistocene wolf skull from ‘Trou des Nutons’ cave, Belgium.   181
11.2. Palaeolithic dog skull from the Gravettian site Předmostí, Czech Republic. 181
12.1. The Abbé Glory’s drawing of the engraved horses in the Axial Passage, Lascaux.   214
12.2. The Abbé Glory’s drawing of the painted Frieze of Ibex in the Nave, Lascaux. 215
12.3. Drawing of the engravings of the left side of the Nave’s Panel of the Black Cow, Lascaux.   215
12.4. Drawing of the engraved horses and ibex of the east wall of the Axial Passage, Lascaux.   216
13.1. Drawing of a bison, Salon noir, Cave of Niaux.   224
13.2. Interior of a chief’s house, Chilkat, Alaska. 
 227
13.3. Same stylistic conventions shared in Western Europe around the twentieth millennium. 228
13.4. Parpalló cave: apprentice exercises? 228
14.1. Map of North Pacific.   235
14.2. Map of part of the Kodiak Archipelago depicting redundant ecological zones.   240
14.3. Archaeological house area comparisons from Kachemak and Koniag period.   242
14.4. Plan view of surface features on a representative ‘Developed Koniag’ village site. 244
14.5. Map of the Kuril Archipelago, depicting different ecological characteristics.   247
14.6. House size variation from Late Jōmon, Epi-Jōmon, Okhotsk and Ainu structures. 248
15.1. A comparison of forager representation across six continents by number of populations per landmass
area and in three cross-cultural forager datasets. 257
15.2. Fisher-foragers from Binford’s (2001) dataset. 258
15.3. Harpoon-bearing sites of northern Africa, divided by region. 267
15.4. Plot of complexity scores for Aqualithic sites over time.  270
15.5. Plot of complexity scores for Aqualithic sites by latitude. 271
15.6. Plot of complexity scores for Aqualithic sites by longitude. 272
16.1. Zvejnieki site plan. 282
16.2. Zvejnieki burial 170, Mesolithic adult male; Zvejnieki burial 226, Middle Neolithic child aged 2–4.   283
16.3. Summed probability distributions of radiocarbon dates. 285
16.4. Human bone collagen δ15N values for graves at Zvejnieki. 285
ix
16.5. Human bone collagen and post-weaning M1 dentine δ15N values for graves at Zvejnieki. 287
17.1. Location and setting of the rock art site of Wadi Sūra II. 
 294
17.2. Main panel of rock art depictions on the left of Wadi Sūra II walls. 296
17.3. A scene on Wadi Sūra II walls showing a composite beast.   297
17.4. Graphs of the average number of individuals per scene. 298
17.5. View of rock art depictions on the right of Wadi Sūra II walls. 
 299

Tables

1.1. Classification of forager communities mentioned in the text. 22

2.1. Studies included in a meta-ethnography on learning subsistence and learning social skills.   34
6.1. Body weight dimorphism in Hominoidea and fossil hominins. 94
7.1. Are there secret societies in Aboriginal Australia? 108
7.2. Chronology of the transition to inequality on the Northwest Coast and Kodiak Island.   111
9.1. Defining key terms of reference. 132
9.2. Characteristics of ‘Generalized’ (egalitarian) and ‘Complex’ (transegalitarian) hunter-gatherers. 133
9.3. Information transmission types compared to demographic and spatial attributes from forager societies.  149
11.1. Comparison of dog roles based on the ethnographic and archaeozoological (Upper Palaeolithic) record. 
 184
12.1. Social inequalities among hunter-gatherer groups of the present and recent past. 207
15.1. Variables from Binford’s dataset that are discussed in-text and used in statistical analyses. 
 260
15.2. Hierarchical linear regression models using percentage aquatic resource-dependence. 262
15.3. Hierarchical binary logistic regression models using percentage aquatic resource-dependence. 263
15.4. Indications of complexity identified at Aqualithic sites. 
 268
15.5. Proxies for the importance of aquatic resources at Aqualithic sites by region and date period. 269
15.6. Mean complexity scores at Aqualithic sites by region and date period. 269
16.1. Summary of bone/bulk tooth dentine and sequential collagen results from Zvejnieki.   284
18.1. The forager societies represented in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample, excluding equestrian hunters. 306
18.2. Means and standard variations for the whole sample and sub-samples defined by settlement and class. 308
18.3. Correlations among demographic and social features.   309
18.4. Correlations of demographic, settlement, social variables with types of lethal aggression. 310
18.5. The origin of war on Kodiak Island in the North Pacific.   313
18.6. The origins of war in eastern North America. 314
18.7. The origin of war in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico.   314
18.8. Skeletal evidence for lethal violence and the origin of war in Japan. 
 314

x
 Preface

I write this preface from the state of Wyoming in what was really going on: exploitation, oppression,
the US, a state where COVID-19 has not (yet) struck slavery… inequality in all its manifestations. Finally,
as hard as it has struck other parts of the world, but I think, we have reached the point, through analyses
where we nonetheless have been under stay-at-home of archaeological and ethnological data, that we might
orders. Those orders have given me plenty of time to actually understand inequality.
think about where we went wrong, which in the case We’ve passed a Rubicon. And this really matters.
of the US is a long list. Coincidentally, I also recently The calamity that is COVID-19 has pulled back the
re-read Machiavelli’s sixteenth-century book, The curtain on modern society, exposing the weaknesses
Prince, a manual of how to ruthlessly crush opponents of its structure, laying bare the inequality between and
while administering (apparent) generosity to acquire within countries that Machiavellian leaders exploit
the ‘love’ of the masses. and exacerbate for personal gain. Doing something
It was in this context that I read the papers in this about inequality is the challenge that will remain after
volume. In doing so, I was struck by two facts. First, COVID-19 dissipates.
inequality’s origin, development and operation are These papers help by seeking the origin of
difficult to understand and yet the actions that lead inequality in a kind of society, that of nomadic hunter-
to inequality are easy to implement. This shouldn’t gatherers, that we once considered ‘the original affluent
surprise us: no American baseball player mathemati- society’, a classless society, or ‘primitive communists’.
cally calculates the arc of a fly ball, but he’s still able to Some argue that inequality must be there (as Marxist
position himself in the right place to catch it. You can be analysts argued in the 1980s) since it is present in our
utterly uneducated and still know how to manipulate closest primate relatives, and therefore is in humanity’s
a system to maintain exert, and abuse power. Many genetic foundation. Some see evidence of social and/
world leaders today are proof. or political inequality among Palaeolithic hunters, in
Second, I think that the papers in this volume the evidence for secret societies and in the violence of
could be some of the most valuable published in cave art. I am not convinced by this ‘grimdark’ vision of
anthropology in many years. Philosophers and social Palaeolithic society, and see an enormous gap between
thinkers have tried to understand inequality for a difference and inequality, between a situation where
century; indeed, efforts to understand it precede one person has more than another who nonetheless
Machia­velli. We bemoan its existence, and yet we have has enough and one in which society gives a person
felt unable to grasp it, and, unable to grasp it, unable permission to enslave another.
to do something about it. We muddled through the Nonetheless, these chapters remind us that
useless ramblings of nineteenth- and early twentieth- hunter-gatherers are not angels, and the same self-
century evolutionists, who, reflecting their colonial interest that guides an Iñupiaq man to become a umialik,
environment, often thought that inequality was a good or that gave privilege to those men allowed to gather
thing, and, if not good, an inevitable thing. Marx tried in the torch-lit gallery of Lascaux, guides Machiavelli’s
to shake them out of that complacency, but his bril- anonymous prince. People have different skills, and
liance was largely wasted during his ‘second coming’ in for some, those skills are political. Under the right
the second half of the twentieth century with so much conditions, those individuals can consolidate power,
hand-wringing about how a theory intended to explain convince others to go to battle, and make their personal
early capitalism should also apply to hunter-gatherers aggrandizement seem reasonable to the people paying
(because, it must… right?), and so much politically its price. Palaeolithic society had its Hitlers and Stalins,
correct posturing that led to no action – and all but its Caesars and Trumps.
disappeared when the Berlin Wall (thankfully) came But it didn’t have imperialism, or empires, or pal-
down and the Soviet Union collapsed. ‘Intensifica- aces, or wealth hidden in tax havens. So other chapters
tion’ and ‘complexity’, words that should be stricken here look for the conditions under which those ‘selfish’
from anthropology’s vocabulary for their uselessness individuals can gain power. High population density
(and that are thankfully rare in this volume), masked (pressure), localized and hence controllable resources,
xi
 Preface

the ability to build a coalition, which requires a suffi- displays of potential force – multi-billion-dollar aircraft
cient concentration of population and social institutions carriers, atomic weapons, a Space Force – signal a
that are conducive to creating coalitions, lack of trust lack of trust in non-violent institutions to resolve the
in institutions, including sharing networks, to provide inevitable disputes that arise when people, or countries,
in times of stress – these are the conditions that permit pursue their self-interests with little regard for others.
those with political skills to pursue self-interest through Building trust in institutions – in the UN, in voting, in
the manipulation of others. the media, in government itself! – is an integral part
These conditions are as relevant to understanding of stopping and even reversing the arms race before
the world of today as they are to an understanding of the it drives the world to the poor house.
Palaeolithic world. Today, however, conditions can be Inequality is an old story, and one that we under-
manipulated, for example ‘localized’ in off-shore bank stand much better due to the efforts of anthropologists
accounts. Population pressure is high and will become and archaeologists. It hasn’t been easy to arrive at this
worse as the world approaches the projected population point. But the really hard work – implementing our
of 11 billion by 2100. And competition is worsened by knowledge – still lies ahead for us. This volume, and
a capitalist economy that encourages ever-increasing our prehistoric hunting and gathering ancestors tell us
amounts of consumption and conversion of needed what needs to be done. And it is the most important
resources, such as food, into higher profit margin items work anyone could be doing in the world today.
such as crisps and alcoholic beverages. Information is
a resource, and technology makes information more Robert L. Kelly
available but less trustworthy. Unbelievably expensive University of Wyoming

xii
 Introduction

Social inequality without farming:

what we can learn from how foraging
societies shape(d) social inequality?

Luc Moreau

Today, as unfair inequality threatens civil society This volume contains research presented at
(Case & Deaton 2020; Deaton 2016), understanding the an international conference held at the McDonald
evolutionary development, intergenerational transmis- Institute for Archaeological Research (University
sion, and variable levels and forms of social inequality of Cambridge) from 21 to 23 January 2018, bringing
through time and space is one of archaeology’s funda- together early-career researchers and world-renowned
mental tasks and current ‘Grand Challenges’ (Kintigh scholars in the fields of prehistoric archaeology and
et al. 2014; Price & Feinman 2010; Smith et al. 2010a,b,c). evolutionary anthropology. The conference aimed
By revealing a far more complex human past than to advance discussions that address variability in
previously postulated by social philosophers and early the pattern and process of social inequality in non-
proponents of social evolutionary theories (Childe agricultural societies, and to promote social narratives
1951; Fried 1967; Service 1966), archaeological inves- about lifeways in prehistoric hunter-gatherer-fisher
tigations over the past 50 years have challenged the communities. Contributors to this volume seek to
importance of domestication and food production per se identify and interpret the archaeological correlates
in the emergence of institutionalized social inequality of social inequality in its diverse manifestations, to
(Flannery & Marcus 2012; Kohler & Smith 2018; Price adapt and refine theoretical ideas and to investigate
& Brown 1985; Price & Feinman 1995, 2010). Long- the conditions that allowed hierarchical forms of eco-
standing assumptions about social evolution from nomic, social, and political organization to take hold
egalitarian foragers towards non-egalitarian farmers and persist in hunter-gatherer-fisher societies (in short:
following simple staged models have further been hunter-gatherers), both prehistoric and ‘extant’. Under
falsified by ethnographic and archaeological data. this term, I include the set of societies which have
These show that wealth and status disparities are been ethnohistorically or ethnographically recorded
not ubiquitous among farmers and horticulturalists but are no longer in existence exactly as they were
(Bogaard et al. 2019; Gurven et al. 2010; Kuijt 1996), and recorded, even though that is stretching the meaning.
conversely, that inequalities in wealth and status exist These contributions draw on multidisciplinary cross-
in purely foraging economies (Ames 2007; Fitzhugh cultural case studies spanning terminal Pleistocene to
2003, this volume; Hayden 1994, 1995, this volume; Holocene archaeological and ethnographic contexts
Roscoe 2006, this volume). from across the globe.
Social inequality in the prehistoric human past
developed through multiple historical processes that Understanding social inequality
operate on a number of different scales of variability
(e.g. social, economic, demographic, and environ- The evolution and deployment of social inequality in
mental) (e.g. Drennan et al. 2010; Fitzhugh 2003, this its multiple forms and degrees is a complex topic, not
volume; Kelly 1995, 2013: 241–68; Mattison et al. 2016; served well by simplistic definitions (e.g. Borgerhoff
Price & Feinman 1995; Smith et al. 2018). This volume, Mulder et al. 2009; Fitzhugh 2003, this volume; Kelly
focusing on the archaeology and ethnology of social 2013; Mattison et al. 2016; Roscoe 2006, this volume;
inequality in foraging societies, reflects an expanding Smith et al. 2010a,b). In all human societies, individuals
interest in empirically unravelling those correlations of different ages, genders or abilities receive different
rather than assuming them at the outset. shares of the overall economic output, hence enjoy
1
 Introduction

different degrees of autonomy, prestige, or power eschew the term ‘social complexity’ (Price & Brown
within the group (Henrich & Boyd 2008; Kelly 2013; 1985; Keeley 1988), as it directs our attention away
Sahlins 1958). Moreover, according to Smith et al. from social inequality and leads to an oversimplifying
(2010a), almost no extant hunter-gatherer society is dualistic model of residentially mobile, ‘generalized/
characterized by pervasive equality in wealth and life simple’ as opposed to relatively sedentary, ‘complex’
chances – however egalitarian in the terms of Wood- hunter-gatherers, which masks the subtle variability
burn (1982) its ethos may be. In this sense, inequality of hunter-gatherer social organization and dynamic
is practically ubiquitous. social processes (Burch & Ellanna 1994; Prentiss &
In the theoretical and linguistic landscape of social Kuijt 2004). Furthermore, ‘social complexity’ is con-
inequality, there is no ultimate definition of what social ceptually biased towards foraging societies associated
inequality is that is shared by the various contributors. with resource abundance, especially aquatic resources,
Social inequality means different things to different and it entails corollary implications of economic and
people. This dissensus is a result of the theoretical technological complexity (i.e. specialization of tasks
openness that underpins this volume. Given the current and functions) (see also Jeffery & Lahr, this volume).
lack of a unified body of theory in the field of social Here I favour the egalitarian/non-egalitarian distinc-
inequality, to focus on a single approach would be tion, conceived as conceptual ends of a spectrum, in
intellectually factious. Whilst acknowledging this, I the context of variously negotiated or enforced cultural
do find useful the definition provided by Roscoe (this norms or ethoses of individual autonomy (see below).
volume), who essentially defines social inequality in
foraging societies as differentials in power relations and Material, embodied, and relational wealth
status hierarchies acting in tandem to generate vari- Comparative evolutionary anthropology has recently
ous levels and manifestations of social inequality. As expanded our understanding of social inequality in for-
Roscoe has discussed, social power ‘is something that aging societies by emphasizing the differing importance
people continuously contest, drawing on the various of three interdependent classes of wealth – material,
capitals at their disposal’ in order ‘to induce, coerce, embodied, and relational – and differences in the
or otherwise motivate the behaviour of others’ (p. 22). cross-generational transmission of these wealth classes
Status differentials emerge ‘as a widespread solution according to the subsistence mode in which the transfer
to the problem of managing conflicts of interest that takes place (Borgerhoff Mulder et al. 2009; Borgerhoff
arise within and among coalitions and alliances’, and Mulder & Beheim 2011; Smith et al. 2010a,b). Material
thus ‘facilitate the formation of large physical aggre- wealth typically comprises land and household or
gations, communities and alliances’ (p. 21). Status private assets owned either personally or collectively,
differentials, as the foundation for social power, can by a household or kin group. Drawing on embodied
be broken down into dominance and prestige hierar- capital theory (Kaplan et al. 2003), embodied wealth
chies, where dominance is the ‘ability to win dyadic encompasses health, body size, strength, cognitive abil-
agonistic interactions’ by the use of threat or force, ‘with ity (i.e. skill and productive knowledge), all of which
outcomes determining priority of access to resources variably affect basic fitness with regard to mortality and
or mating’, in contrast to prestige which denotes ‘influ- fertility rates. Relational wealth refers essentially to a
ence or deference that is freely granted’ (Smith et al. person’s centrality in a social network, including the
2016: 56). Although both dominance and prestige can number of connections on which an individual can draw
be present simultaneously within the same society, based on his social position, trust, reputation, kinship
prestige competition is the more common pathway and symbolic goods. Given the primary constraint of
to power in non-state societies (Mattison et al. 2016). residential mobility on material wealth accumulation
By addressing the question of how prehistoric and and transmission, embodied and relational wealth are
extant foraging societies shape(d) inequality, I do not most important to individual well-being and repro-
dwell on the assumption that ‘there was a time before ductive success among low density hunter-gatherers
complexity emerged; a time, therefore, of universal (Borgerhoff Mulder et al. 2009; Borgerhoff Mulder &
simplicity’ (Rowley-Conwy 2001: 44). Rather, I argue Beheim 2011; Smith et al. 2010a).
that the lifeways of hunter-gatherers pose a crucial The simple correlation of forms of wealth inequal-
intellectual challenge to find meaningful ways of using ity with status and power differentials is currently
archaeological and ethnographic data to address vari- not practicable. In particular, it would be premature
ability and change in a major social-level phenomenon to assume that wealth differentials correlate so firmly
that holds relevance for current debates in evolutionary with power differentials that to study one is to study
social science as a whole, as well as for contemporary the other (Smith et al. 2018). A way forward might
communities. Like Kelly (2013: 242), I deliberately require further attention to the properties of different
2
 Social inequality without farming: what we can learn from how foraging societies shape(d) social inequality?

forms of ‘capital’ underpinning power relations and there is archaeological evidence for transmission of
status hierarchies (Roscoe, this volume) from multi- material wealth (Prentiss et al. 2018a), with classic
ple foraging societies by using comparable empirical examples often drawn from non-egalitarian hunter-
measures. Comparable to wealth classes, it is likely gatherers in the Pacific Northwest and western Arctic.
that capital classes (i.e. economic, social, symbolic, It is worth noting, however, that whilst all societies of
martial, and so on) to which individual agents have non-egalitarian hunter-gatherers in those regions had
access contribute to the variety of historical trajectories wealth acquisition, they were not all characterized by
and social forms in foraging societies. hereditary (i.e. ascribed) status differences (Buela, this
volume; Prentiss & Kuijt 2004). For some scholars,
Non-egalitarian hunter-gatherers non-egalitarian hunter-gatherers are societies where
Archaeologists interested in the formation of social leadership and status are inherited and leaders have
inequality have often focused on non-egalitarian control over non-kin labour (Arnold 1996; Buela, this
hunter-gatherers with complex sociocultural institu- volume; Fitzhugh 2003, this volume; Roscoe 2006, this
tions (Arnold 1996; Buela, this volume; Fitzhugh 2003, volume). For others, social inequality emerges under
this volume; Fry et al., this volume; Hayden 1994, 1995, the combined conditions of resource abundance,
this volume; Jeffery & Lahr, this volume; Kelly 2013; technological change, and self-driven ‘aggrandizers’
Prentiss & Kuijt 2004; Prentiss et al. 2014, 2018a,b; engaging in surplus accumulation, competitive feast-
Price & Brown 1985; Roscoe 2006, this volume). These ing, and patronage, without necessarily requiring
groups are marked (among others) by sedentism or inheritance of status and leadership position (Hayden
substantially restricted residential mobility, high 1994, 1995, this volume).
population densities, ownership and defence of critical
resources, moderate to heavy reliance on stored foods, Emergence of inequality
hierarchical sociopolitical organization, inherited While the inheritance of wealth might maintain inequal-
status, manipulation of labour through the creation of ity once it is formed, inter-generational wealth transfer
social obligations of debt, high levels of interpersonal might just be part of the process whereby social inequal-
competition and intergroup conflict (including war), ity becomes culturally codified and not necessarily a
ritual feasting, and prestige goods or money-like cur- causal factor in understanding the emergence of social
rencies. So-called ‘complex’, ‘transegalitarian’ (sensu inequality (Kelly 2010). Incipient inequality may be
Hayden 1995), hereinafter ‘non-egalitarian’ (sensu Kelly produced by a variety of localized processes, and
2013: 242) hunter-gatherers exhibit numerous features even though the mechanisms of this transition remain
associated with the emergence of so-called persistent poorly understood, its emergence may hinge on ques-
institutionalized inequality (PII) defined as ‘differential tions such as why the collective action, religious beliefs
access to power or resources involving institutionali- and/or the ecological constraints that prevent material
zation of status hierarchies by hereditary privileges wealth-based inequality from taking place lost its/their
or positions such as social classes, castes, hereditary effectiveness (Aldenderfer 2010; Fitzhugh 2003, this
titles, or heritable differences in wealth’ (Mattison et volume; Kelly 2010, 2013: 248 ff.; Layton, this volume;
al. 2016: 185). Culturally codified institutional inequali- Mattison et al. 2016; Schulting et al., this volume).
ties are embedded in multi-generational practices, in Did the development of inequality involve gradual
contrast with inequality due to individually achieved (scalar) change, or did it jump rapidly from egalitar-
inequality in status, power or wealth. The latter does ian to non-egalitarian norms or ethoses? The answer
not become normalized in social structures and does to this question hinges upon how social inequality is
not persist inter-generationally, hence is more easily defined and how it is achieved (see section ‘Modelling
reversable (Fitzhugh, this volume). Inequality’ below). In particular, it depends on whether
Generalizations about wealth inequality differ the emergence of inequality is conceptualized as a con-
greatly depending on whether one focuses on more tinuum of accumulating features or as a threshold that
mobile low-density foragers or on the smaller set of is crossed (Fitzhugh 2003, this volume; Fry et al., this
sedentary, high-density extant foragers with intergen- volume; Keeley 1988; Layton, this volume). Fitzhugh
erational wealth transmission (Smith et al. 2010a: 22). has demonstrably argued that the development of
However, the hereditary character of inequality is gen- intra-community social inequalities in Alaskan Kodiak
erally seen as a necessary condition to archaeologically communities involved more or less gradual change,
operationalize the concept of inequality and account for as they emerged through the confluence of ecological
spatiotemporal patterns. This is based on the premise patchiness, defensible resources and social competi-
that archaeological contexts are always more or less tion, under sufficiently dense populations (Fitzhugh
time-averaged. PII is considered to be present when 2003; this volume; Layton, this volume).
3
 Introduction

Egalitarian by default point, the exchange between Ju/’hoansi and surround-

ing agropastoralist populations saw the emergence of
Egalitarian hunter-gatherers are typically character- a series of different relationships such as barter which,
ized by an ethos of individual autonomy according contrary to hxaro long-term partnerships, ‘did not
to which ‘each person has the potential to achieve compel relationships of long duration or dominance/
prestige and where the enforcement of cultural norms submission but rather immediate, balanced reciprocity’
prevent a person from using that prestige to gain power (Wiessner 1994: 118). While Ju/’hoansi may have had
over another’ (Kelly 2013: 243–4; see also Dyble et al. relatively short-term barter relationships with cultiva-
2015; Lee 1990; Woodburn 1982, 2005). However, it is tors, it is worth bearing in mind that other populations
worth noting that egalitarianism can mask hierarchy of egalitarian hunter-gatherers, such as the Congo-
(Flanagan 1989; Kelly 2013: 244). In egalitarian socie- lese Aka and BaYaka and the Malaysian Batek, had
ties, inequalities of status, rank and prestige within longer-term exchange relationships with cultivators
gender and age classes are considered to be achieved which may have led to profound alterations in their
during an individual’s lifetime (hence are relatively hunter-gatherer livelihoods (e.g. Endicott & Endicott
ephemeral), not ascribed through inheritance from 2008; Headland & Reid 1989; Kelly 2013).
parents to offspring (Mattison et al. 2016). Inequality and egalitarianism are part of a con-
Archaeologists have tended to treat all mobile ceptual continuum, to the extent that some scholars
hunter-gatherer societies for whom features of inequal- conceive them as ‘coexisting modalities of a single
ity are not evident as simply ‘egalitarian’ (Hayden 1994, system’ in which the social organization could be
1995; Ames 2007, 2010a; Pettitt, this volume; Grove, fluid (and under constant negotiation) over the course
this volume). The absence of evidence for permanent of the annual subsistence round depending on the
inequality thus becomes evidence for egalitarianism. social agenda of the group (Flanagan 1989: 261; Hon-
However, egalitarianism is not what is left in the oré, this volume; Pettitt, this volume; Wengrow &
absence of ranking/stratification; it is a social institution Graeber 2015). To investigate the evolutionary forces
in its own right. It is an active strategy which entails and selective conditions that led to the emergence of
costs and requires active maintenance through levelling egalitarianism in foraging societies, we have to change
mechanisms, therefore it should be studied on the same the null hypothesis according to which egalitarian-
plane as inequality (Boehm 1993, 1999; Fitzhugh, this ism is the default form of human social organization
volume; Flanagan 1989; Kelly 2013: 244; Knight & Lewis in the absence of evidence for permanent inequality.
2017; Layton, this volume; Lee 1990; Reckin et al., this Rejecting inequality in the model does not necessar-
volume; Roscoe, this volume; Stibbard-Hawkes, this ily imply egalitarianism. There should be a number
volume; Wiessner 2005). Although I assume here that of intermediate hypotheses to be tested, not just a
levelling mechanisms were ubiquitous prehistorically, dichotomy between two extremes.
archaeologists would be well advised to eschew the
use of thinly veiled ethnographic analogies, as these Measuring inequality, archaeological proxies and
might become self-imposing and hard to resist once theory building
certain patterns are observed.
Archaeologists striving to address variability in Explanations of the social processes and changing pat-
the pattern and process of social inequality in past terns shaping social inequalities in foraging societies
foraging societies should remain wary of assuming are diverse and no unified theoretical framework yet
that today’s hunter-gatherers behave like ancient exists (Fitzhugh 2000; Henrich & Boyd 2008; Mattison
humans (Kelly 2013: 269–75). In fact, we should not et al. 2016). A large number of contributions in this
assume prehistoric foraging societies were egalitarian volume explore the adaptive tradeoffs of individual
to begin with, as ‘there is likely to be little validity to strategies to allow for the evolution of inequality
the assumption of ancestral egalitarianism’ (Boehm within a socioecological framework. These use con-
1999; Grove, this volume, p. 167). Furthermore, many cepts derived from Darwinian evolutionary theory,
extant hunter-gatherers have disturbed social systems especially human behavioural ecology and sociobiol-
as a result of contact with modern civilization or neigh- ogy (Buela, this volume; Dyble, this volume; Fitzhugh,
bouring subsistence farmers (Layton 2001; Kelly 2013: this volume; Grove, this volume; Jeffery & Lahr, this
15 ff.), or other influences potentially back to early volume; Layton, this volume; Reckin et al., this volume;
agriculture, to the extent that the extreme egalitarian Roscoe, this volume; Stibbard-Hawkes, this volume).
ethos of most hunter-gatherer societies today might Other approaches encompass social ecology (Pettitt,
be due to a breakdown in more formal structures and this volume) and historical materialism (Darmangeat,
cultural rules (P. Wiessner, pers. comm). As a case in this volume; see also Layton, this volume). All authors
4
 Social inequality without farming: what we can learn from how foraging societies shape(d) social inequality?

attempt to outline context-specific variability or expla- theory building as they tend to be at the abstract end
nations for the variety and complexity of trajectories of abstract-generalist forms of simulations. Rather
and social forms of social inequality in relation to than recreating the full complexity of reality itself,
environmental, technological or socio-demographic the models tend to be very abstract and are often non-
constraints. Although this volume could never hope (or only marginally) archaeological. The emphasis is
to be exhaustive, the multidisciplinary scope and mul- on the modelling of a few general processes, yet the
tiplicity of approaches represented here lends itself to scope of implications is very broad (Costopoulos 2015),
hypothesis development and testing elsewhere. aiming to ‘establish clear principles that sharpen our
The quantitative measurement of cross-cultural understanding of real-world phenomena’ (Hooper et
inequality across time and space based on the uneven al. 2018: 109). While they share a common emphasis on
distribution of material wealth is a new direction of ‘emergence’ at the level of the population, archaeologi-
research in archaeology (Kohler & Smith 2018). One cal simulations of social inequality vary in approaches
example is the comparative analysis of the level of and scale, and overall these lack a unified body of
socioeconomic wealth inequality among very different theory – there is no agreement on the assumptions of
societies based on the record of house-size distribu- the underlying behaviour. In addition, the predictions
tions using a common metric, the Gini coefficient. This derived from the simulation models are qualitative
has not only uncovered unexpected wealth disparities in nature, hence not easily testable archaeologically.
between Eurasia and North America and Mesoamerica In order to be able to compare the models against
in Neolithic and post-Neolithic contexts (Kohler et al. some form of reality, the use of archaeological data is
2017), but it has also expanded our understanding of key. Without these data, we cannot directly compare
the material conditions favouring the development the models with each other or refine possible vari-
of wealth-based inequality in complex fisher-forager able ranges. Generating predictions that can be tested
societies (Prentiss et al. 2018b). Most chapters in this against some form of archaeological reality requires
volume provide empirical content with considerations identifying meaningful proxies in the archaeologi-
of subsistence ecology, demography, mobility, social cal record to begin with. Using a set of assumptions
networks, technology, children’s enculturation, ritual derived from Malthusian demographic models,
practice, rock art, dogs, warfare, lethal weaponry, Prentiss and colleagues have successfully used a com-
and mortuary behaviour. Nonetheless, the emphasis bination of archaeological proxies to demonstrate that
is less on quantifying degrees of inequality, as done the emergence of material wealth-based inequality in
statistically by Kohler & Smith (2018), and more on hunter-gatherer-fisher communities in the late Holo-
conceptual concerns. In addition, it is worth noting cene Middle Fraser Canyon of British Columbia best
that in terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene hunter- corresponds to a byproduct of competitive conditions
gatherer societies, embodied and relational wealth are associated with population and resource imbalances
likely to be the dominant forms of wealth, primarily (Prentiss et al. 2014, 2018a). To investigate the impacts
on account of mobility constraints on accumulating of demographic growth on the emergence of social
and transmitting material wealth-based inequality. inequality at the interhousehold level, the authors use
However, translating archaeological correlates of cache pit volume and fire-cracked rock density as effec-
embodied and relational wealth into meaningful and tive measures of variability in household demographic
measurable units of analysis presents a significant packing. Moreover, the zooarchaeological record of
challenge to comparing social inequality between large cache pits within winter house floors is used to
different periods and geographical areas. assess variable storage practices, resource productivity
and food harvest, as well as dog husbandry. House area
Modelling inequality per se was not necessarily indicative of social status in
Recent archaeological simulations have led to the- the Bridge River village (Prentiss et al. 2018b).
oretical advances in exploring combinations of As this demonstrates, to recognize meaningful
socio-ecological variables derived from behavioural archaeological correlates in relation to various forms
ecology (e.g. economic defensibility, territoriality, pro- and levels of inequality, archaeologists need to bear in
ductivity of resource patches, resource predictability, mind the theoretically and methodologically challeng-
group formation, and competition) influencing the ing issues of multifinality (i.e. the same level of social
development of inequality in foraging societies under inequality might be expressed in entirely different
variable demographic and food production conditions archaeological patterns) and equifinality (i.e. different
(e.g. Hooper et al. 2018; Puleston & Tuljapurkar 2008; levels of inequality might be reflected in similar pat-
Rogers et al. 2011; Smith & Choi 2007). In the model- terns). Localized studies and a tight control of local
ling literature on inequality, most models focus on temporal sequences are our best hope of reducing and
5
 Introduction

disentangling the effects of multi- and equifinality (see Wiessner 1994). According to Smith and colleagues,
below; Davies, this volume; Fitzhugh, this volume; Fry the transmissibility of relational wealth ‘will depend
et al., this volume). entirely on the type of network involved’ (Smith et
al. 2010b: 86). The more ‘open’ the social network in
Status, power and wealth inequalities: achieved terms of options for a politically gifted agent to gen-
or ascribed? erate a large network of allies beyond that of one’s
parents, the less likely it is that relational wealth will
Without assuming the causal factors leading to their be transmitted across generations. The moderate
emergence, the issue of whether in non-agricultural intergenerational transmission for relational wealth
societies, inequalities in status, power and wealth are among ‘egalitarian’ hunter-gatherers is nonetheless
achieved or based on ascribed roles through inherit- worth noting, as illustrated by the Ju/’hoansi where
ance can be framed by taking a life-course approach. ‘approximately 25% of hxaro partnerships were passed
It comes down to the question of whether individual from parents to children as parents aged or upon their
inequality is there at birth, through gender or lineage deaths’ (Smith et al. 2010a: 29; Wiessner 1986, 1994).
inequality, or whether it arises over a lifetime, including There is some inherited relational wealth among
through the individual’s own agency. In most (but not populations in traditional Australia (e.g. Yolngu) and
all) foraging societies, status and power differentials New Guinea (e.g. West Mianmin) in the sense that
are largely achieved (Kelly 2013). To generalize (whilst a man is born into a genealogical position that may
accepting this encompasses a considerable range of or may not assist his chances of making a particu-
cultural variation), in most Aboriginal Australian and lar marriage (Gardner 1990; Keen 1982; Hiatt 1986,
New Guinean groups there are hardly any ascribed 1996). However, leader status is not simply ascribed
roles, yet these societies are far from being strictly by any hereditary principle, nor does it pass down
egalitarian (e.g. Gardner 1990; Hiatt 1986; Roscoe 2000; the generations of a lineage in a simple or enduring
Wiessner & Tumu 1998). Taking ‘Big men’ or West way. In the Australian case, a man’s strong or weak
Mianmin ‘kamok’ (i.e. leader) in New Guinea as an genealogical position is not necessarily inherited from
example, there was nothing about them at birth – other his father, or any other particular forebear, because
than being male – which assigned them big man or of the particular features of the kinship system (Keen
kamok status; they have to exert themselves to gain 1982). Rather than any simply inherited inequality,
and maintain big-man status (Gardner 1990; Roscoe it is demographic contingency that will give a man
2000; Wiessner & Tumu 1998). a better or worse start in the quest for a spouse. This
As far as intergenerational wealth transfer is depends on a combination of ‘genealogical good luck’
concerned, it is worth differentiating between material, (based on sex ratios of past and present sibling sets,
embodied, and relational wealth classes (Borger- and the hazards of premature mortality), enterprise
hoff Mulder et al. 2009). Whilst material wealth is and energy (Hiatt 1986: 13), as well as, at least in the
most important for individual fitness and household case of the West Mianmin, disruptions of social life
well-being in pastoralist and small-scale agricultural through disease or retaliatory raids (Gardner 1990).
societies, embodied and relational forms of wealth are Importantly, among the West Mianmin where all bonds
predominant across foragers, forager-cultivators and between individuals are interpersonal, ‘genealogical
horticulturalists (Borgerhoff Mulder et al. 2009; Gard- connections provide neither necessary nor sufficient
ner 1990; Gurven et al. 2010; Smith et al. 2010a,b,c). All grounds for the existence of close interpersonal rela-
forms of wealth may be heritable. However, embodied tions’, thus constraining a leader’s position ‘within the
and relational wealth are associated with only mod- limits imposed upon all individuals’ (Gardner 1990: 13).
erate degrees of inequality and are less conducive to Distinct kinds of inequality need to be recognized
supporting institutionalized social inequality (i.e. PII) first and measured separately before their relationship
than material wealth, mainly because costs of defend- can be properly investigated (Drennan et al. 2010;
ing the latter are more readily outweighed by returns Peterson & Drennan 2018). Particularly, the degree
in reproductive success or household well-being to which distinct wealth classes interact with each
(Borgerhoff Mulder et al. 2009; Mattison et al. 2016). other in generating fitness outcomes and various
Relational wealth can be considered to be of levels of inequality across populations remains to be
particular importance to fitness in foraging societies fully understood (Borgerhoff Mulder & Beheim 2011;
‘where networks of allies are key to obtaining access Mattison et al. 2016). Nonetheless, there are good rea-
to key resources’ and pooling risk, and where material sons to believe that embodied and relational wealth
wealth is not reliably transmitted to the next generation interact (Ames 2010b), since relational wealth may be
(Borgerhoff Mulder & Beheim 2011: 354; Gardner 1990; an important determinant of individual fitness and
6
 Social inequality without farming: what we can learn from how foraging societies shape(d) social inequality?

fertility inheritance among hunter-gatherers who do based on a narrow range of behavioural variation avail-
not rely on material wealth accumulation and transmis- able to us in the ethnographic record’, and accordingly
sion (Chaudhary et al. 2016). Among central African ‘archaeological research adds to our knowledge of the
Aka foragers, male leaders are taller than the average range of hunter-gatherer behaviors. These additions
male (Hewlett 1988). Moreover, among the Efe, Aka need not, and will not, only mirror what is already
and Mbuti, men’s better dental health compared to known; they will offer us examples of the unknown’
women’s has been hypothetically correlated with (Soffer 1985: 489–90). If we assume that embodied
greater relational wealth in the form of a larger kin net- and relational wealth were the dominant forms of
work, providing lifelong access to a relatively greater wealth during the terminal Pleistocene under its high
range of foods, including meat (Walker & Hewlett 1990; frequency, high-amplitude climate fluctuations and
Hewlett & Walker 1991). In New Guinea, West Mianmin resulting resource instability, it is crucial to develop
leaders tend to be about 10 per cent heavier on average meaningful indices in order to identify patterns and
than their fellows, and the sons of leaders may be at an reconstruct processes through time and space. A way
informal but pragmatic advantage in becoming leaders forward could be to build a database of biological
themselves. However these objective characteristics are features, such as skeletal pathologies and indicators
by no means sufficient for becoming a leader (Gardner of disease, stature, effects of workloads, dental health
1990). Recent investigations among the BaYaka seem and dietary differences based stable isotope data. This
to support a pattern whereby individuals with more would allow researchers to investigate potential health
relational wealth have a significantly ‘larger pool of and dietary consequences of social inequality and their
food donors to insure against nutritional shortfalls’, differential distribution within groups of women or
and they benefit from higher fitness outcomes in terms men of different age groups, as well as among and
of health and reproductive success rates (Chaudhary between prehistoric forager groups (Davies, this vol-
et al. 2016: 4). ume; Schulting et al., this volume).
Pending additional data on the ecological and
social context of relational and embodied wealth in Evidence of inequality predates the Holocene
extant forager societies, the degree of intergenera-
tional transmission for these wealth classes and their The suggestion that there were differentials of social
contribution in fostering gender inequalities and a status, power and wealth in the terminal Pleistocene
competitive ethos among children, needs to be further is considered a radical interpretation by many. It
explored (Borgerhoff Mulder et al. 2019; Kelly 2013: 266; therefore seems crucial to ask whether this sugges-
Reckin et al., this volume; Smith et al. 2010a,b). Accord- tion implies that these differentials were transmitted
ing to Kelly (2013: 239), the ‘division of labor may lay intergenerationally or not, and whether gender dif-
a foundation of inequality between men and women ferentials are intended to be included in the scope of
in perceived status’. In fact, in most hunter-gatherer analysis. Putting forward a series of Upper Palaeolithic
societies status, power and wealth differentials with innovations such as rich burials, personal ornaments,
regard to individual scope for personal autonomy are dog husbandry and rock art, several of the chapters
not ascribed, other than relative to gender, particularly in this volume suggest that the term ‘egalitarian’ does
when it comes to politics of marriage where opportuni- not effectively capture the degree of social differentia-
ties are generally not equal. As a case in point, in most tion and inequality that existed in terminal Pleistocene
of traditional Australian Aboriginal society, life chances Europe (Germonpré, this volume; Guy, this volume;
at birth are differentiated by gender, specifically with Hayden, this volume; Pettitt, this volume). Others
regard to the freedom of choice in marriage (Gale suggest that socio-economic inequalities typically
1978; Goodale 1971; Keen 1982; Hiatt 1986; Maddock associated with non-egalitarian foraging societies,
1972). In most places, men also play the dominant role especially those of North America’s Pacific Northwest
in religion and ceremony and women are sometimes region, would have been difficult to sustain under the
excluded, although ‘individual women display leader- environmental and demographic conditions character-
ship and initiative in the organization and performance izing Upper Palaeolithic societies (Davies, this volume).
of women’s secret ceremonies’ (Hiatt 1986: 15). Of course, no society is perfectly egalitarian, but not
The degree of intergenerational transmission of all are highly structured systems for ownership of
relational and embodied wealth in pre-Holocene forag- resources and social prerogatives built upon hereditary
ing societies for which there is no uncontested evidence claims to titles and territories.
of institutionalized social inequality remains an open If there was more social inequality than meets
issue. However, it is worth bearing in mind that ‘our the eye among Upper Palaeolithic societies of Europe,
present-day assumptions about hunter-gatherers are it was in a way that is dramatically different from
7
 Introduction

middle and late Holocene non-egalitarian foraging Upper Palaeolithic burials contrast with those burials
societies. Notwithstanding the preservation issue of without grave goods (or with goods of lesser pres-
Upper Palaeolithic sites that have been drowned by tige) and with the types of personal ornaments from
rising sea levels, the lack of archaeological visibility is contemporary habitation floors. Prestige goods are
not a satisfying explanation to account for the absence regarded as items made of rare materials, requiring
of clear evidence for structural inequality (PII) in time-consuming manufacture, potentially involving
terminal Pleistocene Europe despite more than 150 elaborate techniques, and as such represent a tangible
years of archaeological research. Rather, the main expression of a privileged social group. Second, the
explanation might lie somewhere else: that relational abandonment of prestige items in burials indicates
and embodied wealth, rather (or less so) than material their status as money-like currencies as ‘part of a
wealth, were the dominant forms of wealth differen- strategy of deliberately removing wealth from the
tials which structured social relations in life and upon exchange network, which prevents the gradual loss
which social inequality was built in the European of their value’ (d’Errico & Vanhaeren 2015: 50).
Upper Palaeolithic. This is especially so given the Clearly, the evidence of status differentiations
constraints of residential mobility on material wealth beyond those based on age, gender, or skill, as testified
accumulation and transmission. Upper Palaeolithic by the rich Upper Palaeolithic burials, has no modern
burials, personal ornaments, dog husbandry and rock analogue in groups committed to maintaining an ethic
art were all part of a cultural system characterized by of egalitarianism. Notwithstanding the stringency of
an unprecedented richness in symbolic expression, adopting a contextualized comparative analysis of
where embodied and relational wealth were likely grave goods and contemporary personal ornaments
most important to individual well-being and reproduc- found at habitation sites to identify prestige goods,
tive success. To assess differentials in status, power it is debatable whether we can interpret prestigious
and wealth of Upper Palaeolithic societies through the grave goods as money-like currencies in the Upper
lifeways of non-egalitarian hunter-gatherers character- Palaeolithic, or understand the implications in terms
ized primarily by high levels of material wealth-based of material wealth-based structural inequality. The
inequality (PII) is accordingly of only limited heuristic interpretation falls short of offering the most parsi-
utility as it falls short of accounting for the fact that monious explanation, namely that Upper Palaeolithic
there is little evidence of material wealth before the status, in the form of prestige, is a type of symbolic
Holocene to begin with. capital (Roscoe, this volume), hence an expression of
relational wealth.
Rich burials, personal ornaments, dog husbandry and The common and widespread presence of per-
rock art sonal ornaments in the archaeological record testifies
The continent-wide burial tradition and associated to the importance of relational wealth in Upper Pal-
funerary behaviour that emerged among Homo sapi- aeolithic hunter-gatherer communities in Europe.
ens populations in the course of the European Upper In addition to their aesthetic value, personal orna-
Palaeolithic denotes a symbolic behaviour of unprec- ments represent the material (visual) expression of
edented ritual elaboration (Pettitt 2010). Particularly, an exclusively symbolic communication signalling
the richly furnished primary burials associated with identity, social position, as well as intra-group and
prestige goods and elaborate structures have often inter-regional social connections on which individuals
been used to call into question the supposedly egalitar- can draw (Bar-Yosef Mayer & Bosch 2019; Vanhaeren
ian character of Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, & d’Errico 2005, 2006; Whallon 2006). Given their non-
and instead to advocate for a view of Upper Pal- utilitarian character and non-random redundancy in
aeolithic lifeways more consistent with accounts of form across time and space, personal ornaments rep-
extant material wealth-based non-egalitarian hunter- resent suitable proxies for the cultural geography of
gatherers (d’Errico & Vanhaeren 2015; Guy 2017, this Upper Palaeolithic societies, with the use and variable
volume; Hayden 2018, this volume; Vanhaeren & association of distinct standardized bead types possi-
d’Errico 2005). Based on the premise that in forag- bly reflecting ethno-linguistic diversity (Vanhaeren &
ing societies, the construction of durable mortuary d’Errico 2006). Clearly, the use of standardized beads
structures is often reserved for privileged individuals, over broad geographical areas starting in the early
and that grave goods may inform about the degree Upper Palaeolithic corresponds to an expansion in
of social inequality of a given society (Testart 2006, the scale and frequency of human social interaction
referenced in d’Errico & Vanhaeren 2015), the fol- beyond familiar individuals (Gamble 1999). This may
lowing arguments have been put forward. First, the possibly correspond with increases in population
presence of prestige items among the grave goods of densities relative to available territories (compared
8
 Social inequality without farming: what we can learn from how foraging societies shape(d) social inequality?

to earlier periods), which brought about a broad- Tight control of local temporal sequences is essential
ening of human diets, as well as heightened levels The majority of archaeological examples of hierarchical
of competition within or between human societies hunter-gatherer societies characterized by institution-
(Kuhn & Stiner 2007). The degree to which relational alized inequality (PII) are found in the middle and
wealth was actually transmitted vertically from par- late Holocene (Ames 2007; Fitzhugh, this volume;
ent to child in Upper Palaeolithic societies remains an Flannery & Marcus 2012; Fry et al., this volume; Kelly
open question. However, the geographical patterning 2013). However, using the middle to late Holocene
and formal continuity of distinct types of personal PII as a starting point from which to address prior
ornaments across time in relation to time-averaged variability in social patterns and processes is question-
cultural traditions (Kuhn & Stiner 2007; Newell et al. able. This is especially so given that status and power
1990; Vanhaeren & d’Errico 2006) strongly suggests at differentials in Upper Palaeolithic foraging societies
least some form of long-term reproduction of broad are likely to have been associated with relational and
networks of reciprocity, where reciprocal relations embodied wealth, not material wealth accumulation
within generations are being inherited by successive and transmission. Moreover, by opposing one single
generations, similar to the long-term hxaro partner- egalitarian ‘Palaeolithic reality’ to the unequal ‘post-
ships among the Ju/’hoansi (Wiessner 1994). Pleistocene reality’, we tend to overlook variability in
Under terminal Pleistocene conditions with social behaviour despite remarkable differences among
seasonal, not particularly abundant or predictable Upper Palaeolithic societies associated with distinct
resources, dog husbandry is likely to have been periods and cultural traditions. Davies (this volume)
costly (Germonpré et al., this volume). However, makes the case that mobility, technology, subsistence,
if they played an active part in increasing hunting and mortuary treatment varied greatly within and
success, talented dogs are likely to have increased between the major Upper Palaeolithic traditions. The
the relational and embodied wealth of their Upper dissimilarities in demographic and ecological histories
Palaeolithic owners in terms of prestige, social status, within the Palaeolithic are so great that unless we begin
and biological fitness outcomes (Germonpré et al., to address the millennial evolution of local histories
this volume; Gurven & von Rueden 2006). Among and with it, the negotiation of social life, we are never
ethnographically documented hunter-gatherers, going to understand its diversity.
there is often no clear division between the economic One of the major challenges for archaeologists
sphere and those of ritual and power (Hayden 2018, in devising tests of hypotheses concerning inequal-
this volume; Schulting et al., this volume). Consider- ity is having sufficient resolution in the record to
ing the significant part dogs play in rituals in extant adequately explore the nuances of model predic-
foraging societies, ritual knowledge concerning dogs tions (Prentiss et al. 2018a). The contributions in this
might thus have influenced the owner’s centrality volume encourage detailed contextual research and
in the social network of his community, thus foster- care when using simple ethnographic analogies. In
ing asymmetries in access to social connections and addition to the awareness that the kind of inequal-
possibly critical resources, such as mates or food ity we are looking for in the archaeological record is
(Germonpré et al., this volume). not necessarily material wealth-based, tight control
Upper Palaeolithic rock art might have played of local temporal sequences is essential to recognize
a powerful role in the shared process of negotiation variation and to be able to address both functional
and perpetuation of social norms through repetitive and historical levels of explanation. This is necessary
acts (Guy, this volume; Honoré, this volume; Pettitt, for outlining the diachronic emergence or evolution
this volume). Moreover, rock art, particularly cave of some behaviour or strategy, as well as explaining
art, formed part of a range of activities that derived the adaptive benefits an agent gains from it (Codding
from some kind of supernatural or religious context & Jones 2010). Moreover, it may be that occurrences
(Gittins & Pettitt 2017). Thus religion is likely to be of inequality were highly constrained. We need to
part of the causal mix of factors that led to the emer- conceive of inequality (in whatever form) as a poten-
gence and maintenance of, as well as resistance to, tially short-lived by-product of local demographic,
attempts to create persistent social inequality in the environmental and technological conditions, and
past (Aldenderfer 2010). Despite non-negligible meth- prevailing social rules. The reasons why egalitarian
odological challenges, the social analysis of rock art norms fell apart and new norms developed to sup-
contributes to crafting more plausible interpretations port asymmetric social relations (or the other way
of the emergence and negotiation of social inequality around) have to be addressed at the regional scale.
in the context of belief systems and practices that were If Pleistocene climates were as unstable as inferred,
key elements of the lives of past foraging societies. then no single pattern of social organization would
9
 Introduction

have been very long-lived (Ames 2010a). As a result, social networks of relational wealth, possibly inher-
to draw firm conclusions about the meaning of ‘pres- ited from the terminal Pleistocene spread of modern
tigious’ burials with regard to the social organization humans (Bird et al. 2019; Dyble, this volume). Equally,
of Upper Palaeolithic populations as a whole is prema- many non-hunter-gatherer groups (e.g. cultivators/
ture at best. At worst, it is an oversimplification of the horticulturalists and pastoralists), also live at relatively
evidence at hand considering the small total sample of small scales (Borgerhoff Mulder et al. 2010; Gurven
(dated) Upper Palaeolithic primary burials given the et al. 2010).
vast area and time span under consideration (Pettitt From an archaeological point of view, to treat
2010). More detailed, localized studies are also our hunter-gatherer societies for whom features of sta-
best hope of reducing the effects of equifinality and tus, power and wealth are not evident as simply
multifinality, given that outcomes and traits can have ‘egalitarian’ is no longer tenable in the light of the
several explanations. aforementioned observations. On the one hand social
Some models of inequality emphasize storage as a inequality is practically ubiquitous in certain definable
primary cause of wealth accumulation and status com- respects, whether achieved, ascribed, gender-related or
petition (Testart 1982). Bearing in mind the drowning hinging upon ‘genealogical good luck’. On the other
of terminal Pleistocene coastal sites by rising sea levels, hand, in a good number of hunter-gatherer societies
the absence of clear evidence for surplus production there is clearly an ethos of egalitarianism pervading
and seasonal food storage in the Upper Palaeolithic over practical inequalities, either within genders or
is nevertheless worth noting (Péan 2015; contra Soffer across agents; however, there are notable exceptions
1989). While this gives credit to the idea that storage (Kelly 2013). Both of these arguments underscore the
economies did not exist among Upper Palaeolithic theoretical and methodological challenges of address-
groups living in continental inland environments ing the question formulated at the outset of what can
(Testart 1982), surplus production and storage can- be learned from the way foraging societies shape(d)
not possibly be invoked to explain the development social inequality.
of incipient inequality in foraging societies prior to In most but not all hunter-gatherer societies
the Holocene. However, elements of territoriality, status, power and wealth differentials are largely
reduced mobility, economic intensification, ritual achieved. Gender roles are generally not what people
elaboration, and demographic increase have all been have in mind when distinguishing achieved/ascribed
variably recognized in the Upper Palaeolithic record roles, but if anything, it is probably not going too far to
of Europe and, without assuming their congruence, claim that gender roles are ascribed. In fact, given the
used as proxy measures for social change (Davies, this complementary economic roles for men and women
volume; Gamble 1999; Germonpré et al., this volume; among ethnographically documented hunter-gather-
Guy 2017, this volume; Hayden 2018, this volume; ers, it has been hypothesized that the division of labour
Kuhn & Stiner 2007; Pettitt 2010, this volume; Soffer along the lines of gender did appear in western Eurasia
1985, 1989; Vanhaeren & d’Errico 2006). Based on those during the terminal Pleistocene with the beginning of
elements, it may be tempting to impose normatively the Upper Palaeolithic after 40,000–50,000 years ago
framed presumed threshold boundaries on Upper (Kelly 2013: 274; Kuhn & Stiner 2006). In any case,
Palaeolithic variability to infer the corollary emergence it is worth bearing in mind that ‘social inequality is
of incipient inequality in the terminal Pleistocene. inseparable from gender inequality. Therefore, before
However, the heuristic value of threshold models we consider nonegalitarian sociopolitical organization,
of hunter-gatherer social evolution is questionable, we need to consider gender equality’ (Kelly 2013: 244).
since boundaries should be framed as hypotheses
and discovered in the empirical evidence rather than Perspectives
posited upfront (Davies, this volume; Fitzhugh 2003, Much more work is needed on modelling and test-
this volume). ing environmental productivity to understand better
I have tried to make clear that categories such how social relations in terminal Pleistocene Europe
as ‘hunter-gatherer’, ‘small-scale’, ‘egalitarian’ and were conditioned by structural differences in access
‘achieved status’ are not congruent, but they also to subsistence resources (Davies, this volume). At the
overlap. Most foraging groups live at a small scale same time, hunter-gatherer social strategies are not
and low density, but some do not (Kelly 2013: 248 just adaptations to specific ecological conditions and
ff.; Roscoe 2000, 2006, this volume). Moreover, most resource configurations. The pursuit of wealth, power
mobile hunter-gatherers live in groups permeated by and prestige has emergent consequences which shape
links between non-relatives, where residential group the social and ideological structure of hunter-gatherer
membership is fluid and embedded in large-scale society and guide decisions to compete or co-operate
10
 Social inequality without farming: what we can learn from how foraging societies shape(d) social inequality?

(Fitzhugh 2000, this volume; Layton, this volume). As a explore variability in the pattern and process of social
matter of fact, the richness in evidence for ritual elabo- manifestations of inequality before farming. We believe
ration and symbolic ‘storage’ characterizing Upper that this monograph will generate great interest in the
Palaeolithic societies stands in sharp in contrast to the international academic community, providing grist
lack of compelling evidence for material wealth-based for the mill of scholarship and a key reference text for
socioeconomic inequality. Accordingly, the extent all readers interested in social narratives about life in
to which Palaeolithic archaeology can contribute to hunter-gatherer communities.
current debates in evolutionary social science on the The papers of the conference cover a variety of
emergence of social inequality depends on its abil- topics organized around three major themes, which
ity to identify and characterize variation in relevant structure the book: 1) social inequality and egali-
ways. These must seek common ground between tarianism in extant hunter-gatherer societies; 2) social
materialist explanations derived from evolutionary inequality in Upper Palaeolithic Europe (c.  45,000–
ecology, and not materialist ‘bottom-up’ approaches 11,500 years ago); 3) social inequality in prehistoric
(DeMarrais & Earle 2017) aiming to explain the ways Holocene hunter-gatherer-fisher societies globally. In
that asymmetries in access to social networks and addition to providing new data from multiple contexts
ritual knowledge are organized, and how consensus through space and time, and exploring social diversity
and social cohesion are articulated at a local level. In and evolution from novel perspectives (e.g. Pleisto-
particular, approaches based on heterarchy might be cene dogs as an incipient means by which inequality
worth exploring to consider questions of negotiation developed in pre-farming societies; the cross-cultural
and perpetuation of social lifeways and structures in role of children’s learning and practice in the transition
allegedly ‘egalitarian’ Palaeolithic societies. Heterar- from egalitarian to non-egalitarian social structures),
chy has been defined as ‘the relation of elements to by developing meaningful questions and answers,
one another when they are unranked or when they the book advances discussions that seek to address
possess the potential for being ranked in a number the emergence, institutionalization, and persistence of
of different ways’ (Crumley 1995: 3). As such, heter- social inequality in past and present non-agricultural
archy approaches represent ‘a direct challenge to societies.
neo-evolutionary typologies (and to the assumption
that power relations are hierarchical)’ (DeMarrais & Part 1: Social inequality and egalitarianism in extant
Earle 2017: 193; Buela, this volume). If analogies for hunter-gatherer-fisher societies
European Upper Palaeolithic foraging societies were In Chapter 1, Roscoe offers a thought-provoking
to be sought, in order to derive testable hypotheses on explanation for why contact-era New Guinea forag-
the dynamics of social change, the foraging societies ers dependent on terrestrial game had lower levels
of the Russian Far East might be more appropriate of power and status inequalities than those reliant
than the often referenced hierarchically organized on aquatic fauna. His fundamental argument is that
non-egalitarian hunter-gatherers of North America’s population density impacts the potential for inequal-
Pacific Northwest region. These former groups are ity to emerge based on the costs of inter-personal
characterized by a heterarchical social order where networking necessary to establish power differentials
power relations are based on systems of values that are over others in small, face-to-face communities. Low
ranked and re-ranked as conditions change (Stépanoff density, dispersed, mobile populations characteristic
2019). In any case, revisiting the European Palaeolithic of hunter-foragers make for very high costs of main-
record in the light of the approaches and ideas put taining such networks, while the increased density,
forward in this volume is all the more relevant since nucleation, and sedentism of fisher-foragers provide
‘integrating the Palaeolithic within a social agenda low-cost situations for building networks and under-
will also have a considerable impact on how the rest taking social negotiations. Roscoe further argues that
of archaeology is practised’ (Gamble 2004: 17). in New Guinea, status inequalities emerged from a
social mechanism aimed at deploying signals of fight-
Structure of the book ing strength, in order to manage conflicts of interest
within social alliances and coalitions.
This interdisciplinary edited volume gathers together In Chapter 2, Reckin and colleagues use a meta-
32 researchers affiliated to various international uni- ethnographic approach to explore the role of children
versities and research centres working in the fields of in the emergence of inequality in hunter-gatherer con-
prehistoric archaeology and cultural and evolution- texts. Contrary to the popular agent-centred arguments
ary anthropology. The book aims to contribute to an that assume personalities are genetically programmed
ongoing commitment of prehistoric archaeologists to and that inequality is thus inevitable with the right
11
 Introduction

resource configurations, Reckin et al. stress the way was always a male, women enjoyed high levels of
that children are enculturated is a critical element of autonomy – they had considerable control over their
understanding the transition from immediate-return, sphere of production and could also become shamans.
egalitarian foraging lifeways to delayed-return, non- Consequently, men’s and women’s leadership is, to
egalitarian lifeways. Underpinning children’s learning a large extent, heterarchical rather than hierarchical.
contexts, changes in mobility and work are important In Chapter 6, Stibbard-Hawkes explores why
factors in fostering gender inequality and creating a many hunter-gatherers appear relatively egalitarian.
competitive ethos that children carry into adulthood. He reviews the ‘lethal weapons hypothesis’ which
In Chapter 3, Dyble explores the influence of holds that among hunter-gatherers, democratized
residential decision-making on the composition of individual access to lethal, ranged weapons either pro-
groups, the distribution of kin across space, as well moted the evolutionary development of egalitarianism,
as the potential for cooperation within groups and or is essential to maintaining it. Stibbard-Hawkes dis-
cultural exchange between groups. Dyble stresses that cusses the strengths and limitations of the hypothesis,
multilocal post-marital residence, in which individuals as well as the difficulties involved in testing it, given
and households are highly mobile and where men and incomplete ethnographic and archaeological data. The
women may both leave their natal group to marry, can value of the hypothesis remains ambiguous, given that
be considered an important manifestation of equality the evidence at hand to support it is also consistent
among egalitarian hunter-gatherers. A move away with alternative hypotheses from socio­ecology, namely
from multilocality into a more restrictive unilocal the resource distribution hypotheses. The chapter
system of residence may drive important changes such concludes with some potentially fruitful avenues of
as the probability of increased inter-group differen- research that may provide greater clarity in the future.
tiation and reduced co-operation, and consequently In Chapter 7, Layton argues for a synthesis of
may increase the potential for non-egalitarian social Darwinian and Marxist theories of social evolution
structures to form. in hunter-gatherer communities. He acknowledges
In Chapter 4, Darmangeat contends that the that ecological conditions set the stage that will make
emergence of wealth differentiation can come with some social behaviours more prevalent than others.
or without stored surpluses of food if material goods At the same time, social strategies have emergent
as representative of labour investment, so-called ‘W’ consequences which shape the political structure of
goods, can serve the same purpose. Using a wide range hunter-gatherer society. Through ethnographic exam-
of hunter-gatherer groups which do not all make use of ples, Layton discusses to what degree ecology imposes
payments in social negotiations, in this thought-piece limits on the evolution of social inequality and offers
Darmangeat stresses the weakness of the traditional the critical argument that inequality results from a
‘surplus theory’ put forward by Alain Testart, and breakdown in reciprocal altruism. In Australia, the
advocates the key role played by the emergence of relatively unpredictable ecology and the lack of regular
payments such as bride wealth payments and wergild (seasonal) surpluses renders sharing and reciprocity
to explain wealth distinction. more adaptive than hoarding and competition. In
In Chapter 5, Buela presents a case study of high- North America’s Pacific Northwest region, the shift
latitude hunter-gatherers of northern Alaska to address in social organization from reciprocity to competition
issues of leadership and material wealth-based social seems to have happened when it was no longer in peo-
inequality and their changing dynamics in pre- and ple’s interests to maintain relationships of reciprocity
post-contact situations, building on ethnohistoric and co-operation with neighbouring groups (see also
accounts and ethnographic fieldwork. The evolution Fitzhugh, this volume).
of inequality is not well understood in the western
Arctic. The whaling communities of the Iñupiaq society Part 2: Social inequality in Upper Palaeolithic Europe
provide an example of social inequality in the context In Chapter 8, Hayden reviews possible archaeological
of high population densities and reduced mobility, indicators of secret societies in the European Upper
in which the ownership of boats and the strong reli- Palaeolithic (c. 45,000–11,500 years ago) and portrays
ance on storage allowed some men to own the means a more thought-provoking type of social organiza-
of production and to manipulate labour and garner tion than is usually assumed. He observes that Upper
influence through the establishment of whaling teams. Palaeolithic archaeology does not conform to the
However, the Iñupiat big-man type of leadership was ethnographic accounts of simple foragers. Instead,
not ascribed and could be ephemeral as communities Upper Palaeolithic societies, especially those that
reacted to perceived quality of leadership and gener- produced notable art, can be compared to complex
osity with outcomes of the hunt. Although the umialik hunter-gatherers like those in California and the
12
 Social inequality without farming: what we can learn from how foraging societies shape(d) social inequality?

American Northwest Plateau. Hayden offers a critical specialization as potential markers of incipient status
argument that, since ancestor cults and secret socie- differentials, thus setting the stage for acceptable social
ties were relatively common features in ethnographic inequalities to persist.
‘transegalitarian’ hunter-gatherer societies, we should In Chapter 11, Germonpré and colleagues make
expect them to have been common among Upper the case that Pleistocene dogs might have represented
Palaeolithic complex hunter-gatherers as well. The an incipient means by which inequality developed
ethnographic record reveals that the ritual elaboration in pre-farming societies. Since dog feeding is costly
characterizing secret societies was used by individu- and competes with human food supply especially
als to promote their self-interests and enhance their in those regions where food availability is seasonal,
power and control in communities, hence they were Germonpré et al. propose that dog husbandry likely
a major means of creating socioeconomic inequalities provided embodied and relational wealth and fitness
and social divisions. benefits to their Upper Palaeolithic owners. Further-
In Chapter 9, Davies provides a nuanced assess- more, given the important role that ethnographic dogs
ment of spatio-temporal variability in the light of play in rituals, it is possible that ritual knowledge was
environmental fluctuations in the Upper Palaeo- monopolized and transmitted across generations, thus
lithic. In contradiction to Hayden, Davies shows contributing to persistent social inequalities among
that the environment of Europe during the Upper Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers. However, dog
Palaeolithic, in terms of both predictability and abun- husbandry during the Upper Palaeolithic would have
dance of food resources, was generally not similar been possible only during times and at locations when
to those environments that are associated with the surplus food would be available and/or when the
complex hunter-gatherer societies of North America’s advantage of having dogs would outweigh the costs
Pacific Northwest region. Given the constraining of keeping them. Intriguingly, Palaeolithic dogs prior
role of ecological conditions in setting the stage for to the Last Glacial Maximum are mostly found in sites
non-egalitarian forms of social organization, it fol- with a preponderance of mammoth remains and/or
lows that Upper Palaeolithic environments were with evidence of mammoth hunting.
generally not of the kind that would sustain non- In Chapter 12, Pettitt provides a thematic dimen-
egalitarian hunter-gatherers. Davies further evaluates sion to existing arguments for social inequality in the
palaeo-demographic estimates and concludes that Upper Palaeolithic by arguing a case for social stratifi-
socio-economic inequalities were difficult to sustain cation in the Lower Magdalenian art of Lascaux. Based
under the conditions of low population densities on the universal notion among recent hunter-gatherers
which characterize the European Upper Palaeolithic. that animals are both part-human and part-animal,
Although the overall environmental productivity Pettitt suggests the world view and social organization
does not support interpretations of social complex- of Upper Palaeolithic societies should be evaluated
ity, Davies stresses the ritual elaboration of Upper alongside that of their prey and predator contempo-
Palaeolithic groups which indicates strong potentials raries. Using multiple lines of evidence, he interprets
for inequality, and should encourage archaeologists the prevalence of animal depictions of competition
to consider more nuanced explanations. and aggression at Lascaux as an indicator of consid-
In Chapter 10, Grove observes that while many erable social negotiation between individuals, which
studies begin with the unjustified assumption of he finds incompatible with the notion of a society that
ancestral egalitarianism, they rarely postulate what is egalitarian. Reflecting on Dahrendorf’s previous
the advantages of such egalitarianism would have discussion concerning the question of whether social
been. Studies that address the latter issue show that differentiation can be equated with social stratification,
reciprocal altruism and kin selection are behind appar- Pettitt stresses the scale of skill-sets demonstrable in
ently altruistic acts of co-operation (as they are in all Lascaux’s art (and in many other Upper Palaeolithic
other animals). Using a comparative perspective, decorated caves) cannot be taken as indicative solely of
Grove stresses that an ancestral state of inequality an ephemeral set of individual differences that made
among humans is the more parsimonious assumption. no contribution to a more pervasive social stratification.
Behavioural differences among apparently egalitar- In Chapter 13, Guy claims that the naturalism
ian foragers in terms of skills, craft specialization, of Upper Palaeolithic figurative art is the product of
and prestige, all represent potential precursors to the hierarchical social forces. Based primarily on argu-
incipient development of social inequalities. Grove’s ments from art history, Guy contends that art was used
suggested approach moves beyond the idea of (in) to symbolically ‘store’ individual and group identity
equality as a dichotomous variable and instead encour- and to communicate power relations. Moreover, the
ages us to view archaeological attributes produced by high technical level characterizing Upper Palaeolithic
13
 Introduction

figurative art implies some degree of individual spe- late Pleistocene and early Holocene Africa who relied
cialization as a result of a long apprenticeship. Guy primarily on inland freshwater habitats), Jeffery & Lahr
hypothesizes that societies needed to be wealthy further stress the diversity of prehistoric fisher-forager
enough to economically support specialists during adaptations in low latitudes, contingent on multiple
their training and their professional activity, and that ecological, historical and demographic constraints.
artistic specialization is likely to mirror a division of Greater complexity in the African Aqualithic appears
labour and a certain degree of social stratification. primarily associated with the incorporation of domes-
Similarities in Upper Palaeolithic style conventions over ticates into a fisher-forager economy, in contrast to
sometimes considerable distances are thus ascribable aquatic resource-specialization in more productive
to elite marriage and wealth exchanges. higher latitude environments.
In Chapter 16, Schulting and colleagues pre-
Part 3: Social inequality in prehistoric Holocene hunter- sent a plausible case for socioeconomic inequality in
gatherer-fisher societies Mesolithic Europe through the use of stable carbon
In Chapter 14, Fitzhugh draws on two case studies of and nitrogen isotope analysis at the large Mesolithic
the North Pacific (Kodiak and Kuril archipelagos) to cemetery of Zvejnieki, Latvia, used by fisher-hunter-
make the case that intra- and inter-community depend- gatherer communities over a period extending over
ence and inequality is impacted by the structure of the two-and-a-half millennia (c. 7000–3500 cal. bc). Schult-
ecosystem which creates asymmetries of opportunity ing et al. observe that, among the burials with grave
and access to critical resources. Fitzhugh explores goods, presence or absence of tooth pendants in death
the evolution of institutionalized inequality in both signalled a meaningful divergence in the foodways
regions from a human behavioural ecology perspective and hence life histories of individuals. Those interred
regarding the extent to which communities could be with pendants had long-term diets that made greater
self-sufficient, and the degree to which family groups use of lower-trophic-level sources of protein, most
could monopolize control over resource patches and plausibly interpreted as a greater reliance on terrestrial
leverage surplus into social status. At Kodiak Island, rather than aquatic fauna. Based on the observation
socio-ecological configurations favoured patron-client that at Zvejnieki there is no clear spatial clustering of
relationships within the community, whereas the graves with and without tooth pendants, Schulting et
redundancy of productive patches over scales larger al. favour the interpretation of vertical status differen-
than villages held the centralization of multi-village tiation according to a clan-based social organization,
communities into larger polities in check. Conversely, rather than a horizontal social division into two distinct
at Kuril Islands Fitzhugh observes the opposite pat- communities of ostensibly equal standing. The main-
tern – local egalitarianism because of lower overall tenance of the link between diet and tooth pendants in
productivity and fewer predictable and controllable a similar way over more than two millennia, without
resource patches, and non-egalitarian interactions at leading to more overt status differences, suggests
the regional level due to macro-scale differences in ecological restrictions on intensifying hunting, as well
resource distributions. The remote islanders were more as social levelling mechanisms.
vulnerable to ecological risk and more willing to serve In Chapter 17, Honoré explores social differentia-
as clients to their Hokkaido (and possibly Kamchatka) tion and interaction through the sociological study of
trade partners, which opened trade for obsidian and group depictions at one of the most important rock art
social support in times of need. sites of Africa, Wadi Sūra II shelter, in the Egyptian part
In Chapter 15, Jeffery & Lahr make the case that of the Libyan Desert. Dating back to the Mid-Holocene
the long-standing conceptual association of fisher-for- around 6000 bc, the rock art site of Wadi Sūra II exhibits
ager economies and sociocultural complexity is biased nearly 8000 paintings, all attributed to the last hunter-
towards fisher-foragers from exceptionally productive gatherers of the Eastern Sahara. Among the analysed 66
and predominantly high (≥40°) latitude marine coast- group scenes with at least two individuals, there is an
lines. Using a cross-cultural ethnographic sample that apparent co-existence of mythological scenes in which
includes both low and high latitude populations, Jeffery the sameness of individuals stands out, as opposed
& Lahr provide a quantitative test of the weak relation- to individuality expressed more often in subsistence
ship between aquatic resource-dependence and social activities. Thus, Honoré questions the epistemological
inequality in lower latitude aquatic environments, relevance of the dualistic model of egalitarian versus
which were characterized by lower productivity and inegalitarian societies. She concludes that inequalities
thus were unable to support large group sizes. Draw- have been expressed more or less strongly depending
ing on archaeological data derived from the African on the ‘social agenda’ of the group, rather than codified
Aqualithic (i.e. low (<40°) latitude fisher-foragers of hierarchical status differences between individuals.
14
 Social inequality without farming: what we can learn from how foraging societies shape(d) social inequality?

In Chapter 18, Fry and colleagues combine ethno- G.M. Feinman (eds.), Pathways to Power. New Perspec-
graphic and archaeological data to address the origins tives on the Emergence of Social Inequality. Dordrecht:
of organized inter-group conflict or warfare in the Springer, 15–44.
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sistence of Inequality in Premodern Societies. Current
subsistence, and socio-political variables derived from
Anthropology 51(1): 95–6.
a cross-cultural sample of 30 extant forager societies, Arnold, J.E., 1996. The archaeology of complex hunter-
Fry et al. quantitatively test the alleged correlation of gatherers. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory
warfare with increased sociopolitical complexity, as 3: 77–126.
well as the correlation of warfare with population den- Bar-Yosef Mayer, D., & M. Bosch, 2019. Humans’ Earliest
sity versus pressure. They conclude that sociopolitical Personal Ornaments: An Introduction. PaleoAnthropol-
complexity, as represented primarily by their sample of ogy 2019: 19–23.
non-mobile foragers, contributes significantly to rising Bird, D.W., R. Bliege Bird, B.F. Codding & D.W. Zeanah,
frequencies of inter-group lethal violence incidences of 2019. Variability in the organisation and size of hunter-
gatherer groups: foragers do not live in small-scale
‘more-than-one perpetrator engaging more-than-one
societies. Journal of Human Evolution 131: 96–108.
victim’. Likewise, population density strongly cor- Boehm, C., 1993. Egalitarian behavior and reverse dominance
relates with group-on-group lethal violence, whereas hierarchy. Current Anthropology 34(3): 227–54.
population pressure does not. Based on archaeologi- Boehm, C., 1999. Hierarchy in the forest: The evolution of egali-
cal evidence, and with the possible exception of Jebel tarian behavior. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Sahaba, they stress that while there is evidence of Press.
occasional homicide before the Holocene, warfare Bogaard, A., M. Fochesato & S. Bowles, 2019. The farming-
developed at different times within the Holocene along inequality nexus: new insights from ancient Western
Eurasia. Antiquity 93: 1129–43.
with sociopolitical complexity and increasing popula-
Borgherhoff Mulder, M., S. Bowles, T. Hertz, A. Bell, J.
tion density, among both foragers and food producers.
Beise, G. Clark, I. Fazzio, M. Gurven, K. Hill, P.L.
Hooper, W. Irons, H. Kaplan, D. Leonetti, B. Low, F.
Acknowledgements Marlowe, R. McElreath, S. Naidu, D. Nolin, P. Piraino,
R. Quinlan, E. Schniter, R. Sear, M. Shenk, E.A. Smith,
I am deeply indebted to the colleagues who have con- C. von Rueden & P. Wiessner, 2009. Intergenerational
tributed to the success of the conference from which Wealth Transmission and the Dynamics of inequality
this volume derives, and in particular James Barrett, in Small-Scale Societies. Science 326: 682–8.
Cyprian Broodbank, Trish Biers, Laura Cousens, Borgerhoff Mulder, M., I. Fazzio, W. Irons, R.L. McElreath,
S. Bowles, A. Bell, T. Hertz & L. Hazzah, 2010. Pastoral-
Tanja Hoffmann, Emma Jarman, Ruairidh Macleod,
ism and Wealth Inequality Revisiting an Old Question.
Noa Lavi, and Pamela Smith. The conference has Current Anthropology 51(1): 35–48.
been generously funded by an annual conference Borgerhoff Mulder, M., & B.A. Beheim, 2011. Understanding
competition award of the McDonald Institute for the nature of wealth and its effects on human fitness.
Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 366: 344–56.
The author acknowledges support from an H2020 Borgerhoff Mulder, M., M.C. Towner, R. Baldini, B.A. Beheim,
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellow- S. Bowles, H. Colleran, M. Gurven, K.L. Kramer, S.M.
ship Grant (PALMOBI project, Grant No. 654927). I Mattison, D.A. Nolin, B.A. Scelza, R. Sear, M.K. Shenk,
thank Robert Attenborough for very helpful comments E. Voland & J. Ziker, 2019. Differences between sons
and daughters in the intergenerational transmission
and judicious suggestions. Any omissions or mistakes
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 Part I
Social inequality and egalitarianism
in extant hunter-gatherer-fisher societies
 Chapter 1

Social inequality among

New Guinea forager communities

Paul Roscoe

This chapter deploys ethnographic data on contact-era a unified way to think about social inequalities in
New Guinea foragers to explain why hunter-gatherer small-scale society in general.
communities that depend primarily on terrestrial game
for the faunal component of their diet have markedly The foragers of contact-era New Guinea
lower levels of social inequality than those reliant
mostly on aquatic resources. An initial problem in There is a widely held misconception that New Guinea
forging this argument is that social inequality means is a land of horticulturalists. A detailed review of the
different things to different people: economic inequal- New Guinea ethnographic record, however, turns up
ity, political inequality, social stratification, relative numerous references to ‘hunters and gatherers’ (Roscoe
depredation to mention just a few. In this chapter, I 2002), and at least ten contact-era groups appear to
focus on inequalities in power and status, the latter an have subsisted almost entirely by wild resources
ambiguous term that can mean both dominance and (defined as resources that living members have not
prestige (Henrich & Gil-White 2001: 166–7). Begin- themselves intentionally bred or planted). Another
ning with power, I contend that in small, face-to-face 20 or so procured at least 90 per cent of their calories
societies the ability of individuals to construct power from the wild, and a further 20 probably obtained 75
relations over others is critically mediated by the dis- to 89 per cent of their calories from foraging.
tribution of population on a landscape – its density, These foragers all depended for their main car-
dispersal, and mobility. I then argue that status differ- bohydrate source on starch leached from the pith of
entials – understood as both dominance and prestige the wild sago palm (Metroxylon sp.), a dependable
hierarchies – emerge as a widespread solution to the carbohydrate larder with a high calorie/labour-input
problem of managing conflicts of interest that arise ratio. Assuming a moderately active, average adult
within and among coalitions and alliances. In small- forager’s daily caloric needs to be between 2000 and
scale human communities, this solution deploys public 2500 Kcals, half an hour’s work was usually adequate
generosity and ceremonial activities such as feasting, to furnish an entire day’s energy requirements (Roscoe
dancing, and monument construction as honest signals 2005). As rich as it is in calories, though, sago yields
of individual and collective fighting strength that, virtually no protein, fat, or other nutrients. Forager
by establishing dominance and prestige hierarchies, populations were therefore critically dependent on
facilitate the formation of large physical aggregations, aquatic and terrestrial game for their full dietary needs,
communities and alliances. In conclusion, I justify my and the proportion of each had major implications for
focus on power and status by showing how these foci their density, settlement size, mobility, social-scale,
analytically embrace most if not all of the inequalities organization, and cultural complexity.
researchers have in mind when they think of social Hunter-foragers, as I shall call them (Table 1.1),
inequality. combined wild sago with hunted game – wild pigs,
Although my focus in this chapter is forager the occasional cassowary, and a vast array of other
communities, the arguments emerged from a database terrestrial, arboreal, and avian species. Fisher-foragers,
spanning a spectrum of New Guinea’s egalitarian, located in the environs of major estuaries, rivers, and
trans-egalitarian, and petty-chiefdom political forms. lakes, combined wild sago with aquatic fauna – primar-
In principle, therefore, the contentions I advance offer ily fish and shellfish. A third category, trader-foragers,
21
 Chapter 1

Table 1.1. Classification of forager communities mentioned in the text. As Holocene history demonstrates, differentials
Hunter-foragers Fisher-foragers Trader-foragers in power can develop markedly both within and across
Berik Asmat (Central) Kwoma (Hill) societies. Some agents come to possess more power
than others, and some polities become politically cen-
Edopi Jaqai
tralized while others remain comparatively egalitarian.
Isirawa Karawari
The key questions, then, are how power differentials
Kauwera Purari are built, what drives their expansion (the number
Kwerba Waropen controlled) and escalation (the level of control), and
Mamberamo Kwerba what constrains their magnitude at different points
Mander across space and time?
Sanio-Hiowe
The mechanics of political centralization
Power differentials are constructed using resources
were either fisher-folk who exported a portion of their or capital, assets that agents can deploy to induce
harvest to trade partners in exchange for sago, crops, or coerce the behaviour of others so as to get things
or both, or they were fisher-folk by proxy, exporting done through their agency (Giddens 1979: 69, 91–2).
surplus sago to procure fish and crustaceans. Archaeologists and many anthropologists commonly
As appears to true of foragers generally (Kelly think of capital in economic terms (e.g., gold, money,
2013: Chapter 9), there were marked differences in the food, the means of production, etc.); but, as Bourdieu
cultural contours of groups that subsisted on terrestrial (1986) pointed out, agents have access to other forms
game and those dependent directly or indirectly on of capital as well. In addition to economic capital, he
aquatic fauna. Hunter-foragers generally had lower identified cultural (or human) capital (e.g., learning,
densities, greater residential mobility, smaller polity prestigious tastes or speech patterns), social capital
sizes, and greater egalitarianism than fisher-foragers (e.g., membership in a clan, guild, elite club, secret
and trader foragers, most of whom inhabited larger, society, political party), and symbolic capital (e.g., pres-
nucleated, permanent settlements and were character- tige, honour, distinction). Other forms of capital that
ized by readily observable differentials of power and he failed to mention but are important to constructing
status (Roscoe 2006). power in small-scale societies include martial capital
Many authors invoke food storage to explain (e.g., brawn, weaponry, defensive works) and ritual
these power and status differentials (e.g., Kelly 2013; capital (e.g., religious office, command of occult forces).
Testart et al. 1982). None of New Guinea’s forager Whatever its form, capital shares the essential
populations, however, practiced any significant level of political property that access allows one agent to
storage: in these tropical environments, food resources deploy it to induce, coerce, or otherwise motivate the
were ‘stored’ in their landscapes. What did differenti- behaviour of others. Assuming, ab initio, a non-uniform
ate these communities was the distribution of their distribution across a population of political ambition,
populations across the landscape, and this difference ability, and other politically relevant cognitive, affec-
was pivotal in determining the scale of the power dif- tive, and physical characteristics, a potential therefore
ferentials they supported. exists for power differentials to emerge between more
and less politically gifted agents (Hayden 1995: 20).
Foragers, inequality and differentials of power Those endowed with exceptional ambition, Machiavel-
lian flare, cognitive and affective acuity, sociological
Power is at the heart of political centralization, the perceptiveness, and so on are better equipped than
concentration of social power in the hands of a few. others to accrue and deploy capital to their political
Research on political evolution, though, has largely advantage. Assuming, then, that these agents have
treated power, its properties, and its construction interests that can be advanced by acquiring power,
tangentially rather than focally (for an important it is in their interests to try. To build differentials of
exception, see Haas 1982: Chapter 6). Social power power, however, they need more than just their own
(hereafter, power) is profitably defined as the capac- talents. They must in addition be able to interact with
ity to secure outcomes through the agency of others others; and they must have privileged access to capital
(Giddens 1979: 88–94; 1984: 14–16). More prosaically, that is capable of influencing those others.
it is the ability of agents to get things done through the The ability to interact directly or indirectly with
action of others, whether it be exacting their tribute, others is critical, because it is only through interac-
soliciting their labour for a project, sending them off to tion that gifted agents can deploy capital to sway the
fight in one’s interests, or a myriad other capabilities. behaviour of others. The more people they can interact
22
 Social inequality among New Guinea forager communities

with, and the more time they can devote to each of should have at least some effect in socializing people
these interactions, moreover, the greater will be the into treating everyone as equals.
number of people they can induce or coerce and the But these arguments offer no obvious answer to
more effectively will they be able to control them. the question of why communities like the Hadza and
Gifted agents must also be able to deploy !Kung are so egalitarian to begin with. How did they
resources to which others attach some value. In most come to be? If we are to avoid cultural reification,
contexts, food is more important to people than rocks we cannot suppose that ethoses or rule sets alone
and therefore more valuable for influencing their somehow operate to ordain and enforce egalitarian-
behaviour. In arid environments, irrigated plots com- ism behind people’s backs, so to speak. Nor can we
monly produce more food and hence are economically accept that members deliberately shape these systems
more valuable than unwatered lands. The greater the to be egalitarian. For one thing, these societies do have
value of a resource, moreover, the greater the poten- leaders, albeit in very attenuated form (Lee 1982; Kelly
tial power differentials an agent can construct. Food 2013: Chapter 9; Woodburn 1982), so we should have
is more valuable in times of scarcity than abundance. to advance the eccentric claim that members shape
Water is more valuable and hence politically potent their systems to be quasi-egalitarian, not egalitarian.
in a desert than a tropical environment. Firearms are For another, egalitarianism in such a system would
generally deadlier, and hence coercively more valu- exist as an unstable equilibrium. It would take just
able, than spears or arrows. one politically gifted individual with an interest in
However valuable a resource, though, it is politi- acquiring power for power differentials to emerge.
cally worthless unless an agent can also command or A focus on power and its properties, however,
monopolize it, excluding others in at least some degree offers a way of thinking about hunter-forager quasi-
from access. Air is exceptionally valuable to humans, egalitarianism and how it came to be that is both
for instance, but as a global public good it is of no more precise and productive. First, it provides a
political value because it is impossible to monopolize. more precise analysis of the day-to-day operation of
By contrast, concentrated or ‘spot’ resources such as egalitarianism in these communities. The key point
stored food, irrigable land, irrigation water, copper, tin, is that power is not a capacity that one agent has
oil, and firearms are politically significant because they and another does not. All humans have access to at
are more easily surveilled, stockpiled, and defended least some monopolizable capital and therefore some
against access by others. The more monopolizable a power; even the prisoner in solitary confinement can
resource, furthermore, the greater its political func- resort to ‘dirty’ protests or hunger strikes to influence
tionality. Commodities available only through trade the behaviour of a captor. Power, in other words, is
are more easily monopolized than commodities in not something that one person exercises over another;
local abundance. The invention of iron smelting, by rather, it is something that people continuously con-
report, eroded Bronze Age leadership in northern test, drawing on the various capitals at their disposal,
Europe because, in contrast to copper and tin, which in what Giddens has termed ‘a dialectic of control’
commonly had to be imported from afar, iron ore was (1984: 16). In other words, whether and whatever
locally abundant (e.g., Kristensen & Larsson 2005). power differentials emerge in a society are the ongo-
ing outcomes of this dialectic.
Egalitarianism, reverse-dominance hierarchies and the A defining feature of most hunter-forager soci-
dialectic of control eties is that people have access to much the same
Scholarly explanations for the quasi-egalitarianism of material and coercive resources, at least within broad
hunter-foragers such as the !Kung and Hadza, who age-sex categories (Woodburn 1982; Kelly 2013: Ch.9),
depend mainly on terrestrial game for the faunal com- and therefore to power. This is not to deny that ambi-
ponent of their diet, commonly point to a prevailing tious and talented agents may gain a slender edge in
ethos or rule-set that asserts or ensures the autonomy access to capital, which they can deploy to construct
of the individual, along with the use of gossip, ostra- slight power differentials. But with access to capital
cism, and other ‘levelling mechanisms’ to undermine so finely balanced across the community, they must
‘bossiness’ and other hierarchical behaviours (e.g., be very careful in exercising their advantage. If they
Boehm 1993; 1999; Lee 1979: 457–61; Stibbard-Hawkes, overstep its limits, others in the community can draw
this volume; Woodburn 1982). It is certainly plausible strategically on their own access to capital and slap
that cultural imperatives such as these are important them down: notably, by deploying shame and ostra-
in the social reproduction of egalitarianism. An ethos cism (cultural capital) and, in extremis, elimination
that everyone should be equal or a rule that they must (martial capital, frequently combined with social capi-
share, coupled with levelling-mechanism enforcement tal; see Sibbard-Hawkes, this volume). To call these
23
 Chapter 1

systems reverse dominance hierarchies (Boehm 1993) Since the number and combinations of affordances
is to misunderstand what is going on. In deploying in different material and social environments approach
‘levelling mechanisms’, members are not seeking to infinity, it follows, as archaeologists and prehistorians
dominate but to resist behaviour that, in the prevail- have documented, that the forms and trajectories of
ing circumstances, is excessively and imprudently political centralization will vary markedly across space
dominant. It is, as Erdal & Whiten characterize it, and time. Nevertheless, we can identify a number of
‘“counterdominant” behaviour rather than a reversal affordances that were so common in prehistory as
of hierarchy’ (1994: 177). to create commonalities among these trajectories. In
An analytical focus on power and its properties, what follows, I examine the most important of these
in sum, tells us that when hunter-foragers profess an affordances as they affected the construction of power
egalitarian ethos, they are describing a state of affairs differentials across the New Guinea forager spectrum:
(how things are) as much as they are citing a principle the division of labour, mobility, and the distribution
that prescribes those affairs (how things should or must of population.
be). So how do we explain this state of affairs? Why are
so many hunter-forager societies so egalitarian? The Asymmetric power, the division of labour and population
further, arguably more important advantage of focus- distribution across landscapes
ing on power and its properties is that it provides an The ability of gifted agents to build power relations
explanation of the level to which power differentials is critically affected by their time budgets: the more
can rise, and thus for why political centralization var- time they can devote to political interaction, the more
ies across space and time. For our purposes, it allows people they can control and/or the more effectively
us to understand, within a single analytical frame, they can control them. In small-scale societies, though,
why hunter-forager communities are so egalitarian social organization and demography conspire to limit
and why other societies such as fisher-foragers and the time they can allot to political interaction. The
trader-foragers are not. first problem is a rudimentary division of labour,
which severely limits their ability to shift non-political
Affordances and time-space variation in political responsibilities – subsistence, social, and other, non-
centralization political tasks and obligations – onto others. In these
The factor that constrains or enables the scale to societies, a political agent who devotes all his or her
which power differentials can rise in a society is the time to political interaction will struggle to find food,
prevailing physical and social environment, or what shelter, and raise children.
Gibson (1979) has more precisely called ‘affordances’. A second burden is the time they must spend
The capacity of politically gifted agents to interact bringing political interactions about. In these societies,
with others, the value of the capital they can deploy all communication is face-to-face, and all movement is
in these interactions, and their ability to monopolize either on foot or by canoe. The proportion of their time
these resources all depend on what the material and budgets that they must spend in travelling between
social environment ‘offers the animal, what it provides political interactions as opposed to interaction itself is
or furnishes, either for good or ill’ (Gibson 1979: 127). therefore profoundly influenced by people’s distribu-
In small-scale communities, for instance, access to tion across the landscape – their density, the degree
good quality but scarce clay enables the production to which they are clumped or dispersed, and their
and distributional control of valuable pottery goods. mobility (Roscoe 1993; 2012; 2013). In sparse, dispersed
Subsistence adaptations that discourage nomadism populations, much of their political time budget must
and enable sedentism ease the ability of gifted agents be ‘wasted’ in travel rather than interaction. If the
to locate and interact with others, to stockpile and population is also nomadic, they must add a search
protect access to economic resources, and, to the degree component to their travel time.
people are tied down and reluctant to ‘vote with their Figure 1.1 models the problem for a political
feet,’ to deploy coercive resources to influence their agent travelling at 5 km per hour between people
behaviour. In more complex techno-organizational distributed at the centres of hexagonal cells arrayed
systems, mechanical transport, literacy, print, and in a grid across a flat plain.1 At a density of 0.1 per-
electronic communications allow political agents to son per sq. km, the time such an agent must devote
interact with vast audiences; differential access to to travel is 3.2 times greater than at a density of 1.0
communications enables their manipulation of desire people per sq. km, and 7.1 times greater than at 5.0
and fear; and privileged access to economic and other per sq. km. If the population is nomadic, travel times
forms of capital provide them with differential access are greater yet. Conversely, political agents operating
to the means of communication. in a sedentary population with a density on the order
24
 Social inequality among New Guinea forager communities

50 expect gradations of power within a hierarchy, agents

holding sway over others in proportion to their politi-
cal ambitions and abilities.
In many eventualities, moreover, we should
40 expect an interacting population large enough to con-
tain several equally gifted agents to host something
close to an equal number of hierarchies. This is because
these gifted agents each enjoy a travel-cost advantage
Time (minutes)

30
in constructing power over others in their immediate
neighbourhood. Individuals living on their doorstep
are rather more distant from the doorsteps of other
20
gifted agents. Instead of a single, overarching power
hierarchy, therefore, a large population may accom-
modate several hierarchies, each competitively created
10 by an especially gifted political agent.
Finally, agents talented enough to place others in
their thrall face a kind of ‘optimal political foraging’
0 problem. They must reckon how best to apportion
0 1 2 3 4 5 their political time-budgets between extending their
Density (people per sq. km) influence over others and enhancing that influence in
order to optimize their payoffs. To what extent can
they improve their rewards by placing large numbers
Figure 1.1. Nearest neighbour travel time against of people under their control as opposed to increasing
population density in a population distributed at the the compliance of a smaller number?
centres of hexagonal cells arrayed in a grid (travel
velocity = 5 km per hour). Population distribution and power in New
Guinea’s contact-era forager societies
of 370–500 per sq. km – densities that prevailed on the
coastal plains of contact-era Tahiti, for instance – will Although the precise mathematics of power con-
find scores of people with whom to interact, virtually struction are clearly complex, the implication of the
on their doorstep. foregoing is not. We expect mobile, low density, dis-
One reason why !Kung communities are so egali- persed populations to be politically more egalitarian
tarian, as we have noted, is that members all have more than sedentary, higher density, nucleated counterparts.
or less similar access to politically valuable capital. But This is precisely what we find when we compare a sam-
even were this not the case, they would still be egali- ple of 12 of New Guinea’s contact-era hunter-forager
tarian because any agent aspiring to construct power groups to a sample of 18 fisher- and trader-foragers.
differentials over a mobile population scattered across The hunter-foragers had a median density of 0.5
the Kalahari at a density of just one person per sq. km, people per sq. km, compared to a median density of
would have to waste most of their time wandering 3.0 per sq. km among the fisher- and trader-foragers.
around the desert just to find someone beyond his The hunter-foragers were also much more mobile,
or her immediate band to manipulate. The barrier to spending the majority of the year moving around the
constructing power is so great that it is hardly worth landscape in small, one- or two-family camps of per-
the bother, and it should not surprise us that the !Kung haps 8–10 people, and aggregating only occasionally
are so famously egalitarian in ethos and behaviour. in a central settlement of median size 45 for social and
ceremonial purposes (Roscoe 2005: 560–4). In contrast,
Competing for power almost all of the fisher- and trader-foragers inhabited
So much for theory; in practice, things are more com- large, permanent settlements with a median size of
plicated. For one thing, political talent and ambition 210 people (ibid.).
are not dichotomously distributed across a popula- The consequences of these differences for the
tion; they exist on a spectrum from the exceptionally construction of power were stark. A political agent
ambitious and gifted to the outstandingly apathetic operating in a median fisher-forager/trader-forager
and challenged. Instead of hierarchies in which power village of 210 people would need to spend only 10.2
is dichotomized – a single gifted agent at the top and minutes to travel between all of its 53 politically active
everyone else at the bottom – we should therefore men (assuming that people inhabit hexagonal living
25
 Chapter 1

areas of 100 sq. m per person, that one quarter of the had more brothers to support them than those whose
population comprises politically active men, and that fathers were less powerful, giving them a genealogi-
agents travel at a speed of 5 km per hour). Even if cally defined advantage in coming to power. Among
hunter foragers had lived permanently in their central the Purari (or Koriki) and Waropen, the situation was
settlement rather than dispersed in mobile camps for reversed: leadership was ascribed but leaders also
most of the year, though, a political agent in the median had either to achieve their power or to consult with
hunter-forager group of 45 people living at a density others in the community who had achieved power.
0.5 per sq. km would have had to spend almost 330 Thus, ‘traditional Koriki leadership was an ascribed
minutes travelling the landscape to interact with the status….In addition, personal competence was a fac-
same number of politically active men (with previ- tor, including some of the attributes of the “big man”’
ous assumptions and that settlements are located on (Maher 1967: 313). Likewise, ‘one is fully entitled to
a flat plain at the centres of hexagonal cells arrayed speak of a system of chieftains among the Waropen,
in a grid).2 where it is based on certain hereditary privileges and
A contact-era political agent hoping to build a on descent’ (Held 1957: 71). However, ‘the clan-chief
power base in a median New Guinea hunter-forager can do little by himself and therefore he always acts
group thus faced travel costs that were more than in consultation with other influential men….the great
32 times that of his or her counterpart in the median men, i.e. the well-known warriors and the leaders of
fisher-forager/trader-forager group. Ethnographic the various important family-branches’ (Held 1957: 75).
work on leadership in these communities confirms
what we would predict. Observers of hunter-forager Status, social inequality and hierarchies of
groups were at pains to stress just how egalitarian dominance and prestige
they were. Among the Edopi of the Lake Plains, there
was ‘no concept of a headman…, all the adult male Power does not exhaust the catalogue of social inequali-
members of a clan having equal status’ (Kim 1997: ties in human society. There is also status, a term that
202). ‘Every traveling researcher until now,’ Oosterwal Henrich & Gil-White (2001: 166–7) have usefully
observed of the Berik, Isirawa, Kwerba, and Mander pointed out commonly conflates two very different
of the Upper Tor River, ‘was surprised to encounter phenomena in public and academic discourse: domi-
in these villages no tribal chief and not once a village nance and prestige. Dominance is generally defined
elder. Everyone is the same, no-one has more say as a superior ability directly or indirectly to intimidate
than another….. Everyone is equally poor or equally or inflict costs on others (e.g., Henrich & Gil White
rich, however one looks at it. Everyone occupies the 2001: 166–7; von Rueden 2011: 2223). This is very dif-
same place in their community. The elders here have ferent from prestige, which is best defined as a (moral)
no more say than youths…. Men and women also approbation that a community affords agents who are
stand equal’ (1963: 99, my translation). On the eastern perceived to exemplify qualities, perform activities, or
banks of the Mamberamo, Oosterwal also found that fulfil roles to which the community attaches value (e.g.,
Kauwera and Mamberamo Kwerba people all ‘have Johnson et al. 2007: 346; Riches 1984: 235).
equal say in village affairs’ (Oosterwal 1967: 166–7). This distinction between dominance and prestige
So too the Sanio-Hiowe of the Sepik Hills: ‘Formal doubles our explanatory task, presenting not one but
leadership is lacking and informal leadership is weak’ two phenomena to explain. An analysis of status in
(Townsend 1969: 8). contact-era New Guinea, however, strongly suggests
Ethnographers spoke in very different terms that the task is simpler than it seems: in small-scale
about contact-era, fisher-forager and trader-forager societies at least, dominance and prestige hierarchies
villages. Here, we encounter no ethnographic assertions emerge from the same social root, a conflict-of-interest
of political equality. To the contrary, observers noted dilemma.
the presence of men who enjoyed not just power but
positions that were ascribed either de facto or de jure. The conflict of interest dilemma in small-scale societies
Among the Central Asmat of southeast New Guinea, Researchers across the social-sciences have developed
leaders resembled the well-known Big-man type. ‘Each an enormous literature on how humans manage co-
moiety [in a village] had a leader and it seems that this operation, collective action, and the free-rider problem
position of leadership was achieved…. [These] were in groups larger than the coping spans of inclusive
men of strong personality who could exert their will fitness and the human cognitive competency to tally
on others’ (Mansoben 1974: 53–4). Eyde (1967: 233–4) ongoing reciprocal transactions. The shortcoming in
noted, though, that the sons of powerful men usually this literature is that it overlooks – or, at the very least,
inherited rights to more sago and fishing areas and assumes away – a conflict-of-interest problem. It is
26
 Social inequality among New Guinea forager communities

often mutually advantageous for humans to interact over mates, material resources, or some other reward,
peacefully – to form an enduring social group or while those who fall short are obliged to defer. Such a
gather in large physical aggregations. In New Guinea, system benefits every individual, even those who have
for instance, villages and clans were social groups to defer, because none need risk the physical costs of
that formed for the mutual defence of their members actual fighting, while all benefit from maintaining the
(Roscoe 2009: 80–8); in forager societies, it may be integrity of their alliances or coalitions.
advantageous for several families or bands to aggre- The deployment of honest signals of fighting
gate physically around clumped, seasonal resources strength to establish dominance hierarchies is so
such as fish runs. But if these groups and aggregations widespread in animal species (Stibbard-Hawkes, this
are large, how do members manage competition over volume) that it would be somewhat surprising if they
reproductive, subsistence, and other interests without were absent from human society. The New Guinea
these conflicts erupting into physical and lethal vio- evidence strongly suggests that, indeed, they were
lence, which would be costly to all sides and threaten present and in particularly elaborate form. It was not
the advantages at stake in grouping or aggregating? just individuals who signalled their fighting strength in
This conflict-management challenge is particu- dominance competition but sub-polity groups and allied
larly pronounced in egalitarian and trans-egalitarian polities as well, a system that maintained the integrity
communities. Large, politically centralized states of their polities and inter-polity alliances in addition
have the capacity to create and maintain centralized to lowering the morbid and mortal costs of conflict.
institutions of detection, mediation, adjudication, and In New Guinea, the most reliable means of sig-
sanction to institute and enforce a governmental claim nalling military strength was to deploy it in lethal
to monopolize physical violence. Egalitarian and trans- practice – not against competitors within one’s polity or
egalitarian communities, though, lack these centralized allied polities, which would defeat the purpose of the
organs of control. Discussion, kin-group pressure, gos- exercise, but against enemies. Individuals, sub-polity
sip, ostracism, exclusion, and other measures are not groups, and polities that proved themselves in war
without effect in limiting the threat of internal conflict against enemies abroad authentically demonstrated
in small-scale society, but in the absence of third-party their military strength to individuals, sub-groups, and
systems of mediation, detection, and enforcement friendly polities closer to home.3 In the event of conflict,
backed by a centralized power, small-scale polities are individuals and groups with reputations for superior
chronically vulnerable to conflicts of interest that can performance in war could then expect others within
spiral into lethal violence, threatening lives, coalitions, their own or allied polities to defer to their interests.
and communities. The second – and arguably more important –
means of signalling fighting strength was a kind of
Resolving the conflict-of-interest dilemma ceremonial or symbolic fighting, Collectivities mounted
How then do small-scale communities and large physi- ceremonial displays that served as honest signals of the
cal aggregations manage this problem? In New Guinea, numbers they could muster to their cause, the commit-
I have argued elsewhere (Roscoe 2009; 2013), they ment of those numbers to their cause, and the ability
deployed a strategy common to most animal species of these numbers to submerge their identity in that of
characterized by a high expected future fitness-value: the collectivity and act as a collectivity to advance the
non-serious fighting displays (Enquist & Leimar 1990). cause. These displays assumed three principal forms:
In these species, conflicts over mates, resources, sanc- conspicuous material distributions, conspicuous perfor-
tuaries, and so on are managed not by dangerous mances, and conspicuous constructions. Conspicuous
fighting but by honest signals of fighting strength such distributions took the form of public prestations; the
as physical displays (e.g., parallel walking, bellowing), most important were the feasts, pig-kills, and pig-
threat displays (e.g., teeth-baring, charging), and trials and-shell-valuable exchanges that accompanied most
of strength (e.g., head butting, tail biting, or pushing life-cycle rites and competitive exchange ceremonies,
contests). In these contests, competitors of approxi- but they included less elaborate forms of public gifting
mately equal fighting strength are able, to their mutual as well. Conspicuous performances revolved around
advantage, to assess which of them would win a fight large and elaborately choreographed exhibitions of
to the death without either having to incur the poten- singing, dancing, and music, mounted by spectacularly
tially catastrophic risks of an actual fight to the death decorated performers. And conspicuous construction
(e.g., Clutton-Brock et al. 1979; Enquist & Leimar 1990). involved the erection of massive cult houses or men’s
The result of such contests is a dominance hierarchy. houses, material structures that archaeologists would
Those individuals who consistently signal superior readily term monumental constructions had they been
strength can expect to prevail in conflicts, be they built from stone or brick rather than organic materials.
27
 Chapter 1

Their varied forms notwithstanding, the scale, fighting also brought status (Oosterwal 1961: 96; 1963:
complexity, and frequency of ceremonial displays all 31). Among the Kauwera and Mamberamo Kwerba,
functioned as indexical signals of individual and col- too, the opinion of ‘a mighty warrior’ or ‘great hunter’
lective military strength. At the individual level, the weighed more heavily than anybody else’s (Oosterwal
number and size of the pigs, shell valuables, food, and 1967: 166–7).
other prestige-economy items that individuals contrib- The idealization of individual and collective male
uted to a material display, the vigour, endurance, and strength was particularly evident among fisher- and
flair of their singing and dancing performances, and trader-foragers. To be a ‘strong man’ among the Purari
the labour and organizational, engineering, and artistic was to be ‘an individual of social importance’ (Williams
talents they brought to a conspicuous construction 1924: 64). The most esteemed male quality among the
were all honest signals of their physical and cognitive Waropen was ‘kako, rough, hard, cruel, i.e. the Waropen
strength. What went for the individual applied also at idea of martial virtue’ (Held 1957: 66, emphasis added).
the collective level. The amount of material goods a The ideal Jaqai man was ‘strong, brave, diligent and
sub-polity group or polity could muster for a conspicu- generous’ (Boelaars 1981: 90–1); he was a man ‘able to
ous distribution was an honest signal of the personnel, fight for [his] own interests and those of [his] relatives’
kin, and allies it could mobilize in its interests, their (Boelaars 1981: 90). Among Karawari foragers, who
commitment to its projects, and its capacity to act as based their subsistence on a mix of hunting and fish-
a collectivity. Mementoes of these distributions were ing, an ‘aggressive, ambitious, energetic, and dominant
subsequently displayed in the form of skulls or jaw- man… is feared but admired and followed by others.
bones of the game contributed to a feast, insignia of He represents security and protection from the threat
the number, length, and girth of the pigs given away, of potential enemies, sorcerers, and dangerous spirits’
and tallies of the shell valuables transacted.4 In a con- (Telban 1998: 58). Among the Hill Kwoma, who traded
spicuous performance, the number of participants, wild sago for aquatic resources to the Manambu, the
the intricacy and synchronization of their dancing, admired male was possessed of ow: ‘potency, effective-
the volume and harmony of their singing, and the ness (in ritual and other contexts), force in the sense of
length of time they could keep it all up signalled the physical strength, energy and aggressiveness’ (Bowden
same strengths. In the case of conspicuous construc- 1983: 92). ‘A dog growling in defence of a bone is…said
tion, the signal was the sheer size and rococo artistry to display ow’ (Bowden 1983: 93).
of the structure and the plastic art associated with it. A second line of evidence is explicit ethnographic
Together, such displays demonstrated in the most statements that material generosity and ceremonial dis-
public and authentic of ways the strength their spon- plays did indeed index strength among New Guinea’s
sors could bring to a physical fight should they wish. foragers. For the Upper Tor groups who, like many
others, combined conspicuous material distributions
Signalling strength in New Guinea forager society with conspicuous performances: ‘The best means for
The evidence supporting this argument for New convincing other clans of one’s own excellence and strength
Guinea as a whole is documented at length elsewhere is the organizing of festivals. The larger a festival and
(Roscoe 2009: 89–101). To focus here on the forager evi- the more princely the entertainment of the guests,
dence, we find three principle strands of support: New the higher climbs the status of the host. Above all the
Guinean foragers apotheosized fighting strength; they entertainment causes shame and awakens the greatest
viewed material generosity and ceremonial displays envy [in the guests]. Later, when the guests themselves
as demonstrating that strength; and they cast these become hosts, they will try to collect still more food
behaviours as a kind of symbolic warfare. and to entertain in even more princely fashion, in order
Because hunter-foragers were so egalitarian and in this way to be able to restore their status and their might’
their leadership minimal, data on what these people (Oosterwal 1963: 85, my translation, emphasis added).
valued in masculinity is slight. It is clear, neverthe- What went for groups went for individuals as
less, that they esteemed men who had established a well. Among the Purari, a ‘man of consequence, an a’a
reputation for fighting strength. Notwithstanding the venea, is the man who kills many pigs, who organises
general equality that characterized Upper Tor groups, feasts, who makes his voice heard and his presence felt.
homicidal revenge was seen as ‘a means to gain status Liberality is held perhaps to be the first of the virtues;
[Ansehen] and power [Macht]. The greater the number of but energy or skill in the common cause will likewise
people that one kills, the higher climbs one’s personal make an a’a venea what the interpreters always call “a
status and personal power’ (Oosterwal 1963: 94, my strong man”’ (Williams 1924: 74, emphasis added).
translation).5 Achievements in hunting, which shares The sheer size of a great Purari cult house (or ravi) – a
many of the same skills and some of the dangers of conspicuous construction that could range up to 400 ft
28
 Social inequality among New Guinea forager communities

long and 100 ft at its apex (Bevan 1890: 243) – was ‘a In practice, though, it rewards individuals and groups
true indication to the visitor of the size of the village in proportion to the contributions they make to their
and its population’ (Holmes 1924: 93). own and their collectivities’ fighting strength. Those
Perhaps the best evidence that foragers saw who contribute most to displays of fighting strength
ceremonial displays as signals of military strength, are those who become dominant and can therefore
though, was that they cast them as non-violent forms advance their interests over those who would free ride.
of fighting. Oosterwal characterized the ‘dance, song, Simply put, individuals and their groups are rewarded
meals, festivals, and religious celebrations’ of the in proportion to the efforts they put in.
hunter-forager tribes of the Upper Tor as a major At the same time, the system generates a prestige
element in how they waged ‘an eternal, lasting strife hierarchy, a hierarchy of (moral) approbation afforded
concerning [who had] the greatest strength and the agents who are seen to exemplify qualities, perform
highest status. This fight is in large part the meaning activities, or fulfil roles to which a community attaches
of their lives’ (1963: 83, my translation). He found the value. It is reasonable to assume that communities
same among the Kauwera-speaking Muremarew on attach value and therefore prestige to those who
the east banks of the Mamberamo: ‘Every dancing behave in prosocial ways. In forager societies, these
feast is a “fight”’ (Oosterwal 1967: 173). Tellingly, he behaviours generally include generosity with meat
referred to the food distributions in these festivals as and other food and goods, advice and information,
like a ‘potlatch’ (Oosterwal 1961: 238), the Northwest organizational skills, and other contributions that
Coast displays that Codere (1950) famously character- advance cooperative ventures, including the conspicu-
ized as ‘fighting with property’. Held used the same ous ceremonial displays that determine sub-group
term of Waropen material distributions (1957: 226), and polity dominance. To the extent these actions
referring to them as ‘contractual battle[s] of gifts… are performed publicly, though, they not only recruit
fought in public’ (1957: 78). prestige but also signal fighting strength. Those who
Nor was it just material distributions that had provide such benefits, therefore, not only become
violent overtones, as Oosterwal made clear of Kwerba esteemed but also dominant and capable of advancing
festivals in the Upper Tor. ‘The dance also belonged their interests over others’.
to the strength fight. Suddenly, the Naidjbeedj men The result is a hierarchy in which those at the top
Idabon, Négwan, Bannie and Bilei-jam stormed onto are both dominant and prestigious, simultaneously
the village piazza…. With wild springs, they “danced” evoking both apprehension and admiration in those
from one end of the piazza to the other. By this, they below. This curious duality may explain why, in com-
wanted to challenge the Bora-Bora to seize their drums mon usage, the term status conflates both dominance
and take up the fight with them…. During this, they and prestige, which in turn may account for why eth-
called, “Waba, Waba, Waba” and other war calls. Four nographers seldom seem to have noticed that those who
jumps forward, four back. So flowed the attack back demonstrated strength in New Guinea provoked both
and forth…. The whole village was now dancing, apprehension and appreciation in others. Nevertheless,
sometimes a couple of hundred people. As they did it was apparent among the Yangoru Boiken (Roscoe
so, they sang the old songs of fighting and victory’ 2009: 103) and Manambu (Harrison 1993: 120–1), and
(Oosterwal 1963: 87–8, my translation). Kauwera line- Telban noticed it among Karawari foragers. ‘An aggres-
ages engaged in similar song-and-dance ‘fights’: ‘Since sive, ambitious, energetic, and dominant man, who
none of the members likes to give up first, it becomes may be referred to as ‘bad’, is feared but admired and
very exhausting…. Generally, in about an hour the followed by others. He represents security and protec-
first “casualty” occurs. Totally exhausted, a man falls tion from the threat of potential enemies, sorcerers, and
to the ground and is considered “dead.” …Sometimes dangerous spirits….Potency and self assertiveness in
the “fight” is so severe that the dance is prolonged for such men, though in many ways antisocial, are none
a week or more’ (Oosterwal 1967: 173). the less admired’ (Telban 1998: 58; see also Bowden
[1983: 113] on Kwoma trader-foragers).
Social inequality, status and prestige hierarchies
Conclusion
A system resting on honest signals of fighting strength
contains within it a solution to the free-rider prob- Although I have dealt with power and status as though
lem. Displays of conspicuous material distribution, they were separate phenomena, in reality they are inti-
performance, and construction are arduous and mately linked. In common parlance, status can refer to
time-consuming activities, so in theory the system is position in hierarchies of both dominance and prestige.
vulnerable to individual and even collective defection. In the guise of dominance, it is a form of martial capital;
29
 Chapter 1

in the New Guinea case, a reputation for superior comments on a previous manuscript, and to Alisdair
fighting strength derived from performance in war, Macleod for prompting me to think more about ‘opti-
conspicuous ceremonial, and other public actions. In mal political foraging.’ None of these people, though,
the form of prestige, status is a type of symbolic capital; bear any responsibility for whatever errors or idiocies
in New Guinea, a reputation for prosocial behaviour I have perpetrated.
derived from much the same activities. We are thus
back to power and capital: in both of its semantic Notes
refractions, status reduces to forms of the capital that
undergirds power. 1. The relevant equation is: Mean nearest neighbour travel
I began this chapter with a claim that most of the time =      , where D is density (per sq. km) and
meanings people attribute to the term social inequality assuming a travel speed of 5 km per hour.
2. The general form of the equation is:
– economic inequality, social stratification, political
inequality, and so on – can be analytically encompassed T=
by attention to power and status. In the knowledge
that status reduces to forms of capital, then, let me where A is living area per capita (here, 100 sq. m); D is
conclude by redeeming this assertion. Observe first population density (per sq. km); M is the proportion of
that the different inequalities encompassed by the term politically active men in the population (here 0.25); N
social inequality are all inequalities in access to either is the total number of politically active men with whom
different forms of capital or, in the case of political the agent interacts (here, 53); P is settlement population
inequality, capital in general. Economic inequality size; and V is travel speed (here, 5 km per hour).
3. At least 82.6 per cent of 92 New Guinea communities
denotes inequality in access to economic capital; social
(forager and non-forager) on which leadership data are
stratification is an unequal access to symbolic capital available were reported to afford eminence, influence,
(and, in many cases, social capital); and so on. Second, or both to men who had distinguished themselves in
it is power and capital acting in tandem that generates war (Roscoe 2017: 204–5).
these inequalities. Capital is the vehicle for the exercise 4. Mementoes. Abelam (Central) – Lea 1964: 59, 116;
of power, but power is a capacity that can be used to Bedamini – NMD 1966/67: 5; Berik - Oosterwal 1963:
beget capital. Gifted or otherwise advantaged agents 89; Boiken (Yangoru) – Roscoe n.d.; Mer – Haddon 1912:
may, for instance, use access to martial capital to extort 131–2; Telefomin – Craig & Hyndman 1990: 235, 263.
economic resources from others, thereby generating 5. The German terms Macht and Ansehen can be translated
in several ways. In addition to ‘power’ or ‘strength,’ as
economic inequality. They may then be able to deploy
I translate them here and below, Macht can also mean
this economic capital to contract labour, which they ‘might,’ ‘potency,’ ‘force,’ and ‘authority.’ Ansehen can
can then use to generate more economic capital and mean not only ‘status’ but also ‘reputation,’ ‘esteem,’
intensify economic inequality. Additionally or alterna- ‘respect,’ ‘eminence,’ and ‘prestige,’ among other things.
tively, they can deploy their access to economic capital I have chosen ‘status’ because it is the term Oosterwal
to purchase or bribe access to social capital – mem- uses most often in his English publications.
bership in a guild or secret society, perhaps – which
may confer symbolic capital (honour, distinction) as References
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Clutton-Brock, T.H., S.D. Albon, R.M. Gibson & F.E. Guin- Maprik, New Guinea. (Ph.D. Dissertation.) Canberra:
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Townsend, P.K.W., 1969. Subsistence and Social Organization von Rueden, C., M. Gurven & H. Kaplan, 2011. Why do men
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 Chapter 2

Mobility, autonomy and learning:

could the transition from egalitarian to non-egalitarian
social structures start with children?

Rachel Reckin, Sheina Lew-Levy, Noa Lavi & Kate Ellis-Davies

In recent years, increasing numbers of archaeologists learning, personality, and behaviour (e.g., Draper 1976;
are employing creative means to consider the lives Whiting & Whiting 1975). Considering these factors,
and roles of forager children in the past (e.g., Finlay in this chapter, we apply ethnographic findings from
1997; Hildebrand 2012; Kamp 2001; Lillehammer the anthropology and psychology of childhood to the
1989; Ruttle 2010). These researchers are still in the archaeological debate surrounding cultural transforma-
minority among archaeologists, however; even though tion. Ultimately, we argue that shifting opportunities
children make up thirty to fifty percent of ethnographi- in the social landscapes of children’s learning in the
cally documented forager bands (Hewlett 1991), most past might have led to changes in child behaviour,
archaeologists tend to assume that the material culture especially in the domains of competitiveness and
we see from the past is largely attributable to adults. gender inequality.
In addition, many of us rarely consider the central- This chapter begins by considering how children
ity of children’s learning to the process of cultural learn, and the mechanisms that promote autonomous
transformation (Lillehammer 2010). But children’s learning within broadly egalitarian forager societies
choices do have ramifications for culture change; for (for further review see Garfield et al. 2016; Hew­
example, Morelli (2017) argues that Matses children in lett et al. 2011; Lew-Levy et al. 2017, 2018). We then
the Peruvian Amazon choose new cultural and subsist- focus on two changes that may have had important
ence futures by emplacing themselves along the river ramifications for the transition from egalitarianism
instead of accompanying adults into the forest to hunt to non-egalitarianism. First, researchers suggest that
and gather. Building on research like Morelli’s, this more child-appropriate labour among settled com-
chapter argues that alterations to children’s learning munities, including tasks like cleaning, maintenance of
environments may have ripple effects throughout their possessions, food processing, and tending to animals
society’s social structures, making children themselves or gardens leads to settled children being assigned
vital agents of cultural change. more chores than their mobile peers (Bock 2002;
Archaeologists have found repeatedly that Morelli 1997; Munroe et al. 1983). In particular, girls
decreased mobility, increased settlement size and may experience earlier and more intensive chore
increased labour demands are correlated with non- assignment, placing them in the home and calcify-
egalitarian social structures (e.g., Price and Brown 1985; ing gender roles overall (Whiting and Whiting 1975).
Roscoe 2006, 2009). Specifically, sedentism is widely These cross-cultural observations lead us to argue that
linked to increased cultural emphasis on competi- when mobility decreases, gender inequality develops
tion and gender inequality. Indeed, Kelly (2013: 266) thanks partially to increasingly gendered regimes of
argues that ‘the advent of sedentism may, after several chore assignment for children. Second, cross-culturally
generations, alter a population’s modal personality research suggests that the transition from multi-age
toward one that sees social manipulation – the control and multi-gender playgroups in small, mobile societies
of another’s labor – and competition as the primary to same-age, same-gender playgroups in more settled
way of achieving goals.’ Sociocultural anthropolo- societies provides children with more opportunities to
gists and psychologists who study children have also play competitive games (Draper 1976). We argue that
found that mobility, settlement size, and labour are this trend toward increased competitive play among
cross-culturally correlated with changes in children’s children with larger peer groups fosters a competitive
33
 Chapter 2

ethos that follows children into adulthood. Over time, and read more than 500 papers and book chapters
this competitive ethos becomes a foundational schema on forager children from all over the world. We then
– a cultural value that ‘pervades several domains of selected studies for inclusion in our analyses using
life’ (Hewlett et al. 2011: 1171). This chapter does not three criteria. First, the societies in question had to
present newly collected data to test these arguments; be broadly egalitarian foragers. Second, the study
instead, we synthesize previous cross-cultural data had to focus primarily on learning. Third, the studies
from small-scale societies to consider how the processes had to consider the learning of children specifically.
of children’s learning differ between more mobile and Ultimately, we found 58 publications on how forager
more settled peoples. In the end, we argue that changes children learn subsistence skills (Lew-Levy et al. 2017),
in mobility, economy and work also change children’s and 77 publications on how forager children learn
learning contexts, contributing to a decreased cultural social and gender norms (Lew-Levy et al. 2018), total-
emphasis on personal autonomy, and an increased ling 115 unique publications from 51 societies (Table
emphasis on gender inequality and competition. 2.1). We used a meta-ethnographic approach, mean-
ing we included publications with both quantitative
Background and methods and qualitative data. In the arguments presented in
this chapter, we consider these previously gathered
The arguments in this chapter are based on two previ- ethnographic data alongside more recently published
ously published cross-cultural ethnographic reviews works, research on non-egalitarian foragers, and
of how forager children learn social and subsistence archaeological studies of forager children.
skills (Lew-Levy et al. 2017, 2018). Using academic Researchers have long placed hunter-gatherers in
search tools, the Human Relation Area Files, reference binary categories of either egalitarian or non-egalitarian,
lists from relevant publications and direct contact with simple or complex, non-affluent or affluent (Keeley
scholars working with forager children, we gathered 1988; Kelly 2013; Price & Brown 1985). Egalitarian

Table 2.1. Studies included in Lew-Levy et al. 2017, a meta-ethnography on learning subsistence skills, and Lew-Levy et al. 2018, a meta-
ethnography on learning social skills.
Region Society Publications
Africa
Bakeman et al. 1990; Blurton Jones & Konner 1973; Draper 1975; Draper 1976;
Draper 1978; Draper & Cashdan 1988; Eibl-Eibesfeldt 1974; Eibl-Eibesfeldt
Botswana/South Africa/
San 1978; Imamura & Akiyama 2016; Imamura 2016; Nielsen & Tomaselli 2010;
Namibia
Nielsen, Mushin, et al. 2014; Nielsen, Tomaselli, et al. 2014; Shostak 1976;
Shostak 1981; Weissner 1982
Berl & Hewlett 2015; Berry et al. 1986; Boyette 2013; Boyette 2016a; Boyette
2016b; Boyette & Hewlett 2017; Fouts et al. 2016; Hewlett & Cavalli-Sforza 1986;
Central African Republic Aka Hewlett 1992; Hewlett et al. 2000; Hewlett et al. 2011; Hewlett & Hewlett 2012;
Hewlett 2012; Hewlett 2013; Hewlett & Roulette 2016; Neuwelt-Truntzer 1981;
van de Koppel 1983
Central African Republic Bofi Fouts et al. 2016
Cameroon Baka Gallois et al. 2015; Kamei 2005; Sonoda 2016a; Sonoda 2016b
Republic of Congo Mbendjele Lewis 2002; Lewis 2016
Democratic Republic of
Mbuti Turnbull 1978
Congo
Democratic Republic of
Efe Morelli 1997; Morelli et al. 2003
Congo
Madagascar Mikea Tucker & Young 2005
Ethiopia Chabu Dira & Hewlett 2016; Hewlett 2016
Tanzania Hadza Blurton Jones & Marlowe 2002; Crittenden 2016a; Crittenden 2016b
Australia and Oceania
Indigenous (not
Australia Nielsen, Mushin, et al. 2014; Nielsen et al. 2016
specified)
Aboriginal inhabitants of
Australia Eckermann 1980
Rural Town

34
 Mobility, autonomy and learning

Table 2.1 (cont.).

Region Society Publications
Aboriginal inhabitants of
Australia Cowlishaw 1982
Southern Arnhem Land
Australia Anangu Eickelkamp 2008a; Eickelkamp 2008b; Eickelkamp 2011; Eickelkamp 2017
Australia Anbarra Hamilton 1981
Australia Kaytetye Thompson 2003
Australia Kugu-Nganychara Von Sturmer 1980
Australia Mardudjara Tonkinson 1978
Australia Martu Bird & Bliege Bird 2005
Australia Meriam Bird & Bliege Bird 2002; Bliege Bird & Bird 2002
Australia Pitjantjatjara Ilyatjari 1991
Australia Walpiri Musharbash 2011; Musharbash 2016
Australia Wik Martin 1993
Australia Yolngu Harris 1980
Australia Yorta Yorta Andrews 2008
Papua New Guinea Gidra Kawabe 1983; Nishiaki 2013; Ohtsuka 1989
Asia
Malaysia Batek Endicott & Endicott 2008; Endicott 2011; Endicott & Endicott 2014; Lye 1997
Malaysia/Borneo Penan Benalui Puri 2005; Puri 2013
India Nayaka Bird-David 2008; Naveh 2014; Naveh 2016
India Ongee Pandya 1992
India Paliyan Gardner 1966
India Jenu Kuruba Demps et al. 2012
Siberia Eveny Ulturgasheva 2012
Siberia Khanty Jordan 2014
Siberia Yukaghir Willerslev 2007
North and South America
USA Comanche Wallace & Hoebel 1952
USA Crow and Blackfoot McAllester 1941
USA Delaware Indians Newcomb 1956
USA Gros Ventre Flannery 1953
Cultures ‘from
USA Pennsylvania and Heckewelder 1876
neighboring states’
USA Sioux Erikson 1939
USA Yup’ik DeMarrais et al. 1992; DeMarrais et al. 1994
Canada Chippewayan Vanstone 1965
Canada Cree Ohmagari & Berkes 1997
Canada Dene Christian & Gardner 1977
Briggs 1970; Briggs 1972; Briggs 1978; Briggs 1979; Briggs 1991; Briggs 1994;
Canada Inuit Briggs 1998; Briggs 2000; Condon & Stern 1993; Guemple 1988; Omura 2016;
Stern 1999
Canada Montagnais Burgesse 1944
Paraguay Ache Walker et al. 2002
Peru Matsigenka Johnson 2003
Argentina Toba Mendoza 2001
Argentina Yamana Gusinde 1937

35
 Chapter 2

foragers are usually mobile, have few possessions, and as they grow, without much intervention from adults.
live in very small groups. In general, egalitarian forag- Among the Inuit, for example, Briggs (1970, 1978)
ers have equal access to resources, technology, and the argues that growing up is a process of acquiring ihuma,
paths to prestige (Woodburn 1980). But egalitarianism a type of intelligence that relates to participating in
is not automatic; such groups are ‘fiercely egalitarian’ the social world. Inuit parents further believe that
(Lee 1979: 24), and they employ cultural strategies there is little point in trying to teach a child before he
like teasing, shaming, demand sharing, and threats of or she demonstrates having ihuma. Similarly, among
ostracism to keep individuals from dominating others the Nayaka, growing up involves developing budi, or
(Boehm 1999). Egalitarianism is also reinforced by a the skill of living together with others, which is not
strong emphasis on personal autonomy, which places taught by parents. Among the Walpiri in Australia,
value on individual decision-making. In general, indi- young children are placed in the same category as
viduals are free to choose with whom they interact, their angry people, referred to as ramarama, because anger
whereabouts, their activities, and even their behaviours. is considered an unsocialized behaviour, and because
Much like sharing, ‘autonomy acts as a social mecha- young children themselves have not yet become social
nism that undermines coercion, authority, or hierarchy’ actors (Musharbash 2011). Among the BaYaka, autono-
(Lew-Levy 2018: 4). Non-egalitarian foragers are hier- mous but coordinated polyphonic singing, ritual play,
archical, and elite classes may even possess slaves and and a complex system of taboos named Ekila elicit
fight wars (Keeley 1988). They also tend to accumulate curiosity about understanding the world, and about
material wealth, and many non-egalitarian foragers culturally sanctioned ways of organizing into groups.
employ substantial food storage (Testart et al. 1982). In Yet though BaYaka adults consider these activities vital,
a cross-cultural survey of 33 foraging cultures, Keeley they allow children to grow into participating on their
(1988) finds that food storage, population pressure and own (Lewis 2016). As Eickelcamp (2017) puts it, among
sedentism are all highly correlated with non-egalitarian the Australian Anangu adults believe that allowing a
social structures. Yet there is not a simple dichotomy child to act autonomously gives him or her the chance
between egalitarian and non-egalitarian societies; states to grow into who the child really is.
of cultural inequality vary between truly egalitarian
cultures where no person holds any power over oth- Social learning, individual learning, teaching and
ers and cultures where one person may actually own autonomy
another (e.g., Woodburn 1982).
We focus in this chapter on the decrease in Like other animals, humans learn both individually,
mobility that so frequently correlates with increased through trial and error, and socially, by learning
populations and a related decrease in egalitarianism. behaviours from others. Individual learning allows
However, we recognize that mobility, and small-scale a single person to generate novel solutions to issues
economies, exist on a spectrum. Whether mobile forag- he or she faces, including problems related to life in a
ers, pastoralists or horticulturalists, we are interested particular environment (Aoki et al. 2012; Boyd et al.
in the increase in group size and children’s work that 2011; Enquist et al. 2007). But individual learning is
cross-culturally correlates with decreasing mobility costly – it can take many trials to find an innovation
and increased participation in field agriculture, or the that solves a particular problem. Social learning, on
labour economy. Because this shifting economic focus the other hand, is cheap, because no experimentation
is so closely tied with shifting mobility, particularly is required. However, a particular socially learned
within the timescale of prehistory, we generally use behaviour could, potentially, become maladapted
the shorthand in this chapter of discussing mobile or in a changing world. Let’s say, for example, that the
settled peoples. climate in a hypothetical area has become hotter and
drier in recent years, placing stress on berry crops that,
Parental beliefs about autonomy through social learning, children learn to harvest with
a tool that damages the plants. There have always
Ethnotheories about the nature and needs of children been plenty of berry plants in the past, so this method
influence how parents will act towards children as well was appropriate. Social learning, in this example, is
as how, and through what processes, children become passing on knowledge that is maladaptive to the cur-
moral, active agents within their society (Super and rent situation, and would need to be altered through
Harkness 1986). Several studies (Bird-David 2008; the innovation of new picking practices to maintain a
Briggs 1970; Guemple 1988; Musharbash 2011; Naveh sustainable berry harvest.
2016; Stern 1999) suggest that many forager parents While humans are not the only animal to learn
view social sense as naturally developing in children socially, teaching among humans facilitates the
36
 Mobility, autonomy and learning

transmission of especially complex skills that allow us so. Direct instruction, on the other hand, would entail
to survive in nearly every environment on the planet. an adult specifically telling children how to make a
This chapter defines teaching following Hewlett & trap. The former frequently happens among egalitar-
Roulette (2016; see also Boyette & Hewlett 2017a; ian foragers, while the latter rarely does.
2017b) as (1) the modification of a behaviour by a Child-to-child teaching may be another way
teacher in order to enhance a learner’s knowledge autonomy is maintained among egalitarian foragers.
acquisition; (2) not the by-product of another activity; Indeed, Lew-Levy et al. (2020) find that child-to-
and (3) involving sensitivity between the teacher and child teaching is more common than adult-to-child
learner. Teaching does not necessarily involve direct teaching among BaYaka and Hadza foragers. Cross-
instruction (Kline 2015). Because much of human culturally, much of this teaching often occurs in the
culture and technology is opaque in meaning and playgroup (Fig. 2.1), where children acquire various
function, teaching allows a teacher to signal to a naïve skills, including hunting (Crittenden 2016a; Hewlett
learner that something is worth learning. This removes et al. 2011; Imamura 2016; Imamura & Akiyama 2016;
the cost associated with a naïve learner observing and Thompson 2003), trapping (Imamura 2106; Imamura
individually deciphering which cultural behaviours & Akiyama 2016), the identification of edible plants,
are adaptive and which are incidental (Gergely & landscape navigation, and the construction and use
Csibra 2006). Though teaching increases the fidel- of complex tools (Gallois et al. 2015; Imamura 2016;
ity of information transfer, it may also restrict the Imamura & Akiyama 2016; Thompson 2003). For
development of autonomous exploration in children example, Imamura (2016) and Imamura & Akiyama
by having expert knowledge holders in a society (2016) note that older San children correct younger
and ossifying certain behaviours over other, equally children’s tool manufacture. Child-specific foraging
adaptable ones. For example, Bonawitz and colleagues activities are also transmitted in the playgroup; Crit-
(2011, 2012) show in an experimental setting that tenden (2016a) shows that only Hadza children, and
American preschoolers were less likely to discover not adults, harvest weaverbirds using a sticky trap,
the various ways a puzzle toy could be solved when a skill they teach other children. Learning skills like
adults instructed children by demonstrating a single these from peers rather than adults allows for more
solution to the puzzle. When children were offered the accurate information transfer while also supporting
opportunity to play with the toy without being taught a child’s autonomy.
how to use it, on the other hand, they took longer to
learn how to use the toy, but they also discovered a Autonomous learning through observation,
greater variety of solutions. participation and play
Among egalitarian foragers, direct adult inter-
vention in children’s learning, such as instruction or Children in all cultures learn through observation.
chore assignment, is uncommon thanks to the parental But observation is particularly important for learning
emphasis on childhood autonomy discussed above among egalitarian forager children thanks to the rela-
(e.g., Boyette 2016a; Christian & Gardner 1977; Naveh tive rarity of direct instruction and the potential for
2014). Among the San (Draper 1976; Draper & Cashdan constant observation within small camps (Draper 1976;
1988), Matsigenka (Johnson 2003), Dene (Christian Fouts et al. 2016; Gaskins & Paradise 2009; Hewlett et
& Gardner 1977), Nayaka (Naveh 2014), Batek (Lye al. 2011; Hewlett et al. 2019; Lye 1997; Odden & Rochat
1997) and Yukaghir (Willerslev 2007), adults actively 2004). For example, Morelli et al. (2003) show that Efe
refrain from instructing, directing, or correcting chil- two- to three-year-olds spend a quarter of their time
dren, valuing instead firsthand knowledge gained by observing work. Similarly, Neuwelt-Truntzer (1981)
children through personal experience. This includes notes that Aka children spend much of their time
cases where children engage in dangerous activities. watching adults. Nayaka children primarily learn to
For example, Aka toddlers play with machetes and set traps through observation (Naveh 2014), and Jenu
undertake dangerous games without adult interference Keruba adolescents learn to collect honey by follow-
(Hewlett et al. 2011). However, adult-to-child teaching ing adults (Demps et al. 2012; see also Boyette 2013;
does occur in a multitude of subtle ways that do not Burgesse 1944; Draper 1976; Flannery 1953; Harris
interfere with autonomy (Boyette & Hewlett 2017a, 1980; Imamura & Akiyama 2016; Ohmagari & Berkes
2017b; Garfield et al. 2016; Lew-Levy et al. 2017, 2018). 1997; Tonkinson 1978; Vanstone 1965).
For example, an adult could simply turn his or her Beyond observation, children also learn through
body so that children could more easily see the trap self-initiated participation in adult activities, allowing
he or she is making. Such an action provides children them to develop relevant competencies alongside
the opportunity to learn without forcing them to do adults (Gaskins 2000; Lancy 2012; Rogoff et al. 2003).
37
 Chapter 2

Figure 2.1. BaYaka playgroups tend to consist of a broad range of ages and genders, typical of small, mobile forager
bands. Photograph by Sarah M. Pope.

Participation can occur in the form of helping behav- When children cannot proficiently perform a
iour, like fetching water and firewood among the Baka given activity, they often practice through play. As chil-
(Gallois et al. 2015), or hunting and trapping among dren grow, play that emulates specific, complex adult
the Cree and Chabu (Dira & Hewlett 2016; Ohmagari activities becomes less frequent, while participation in
& Berkes 1997). However, children sometimes get in these same activities becomes more common (Bock and
the way of adults. Draper & Cashdan (1988), for exam- Johnson 2004). Thus it may be that play allows children
ple, argue that nut cracking is more efficiently done to autonomously practice activities that are too complex
by San adults, making child participation difficult. or too dangerous to learn through work. The tradeoff
In these circumstances, children have two options. between play and work is also documented among
They can demand to participate, or they can choose to the Aka (Boyette 2016a; Lew-Levy & Boyette 2018) and
perform the activity without adults. Demand coopera- Baka (Gallois et al. 2015). Importantly, much of the
tion, which Sonoda (2016a, 2016b), Boyette & Hewlett play ethnographers note among a wide cross-cultural
(2017b) and Boyette & Lew-Levy (under review) note sample including BaYaka (Lewis 2002; Lew-Levy et
among BaYaka foragers, is similar to demand sharing al. 2019), Hadza (Crittenden 2016a; Lew-Levy et al.
in that children insist that others share knowledge, 2019), San (Shostak 1976), Kaytetye (Thompson 2003),
time, or space. Resisting such demands would violate Aka (Neuwelt-Truntzer 1981), Mardudjara (Tonkinson
the ethos of sharing, which is important among many 1978), Pitjantjatjara (Ilyatjari 1991), Chipewyan (Van-
foragers, and thus adults often comply with these stone 1965) and Gros Ventre (Flannery 1953) involves
demands. the imitation of adult activities. Building small shelters
38
 Mobility, autonomy and learning

and hearths is particularly ubiquitous among the traditionally male activities, or vice versa. For exam-
world’s foraging children. Near these shelters, chil- ple, Batek girls will sometimes hunt squirrels with
dren intermittently dig tubers, hunt, gather, or play blowguns (Endicott & Endicott 2008). Similarly, Nisa,
at these same activities (e.g., Crittenden 2016a). Thus, a San woman, describes being congratulated by her
for foragers, the movement from play to work makes male adolescent peers for successfully running down
participating in work ‘just as rewarding as pretending’ a Kudu (Shostak, 1976, 1981). And, among the Eveny,
once a child has the relevant skills (Crittenden 2016a; Ulturgasheva (2012) describes a young girl whose
Lew-Levy & Boyette 2018). parents raised her to tend reindeer, a male-typical
activity. Gallois et al. (2015: 11) note that for Baka
Autonomy and children’s learning of gendered children, ‘while some activities are clearly gender-
behaviours oriented, there are no strict gender exclusions in the
performance of most activities’.
As with all skills, forager children in autonomous- By middle childhood, however, forager boys
learning contexts primarily learn gendered behaviours and girls begin to exhibit differences in travel ranges
through observation, imitation and play, not through and participation in work tasks. Among the San, girls
direct instruction or chore assignment (Lew-Levy et al. remain closer to home than boys, while boys are more
2017). Hunter-gatherers generally maintain a division likely to participate in antagonistic behaviour (Blurton
of labour that encourages men and women to target Jones & Konner 1973; Draper 1975). Among the Baka,
different resources, which diversifies their economic girls of seven and older participate in more child
capabilities and mitigates potential foraging failure minding, cooking, and fishing than boys, while boys
(Marlowe 2007). The division of labour also facilitates participate in hunting (Gallois et al. 2015). It should
cooperation between men and women, and when cen- come as no surprise that these economic activities fol-
tred on a foundation of autonomy for both genders, low a gendered division of labour in adulthood. It is
it can facilitate relative gender equality (Marlowe important to note, however, that adolescents in general,
2007). However, true egalitarianism between men and and girls in particular, rarely participate in chores
women, in terms of equal maintenance of authority, because they are forced to do so (Boyette & Lew-Levy,
is rare (Kelly 2013). under review). Instead, teenagers generally engage in
How, then, do children in autonomous-learning economic activities by their own volition, by identifying
contexts develop an understanding of gendered behav- with adults of their same gender and imitating their
iours and the roles of men and women? Boys and girls behaviour (Draper 1975; Endicott & Endicott 2008;
in small forager camps play and learn together, and Flannery 1953; Gallois et al. 2015; Hewlett & Cavalli-
both tend to spend similar proportions of their time Sforza 1986; Hewlett & Hewlett 2012; Lew-Levy &
in play and work (e.g., Blurton Jones & Konner 1973; Boyette 2018; Lew-Levy et al. 2019; Neuwelt-Truntzer
Draper & Cashdan 1988; Hewlett & Hewlett 2012; 1981; Pandya 1992; Wallace & Hoebel 1952).
Marlowe 2010; Morelli 1997). Amongst the San, for
example, Draper & Cashdan (1988) find no differences Gendered chore assignment and increased
between boys and girls in rates of rough-and-tumble gender inequality
play, and Blurton Jones & Konner (1973) find few
significant differences in gendered play more broadly. The idea that cultural inequality begins with intensi-
Among the Batek (Endicott & Endicott 2008; Lye 1997) fying gender inequality, and that gender inequality
and Chipewyan (Vanstone 1965), and in Arnhem Land begins with intensifying women’s labour, is prominent
(Cowlishaw 1982), boys and girls engage in the same in the literature (e.g., Arnold 1993; Collier 1988; Hayden
activities until the age of ten or twelve. In addition, et al. 1986). And issues of gender equality return, ulti-
in comparisons of Efe foragers and Lese farmers, Aka mately, to the question of autonomy. In any particular
foragers and Ngandu farmers, San foragers and Brit- system, how much autonomy does a woman have? If
ish school children, and BaYaka and Hadza children, instructed to marry a particular person, for example,
Morelli (1997), Boyette (2016a), Blurton Jones and can a woman say no, and be supported by the culture
Konner (1973) and Lew-Levy et al. (2019) find few dif- surrounding her? Even among the San, who are mobile
ferences in play and work behaviour between male and and broadly egalitarian, a woman named Nisa only
female forager children, while gendered differences succeeded in her refusal to marry the first man chosen
are apparent among the non-forager groups. for her by asserting herself vociferously and repeat-
Importantly, among egalitarian forager children, edly (Shostak 1981). This suggests imperfect gender
the division of labour between genders tends to be flex- egalitarianism among the San, but Nisa ultimately
ible, and girls may not be punished for undertaking did have enough community-sanctioned autonomy
39
 Chapter 2

to assert her will. So what causes the autonomy of children can safely navigate the bush without adults
girls like Nisa to erode, even in otherwise relatively (e.g., Blurton Jones et al. 1997). However, even when
egalitarian societies? Hayden et al. (1986) argue in a forager children frequently work, they generally do
cross-cultural survey of 33 forager cultures that wom- so under their own volition and less intensively than
en’s status is lowest in areas including domestic, ritual agricultural children (Blurton Jones et al. 1994; Kon-
and political affairs when resource stress is highest. In ner 2016).
writing about North American Plains societies like the More specifically, among settled peoples cross-
Comanche and the Kiowa, Collier (1988) argues that culturally girls are assigned disproportionately more
marriage is a vital method for men to acquire alliances chores than boys, and at a younger age (Bloch & Adler
and labour. Also working with Plains people, Arnold 1994; Condon & Stern 1993; Draper & Cashdan 1998;
(1993) argues that men use marriage, women’s work, Morelli 1997; Munroe et al. 1984). In addition, their
and the connections through their wives to sons-in-law, chores are foundationally different from those assigned
brothers-in-law, and other women to create a labour to boys. Girls tend to be assigned housework and other
pool that subordinates others. How people organize chores close to adults, meaning they are frequently
marriage, then, and how much say a woman has over reassigned (Condon & Stern 1993; Morelli 1997; Whit-
her marriage, often determines how much inequality ing & Edwards 1973). Their work also appears to be of
exists between men and women. However, no stud- longer daily duration, and to continue for more years
ies to date have considered the relationship between than it does for boys (Barry et al. 1957, 1959; Ember
general cultural inequality and the intensification of 1973: 426, 1981: 540, 555; Nag 1962, Nag et al. 1978;
female children’s labour. Whiting & Edwards 1988: 177–82). Sibling caretaking
Cross-culturally, researchers argue that chil- is particularly gendered in these contexts, and cross-
dren are assigned more chores as egalitarian foragers cultural sources report again and again that girls are
become more settled (e.g., Draper & Cashdan 1988). recruited into childcare roles earlier and far more
This may be partially because children are more pro- frequently than boys (Hames 1988; Hames & Draper
ductive in settled communities, as the chores and tasks 2004). Boys, on the other hand, might be sent to mind
affiliated with settled life are more appropriate for livestock or gather firewood, offering them greater
children’s labour (Lancaster & Lancaster 1987; Wenke freedom (e.g., Draper & Cashdan 1988). In contrast,
1990: 237). In addition, Munroe et al. (1983) argue that amongst more mobile foragers, if children are asked
horticultural and agricultural cultures must invest to help with economic duties, adults are less likely
significantly more energy than foragers in chores to to differentiate their requests between boys and girls
maintain their numerous possessions, including land, (Morelli 1997). Yet even among the broadly egalitar-
dwellings, and animals. Amongst small-scale horti- ian Hadza, Kaplan et al. (2000: 159) argue that young
cultural or agricultural societies, children undertake women are economically independent from other
chores including food processing, cleaning, carry- adults and capable of completely providing for them-
ing water, feeding animals, weeding and harvesting selves by age 15, while young men are not comparably
(Bock 2002; Kramer 2002; Munroe et al. 1983; Whiting independent until age 20. These data suggest that the
& Edwards 1988; Whiting & Whiting 1975). Several earlier transition to work that girls experience among
authors argue this transition toward increased work settled small-scale societies may be an amplification
for children is because such chores are not particu- of a trend that already exists among mobile foragers
larly demanding in terms of skill or strength, and do (Boyette 2016a).
not require extended training (Bock 2002; Hames & Broadly, a variety of authors argue that assign-
Draper 2004; Kramer 2002). In contrast, foragers use ing children gender-specific tasks is a cross-culturally
resources that are relatively distant, not managed, important precursor to the development of more rigid
and not predictable, making children’s participation gender roles (Draper 1985; Draper & Cashdan 1988;
in this work far more difficult (Hames & Draper 2004). Ember 1973; Quinn 1977). When comparing mobile
That is not to say that forager children never help with and settled San, Draper & Cashdan (1988: 359) note
provisioning or economic work. Indeed, labour varies that the behaviour of settled San children ‘had changed
in both the short and long term among both settled and in the direction that begins to approximate that of
mobile peoples (Blurton Jones et al. 1997; Bock 2002; children in societies with longer traditions of settled
Munroe et al. 1984). For foragers, children’s contribu- food production, sex-role differentiation and peer-
tions depend on a multitude of factors, including their rearing’. Beyond economic activities, children also
environment. For example, Hadza children are known showed marked differences in other behaviours. For
for their extensive foraging, while San children rarely example, mobile San children showed no gendered
forage, likely due to differences in the degree to which differences in rough and tumble play, while sedentary
40
 Mobility, autonomy and learning

Mobile Settled

Less child-appropriate work More child-appropriate work

Few chores assigned Many chores assigned

Similar learning environments for Different learning environments

girls and boys for girls and boys

Gendered differences in behavior Gendered differences in behavior

by middle childhood/adolescence, by early/middle childhood, and
and less rigid gender roles overall more rigid gender roles overall

Relative gender equality Gender inequality

Egalitarianism Non-Egalitarianism

Figure 2.2. Flowchart of the potential relationship between relative mobility, chore assignment, gendered learning
environments and egalitarian or non-egalitarian social structures.

San boys were more likely than girls to participate in varying mobility. Right now, we are noting a correla-
rough and tumble play. Among settled San (Draper tion and not necessarily a causation. In addition, we
1975), Inuit (Condon & Stern 1993) and in Arnhem need data considering how decreasing mobility impacts
Land (Cowlinshaw 1982), children of any gender were not only what girls and boys do, but how parents and
not only more readily assigned chores, they also had children perceive those changes.
clear ideas as to the nature of gender differences by
adolescence. Indeed, they were shamed for engag- Mixed-age playgroups, same-age playgroups and
ing in a non-gender-conforming fashion, including competitive behaviour
ignoring chores.
Overall, the cross-cultural evidence synthesized An ethos of competition does not spontaneously occur
here argues that autonomous learning decreases among in adulthood, but is learned socially throughout a
many forager groups when they become less mobile, child’s life (e.g., Bandura et al. 1961; Fry 1990). In the
while gendered chore assignment increases. In other ethnographic literature, it is clear that competition is
words, when mobility decreases, gender inequal- at the heart of non-egalitarian forager societies (e.g.,
ity increases thanks partially to increased gendered Hayden 1994; Keeley 1988; Kelly 2013; Smith & Choi
regimes of chore assignment for children. Figure 2.2 2007). For some people to hold prestige over others,
shows a graphic version of processes that may reinforce they or their ancestors must have competed effectively
increased gender equality among mobile foragers, and for control over important resources, and those with
decreased gender equality as foragers become more prestige must continue to effectively compete to
settled. To better understand the relationships between maintain their status and property (Kelly 2013). In
the various steps in these simplified flow-charts, we this system initially, individuals have to choose to
need more cross-cultural data on the transition from relinquish their autonomy to a leader in return for
play to work of boys and girls in forager groups of some perceived benefit (Riches 1984). Perhaps that
41
 Chapter 2

benefit is specialized knowledge, or spiritual power, Among egalitarian forager groups, children
or in-group protection from others. Among many non- spend a great deal of their time in mixed-age and
egalitarian foragers, prestige may be given to a leader gender playgroups, learning from one another and
in order to coordinate communal labour and manage playing at adult activities (Boyette 2013, 2016a; Endi-
free-riders (Eerkens 2012). Large-scale competitive cott & Endicott 2008; Konner 1976, 2005; Lew-Levy et
feasting or gift-giving becomes common in many of al. 2019; Turnbull 1978). In these small groups, there
these cultures, but they also often foster smaller-scale are generally not enough children to form an entire
day-to-day competitive behaviours (Sanday 1981). playgroup of 10 to 12 year-olds, for example, or five
The potlatch is an excellent example of conspicu- to seven year-olds. Playgroups, therefore, will often
ous competitive behaviour among non-egalitarian consist of children of any gender, ranging in age from
foragers; on the Northwest Coast of North America, toddlers to adolescents (Figure 2.1). Indeed, Konner
forager peoples like the Kwakwak’awakw, Tlingit (1976; 2005) argues that, in an average San camp, the
and Haida undertake extensive prestige gift-giving, chance of an individual having one agemate on his or
competing to exchange the most elaborate and valu- her first birthday is approximately 88 per cent given
able gifts (Coupland 1985; Drucker & Heizer 1967). infant mortality, while the odds of the same child
Cross-culturally, this kind of competitive behaviour is having even as few as three peers is just 5.4 per cent.
linked to increased gender segregation and inequality, There simply are not enough children born in very
as well. In a study of more than 150 ‘tribal’ societies, small groups to allow each child to have multiple
Sanday (1981) makes the connection between a cultural age-mates.
endorsement of competition and the segregation of As a result, the mixed-age playgroup creates
men and women in work and childcare. In general, an environment where playing competitive games is
as people (particularly men) come to see competition unsatisfying and not culturally appropriate, and there-
and controlling other people’s labour as ‘the primary fore uncommon. As Draper (1976) writes of the San:
way of achieving goals’, inequality continues to grow
(Kelly 2013: 266). The limited and heterogeneous assortment of
More broadly, the idea that children in WEIRD playmates available to a child poses interesting
(Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Demo- constraints on the kind of games which children
cratic) societies are more competitive than children in can play […] To compete in a game or skill one
other cultures has seen significant research in psychol- needs one or preferably more children close in
ogy in particular (e.g., Kagan & Madsen 1971; Madsen age and perhaps sex with whom to compete,
1971; Miller & Thomas 1972; Shapira & Madsen 1969). but the smallness of group size among !Kung
These studies suggest that an increase in competitive usually ensures that several age-mates are not
games and behaviours among children does not only available. Team sports are similarly unrealistic.
occur in the transition from mobile groups to settled, Not only can the children not fill out a team; but
but also if cultures become more urbanized, or more the players are at such different levels of motor
integrated into WEIRD societies. When comparing skill, motivation, and cognitive development that
children from various Mexican cultures with Euro- it is difficult and unrewarding to play a game
American children, for example, or kibbutz and urban involving intense competition, rules, and fairly
children in Israel, Madsen (1971), Kagan & Madsen complex strategy.
(1971) and Shapira & Madsen (1969) find that the
Euro-American children and urban children exhibit Endicott & Endicott (2014) and Lewis (2002) agree that
consistently more competitive behaviour. Miller and games in mixed-age playgroups among the Batek and
Thomas (1972) find similar patterns among Blackfoot BaYaka are generally non-competitive. Aside from the
children, who cooperated effectively much more con- issue of having age-mates with whom to play, Boyette
sistently than urban Canadian children. Miller’s (1973) (2016a) also argues that, if we expect play to create and
study in an integrated school, however, finds that reinforce culturally relevant behaviours, it should be
integrated teams of Blackfoot and non-Indian students unsurprising that competition is infrequently employed
exhibited rates of cooperation midway between those in broadly egalitarian cultures, where dominance,
of Blackfoot students at non-integrated schools and ranking of people and strict adherence to rules are
urban Canadian children alone. Work with Australian de-emphasized (Boyette 2016a; Turnbull 1978). Nor do
Aboriginal children has similar results, suggesting children have models among older children or adults
increased competitive behaviour correlates with from whom to learn competitive games. This does not
increased integration into WEIRD societies (Som- mean that children’s games cannot be fiercely contested,
merlad & Bellingham 1972). or that people do not notice an individual’s particular
42
 Mobility, autonomy and learning

skill. In addition, mixed-age and sibling playgroups are larger populations can play games with complex, age-
hardly without conflict. As Weisner (1984: 348) notes appropriate rules, and even keep score.
of the San, ‘fierce feuds, bitterness, and competition The foregoing cross-cultural observations suggest
can characterize sibling relationships in childhood and that increased competitive play among children in less
adulthood. Teasing, benign neglect and the domination mobile cultures who live in larger groups contributes
by older children of younger ones are frequent’. to a generally competitive ethos that fosters inequal-
On the other hand, when foragers become less ity. Another shift in competition and cooperation may
mobile and live in larger groups, same-age playgroups, occur between relatively small-scale settled societies
and gender-specific playgroups, become much more and WEIRD societies, as demonstrated in research
common (Lew-Levy et al. 2019). And, in turn, com- comparing rates of cooperation between Mexican
petitive games can become more interesting and more farmers, Blackfeet, Australian Aboriginal children
rewarding to undertake. Cross-culturally, Whiting and children from WEIRD societies (Kagan & Madsen
& Edwards (1988) demonstrate that same-age play- 1971; Madsen 1971; Miller 1973; Miller & Thomas 1972;
groups tend to be more competitive than mixed-age Shapira & Madsen 1969; Sommerlad & Bellingham
playgroups. Lancy (1984, 2001) argues that children in 1972). This research suggests that an emphasis on
mixed-age playgroups will play ‘simpler’ games than competition may begin with larger playgroups, but it
same-age playgroups. In a sample of seven small-scale appears to intensify with industrialization. Figure 2.3
Papua New Guinean societies, Lancy (1984) finds that demonstrates the theoretical relationship between
children’s games are limited by the younger members multi-age playgroups and egalitarianism, and same-
of mixed-age playgroups, meaning that the games age playgroups and non-egalitarianism. However, we
they played were things like tag or target-shooting do not know whether there is a causal relationship
– games that could be played by children as young between the tendency toward more competitive games
as four. In contrast, same-age playgroups among among settled, formerly mobile forager children and

Mobile Settled

Smaller groups Larger groups

Few age-mates resulting in multi- Many age-mates resulting in

age and gender playgroups same-age and gender playgroups

Competitive games rare Competitive games more common

Cooperative ethos follows Competitive ethos follows

children into adulthood children into adulthood

Reproduction of egalitarian Generation of non-

social structures egalitarian social structures

Egalitarianism Non-Egalitarianism

Figure 2.3. Flowchart of the potential relationship between relative mobility, the composition of children’s playgroups,
competitive games, and egalitarian or non-egalitarian social structures.
43
 Chapter 2

a more competitive ethos in adulthood. If children References

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 Chapter 3

The impact of equality in residential decision making on

group composition, cooperation and cultural exchange

Mark Dyble

One of the most conspicuous features of hunter-gath- Many small-scale hunter-gatherers have systems
erer life is mobility – hunter-gatherers ‘move around a similar to that of the Hadza but with some additional
lot’ (Lee & DeVore 1968: 11). Of course, some groups restrictions on where individuals may reside. For exam-
and some individuals within these groups move more ple, while the Mbuti have a social system characterized
frequently than others. In many cases, the ability of by a high degree of fission-fusion ‘flux’ (Turnbull 1968),
individuals or groups to move freely is an important movement is restricted within a bounded territorial
manifestation of equality. The aim of this chapter is unit. Among the Agta, while ‘flexibility and fluidity
not to provide a comprehensive survey of residential is the rule’ (Griffin 1984: 105), individuals are limited
flexibility in contemporary hunter-gatherers, or to to joining camps containing kin. According to Griffin
argue that any one residential system was likely to (1984: 105) ‘No Agta couple would willingly sleep a
have been dominant among humans before farming. single night among non-kin’. This is reflected in the
Rather, I start from the assumption that pre-Holocene quantitative data on the Agta collected by myself,
hunter-gatherers will have varied in their residential Daniel Smith, Abigail Page, and Andrea Migliano in
systems and instead explore the consequences that 2013 and 2014. We found that only seven of 279 adults
this variation may have had on other aspects of life. (2.5 per cent) were residing in camps containing neither
Specifically, I focus on three topics that have recently consanguineal or affinal kin, despite living in camps
received much attention in evolutionary anthropology: containing a large proportion of unrelated individuals
social organization, cooperation, and cultural exchange. (Dyble et al. 2015).
However, just as kinship may constrain social rela-
Residential flexibility tions, it may also facilitate them. Among the Ju/’hoansi,
Much investigation of residential flexibility in foraging personal names are drawn from a very limited number
societies has, rightly, focused on its spatial and tem- of sex-specific options. Richard Lee (1993) lists 35 male
poral components and their ecological determinants and 32 female names in use among the Ju/’hoansi in
(e.g. Kelly 1983). Here, however, I focus solely on the 1964. While drawing from a limited pool of names
social dimension of residential flexibility – the extent does make it difficult to refer to a specific person using
to which individuals, families, or sub-groups can only their name, the Ju/’hoansi use the high frequency
move from living with one collection of individuals of name matches to open up a complex secondary
to living with another. The archetypal flexible system world of kinship relations in which anyone with the
of residence is, arguably, the Hadza. As described by same name as your close kin can be referred to using
Woodburn (1968) in Man the Hunter, Hadza camps are this kinship term. For example, anyone with the same
‘open, flexible, and highly variable in composition’ name as your father will be referred to as your father
(p. 103) and a Hadza man or woman may ‘live, hunt, and they will, accordingly, refer to you as their son
and gather anywhere he or she likes without any sort or daughter. These ‘kinship II’ ties, as Lee describes
of restriction and without asking permission from them, facilitate friendly relations with people in distant
anyone’ (p. 105). The only exceptions are the tendency groups, making ‘close kin out of distant strangers’ (Lee
for a husband and wife to live together and for them to 1993: 74). Even though individuals are still aware of
co-reside with the wife’s mother more frequently than the difference between their ‘true’ genealogical kin and
with the husband’s mother (see also Marlowe 2004). these fictive kin, cultural practices such as this (and
51
 Chapter 3

the Hxaro exchange system, also among the Ju/’hoansi Residential flexibility and cooperation
(Wiessner 1977)) may serve to ease the process of new Thinking broadly about the factors that promote coop-
individuals visiting or joining other groups. More eration, both across human societies and the natural
broadly, recognition of linguistic or cultural cues of world more generally, we have good reason to expect
wider group membership may also facilitate relations that residential flexibility might erode cooperation.
beyond the band. Many of the basic evolutionary explanations for altru-
Although there are many dimensions to hunter- ism rely on individuals being able to recognize others
gatherer residence practices, the extent to which and to cooperate with them according to their behav-
residential rules favour the movement of men versus iour in previous interactions – anonymity is anathema
the movement of women has perhaps attracted the to models of cooperation that rely on reciprocity. Where
most attention. Groups may be matrilocal (related terms individuals can freely leave groups and join new ones
include uxorilocal or female philopatric) if men leave they can escape punishment, shake off their poor repu-
their natal group upon marriage, patrilocal (or virilocal tations, and inflict themselves on strangers (Boyd &
or male philopatric) if women leave to marry, or bilocal Richerson 1988; Eshel & Cavalli-Sforza 1982; Ohtsuki
if either sex may leave. Of course, such terms implic- et al. 2006). Experimental games played among Agta
itly assume a certain degree of sedentism, such that communities of varying degrees of residential turnover
individuals can ‘leave’ or ‘stay’ (Marlowe 2004). It also provide some support for this general prediction, with
assumes that young households distribute themselves individuals from camps of more stable composition
relative to older households. In reality the opposite behaving more generously toward group mates in two
may be true, with older households moving to live economic games (Smith et al. 2016).
with their grandchildren. Where a married couple can In other ways, however, highly flexible residence
live with either family and where they will frequently may favour cooperation. Firstly, flexibility allows indi-
move throughout life, the term multilocality has been viduals to ‘vote with their feet’, moving away from
used (Ember & Ember 1972; Marlowe 2004). Looking tyrannical or uncooperative group mates. This may
across a sample of 32 hunter-gatherer societies for which both allow the avoidance of arguments or violence, as
quantitative data on the residence structure of bands suggested by Turnbull (1968) for the Mbuti, but also
are available, Hill and colleagues (2011) suggest that a facilitate cooperation by isolating free-riders. Computa-
multilocal system is typical, with mixed-sex siblings fre- tional modelling has suggested that the simple process
quently co-residing. This tendency in hunter-gatherers of individuals leaving a group when it becomes suf-
toward the kind of flexible residence described above ficiently unproductive due to free-riding group-mates
is also reflected in the cross-cultural analyses compiled could sustain the evolution of cooperation in food
by Marlowe (2004) and Alvarez (2004). sharing, even in the absence of punishment (Lewis et
al. 2014). Experimental games of cooperation played
What are the consequences of residential among the Hadza may provide support for this idea,
flexibility? with more cooperative individuals positively assorting
(Apicella et al. 2012), although recent work suggests
The argument that mobility is a core feature of hunter- that this finding may be a consequence of the establish-
gatherer life is an old one. Mobility, at the very least ment of prosocial norms within groups, rather than of
in the form of daily forays, is a requirement of for- intrinsically more cooperative individuals assorting
aging, is associated with a lack of easily defensible (Smith et al. 2018). If we think broadly about human
resources, interrupts the accumulation of material social evolution, it is clear that we are capable of
wealth, and allows the distribution of men and women cooperation ‘the hard way’, that is through the establish-
and old and young across camps, associations that ment of social norms, reputation that transcends one’s
have been discussed at length elsewhere (e.g. Binford immediate group, linguistic and social cues of group
1980; Dyson-Hudson et al. 1978; Kelly 2013; Sahlins membership, as well as through simpler mechanisms
1973; Venkataraman et al. 2017). Mobility has also of kin nepotism, and reciprocity (Gurven 2004; Lewis
been argued to be reflected in the ideologies and oral et al. 2014). It seems likely that our ability to cooperate
traditions of many hunter-gatherer groups (Mauss through complex social relationships is an adaptation to
& Beuchat 1906; Sahlins 1973; Smith et al. 2017). The interacting with a large number of relatively unrelated
aim of the rest of this chapter is to examine some less individuals (Dunbar 1998; Lukas & Clutton-Brock 2018).
immediately obvious consequences of residential flex-
ibility that may have important implications for human Residential flexibility and cultural exchange
social evolution – cooperation, cultural exchange, and A growing body of research suggests that the human
group composition. capacity for acquiring and transmitting cultural
52
 The impact of equality in residential decision making

knowledge has as much to do with our social organi- diverse solutions to problems that, when combined,
zation as it does with our cognition (Derex & Boyd allow for complexity that would not have otherwise
2015; Henrich 2016). In particular, it has been suggested emerged (Derex & Boyd 2016).
that the rate of cumulative cultural evolution may be Finally, bilocal residence (where either sex may
determined, in large part, by population size (Henrich reside with kin) may have a particularly pronounced
2004; Powell et al. 2009). This demographic effect has a effect on the evolution of sex-specific cultural traits.
simple basis – from an individual’s point of view, the The core of this idea is simple where sex-specific
more individuals you meet and share ideas with, the cultural traits are concerned – a man who is exposed
more likely you are to learn of an innovation. All else to the cultural and technological repertoire of both
being equal, innovations are more likely to be made his brothers and brothers-in-law, or a woman, of her
in larger groups, and are more likely to be transmitted sisters and sisters-in-law, will have a much broader
in better connected ones. Apparent bursts of cultural of pool of cultural models to copy than an individual
complexity, as in the European Upper Palaeolithic, or limited to learning from only their genetic kin. Indeed,
African Middle Stone Age, have thus been hypotheti- if male-only traits are inherited vertically from father
cally attributed to demographic drivers (Powell et al. to son, or female-only ones from mother to daughter,
2009), as have the loss of cultural or technological then close consanguines are unlikely to be a source of
repertoires (Henrich 2004). novel cultural or technological ideas. Modelling sug-
However, the empirical evidence from ethno- gests that female-biased dispersal can severely limit
graphic studies for the role of population size in the cultural diversity of male-specific cultural traits,
driving complexity is mixed (Collard et al. 2013, and that male-biased dispersal can limit the diversity
2016; Vaesen et al. 2016). The demographic hypoth- of female-specific traits (Dyble 2018). Such an effect
esis also raises the question of how hunter-gatherers, could potentially explain the female bias in cultural
living in small, low-density populations, have been proficiency among chimpanzees and bonobos (Boesch
so successful in developing cultural and technologi- & Boesch 1981; Pruetz et al. 2015), typically female-
cal adaptations to a vast range of environments. The dispersing species (Gerloff et al. 1999; Goodall 1986),
answer almost certainly lies in the fact that small-scale
hunter-gatherers frequently live in fluid sub-groups Multi-locality and group composition
of a much larger multilevel social organization. This As well as being an important element of social organi-
system has been argued to be a fundamental feature zation in its own right, residential flexibility may
of human sociality (Chapais 2011; Grueter et al. have a significant impact on the kinship structure of
2012; Layton et al. 2012) and one that may play an groups. Modelling, supported by ethnographic data,
important role in facilitating cooperation in small- suggests that multilocal residence can explain why
scale societies (Dyble et al. 2016; Koster 2018; Salali the majority of co-resident adults in hunter-gatherer
et al. 2016). Critically, being part of a meta-group bands are unrelated through either consanguineal or
allows individuals to meet (and exchange ideas) with close affinal ties (Hill et al. 2011; Dyble et al. 2015). This
many times more individuals than they live with at effect occurs because unilocal residence allows sets of
any one time. Among the Ache, it is estimated that same-sex siblings to form the core of a community (a
men observe more than 300 other men making tools ‘band of brothers – or sisters’ effect), whereas bilocal-
during their lifetime, 15 times more same-sex conspe- ity splits them up. In a strictly patrilocal system, a
cifics than male chimpanzees are estimated to meet man will be living in a group consisting entirely of
in a lifetime, despite the average size of Ache bands patrilineal consanguines and their spouses. In a bilocal
being similar to that of chimpanzee groups (Hill et system, a man could be living with far more distantly
al. 2014). Data on social interactions within Agta and related individuals – his wife’s brother’s wife’s sister’s
Mbendjele BaYaka camps also suggest that the social husband, for example. This reduces the proportion
structure seen within bands (strong bonds within of co-resident adults who are related through affinal
households with kinship and friendship ties between or consanguineal kinship ties as well as the average
them) may facilitate efficient cultural transmission genetic relatedness of groups. To illustrate this effect,
(Migliano et al. 2017). In fact, in a recent twist on consider the relatedness within a group composed of
the demographic argument, it has been suggested four couples where one member of each couple must
that living in sub-groups within larger meta-groups have at least one sibling in the group. If, as in a unilocal
may actually be advantageous compared to living in system, only same-sex siblings co-reside, this group
larger and better-connected group in terms of cultural may take only one form – a group of four same-sex
evolution – experimental evidence has suggested that siblings and their unrelated spouses (Fig. 3.1a). The
‘partially connected’ populations may develop more mean relatedness in such a group is r = 0.11. Although
53
 Chapter 3

(a) (b)
r = 0.11 r = 0.05

Figure 3.1. Illustrative example of the possible effect of mixed-sibling co-residence on the relatedness of groups. Both
panels show the minimum relatedness within a group composed of four couples, each of which must contain one
individual with a sibling in the group. In panel (a) only same-sex siblings may co-reside. In panel (b) mixed-sex siblings
may co-reside. Triangles represent men and circles represent women. Horizontal ties represent siblingship and double
hyphens represent marriage; r is the mean coefficient of relatedness.

a bilocal system where mixed-sex siblings may co- in which a household has kin with whom they can co-
reside can achieve a similar structure to the unilocal reside? On first consideration, the increase could be as
scenario (i.e. a group of four mixed-sex siblings and much as fourfold: in a unilocal system, a household
their spouses), relatedness can also be much lower, can live with the same-sex kin of either the husband
with Figure 3.1b showing the minimum relatedness or wife (according to the system; not both). In a bilo-
possible in such a scenario (r = 0.05). cal system this is doubled twice – the household can
Of course, if bilocal/multilocal residence reduces live with either sex kin of either the husband or the
the average number of kin that individuals co-reside wife. However, there will almost certainly be overlap
with, it must also increase the number of kin living in where these additional kin reside. How can we
outside their band. Might having a widely dispersed estimate the magnitude of the increase in kin distri-
network of kin be advantageous? First, on a theoretical bution across camps promoted by bilocal residence?
note, we should not always assume that living with One possibility would be to compare the distribution
kin is beneficial. Where kin compete with one another of kin across camps in empirically observed hunter-
for resources but have little opportunity to cooperate, gatherer groups with relatively bilocal versus unilocal
the best thing that many organisms can do for kin is to residence systems. While doing so may have merits,
avoid them altogether (West et al. 2002, 2001). Given the many ecological, cultural, and demographic dif-
the energetic interdependence of humans, however, ferences between populations would likely obscure a
and the known importance of kin in small-scale socie- straight comparison.
ties, this may be unlikely to be the case for humans. As an alternative, we can use computational simu-
A more likely benefit of having a widely dispersed lations based on empirical data to generate hypothetical
network of kin is that this increases the number of group compositions, given various sets of residential
other camps that an individual may join. Although rules. This allows us to ask a series of ‘what if’ questions
groups such as the Hadza are said to have a completely while holding fundamental demographic aspects of
open system of residence in which individuals may kinship structure constant. For example, what would
join any other camp, in many other hunter-gatherer group composition look like if individuals were ran-
groups, kinship ties are required to do so, as discussed domly sorted into camps? What if only women could
above. In such a context, having a widely dispersed dictate where their household moved? What if a small
network of kin allows future access to many camps. set of leaders determined where households could
This may be critical in allowing individuals to leave reside? Thinking in this way requires us to decouple
resource-depleted areas, to access a broader range of our understanding of individual-level processes and
foraging sites, and to maintain social relationships. group-level patterns – although our phenomenon of
To what extent does bilocal rather than unilocal interest is the composition of a group, this is an emer-
residence actually increase the number of communities gent product of decisions made by individuals, albeit
54
 The impact of equality in residential decision making

within the framework of culturally imposed norms, of unplaced individuals is related to an existing camp
rules, and institutions. member, a random individual from the pool and their
Here, I use a simple computational simulation spouse are chosen to join the camp.
to explore how many different camps a household
can reside in given various sets of rules concerning Selection criteria
residence. These rules concern (i) whether one or both By varying the criteria by which individuals from the
sexes within the household can influence where the unplaced pool are selected to join a camp, the simula-
household resides and (ii) the degree of kinship connec- tion can approximate bilocal and unilocal residential
tion in another camp that is required for a household systems. In the bilocal condition, both men and women
be permitted to join it. I explore the impact of these from the pool of unplaced individuals can be selected
rules in computational simulations that use empirical join the camp if they have a genetic kinship tie to
data from Agta hunter-gatherer communities. The any man or woman in the existing camp. In the uni­
Agta are group of small-scale hunter-gatherers from local condition, only men from the pool of unplaced
northeastern Luzon, Philippines (Minter 2008; Rai individuals who are genetically related to an existing
1990). As described above, the Agta have a bilocal male camp member can be chosen to join the camp.
system in which households regularly move, but where In both conditions, the degree of kinship required
kinship ties are usually required to join an established for an individual to be chosen to join a camp can be
camp. For the purposes of this computational model, varied from only very close consanguineal kin (r =
however, the use of empirical data is to provide a 0.5, equivalent to full siblings, parents, and children)
reasonable hunter-gatherer demographic and kinship to any consanguineal kin (r > 0).
structure and it makes no specific comment on the Agta The simulation described above was run 100
themselves. For description of the social organization times for each kinship and dispersal condition (1000
of the Agta themselves, see Griffin (1984), Minter (2008) simulations in total). As shown in Figure 3.2, bilocal
and the data contained in Dyble et al. (2015, 2016) and
Migliano et al. (2017).
The simulation, written in the statistical software 10
R, consists of an algorithm that sorts 120 married cou-
ples from a subset of the observed married adult Agta
population (240 people in total) into 15 groups con-
8
taining 8 couples each. From genealogical interviews,
we have data on all genetic kinship ties between these Bilocal
240 people. The sorting procedure of the algorithm
Accessible camps

places these 240 people into camps according to a set 6

of selection criteria that approximate either a bilocal
or a unilocal system of residence.
4
Sorting procedure
The simulation begins by taking one of the 120 couples Unilocal
and placing them in a camp. At this point there are two 2
‘placed’ individuals, and a pool of 238 ‘unplaced’ indi-
viduals. Next, unplaced individuals who are related
by kinship to one of the two existing camp members
0
(according to the selection criteria described below)
are identified. One of these individuals is randomly 0.5 0.25 0.125 0.0625 All kin
chosen to join the camp. This individual is joined by
their spouse. We now have four individuals who have Degree of relatedness (r)
required to join a camp
been placed in a camp and a pool of 236 unplaced indi-
viduals. In each turn, we repeat this process, choosing
an individual from the unplaced pool and placing this Figure 3.2. Number of camps, out of a total possible
individual and their spouse in the camp. This process of 15, in which the average household is permitted to
continues until there are 8 couples (16 individuals) in live given various residential rules and the simulation
the camp and is then repeated for every other camp procedure described in the text. Bars represent the
until the 240 individuals have been placed into 15 standard deviation across 100 simulations. Solid line =
camps of 16 individuals each. If no one from the pool bilocal residence; dotted line = unilocal residence.
55
 Chapter 3

residence permits an average household to reside in References

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 Chapter 4

Surplus, storage and the emergence of wealth:

pits and pitfalls

Christophe Darmangeat

The question surrounding the origins of economic and it is tempting to treat them as a single phenom-
inequality is probably as old as social science itself, enon. This is particularly the case with the literature
and can be traced back at least to Rousseau (2004 pertaining to chiefdoms, where the enforcement of
[1751]). Among materialist scholars, the most common political hierarchy is always strongly linked to eco-
answer, which until today has remained a reference nomic differentiation, leading to the impression that
framework, may be called ‘surplus theory’. Its most one goes necessarily in hand with the other. Yet, it
famous formulation, which was put forward in the has long been noticed that the different dimensions
first half of the twentieth century by Gordon Childe of societies did not evolve everywhere in the same
(1954 [1942]), can be summarized as follows: economic directions, nor at the same pace (Feinman & Netzel
inequalities, which gave birth to the exploitation of 1984). From a very global standpoint, if the economic
work and the emergence of social classes, originated and political inequalities appear as two aspects of the
in the transition to agriculture and animal husbandry. same general trend, as soon as one refines the picture,
This shift in the methods of production generated a these two aspects are far from being synonymous.
food surplus which provided the base of the existence This is probably the most relevant objection raised by
of all non-food producers: craftsmen, merchants, sol- O’Shea & Barker (1996) or Testart (2005) against the
diers, priests and nobles. Childe’s surplus theory was neo-evolutionist classification. A telling example can
not, strictly speaking, radically new; it incorporated be found in North America, with the comparison of the
several elements already developed by previous think- Iroquois confederation and the Northwest Coast socie-
ers (for instance Turgot 1766; Engels 1954 [1878], 1972 ties. Although wealth was present in both sets, it was
[1884]). But it was considered as a synthesis based on much more conspicuous and played a far greater role
the archaeological record – especially, the Near East in the Northwest Coast. Yet, and despite their frequent
and European sequence – which, in return, provided qualification as ‘chiefdoms’, none of the societies of
the logic for understanding this record. Despite the the Northwest Coast had elaborated a formal political
numerous criticisms it has faced, the concept of surplus structure. The power of their chiefs and aristocrats was
remains a key reference in archaeological studies deal- based above all on their economic influence – even
ing with economic inequalities in prehistory (Bogaart their famous ‘titles’ validated through the potlatches
et al. 2009; Morehart & De Lucia 2015; Bogaard 2017; were not political functions or rights, but mere marks
Hastorf & Fowhall 2017; Kohler et al. 2017). of honour and dignity (Drucker 1939). Conversely, the
Before addressing ‘surplus theory’, it is neces- Iroquois, although much more egalitarian, are well
sary to stress that the debate about the emergence and known for their political constitution, with all of its
widening of inequalities is often conducted in general formal elections, councils and procedures (Morgan
terms which encompass the political dimensions of 1922 [1851]). It is therefore necessary to stress that
societies. There are obvious reasons for this tendency: the origin of economic inequalities must be studied
the global evolution of human societies was marked in itself, and should not be confused with the emer-
by the development of wealth inequalities and politi- gence – and even less with the further development
cal hierarchies; in other words, it was a general move – of political hierarchies.
towards the formation of social classes and States. We can now come back to surplus theory, not-
These two aspects were of course not independent, ing that if its original formulation revolved around
59
 Chapter 4

agriculture, it has subsequently become increasingly Given points 3 and 4, one can argue that surplus theory
associated with another element, that is, storage. This is, at best, incomplete. This incompleteness is also
is the reason why this paper aims to answer two essen- visible in the fact that the theory uses the same cause
tial questions: 1) should the surplus (or the ability to – the ‘overproduction’ in the food sector – to explains
produce a surplus) be considered as a necessary or two very different phenomena, that is exploitation of
sufficient cause for the emergence of economic inequali- the productive workforce in general and mere divi-
ties and exploitation of work? 2) Which empirical and sion of productive labour. Significantly, in Childe’s
theoretical links can be established between storage and descriptions of the new social groups living on food
wealth? In other words, if storage matters, then why? surplus (1954 [1942]: 30–1), craftsmen are lumped with
soldiers and priests.
Surplus, exploitation and labour productivity In sum, the theory appears not only to be insuf-
ficient, but also to present some serious flaws.
Some decades ago, the question of surplus raised an
intense debate (Pearson 1957; Harris 1959, 1961; Dalton Is egalitarianism a consequence of an insufficient labour
1960, 1963; Rotstein 1961; Orans 1966), which ended productivity?
without reaching any agreement. Some later contribu- One of its main propositions is that the lack of economic
tions (Testart 1979, 1982a, 1985) did not receive much inequalities and exploitation in hunter-gatherer socie-
attention. In a recent publication (Darmangeat 2018a), ties is a consequence of the low level of their labour
we tried to take the discussion one step further. The productivity. As Engels puts it, ‘At this stage human
main starting points can be summarized as follows: labour-power still does not produce any considerable
surplus over and above its maintenance costs’ (1972
1. As several scholars noticed, in its crudest formu- [1884]: 118).
lations, surplus theory is a mere tautology. If the It seems, however, that Marx and Engels had at
surplus is the part of the social product that is least some hesitations on this matter. In chapter XVI of
appropriated by the non-producers, saying that the first Book of Capital, Marx stresses that an adequate
exploitation is explained by the presence of a labour productivity is never a sufficient condition for
surplus is calling the same phenomena by two the exploitation to take place; the producer has to be
different names, without providing any causation. forced by some social mechanism to work beyond
2. The only way by which surplus theory provides his own needs. He illustrates this idea with various
a real explanation is by stating that exploitation examples, one of which is a primitive society of New
comes from the possibility of extracting surplus Guinea where people satisfy their needs by 12 working
which, in the classical Marxist formulation, is hours a week, and where, if capitalism was introduced,
equated with a rise of the productivity of labour. workers might be compelled to work 6 days a week
3. In this framework, however, a minimal level just to get the same product for themselves as before.
of the productivity of labour provides only the The surprising (and seldom noticed) element in this
necessary condition for the emergence of surplus. passage is not the main idea, but the fact that the
It says nothing of the reasons why the possibility example chosen – a society where ‘sago grows wild in
became a reality. Nevertheless, it is almost always the forest’ (Marx 1909 [1867]: 585) – is clearly a hunter-
treated as if the possibility was a determination, gatherer one. Marx, then, did envisage in one of his
so that the necessary condition was ipso facto a major works published in his lifetime, that within such
sufficient one. Another way of stating this idea is a society, an adult could possibly maintain himself and
to remark that an improvement in provisioning his family with a very limited amount of work, which
may well result in an improvement of well-being would have left place for ‘considerable surplus’. To
or in a demographic increase, rather than in the some degree, Marx seems here to anticipate Sahlins’
emergence of exploitation relationships. In this later developments on the ‘original affluent society’
way, Childe noticed the lag of several millennia (1972) and, for sure, contradicts Engels’ statement.
between the birth of agriculture and the rise of a More generally, in all hunter-gatherer societies,
ruling class without giving any clear explanation. even those living in the harshest climates, produc-
4. Linked to the previous point, surplus theory also tive adults provide food for various unproductive
remains silent on the social forms under which members of society, being they young, old or ill. This
inequalities and exploitation are supposed to means that even if labour productivity was too low
have developed. Saying that they could emerge, for people to feed an exploitative class in addition to
or even that they had to, is not explaining why perpetuating themselves as a collective, an individual
they took some definite shape and not others. adult (say, a prisoner of war) would nevertheless be
60
 Surplus, storage and the emergence of wealth: pits and pitfalls

able to produce significantly more than his own needs in the case of reduction in the population below its
and thus, to be exploited. carrying capacity. This benefit depends on the circum-
The same conclusions arise from reasoning stances and, below a certain density, may well be equal
involving demography and the economic laws con- to zero, especially under hostile climates. But, once
straining these societies. Although the population again, this should not conceal the fact that in every
dynamics of hunter-gatherers, and its possible spe- hunter-gatherer society, even the poorest – and much
cificities compared to agricultural people, gave rise to more so in the affluent ones, as Marx already observed
a considerable body of literature (Bentley et al. 1993; – the presence, to a certain extent, of unproductive
Pennington 2001; Bocquet-Appel 2011) there are few exploiters was economically viable. If there were none,
certainties. Several scholars, the most famous being even when a certain social relationship was obviously
Sahlins (1972), claimed that hunter-gatherers manage marked by domination (Darmangeat 2015a), it should
to maintain their population size below the optimum be attributed to other (and social) reasons.
through cultural practices, thus ensuring that they
can live relatively well without too much work. It Agriculture and the rise of productivity
seems, more probably, that hunter-gatherer popula- The third line of difficulties which surplus theory
tions tended to grow, albeit slowly, when resources presents pertains to the idea that agriculture increased
became abundant and underwent Malthusian crises labour productivity, thus allowing the surplus to come
from time to time, which severely cut down their into being. An increased labour productivity may lead
populations (Belovsky 1988; Winterhalder et al. 1988; to three possible effects:
Keeley 1988; Boone 2002). In either case, it can be
argued that they could have sustained, to a certain 1. the increase of leisure time, as in the famous exam-
extent, the maintenance of unproductive individuals. ple of the Australian Yir-Yoront who invested the
It is obvious in the first case. But, even in the second benefits of the steel axe ‘in sleep – an art they had
situation, the levy taken by some exploiters, instead mastered thoroughly’ (Sharp 1952: 20).
of leading the whole society to disaster – the fate 2. the increase of the product, whether this increase
commonly predicted – might rather have resulted in a returns to the producers…
sustainable reduction of the number of their members. 3. or is appropriated by a dominant class.
This counter-intuitive proposition is the consequence
of the law of diminishing returns, which works in two In theory, these effects should be identifiable, in par-
opposing directions: if an increasing population, living ticular the first one. In Marx’s thought-experiment
in a given territory with given techniques, will face a with wild sago gatherers, the surplus would simply
fall of its labour productivity, conversely, a reduced result from an external constraint, and in no way
population under the same conditions may well see from an increase of labour productivity. With the
its productivity rise. This gives way to an increased exception of modern societies, addressing this ques-
product, which may signify demographic growth… or tion is extremely problematic as work duration can
the maintenance of some additional non-productive only be estimated with great uncertainties. However,
individuals. The mechanism exposed here is similar in the last decades archaeology has collected vari-
to the one described in an agricultural society, when ous evidence on the advent of agriculture which all
taxes are imposed on the workforce and employed to point in the same direction: that cultivation did not
pay the luxuries of the dominant class (Winterhalder lessen the work effort. A comparison of the various
et al. 2012). figures taken from ethnological studies do not show
Admittedly, it would be absurd to maintain that workload is smaller in cultivation societies com-
that every society, whatever its environment and pared to foragers – actually, the opposite is the case
techniques, could bear the burden of an unspecified (Darmangeat 2015b).
number of unproductive individuals. If, as we said Concerning the second possibility, the global well-
previously, every worker, even in the poorest society, being of populations does not seem to have improved
may normally produce a surplus over his own needs, with agriculture, at least in terms of health. If data
it does not mean that this surplus is infinite. In a harsh concerning mobile hunter-gatherers are too scarce to
environment, where a significant amount of work is compare their life expectancy with that of cultivators,
necessary to get just enough food for the society to the global health conditions seem to have worsened
survive, this potential surplus margin remains narrow. with agriculture (Steckel et al. 2002; Larsen 2003).
Moreover, one should not oversimplify the way in The only tangible result of the increase of labour
which the ‘law of diminishing returns’ applies – and, productivity which is supposed to have followed
conversely, the benefit in terms of labour productivity the Neolithic revolution would thus have been the
61
 Chapter 4

formation of a dominant class living at the expense If productivity of labour had a much lesser effect
of the workforce. Although this formation stands on the profitability of labour exploitation than com-
beyond any doubt, an essential point is that it may monly thought, it should be noted that the productivity
have resulted from many causes besides an increase of land, for its part, had a positive impact that has often
in the productivity of labour. Compared to the mod- been overlooked. Productivity of land affects the den-
est material culture of nomadic hunter-gatherers, sity of a population and therefore, the cost of oversight
the monumental achievements of the early States are and control of labour power. We said previously that
impressive. But one should keep in mind that they economic exploitation was formally possible among
were enabled, above all, by a huge expansion of the hunter-gatherers, but there is no doubt that extracting
population – the tremendous gap between the popula- a surplus-product from a nomadic hunter would have
tion densities among nomadic hunter-gatherers and represented a considerable cost compared to the yield.
cultivators is a well-known fact. Several scholars have Conversely, sedentism and the much higher popula-
already noted that even in the early States, technical tion densities it allows made political and economic
tooling in agriculture remained often very primitive control – without which exploitation is impossible –
and the amount of surplus-product which could be much easier. In economic terms, it is probable that the
extorted from each individual worker very constrained gross profitability of exploitation benefited less from
(Mazoyer & Roudart 2006 [1997]; Trigger 2003: 313). the rise of productivity of labour than the net profit-
Of course, it is not argued that the technical ability benefited from the rise of productivity of land.
progress from the Upper Palaeolithic to Antiquity was
negligible. However, this technical progress mostly Why storage matters?
did not result in an increase of productivity of labour
but rather of land, a phenomenon known as the ‘Mal- Another debate developed some decades ago, when
thusian trap’. Under this model, the improvement in some scholars advocated taking into account the
the techniques of subsistence tends to bring about ethnographic – and, most probably, archaeological
population growth; this, on the basis of a given tech- – cases of so-called ‘complex’ hunter-gatherers who
nique, faces the law of diminishing returns, and while had developed high levels of economic differentiation.
productivity of work initially rises through technical These hunter-gatherers, firstly those of the Northwest
progress, it eventually falls back to its starting point. In Coast, showed that the demarcation between economi-
a somewhat provocative formulation, it is sometimes cally egalitarian and non-egalitarian societies was not
said that during earlier millennia, technical progress exclusively linked to agriculture, as it was commonly
did not serve to feed the poor better, but only to feed said, but rather to storage (Testart 1982b; Ingold, 1983).
more poor per square kilometre. This process is at This shift in perspective was of considerable
the core of what archaeology often calls ‘intensifica- importance, and raised two sets of questions. First, on
tion’, although the precise meaning of this word has the empirical level, to what extent was there a relation-
been subject to much debate (Boserup 1965; Kayser & ship between the practice of storage and the presence of
Voytek 1983; Bender 1978, 1981; Kirch 1994; Morgan economic inequalities? Were both phenomena strictly
2014; Morrison 2014). This also explains why a careful correlated or were there exceptions? Second, if stor-
ethnologically based comparison between foragers and age is indeed related to wealth inequalities, what are
cultivators leads to the conclusion that Neolithic-like the causes involved? We will begin by addressing the
agriculture shows no better performance in terms of second question, assuming that if there are a few cer-
labour productivity (Bowles 2011). tain or possible exceptions to the empirical adequacy
In actual fact, and contrary to an opinion some- between storage and inequalities, this adequacy is
times supported elsewhere (Wood 1998; Galor & Weil widely ascertained and provides a solid starting point.
2000; Clark 2007; Ashraf & Galor 2011), this conversion
of productivity of labour into productivity of land was What kind of ‘surplus’ is storage?
not complete. Part of technical progress was devoted First of all, two points about the relationship between
to production that had no impact on the number of storage and surplus theory have to be clarified.
producers, starting with the luxuries of the developing It could be argued that storage only modifies
dominant class (Wu 2015; Svizzero & Tisdell 2015). this theory on a secondary point, by simply chang-
These productions represent a partial escape from the ing the factor which increased the productivity of
Malthusian trap, and in this respect, it is possible to work (storage instead of agriculture). In itself, such
say that surplus was much more a consequence than a an adjustment would raise no particular problem.
cause of the emergence of wealth, economic inequali- However, for obvious reasons, such an opinion was
ties and exploitation of labour. seldom argued; instead, one more often reads that
62
 Surplus, storage and the emergence of wealth: pits and pitfalls

storage is, by nature or to a certain extent, a surplus for the selfish interest of their managers. This idea
(for instance, Bogaard 2017). seems to be as old as the discovery of the importance of
This point illustrates a recurring ambiguity. A storage for economic inequalities itself (Testart 1982a),
‘surplus’ is an excess of one quantity over another, and was recently put forward to explain why economic
but one should never use the word without specifying inequalities arose when the crops were grains, and
which quantities are involved – a problem which has not tubers (Mayshar et al. 2015). While it may contain
always greatly contributed to obscuring the debates some truth, this reasoning states, at best, a necessary
on this topic. According to Marx or Childe, the surplus condition: it does not explain why the households
is the excess of production over what the producers agreed to be deprived of part of their production, or
receive – that is the reason why it can be called ‘social’. how they were compelled to produce it in addition of
This is significantly different from the physiological their needs, a question rightly raised, for instance, by
surplus which was referred to by cultural ecology, and Arnold (1993). Neither does it explain why, even in
which names the excess of production of a given society the absence of a political hierarchy, numerous socie-
over the biological needs of its members. Stocks, in a ties display important inequalities of wealth between
sense, are also a ‘surplus’: the excess, at a given time, households.
of past production over consumption. But it is easy Another hypothesis was advocated by O’Shea
to see that they are, by nature, neither physiological (1981), under the name of ‘social storage’1 (see also
nor social surplus. Speaking of storage as ‘surplus’ is Rowley-Conwy & Zvelebil 1989; Halstead 1989) and
therefore not illegitimate, but it introduces confusion. deserves a careful examination. O’Shea suggested
At worst, by lumping together storage and exploitation distinguishing between ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ storage,
of labour under the same designation, it hides the fact the latter encompassing ‘all those processes which
that both phenomena are analytically different, and that transform foodstuffs into a more stable, alternative
the empirical link between them has to be explained. form, from which food value may later be recovered.’
Several scholars have noticed the problem; (1981: 169). Indirect storage, in turn, took two very
Arnold, for instance, rightly stressed that the ques- different forms. The first one is exemplified by animal
tion is not storage in itself, but the control of others’ husbandry. If we put this aside, ‘the transformations
work (1993: 93). Yet, the question remains why both which are characteristic of indirect storage are cultural,
phenomena are so often, if not always, linked in the and involve the equivalencing of foodstuffs and non-
empirical record. The same preoccupation led others food items through exchange. (…) when such exchange
to propose a differentiation between ‘normal surplus’, is extended between corporate groups or villages, some
corresponding to the needs of the immediate produc- manner of physical token usually enters the transac-
ers in order to face the resource cycle, and the surplus tion. In such a transaction, food is exchanged for some
strictly speaking, which can be appropriated by a rul- non-food token with at least the implicit understanding
ing elite or, at least, take the form of wealth (Halstead that such tokens can later be re-exchanged for food.
1989; see also Kirch 1984; Bogaard et al. 2009; Kuyt This type of exchange transaction is here referred to
2015; Winterhadler et al. 2015). This discrimination is as social storage’ (ibid.).
based on the idea that social surplus comes necessarily It is easy to understand why the emergence of
in addition to the product managed by the households. social storage was a major turning point in social
It may be useful, in particular, to identify social pro- evolution: ‘The use of tokens as a means of storing
cesses often related to chiefdoms in the archaeological food value introduces a new dimension into primitive
record (Wesson 1999); yet, it does not provide any real economic systems, the ability to accumulate wealth.’
clues of the reasons why the ‘normal surplus’ might (1981: 177) – therefore, O’Shea added, to accumulate
or should give birth to a social one – in other words, it in an unequal way. Among many others, Halstead
how and why storage led to economic inequalities and (1989) in particular stressed the consequences of the
exploitation of labour. hazards faced by households that created growing
inequalities, opening opportunities for some suc-
From storage to wealth: three hypothesis cessful ones to reduce impoverished ones through
To this riddle, three main answers have been given. dependency.
The first one, probably the first that comes to This hypothesis has several indisputable merits,
mind, is based on the physical properties of stocks as the main one being an attempt to account for the origins
durable and movable. They may thus be appropriated of wealth. Wealth, in its strict sense, does not exist in
and centralized by some hierarchy – one possibility is every society, and its birth is here correctly identified
the case of collective supplies being at first adminis- as a social process. Yet we think it contains several
trated by leaders for the common sake, and then used major defects.
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 Chapter 4

First, the demarcation between ‘direct’ and ‘indi- What is the point of wealth in primitive
rect’ food storage seems questionable. Concerning food societies? (…) The absence of any division
storage strictly speaking, the only example of indirect of labour or, at least, its weak development,
storage which is given is animal husbandry, and one which allows everyone to produce his sub-
does not see why it should be distinguished from sistence, induces that one does not need
the smoking of fish, for instance. Almost no food can wealth for living. Because of the absence
be stored without being ‘processed in a more stable of fundiary2 land ownership, wealth cannot
form’ – which would mean that food storage is always be invested in productive goods and does
‘indirect’. But the critical point is that ‘social storage’ not, by itself, generate profit. (…) Such an
is actually not storage at all, unless this word is used unnecessary and undesirable wealth (…)
in a very vague (and deceiving) sense. This so-called has none of the functions it achieves in
‘storage’ only ‘stores’ the possibility of others acquiring our societies. In view of this fact (…) there
the stored food: it is nothing other than a monetary are only two possible answers. The first is
saving. It is indeed striking that O’Shea, whose theory to say that wealth is useless. (…) It think
deals with the emergence of money, describing two of that [this] is the typical answer of classical
its well-known functions (as a medium of exchange anthropology. (…) [which] pretends that it is
and store of value) and exposing the inflationist risk, purely conspicuous and does not serve any
never explicitly describes it as ‘money’, preferring material purpose (…) The second answer,
for unknown reasons to speak of ‘tokens’. However, which is ours, is to say that this primitive
primitive money which always takes the form of pre- wealth (…) is not a pure prestige concern
cious goods, is far less a ‘token’ than our own bank because (…) it serves to payments of social
notes or electronic payments. obligations, imposed by law or custom, and
The essential point is that this theory revolves quite mandatory and compelling. (Testart,
around the question of exchange: in order to obtain 2005: 29–30)
food from other communities in times of need, societies
would have established the equivalence between non- The statement that ‘one does not need wealth for living’
food and food goods. This reasoning differs from the should certainly be qualified, and we can grant that
classical narrative which dates back at least to Adam wealth was sometimes used for this purpose. But the
Smith, whereby money was designed as a mean of fundamental proposition holds true: the main function
facilitating a pre-existing barter. Money as a means of of primitive money, and the most probable reason for
exchange is nevertheless at the core of both theories, an its emergence, was not as a means of exchange, but
idea which should be challenged for several reasons. rather of payment. Wealth, in those societies (as the
To begin with, it is a well-known fact that in Tolowa case, among hundreds of others, confirms
all of the ethnographic cases where wealth is pre- beyond any doubt) is first and foremost the way of
sent, although it may be used to acquire foodstuffs, managing bride price, blood money, and possibly the
there is a general reluctance of proceeding with such various fines or fees required to join some secret soci-
exchanges. Trading precious items against food is ety. Testart also noticed that in societies where those
widely considered as abnormal, to the extent that vari- payments had been established, the public display of
ous anthropologists have claimed that ‘prestige’ items wealth was a common feature, be it through feasts,
form a separate category with no interference with competitive exchanges, ‘grade passages’, etc. In a whole
basic necessities. For instance, Gould (1966) showed category of societies that he called ‘conspicuous plu-
this statement to be clearly excessive for the Tolowa tocraties’, which included for instance the Northwest
Indians of California, but he also stressed how much it Coast so-called ‘chiefdoms’, formal political structures
was unusual, and somewhat inglorious, to trade pre- were actually lacking and wealth was the organizing
cious goods against food. On this matter, the Tolowa principle of social dominance.
must be regarded as quite representative. Thus, it The relevant question, then, is not knowing how
seems somewhat contradictory to acknowledge this, storage gave birth to wealth as a means of exchange,
as Halstead (1989) willingly does, while maintaining but how it led to the emergence of payments. That is,
that wealth was initiated in order to facilitate such to understand the possible links between storage and
exchanges. bride price, blood money, etc. In another words, we
The solution of this paradox is provided by a must examine the relationship between the practice
third line of explanation, following on from Testart of storage and the introduction of material goods in
(2001, 2005), who stressed the particular role of wealth compensations where, up to now, only human work,
in primitive societies: blood, or kinship ties were involved.
64
 Surplus, storage and the emergence of wealth: pits and pitfalls

Towards a new solution how bride price among people of New Guinea, prob-
Testart confessed to be at loss with this problem (2005: ably – and ironically – resulted not from the desire
37–8). The only attempt he made was posthumous and to widen inequalities but rather, the desire to reduce
unfinished (2014). Moreover, the question he tried them. Thus, a scientific and therefore materialistic social
to address was actually different: he was convinced explanation cannot consider the will of social actors
that, at least for marriage, life-time obligations were as ultimate causes; conversely, it has to explain these
characteristic of Australia. Everywhere else in the wills through social structures and their evolution.
world, life-time obligations had preceded all the other In the quest for understanding the relation-
forms, including the bride service – the well-known ship between storage and the emergence of wealth,
‘sister exchange’ was curiously absent from his reason- the empirical record provides some essential clues.
ing. To his eyes, these configurations of matrimonial We refer here to a database dealing with payments
compensation had a key impact on the technical and slavery that we built by combining two existing
progress, and the ‘backwardness’ of Australia, as datasets, to which we have added our own informa-
well as the long-supposed stagnation of the European tion concerning storage (Darmangeat 2018b). Despite
Upper Palaeolithic. It is not possible here to enter into the numerous difficulties and inevitable disputable
details, but this reasoning turns out to be, at best, very choices,3 we think that some useful insights can be
questionable (Darmangeat & Pétillon 2015; Valentin deduced from this material which includes 237 cases.
& Pétillon 2018). The main point relevant to the pre- The first observation is that in the vast major-
sent discussion is that the riddle of the extension of ity of societies storage and payments are altogether
material goods (and, thus, wealth) into marriage and either absent or present. This supports the close link
damage compensation, and its possible link to storage, mentioned previously between both features, which
remained unsolved. may of course be read as an evolutionary proposi-
Another common answer is offered by Hayden, tion: the dichotomy roughly overlays the opposition
who states that this evolution was manipulated, if not between mobile hunter-gatherers on the one hand,
orchestrated, by a certain category of individuals he and sedentary hunter-gatherers and cultivators on
calls ‘aggrandizers’. These individuals exist (biologi- the other. Incidentally, our data also show that the
cally) in every society, but it is only with the conditions slavery group, with very few marginal exceptions, is
of what he calls the ‘transegalitarian’ societies that they a subset of payment societies. This strongly supports
found themselves in a position to apply their talents the opinion that slavery is a by-product, and not a
to material production. This was executed through a cause in itself, of wealth.
number of ‘strategies’ (the term appears regularly in To return to our central question, it is also worth
Hayden’s writings) among which we find the institu- considering the few cases which seem to invalidate
tion of bride price (2014: 165–6). However, it seems the correlation between storage and payments. These
problematic to explain a social phenomenon, specifi- exceptions belong to two categories. The first one
cally the emergence of new social structures, through includes societies where storage is practiced but which,
the strategies of a social group. This methodological possibly or clearly, lack payments. Our sample includes
individualism can hardly be something more than a six of such societies. Without going too far into detail,
dead end. No one could deny that in every society all of them are marked by wealth inequalities, although
there are people with certain inclinations or talents these are far more salient in certain cases (Conibo of
to boast who acquire power and take the lead, even- Amazonia, Bemba of Africa, Tareumiut of Alaska) than
tually at the expense of others. But the reason why in others (Toda of Gran Chaco, Zuni and Hopi pueblo
capitalism superseded feudalism is not because some Indians). The deficiencies of our information on sev-
individuals would have preferred to get rich through eral of these tribes makes it difficult to draw reliable
industry, trade or banking instead of mere military conclusions. Nevertheless, it seems that with respect
power. Generally speaking, individual strategies are to payments, the Tareumiut case reveals an alterna-
explained by social structures, and not the opposite. tive, although obviously infrequent, path towards the
Thus, seeing bride price as a result of a strategy pur- emergence of wealth. Among these Inuit, rich people
sued by aggrandizers, as a conscious will of part of (called umealit) are the owners of the boats used to hunt
the society, is at best partial, and at worst misleading. big sea mammals, especially whales, or alternatively,
Long ago Engels pointed out that societies consist of individuals who control a trade route (Spencer 1959;
intersecting contradictory wills and actions, and that Johnson & Earle 2000: 177). The reasons which could
the resulting situation is often something nobody explain the near absence of payments among the
had foreseen nor wanted. Furthermore Lemonnier, Tareumiut are difficult to identify – more generally, the
in a short but enlightening article (2008), highlighted resistance to the development of payments seems to be
65
 Chapter 4

a feature of the whole Inuit cultural area. Conversely, of western rifles, which could be given instead of the
one may put forward the hypothesis that in the specific traditional service, or to compensate a murder and
conditions of coastal Alaska, the development of wealth put an end to a feud (Harner 1972).
inequalities may have involved specific mechanisms The ethnographic information concerning the
which, in a slightly anachronistic way, can be called Calusa and the Abipon remains sparse, but what
‘capitalistic’. More probably, these tendencies were we know about the Asmat and the Jivaro enables us
present elsewhere, but their importance remained to suggest an answer to the question of why, in the
secondary. The main means of production were the absence of any food storage, a society may – or had
whale boats, produced at an expensive cost, which to – engage in the transition to payments in particular,
were individually financed but collectively used. This and to wealth in general. Our hypothesis is that the
contrasts strongly with the general situation where the trigger is the existence, on a sufficiently large scale, of
main means of production is land, available for anyone moveable, durable goods requiring an important amount
willing to clear it. The few individuals who possessed of (individual) work for their making (Darmangeat 2017).
these boats held at least an economic power which These goods, once they exist on a sufficient scale, can
was manifested in the right to levy part of the catches. be held for the equivalent of the prolonged time of
Correspondingly, our sample shows four (pos- service that is the most common form of matrimonial
sibly five) societies in which payments were present compensation among societies ignoring wealth, and
but whose economies did not rely on any form of food thus it begins to replace it. Then, by a well-established
storage. These societies challenge the role of storage equivalence, they also replace the human blood (or
in the same way that sedentary hunter-gatherers chal- spouse) in murder compensations. We propose calling
lenged the role traditionally assigned to agricultural this category of goods ‘W goods’, W being the initial
societies. Incidentally, it is puzzling that Testart, who uniting work and wealth.
had identified these cases quite clearly, did not try to It has often been noticed that in lowland Ama-
address the problem they posed to his theory. Some zonia, societies were ‘primarily oriented toward the
of them were hunter-gatherers living in environments production of persons, not material goods’ and that
rich enough to allow them to be sedentary without they were marked by ‘the limited involvement of
practicing any form of storage. One example is the wealth and prestige goods in producing social rela-
Calusa, a Florida tribe known only by early Spaniard tionships’ (Fausto 1999: 934). Among the Jivaro, the
witnesses (Fontaneda 1944 [1575]) and archaeology rifle was then an imported exception. If we turn to
(Gogin & Sturtevant 1964; Hutchinson et al. 2016; the Asmat, there are several possible W goods, but the
Thompson et al. 2018); another is the Asmat, a tribe most evident one is the canoe. We do not know the
living on the south coast of New Guinea, whose exact amount of work needed to manufacture them,
main resources were wild sago starch and fishing but a witness wrote that a large canoe represented
(Sowada 1961; Eyde 1967; Trenkenshuh 1970; Van about two months of individual effort (Eyde 1967:
Arsdale 1975). Another category is what Testart called 45), in a time where metal axes had already replaced
‘mounted hunter-gatherers’, that is, hunter-gatherers traditional stone ones. It is very probable that this figure
who used domesticated horses for hunting. Strictly should be greatly revised upwards when talking about
speaking, this excludes the plains Indians, who were pre-contact times. In any case, the making of a canoe,
to a certain extent cultivators, even when they relied which constituted the most important manufactured
heavily on hunting on horseback (Zedeno et al. 2014). property of the Asmat (Van Arsdale 1975: 36), was
In the Gran Chaco, the Abipon tribe falls obviously ‘one of the principal duties a man has to his wife’s
into this category (Dobrizhoffer 1822 [1754]). All of brothers or father, and a man should give a canoe to
these groups experience wealth inequalities although his fiancé’s brothers or father before marriage’ (Eyde
to varying degrees, ranging from only just discern- 1967: 43). This obligation seems to have existed even in
ible among the Asmat, to the high level among the the specific situations of marriage that did not imply
Calusa whose society, with its slaves and its supreme the payment of a formal (and additional) bride price.
leader, has often been qualified as a chiefdom. It is The ‘W goods’ hypothesis not only explains why
also worth mentioning some intermediate situations some societies lacking food storage achieved the transi-
like the Jivaro of Amazonia. Traditionally, these and tion to payments and wealth, but it also gives a decisive
many other people in this area were manioc cultivators clue to the reasons for which it was the general case in
who ignored both storage and payments. Marriage societies whose economies relied on food storage. As
in particular involved a bride service from the future a matter of fact, food stores are by definition W goods;
husband, without any significant transfer of material thus we can assess that where there is food storage,
goods. However, the situation changed with the arrival there have to be payments – with the few possible or
66
 Surplus, storage and the emergence of wealth: pits and pitfalls

clear exceptions already mentioned. Admittedly, food of wealth. If not, he might wrongly reach the conclu-
articles seldom constitute a noticeable part of the bride sion of complete economic equality.
price or of blood money, and this could be held as an At another level, the W goods hypothesis pro-
objection against the W goods hypothesis. Yet, the vides a materialistic explanation of the transition to
paradox is only apparent. Preserved food is always payments, and therefore in the vast majority of cases,
a relatively low-value item, compared to rare shells, to wealth differentiation. It is because societies began
manufactured skins, canoes, etc. The only form under to invest higher quantities of work in durable goods
which food embodies a high value is that of a living that they began to regard these goods as equivalent to
domestic animal, typically the pig in New Guinea the work they embodied – as Gilman already observed,
(Lemonnier 1993). In other words, if the goods used ‘Wealth, after all, is a concentration of human labour
for payments are regarded as primitive money – and into durable asset’ (1990: 349). In a Marxist vocabulary,
they should be – preserved food is usually only small it may be said that the transition to payments, with the
change. Societies engaged in food storage tend to be replacement of the bride service (or any custom related
sedentary and to produce also significant volumes to it) by the bride price, represents the first victory of
of other goods embodying a higher amount of work dead labour over living labour in the history of social
which are thus much more convenient to be used relations. To conclude this point, we do not underesti-
as money. Therefore it is not surprising that in such mate the difficulties that arise out of this general social
economies, food stocks are almost never money goods, law. Not only do few societies seem to have taken an
even though they are W goods. This is another way of alternative path to wealth than payments, but also it is
saying that the ‘prestige goods’ often referred to in the possible that the same approximate level of W goods
ethnographic literature are a subset of W goods – those did not always lead to the same developments. As
that were selected to be used in payment transactions. noted above, in the Inuit world where W goods are
undeniably present (in the form of dogs, sledges or
Conclusion clothing), payments seem to have remained, at best,
limited. The reasons that may explain this relative
In light of the discussion above, two main conclusions resistance, here and possibly in other cultural areas,
can be drawn. The first pertains to the archaeologi- require further research.
cal interpretation of storage. If the presence of large
and possibly public storage devices may indicate the Notes
existence of some kind of ‘chiefdom-like’ political
structures, it follows that the observation of small-scale 1. Not to be confused with what we called ‘social surplus’.
societies shows that any significant storage is a fairly 2. Testart calls ‘fundiary’ a land ownership that is not
good proxy of the presence of wealth, and thus of founded on work. Land rent is associated with this
wealth inequalities. The correlation, as we saw, is not form of ownership which, according to him, constitutes
perfect. In fact, wealth may exist without any storage. a criterion of a class-based society.
3. For a general presentation of our method and a case-
Conversely, the possibility of storage without payments
by-case short discussion of our definitions, see http://
and, even less likely, without any kind of wealth should cdarmangeat.free.fr/tryptique/donnees.html (in French).
not be totally ruled out. However, this last configura-
tion seems to be a very rare occurrence. Therefore,
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 Chapter 5

Leadership and inequality among the Iñupiat:

a case of transegalitarian hunter-gatherers

Alberto Buela

Understanding the bases and dynamics of leadership in the Iñupiaq community of Wales or Kingigin. The case
egalitarian and transegalitarian societies constitutes a study illustrates how different factors such as changes
central aspect in the study of social inequality. Studies in subsistence, technology, population, economy, social
of inequality among transegalitarian groups have typi- organization and political institutions affect the bases
cally focused on the Pacific Northwest Coast foragers or and patterns of leadership and inequality, pointing to
Melanesian horticulturalists. However, little attention the need for integrating systemic with actor-centred
has been given to the Iñupiat1 of Northwest Alaska. approaches.
One exception is Sheehan’s (1985, 1995) model of the
evolution of social complexity and inequality with The Iñupiat
the development of prehistoric whaling in Northwest
Alaska. This paper examines the bases, forms and The Iñupiat inhabit the arctic tundra of Northwest
dynamics of leadership and social inequality among Alaska, and their territory spans from the Norton
the historic and contemporary Iñupiat. Sound on the Bering Sea in the southwest to the border
The first section introduces the Inupiat and their between United States and Canada on the northeast,
traditional economic and social organization. The covering the entire Seward Peninsula and the North
second section describes the traditional forms of lead- Slope. The Iñupiat can be divided between inland
ership and inequality based on age, skill, knowledge, groups, which mainly subsist on caribou; coastal and
wealth, and gender. This section builds on the ethno­ riverine groups that combine fishing with hunting of
historic and ethnographic literature on the Iñupiat land animals and small sea mammals; and whaling
and discusses it in relation to other egalitarian and communities. Whaling communities, which constitute
transegalitarian societies, addressing some theoretical the focus of this paper, subsisted primarily on large
issues, such as big-man (and related) models of leader- sea mammals (whales, walrus, seals), supplemented
ship (Hayden 1995; Sahlins 1963), the role of material by terrestrial animals, birds, fish, as well as gathered
wealth (Borgerhoff Mulder et al. 2009), storage (Testart eggs and plant foods. Whaling communities exhibited
1982) and ritual knowledge (Roscoe 2000) in creating high population densities and high levels of sedentism,
inequalities, as well as to the strategies employed by lived in large permanent settlements and summer
leaders to gain power and influence (Feinman 1995), campsites, had a strong reliance on storage, were ter-
and the forms of group affiliation and recruitment. ritorially bounded, and were engaged in trade and
It also responds to the need to pay more attention to warfare (Sheehan 1985).
gender and the role of women in anthropological and The community of Wales (Kingigin) is located at
archaeological studies of leadership (Nelson 1997; the western tip of the Seward Peninsula facing the Ber-
Roscoe 2000). The third section analyses the changes in ing Strait, slightly below the Arctic Circle and within
Inupiaq leadership and patterns of inequality brought the July 10°C mean isotherm, with an environment
about by contact with Euro-Americans and through the characterized by polar climate, arctic tundra, and sea
gradual integration of the Iñupiat into the state and a ice covering during winter. Strategically located to
capitalist economy. This section is based both on exist- intercept migratory sea mammals, Wales was one of
ing studies and on a short, exploratory and qualitative the largest whaling communities of Northwest Alaska,
fieldwork carried out by the author in 2015 and 2016 in with an estimated population ranging between 500
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and 750 inhabitants during the nineteenth century which was also used for moving whole families to
(Burch 1975: 12; Ray 1992: 110), which was dramatically summer campsites and for long-distance trade. The
reduced after the influenza epidemic of 1918–19. Its construction and maintenance of skin boats required
current population is about 178 (Alaska Department intensive labour. While constructing the wooden frame
of Commerce 2018) was the task of men, women were in charge of splitting
Traditional Iñupiaq society (i.e. at the time of early the hides and sewing them together.
contact), as described by Burch (1975, 2006), was organ-
ized in extended family groups composed of several Traditional forms of leadership and inequality
households, each household comprising two or more
conjugal families living in one semi-subterranean pit Leadership patterns were shaped to a large extent
house with storage facilities. Kinship was reckoned by an informal age hierarchy. The principle of sen-
bilaterally, but there was an emphasis on the male iority appears to have been ubiquitous in that older
line as patrilineal links constituted the core of the family members had at least some authority over
main groupings. The extended family was the main their younger relatives, and head of households were
economic unit and virtually self-sufficient, organizing generally senior males who had more authority than
most of production, distribution and consumption. anyone else (Burch 2006). The unequal allocation of
Two or more extended family groups lived together power according to age found among the Iñupiat dif-
in one settlement, but there was no village-wide politi- fers from seniority as a factor for leadership among
cal structure or authority above the extended family. egalitarian hunter–gatherers (e.g. Endicott & Endicott
The only supra-household institution was the qargi, a 2012; Lee 1982; Woodburn 1982), in that in the former
ceremonial and assembly house (sometimes referred seniors have actual authority over juniors, by demand-
to as the men’s house), which served several social, ing obedience and applying sanctions, whereas in the
political and ritual functions. In the qargi whaling latter they usually do not. There are also references in
crews prepared for the hunt, men worked on tools the ethnohistoric literature to the prominent political
and equipment, young males were socialized, rituals role of elders in the community at large. Ray (1992:
and feasts took place and families exchanged food 107) writes that: ‘Every men’s house [i.e. qargi] had one
and goods. There were several assembly houses in the or more leaders, or chiefs [i.e. umialik], who worked
winter settlement and each of them belonged to one in conjunction with an informal council of elders in
extended family and was led by a leader called umialik. matters of tribal affairs.’ According to Burch (2006,
A central feature of traditional Iñupiaq society 308), elders exerted their authority in the assembly
was a sexual division of labour, in which men hunted house on matters of social control and regulation, and
and made tools whereas women were in charge of ‘[a]n umialik had to be extremely brazen to go directly
processing and storing food and raw materials as well against the collective wishes of the elders, and suffered
as gathering, and both men and women participated an enormous loss of esteem and support if he did so’.
in fishing. While small seals could be hunted by indi- He thus argues that ‘the locus of the greatest institu-
viduals on foot or by kayak, large game – bearded tionalized power in an Iñupiaq society resided in the
seal, walrus and whales – were hunted by specialized elders, particularly male elders’, and corresponded
task groups called hunting crews (also boat crews or ‘more to elders as a group than to specific individuals’
whaling crews). Though their composition was fluid, (Burch 2006: 308). Nevertheless, it may be questionable
hunting crews were relatively stable units that endured to assert the existence of a gerontocracy or any formal
over time and played an important role in Iñupiaq age hierarchy, for elders did not constitute a ruling
socio-political organization. They were composed of class nor did they monopolize resources or women,
male hunters and were organized hierarchically, with and there were no initiation cults.
the umialik (captain and boat owner) at the top and Skill and knowledge were further factors for lead-
the rest ranked according to skill and age. Hunting ership. This applied especially to the role of the ataniq,
crew membership usually corresponded with qargi a task-group leader for certain collective activities such
affiliation, and the groups formed thereby constituted as communal maritime and terrestrial hunting as well
the political factions of the village. Furthermore, crew as warfare (Burch 2006: 68). Such activities required
members were generally recruited from different specific organizational skills and certain individuals
households within a single family group, thus con- were particularly apt and experienced. The ataniq was
tributing to the integration of the latter by establishing not a leader in general in the community, but rather
ties of cooperation and reciprocity. Each hunting crew limited to a certain activity: ‘Context was crucial here’
used an umiak, a relatively large, open skin boat made and thus the leader’s ‘sphere of influence fluctuated
of a wooden frame covered with split walrus hides, accordingly’ (2005: 88–9). This is the kind of situational,
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 Leadership and inequality among the Iñupiat: a case of transegalitarian hunter-gatherers

task-oriented, and transient kind of leadership that by others. Even though there were no formal rules
exists among egalitarian hunter–gatherers (Barnard of inheritance nor any inherited ascribed status, skin
2002: 9–10). Ritual knowledge was important in the boats as well as other material wealth were likely to be
role of shamans, but also in the role of the umialik, a inherited, usually by the oldest son of a crew captain,
leader and whaling captain. The umialik was in charge and with it also the umialik’s role and status (Burch
of organizing and directing the whaling cult and cer- 2006: 314; Ray 1992: 107). This is a significant aspect,
emonies that took place in the qargi before and during since the relative importance of material wealth (in
the whaling season (Spencer 1959). Ritual knowledge relation to embodied and relational wealth) in a soci-
certainly had a function of legitimizing the role of the ety and the extent to which it can be transmitted over
umialik, but it was probably not an important resource generations account for higher economic inequalities
for getting to power, since his ceremonial and ritual (Borgerhoff Mulder et al. 2009), which constitute the
duties were acquired or lost depending on his ability basis for stronger leadership.
to accumulate certain wealth in order to enlist a crew. Ownership of boats was a necessary but not
In effect, material wealth was the defining feature sufficient condition for becoming an umialik. A crew
of the umialik – the most prominent Iñupiaq leader – captain also needed to be able to create and maintain
and constituted the main difference between Iñupiaq a network of supporters, and for this purpose he
leadership and that of egalitarian hunter–gatherers. The needed to accumulate and manage food surpluses.
Iñupiaq term umialik has several meanings, including Given the high seasonality of their environment, the
‘boat owner, leader, boss, and rich man’ (Burch 2006: Iñupiat relied heavily on storage, especially during the
66). This achieved position, though it could eventu- winter. Food was stored in cellars or storing facilities
ally be lost, was not restricted to specific tasks: ‘The inside the houses, which belonged to the extended
umialik role, unlike the ataniq role, was not context family and its component households. Storage has
sensitive: a rich man was wealthy whether or not he been identified as a factor, or at least a precondition,
actually directed a particular activity or crew’ (Burch for social inequality (Testart 1982). In the Iñupiaq case,
2005: 153). The umialik was a successful head of family, the large food surpluses that became available with
a boat owner and crew captain, and a good trader. His the development of effective whaling technology and
wealth consisted in stored food surpluses (mostly sea the possibility to store them, enabled the umialik to
mammal products), hunting and transportation equip- become a redistributor in addition to a hunt leader
ment, and trade goods (primarily furs) (Burch 2006: 67). (Sheehan 1985). The umialik provided his crew and
Ownership of boats was a fundamental factor in family members with gifts and material support, not
the role of the umialik, as the skin boat ‘was regarded only during the hunting season but also during the
as the most valuable single piece of property’ (Spencer winter (Bogojavlensky 1969; Burch 2005, 2006; Spencer
1959: 156). After all, it was the technological means 1959). In this way, he created a followership whose
with which the community obtained the bulk of their loyalty extended beyond the hunting context and was
subsistence, including food and raw materials. As a further established through affiliation to the assembly
boat owner and crew captain the umialik had certain house (qargi) he owned and led.
duties and privileges: he not only directed the division Surpluses were used both to create a followership
and distribution of large game (walrus and especially that would cooperate for productive activities, as well
whales) but also kept the largest and best parts (Burch as to create regional alliances. Crew captains were
2006: 160–9; Thornton 1931: 170; Worl 1980). Accord- engaged in some form of competitive feasting, most
ing to some observers, crew captains also restricted notably in the Messenger Feast, which took place in
the access to walrus hides needed for boat covering winter and included several activities such as athletic
and only obtained by boat crews, thereby preventing competitions, dances, and gift exchange. In the Mes-
other (younger) men from creating their own crews senger Feast, as described by Spencer (1959: 210–27),
(Bogojavlensky 1969: 70; Ellanna 1988: 112–13). By the host umialik invited an umialik from another com-
owning boats and limiting access to its raw materi- munity, to whom a great amount of gifts (including
als, crew captains controlled this central means for food, clothing, equipment, dogs, etc.) were offered. The
production, making other people dependent on them host umialik would accumulate surpluses for this occa-
for subsistence. This is one of the main features that sion, usually over years, not only with the support of
distinguishes non-egalitarian, delayed-return systems his own followers, but also from other umialgich (plural
from egalitarian, immediate-return systems, where of umialik) in his community and their respective fol-
there is no dependency on specific others (Woodburn lowers. By hosting a Messenger Feast and distributing
1982). This dependence allowed the umialik to have gifts, the umialik enhanced his status and created and
some control over labour and surpluses produced maintained inter-group alliances.
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 Chapter 5

The patron–client relationship established between However, different strategies and organizational
an umialik and his followership, which needed to be forms may be deployed in this respect with conse-
created and constantly maintained through gift giving, quences on the forms of inequality and leadership.
greatly resembles the dynamics of big-man leadership While in the Iñupiat case accumulation of wealth
in Melanesia described by Sahlins (1963). Moreover, the and power by individuals is more prominent, in the
use of feasting as a strategy to amass and control sur- other cases mentioned above the corporate group is
pluses produced by others is consistent with Hayden’s emphasized. Iñupiaq leadership had elements of both
(1995) depiction of aggrandizers in transegalitarian the network and the corporate strategies described
societies. Feasting may well have been utilized as a by Feinman (1995) or their respective finance and
strategy to attract labour (Hayden 1995), considering home production strategies in New Guinea depicted
the fact that crew captains competed to attract crew by Strathern (1969). On the one hand, the umialik was
members (especially for specialized positions such as engaged in a network of external exchange through
the harpooner), who were free to change their affiliation trade with inland groups and through the Messenger
to a crew (Spencer 1959: 153, 179). In sum, an umialik’s Feast (network/finance strategy), and on the other
leadership depended not only on controlling the means hand, he heavily depended on the labour force of his
of production but also on controlling labour, which own group to create and control surpluses in order
enabled him to accumulate and manage surpluses and to create a faction (corporate/home production strat-
to gain higher status and power. His sphere of influence egy). The latter was probably more important, since
was mainly restricted to the extended family, but the inter-group trade could hardly be monopolized by
larger his family the wealthier he could become, and individuals or groups given its decentralized char-
the more influence he would have in the community acter in the form of individual trading partnerships
at large (Burch 2006: 74). (Burch 2005: 62–3), and because most of the material
Another relevant issue is the relationship between wealth manipulated by leaders took the forms of food
cooperative boat hunting, property rights, and kinship surpluses produced by their own group. Interestingly,
in the emergence of inequalities. ‘Eskimo’ societies the Iñupiat did not have unilineal corporate groups
have been generally described as having bilateral in contrast to other transegalitarian (foraging and
kinship with a certain emphasis on the male line non-foraging) societies. Instead, patrilineally focused
or patrilineal links (Damas 1968), but this tendency hunting crews and qargi affiliation served to create
seems to be stronger and more elaborate in the whal- factions that acted as corporate groups, but with the
ing communities of Northwest Alaska and the Bering limitation posed by the flexibility and ambiguity of
Strait region. The Iñupiat had bilateral kindreds but group formation in bilateral kinship systems.
patrilineally focused hunting crews and assembly Gender was another, if contentious, aspect of
houses, which acted as corporate groups. Among inequality. The existence of certain male dominance
the Asiatic Yupik of Eastern Siberia and St. Lawrence among the Iñupiat can be argued on the grounds that
Island patrilineal clans or lineages corporately owned marriage could (but not necessarily did) take forms in
boats and shared hunting returns, and constituted which women had less freedom of choice, even though
the basis for recruiting hunting crews (Hughes 1984; they could ultimately refuse to marry a certain man
Schweitzer 1990). A strikingly similar situation exists and were also able to initiate divorce as much as men
among the whale hunters of Lamalera, Indonesia, were (Burch 1975; Guemple 1995; Spencer 1959). In
where patrilineal corporate groups own boats and the context of the family, Burch (2006: 310) writes that
operate crews with specialized roles and labour; and ‘males generally had authority over females’, but gen-
hunting returns are corporately, if unequally, dis- der intersected for that matters with age, and seniority
tributed (Alvard 2003). We may thus speculate that often had primacy over gender (Bodenhorn 1990: 7;
cooperative boat hunting with specialized roles leads Guemple 1995: 22). On the other hand, women could
to the formation of corporate groups with property dispose quite freely of the products of their labour and
rights over technology, and consequently, to unequal were able to trade independently from their husbands
access to food and the means to acquire it. The fact that (Spencer 1959: 177). Being in charge of processing, stor-
hunting is a male task in the cases discussed above age, and distribution, women wielded control over the
may explain the patrilineal tendency, as a response raw materials and food produced by other members
to the need to maintain a core of closely related males of the family (Burch 2006: 310). Besides, distribution
for cooperative hunting (Ellanna 1988), and because and redistribution ‘frequently moved along lines of
unilineal descent creates clearly bounded groups kinship and affiliation distinct from those of their
for collective action and the defence of property and husbands, sons, or other male kin’ (Ellanna & Sherrod
people (Alvard 2003). 1995: 31). Thus, it appears that women enjoyed high
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 Leadership and inequality among the Iñupiat: a case of transegalitarian hunter-gatherers

levels of autonomy and had much control over their the Chukchi, who received furs in return, which they
labour and its products, as well as of part of the fam- further traded with the Cossacks. This trade, which
ily’s economic production (Bodenhorn 1990; Ellanna continued and increased after contact and through
& Sherrod 1995). the first half of the nineteenth century (Ray 1992),
Leadership in public domains and politics has presumably had an effect on the role of the umialik,
been usually described as a male domain in ‘Eskimo’ since controlling trade was to some extent one of the
societies (for an alternative view see Bodenhorn 1990). avenues to accumulate wealth and acquire power. This
For example, Guemple (1995: 25) writes that leaders issue may suggest that the Iñupiat in pre-contact times
‘have always been men, and the task of formulating had already been impacted by the European expansion
collective opinion and organizing any kind of collective and fur trade before the actual arrival of Europeans,
action has invariably been left to them’. This seems to in what Ferguson & Whitehead (1992) have called
apply to the Iñupiat insofar as the ataniq (task-group the tribal zone of expanding states. This points to a
leader) was generally a male (Burch 2006: 68) and the limitation in using ethnohistoric reconstructions of
umialik was exclusively male. Thus, even though the Iñupiat society as archaeological analogy for the study
distinction between private/domestic and public may of prehistoric transegalitarian societies.
not be applicable to foraging societies (Leacock 1978), The arrival of commercial whalers and traders to
many collective enterprises such as hunting, warfare, Northwest Alaska in the mid 1800s marked the begin-
and ceremonies were organized, coordinated and ning of intensive interactions with Euro-Americans,
directed by men. Furthermore, the qargi – the assembly bringing large amounts of trade goods, disease, alcohol,
house and only extra-household institution – has been and depletion of resources. Many Iñupiat began to
often translated as the men’s house as it was a place work for commercial whalers getting paid with staple
where mainly men gathered and women were only foods and trade goods, inducing the movement and
allowed to enter for bringing in food and on ceremonial concentration of the native population around shore
occasions (Ray 1992: 106). Women could wield some stations (Bockstoce 1978). The possibility to partici-
informal power through their husbands on decisions pate in the whaling industry, and make a living out
that fell into the domain of men (Burch 2006: 308). of it, reduced to some extent the dependence on kin,
But not all leadership was a male matter. As eventually eroding the authority of senior over junior
mentioned above, women wielded control over their family members. As Burch (1975: 29) puts it: ‘By 1885,
sphere of production and distribution as much as men an Eskimo youth could tell his relatives to ‘Go to the
did over theirs, and therefore enjoyed much autonomy. devil,’ and then join a white man’s whaling crew.’
Women could be shamans too. Senior women and Cassell (2000) describes the consequences of these
especially wives of whaling captains had leadership developments for the leadership of the umialik. Strong
positions in several ritual and economic contexts: they competition from commercial whalers for recruiting
performed rituals to ensure their husband’s hunting crew members undermined control over labour by
success, apportioned work among women within the already established boat captains. The latter’s control
family for processing and storing, controlled caches and over trade was also undermined and new opportuni-
supervised distribution within the family, controlled ties for accumulating wealth through employment
(together with their husbands) inter-family exchange, in the whaling industry led to increased numbers of
and dispensed gifts in order to extend influence and boat captains, such that between the 1850s and 1890s
create reciprocal obligations (Bodenhorn 1990; Burch in Barrow the number of captains per person doubled.
2006; Ellanna & Sherrod 1995). Especially because of Thus, Cassell (2000: 115) argues that ‘the power base
the latter, Ellanna & Sherrod (1995) extend Sahlins’ was much more broadly distributed’. At the same time,
model (1963) to Iñupiaq female leaders, arguing that several Iñupiaq captains ended up operating crews
they acted as big-women by using surpluses at hand to for the commercial whalers, and thus, ‘[w]here they
create reciprocal obligations through gifts. Indeed, an formerly had controlled production, umialiit [plural
umialik and his wife, whom Bodenhorn (1990) refers to of umialik] became middlemen’ (Cassell 2000: 121).
as the whaling couple, acted much as one unit in many After its collapse in the early twentieth century,
of their tasks, responsibilities and functions as leaders. commercial whaling left behind depleted whales and
walrus stocks as well as a high dependence of the Iñu-
Changes through contact and assimilation piat on imported food and goods, including hunting
technology (Bockstoce 1978). Wage employment in
Before contact with Europeans in the second half of the whaling industry was replaced by fur trapping in
the eighteenth century the Iñupiat obtained some the North Slope and reindeer herding in the Seward
Russian metal (and other) goods through trade with Peninsula, both having the reverse effect of commercial
75
 Chapter 5

whaling on demography and settlement patterns by New technologies and dependence on cash altered
dispersing the population (Burch 1975; Chance 1966). the organization of hunting crews and attenuated the
Such population dispersals ‘disrupted kin ties, winter importance of seniority for leadership. Firearms were
ceremonials, and other cohesive forms of community adopted already in the late 1800s, outboard motors
life’ (Chance 1966: 63), thereby eroding the leadership in the 1920s, and imported boats made of plywood
of the umialik. These patterns were again reversed and aluminium were introduced in the 1970s eventu-
during the 1940s as fur trapping and reindeer herding ally replacing the traditional skin boats. The paths
came to an end. The establishment of missions, stores, to become a crew captain changed as it became no
schools, and further infrastructure from the 1890s on longer necessary to have access to walrus hides and to
and the increased possibilities for wage employment women’s labour for boat construction, but rather access
led again to a concentration of the population in vil- to cash income. Similar to the effects of commercial
lages and increased sedentarization, re-establishing whaling in the nineteenth century, this undermined
the leadership of the umialik (Chance 1966: 63–4). In the control of established captains over the means of
the consequent decades the Iñupiat became widely production and created opportunities for other, and
involved in wage employment such as construction, the younger, men to buy a boat and form their own crew
military (due to the cold war), and the oil industry (in (Ellanna 1983).
the North Slope). These historical concentrations and This phenomenon can be observed in some of the
dispersals of the population and their correspondent five crews that were operating during my fieldwork
accentuation or attenuation of the umialik’s leadership in Wales in 2016 (see Fig. 5.1), as three of them had
support the argument that stronger leadership and younger adults recruiting their older relatives, thus
higher inequality are, at least to some extent, a func- inverting the traditional age hierarchy. Younger cap-
tion of increasing population density, as the costs for tains may now assume the leadership of crews in the
leaders to interact with potential followers and other traditional way by providing supplies for the hunt,
leaders is reduced (Roscoe, this volume). taking important decisions such as when and where
In the course of the twentieth century political and to go hunting, assuming responsibilities for the safety
economic dependence on the United States increased of the crew, and taking the risks of unsuccessful hunts.
dramatically. Village councils (also tribal councils) At the same time, senior members in the crew advice
were established during the 1930s and 1940s. In 1971 younger captains and wield influence on decision
the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) making. However, this situation certainly contrasts
was passed and with it village and regional for-profit with the obedience towards senior captains that elderly
corporations were created, in which Alaska Natives men in Wales report from their youth, and suggests
became shareholders. Contemporary Alaska Native that decision making and authority in the context of
villages have mixed economies combining subsistence boat crews is now more equally distributed among
hunting, fishing and gathering, with wage labour and juniors and seniors.
cash. At present, there are four sources of cash income Captains are generally expected to provide the
in the community of Wales: wage employment, wel- necessary supplies for hunting, including fuel, ammu-
fare, dividends (from the Native village and regional nition, food, coffee and cigarettes, which represent
corporations, as well as from the Alaska Permanent significant costs ranging from 90 to 300 US-dollars
Fund), and some minor commercial activities such as per hunting trip. However, in some cases the captain
selling ivory carvings. There are limited jobs in the may not be able to provide all the resources, in which
village, provided for example by the airlines (the only case his family and/or crew members will pool them
way to access the village), the school, the post office, together. This strategy was pursued by crews with
the health clinic, the Native corporation (which owns both younger and elder captains, as was for example
surrounding land), and the tribal council (funded by the case in crews B and C (Fig. 5.1). This seems to be
the government). The latter is probably the largest a different situation from the traditional umialik who
employer and the institution in charge of organizing was wealthy enough to provide for his crew and
and assisting with funding and subsidies. Many jobs family members, not only during the hunt but also
are seasonal and part-time, and costs of living (food, off season, meaning that the present captains might
fuel) are high. Cash income is needed for most aspects not be as influential and powerful as they used to be.
of survival including food procurement, clothing, Moreover, the cash economy has decreased the
housing and heating. Cash is generally not shared in demand for wild foods, which some households with
the way wild foods are (i.e. distributed through shar- active hunters reported to eat only one to four times
ing networks), but is oftentimes pooled by members per fortnight. Consequently, some households have
of a household. become more or less independent from the foraging
76
 Leadership and inequality among the Iñupiat: a case of transegalitarian hunter-gatherers

Crew A Crew B

Crew C

Cousin Unrelated
(no further details

Crew D

Crew E

Key

male

female

deceased

marriage
filiation
siblings

Figure 5.1. Composition and kinship relationships of five hunting crews in Wales, as surveyed by the author in the
spring of 2016. Grey denotes crew members and black crew captains.
77
 Chapter 5

economy. This phenomenon had been already observed influence of missionaries, village councils and other
by Jorgensen (1990) in his comparison of three Iñupiaq institutions such as the school took over some of the
and Yupik villages. Also the use of family-owned functions of the qargi (Larson 1995). Elders in Wales
caches of food has become less frequent; instead, reported that members of the tribal council used to
households tend to store and manage their own food be male elders, usually prestigious hunters and crew
(and other resources) more independently. Shrinking captains, who took important decisions, resolved
households and family groups (Magdanz, Utermohle, disputes and applied sanctions. However, the tribal
& Wolfe 2002) together with the individualization of council has now become more of an administrative
production and consumption has reduced the sphere of and bureaucratic institution linking the village with
influence and control of crew captains and their wives, state institutions and Native organizations in the urban
eventually curtailing their authority and leadership. centres. By the time of my fieldwork most members
Technological change and the cash/wage economy and employees of the tribal council (including leading
has also shifted the patterns of the sexual division of positions) and some members of the village corpora-
labour. Women’s labour has been partly displaced tion were not elder, male hunters, but rather women
from the foraging economy due to a reduced need for of various ages, as well as at least one male young
local raw materials formerly processed by women, adult who did not participate in hunting. While good
especially skins for clothing and covering of boats. At hunters and boat captains are still prestigious, they are
the same time, some women go hunting in boat crews not necessarily wealthy and powerful. Rather, ‘the new
(see Fig. 5.1), and some men work with the processing leadership draws its legitimacy from [formal] educa-
of food, indicating a more flexible division of labour tion and the ability to interact with external institutions’
between the sexes. This phenomenon also occurred in (Langdon 1986: 39), and this is something for which
the past with labour shortages, now being more likely a women are oftentimes better qualified. Regarding sen-
response to the reorganization of labour and problems iority, Chance (1966: 64) wrote in his ethnography of
of time allocation due to wage labour. Women appear North Alaska, that ‘the older Eskimo pass on to young
to be more involved in the wage economy than men adults what was their traditional right to leadership
(Bodenhorn 1990). They tend to be employed more positions’ (1966: 64). This is also true for Wales, but
in white collar jobs, have higher levels of education, it is not without conflict that this process takes place.
work more for wages, and earn more money than men Elders still have roles as informal leaders, e.g. as elder
do (Magdanz et al. 2002). In some households women advisers for the village tribal council, but it is common
have become the main providers of cash, while men to hear them complaining about not being heard and
may work seasonally, hunt and take care of children. taken into account, or not being respected by juniors.
Women may even finance hunting crews (Ellanna A final issue concerns the changes in the role of
& Sherrod 1995). For example, in some of the crews kinship and patterns of affiliation. The kinship sys-
in Wales it was the mother, wife or daughter of the tem and kinship groups were greatly disrupted by
captain who sometimes or regularly paid for the fuel. epidemics, missionary intervention and the schooling
Furthermore, Ellanna & Sherrod (1995) observed that system (e.g. loss of kinship terminology, elimination
particularly powerful women have tended to control or repression of certain marriage practices), and the
the allocation of cash earned by other members of the role of kinship in Iñupiaq society decreased through
household. Though women’s control of the household the introduction of wage employment and non-kin
economy, especially the processing and distribution of organizations and institutions (Burch 1975). Neverthe-
food, is not new, it seems that they may now assume less, extended family groups can still be recognized in
leading roles formerly reserved for men. Women may Wales as the main locus for cooperation and exchange,
be heads of households as in some cases observed in my with the difference that now families and households
fieldwork, or even become crew captains. One elder and have become smaller (Magdanz et al. 2002). The boat
crew captain in Wales expressed his wish to make his crews in Wales depicted in Figure 5.1 are basically all
daughter and crew member a captain one day. Female composed by kin, mostly from within extended fami-
harpooners in whaling crews have been reported also lies, and they are relatively stable over time, though
among other Iñupiaq villages (Kelkar 2016). membership is fluid. However, kinship ties to a captain
Shifts in the age hierarchy, gender roles, and the and crew affiliation does not play a fundamental role
relative economic and social importance of hunting, in village politics anymore as it formerly did when the
together with changes in political institutions have institution of the qargi was still operating. Contempo-
altered community-wide politics and leadership. When rary governing institutions do not function according
the assembly houses were abandoned or destroyed to kinship, but rather through election or employment
in the first half of the twentieth century through the of their members.
78
 Leadership and inequality among the Iñupiat: a case of transegalitarian hunter-gatherers

Kinship, however, has not completely lost its in several ways. Concentrations and dispersals of
political importance, since factionalism in the village populations respectively strengthened and weakened
still takes the form of family rivalries. But the change the leadership of the umialik. Imported technologies
in socio-political institutions (i.e. from the qargi to the and changes in subsistence (increased dependence on
tribal council) implies that now families struggle to trade, imported foods and materials, wage labour and
control one central, village-wide institution, while cash, and reduced demand of foraging) challenged the
formerly each family had its own assembly house. traditional age hierarchy and changed the pathways
Such is the case in Wales where one family is mainly to become an umialik. Changes in subsistence also led
in control of the village tribal council. This might indi- to an individualization of production and consump-
cate a tendency towards political inequalities between tion and limited the possibility to generate surpluses
family groups, rather than between individuals within through hunting, reducing the sphere of influence
relatively autonomous families as it formerly was the of the umialik and eroding the traditional big-man
case. Internal differentiation and the emergence of type of leadership. Thus status and prestige through
leading elites through the control of new organizational large-game hunting became decoupled from wealth
skills and external links has been reported to occur and power, and the umialik became a more situational
in other Alaska Native villages (Dombrowski 2007; leader. Another effect of the changes in technology and
Langdon 1986). Nevertheless, positions in the village subsistence was a shift in the division of labour and
council and the village corporation in Wales seem to consequently in gender roles and inequalities. Finally,
rotate often enough among individuals to prevent or the imposition of new governing institutions and the
dampen this development. shifts in the skills needed for leadership, together
with a reorganization of labour, altered community
Conclusion factionalism and created new leadership patterns in
which women and non-hunters take part.
Traditional Iñupiaq leadership was based, to differ- Recent research has paid more attention to indi-
ing extents, on an informal age hierarchy (seniority), viduals and their strategies as driving forces of social
organizational skills and knowledge for cooperative inequality. While these are important to account for
hunting, ritual knowledge, a certain gender imbalance, specific processes and variation, this case study dem-
and material wealth inequalities. The latter, in the form onstrates that systemic or structural variables must be
of ownership of technology and the accumulation included as they enable or constrain individual choices
and management of food surpluses as well as trade and strategies. Based on Ferguson’s (1995) revision
goods, was the main feature of the umialgich – the most of Harris’ (1979) cultural materialist model, I have
prominent Iñupiaq leaders. This distinguished Iñupiaq elsewhere (Buela 2016) explained historic and contem-
leadership from that found in egalitarian societies, as porary changes in Iñupiaq society as the products of
it created dependency on specific others and a non- changes in the infrastructure (subsistence, technology
situational, more permanent and institutionalized and population) as well as the structure (economic,
(though not ascribed) form of leadership. Material social and political organization) of the social system.
wealth was used by leaders to create and maintain a While some phenomena can be explained as structural
followership as in the model of big-man leadership, ramifications of infrastructural changes, other have
with an emphasis on corporate or home production their causes in structural variables. In the present case
strategies. Despite the lack of unilineal descent groups, study, changes of various kinds have been shown to
affiliation to a hunting crew and a qargi (assembly shape the levels and patterns of inequality. Factors such
house) served to create factions and corporate groups as the availability of surpluses, storage, population
with a core of patrilineally related males. Even though density, as well as the relative dependence on forag-
the umialik was always a male, some women (e.g. the ing and imported food and materials, have enabled or
umialik’s wife) applied similar strategies to become constrained the ability of leaders to become more or less
leaders through their own means in the domains of wealthy and powerful. At the same time, the specific
production and distribution over which they had forms in which leadership takes place and inequality
control. Hence, men’s and women’s leadership was is organized has depended on structural factors such
to a great extent heterarchical (Crumley 1995) rather as property relations, kinship and group affiliation,
than hierarchical. political institutions, as well as the strategies pursued
Changes in demography, technology, subsist- by individual leaders and corporate groups. Hence,
ence, and socio-political institutions brought about by the integration of systemic and actor-centred perspec-
contact with Euro–Americans and assimilation into tives can be a fruitful avenue to better understand the
a larger society affected leadership and inequalities dynamics of leadership and social inequality.
79
 Chapter 5

Acknowledgements Cassell, M.S., 2000. Iñupiat Labor and Commercial Shore

Whaling in Northern Alaska. The Pacific Northwest
I am very grateful to Robert Attenborough, Mark Quarterly 91(3), 115–23.
Dyble, Brian Ferguson, Khaled Hakami, Alexandra Chance, N.A., 1966. The Eskimo of North Alaska. New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Meyer and Paul Roscoe for their useful comments
Crumley, C.L., 1995. Heterarchy and the Analysis of Complex
and insights on earlier versions of this paper. I also Societies. Archeological Papers of the American Anthro-
wish to express my gratitude to Khaled Hakami and pological Association 6(1), 1–5.
Peter Schweitzer for their support, and to the people Damas, D., 1968. The Diversity of Eskimo Societies, in Man
of Wales who warmly welcomed me and cooperated the Hunter, eds. R.B. Lee & I. DeVore. New York: Aldine
with my research. This research was possible thanks de Gruyter, 111–17.
to the generous financial support provided by the Dombrowski, K., 2007. Subsistence Livelihood, Native Iden-
University of Vienna. tity and Internal Differentiation in Southeast Alaska.
Anthropologica 49(2), 211–29.
Ellanna, L.J., 1983. Technological and Social Change of Marine
Notes
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Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of
1. Iñupiat is the plural form and the name of the people. Subsistence.
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e.g. as in Iñupiaq society. Strait. Arctic Anthropology 25(1), 107–19.
Ellanna, L.J., & G.K. Sherrod, 1995. ‘Big women’: Gender
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 Chapter 6

Egalitarianism and democratized access

to lethal weaponry: a neglected approach

Duncan N.E. Stibbard-Hawkes

Many living and ethnographically described hunter- inequalities in the hunting ability of their campmates
gatherer populations appear to be, in the words of James (Stibbard-Hawkes et al. 2018). Good hunters are viewed
Woodburn (1982), ‘egalitarian societies’; groups among favourably (Wood 2006) and camps often take their
whom ‘equalities of power, equalities of wealth and name from ‘some senior man, usually between 40 and
equalities of rank are not merely sought but are, with 65 years of age’ (Marlowe 2010: 49). The Ju/’hoansi,
certain limited exceptions, genuinely realised’ (p. 432). although they emphasized sharing and downplayed
An early colonial account of the Tanzanian Hadza status differences, recognized priority of access rights
(Bagshawe 1925: 123), for example, observed that they over the areas surrounding water holes (‘n!ores’), and
‘recognise no chief or headman’; a fact reflected in recent the groups living near particular watering holes were
accounts (Marlowe 2010; Blurton Jones 2016). Similarly, often given the name of a single person (e.g. ‘Bon!a’s
Kirk Endicott (1988: 122), quoting Woodburn (1982), camp’ or ‘Kxarun!a’s camp’; Lee 1979: 343).
wrote of the Malay Batek people that ‘there are either Furthermore, as Flanagan (1989) observed, so-
no leaders at all or leaders who are very elaborately called ‘egalitarian societies’ often have a strong sexual
constrained to prevent them from exercising authority division of labour, where men and women pursue
or using their influence to acquire wealth or prestige’. different, non-overlapping sets of resources (see also
Many other forager groups have comparably flat politi- Bird 1999; Marlowe 2007). Although many egalitarian
cal hierarchies, including the Central African Mbuti societies may have a high degree of female autonomy
(Turnbull 1964: 41; ‘There are no chiefs or councils (Endicott 1981; Dyble et al. 2015), there still often exist
of elders’) and Aka (Bahuchet 1999: 192; ‘There is no inequalities between the genders. Among the Hadza, for
constraining political hierarchy… Aka society is acepha- example, women are more often the victims of domes-
lous’); the Philippine Agta (Griffin & Griffin 1999: 292; tic violence (Marlowe 2015, pers. comm.). However,
‘no one has control over another person’) and, though though gender inequalities do exist among residentially
perhaps to a lesser extent, the Dobe Ju/’hoansi (Lee mobile foragers, they still appear in a large number of
1979: 348; ‘Each one of us is headman over himself!’). cases to be less marked than among other populations
This pattern of political egalitarianism is often associ- (Endicott 1981).
ated with low population densities, high residential Despite the difficulties involved in classifying
mobility and variable group composition, and little differing groups using a single term, the extent of
to no territoriality (Kelly 2013; Roscoe, this volume). individual autonomy, and equality in resource access
Of course, as with any reductionist attempt at among many forager groups is remarkable, especially
typifying societies, the reality is more complex. For in contrast to the inequalities in status, property and
example, among some Australian groups such as wealth so ubiquitous in most other human populations.
the Tiwi, inequalities in prestige and influence are It is also remarkable that egalitarianism is so often found
recorded in the absence of formal political hierarchies among residentially mobile, small-scale forager groups
and alongside egalitarian food access (Hart & Pilling who have no phylogenetic or other link beyond sharing
1960). These groups would not be classified as ‘egali- a notionally similar subsistence strategy.
tarian societies’ sensu stricto, but even among more Although those ‘egalitarian societies’ discussed
egalitarian groups, differences in status are still found. by Woodburn (1982) are all hunter-gatherers, not all
For example, among the Hadza, people are aware of hunter-gatherers – those groups who subsist without
83
 Chapter 6

plant cultivation or domesticated livestock – are egali- agreed upon, the general prediction is clear: Storage
tarian. Among many Australian foragers, for example, and sedentism are ‘the “kick” that sets sociopolitical
although there are no formal political hierarchies and changes in motion’ (Kelly 2013: 252) and precipitate a
few inequalities in food access, certain individuals may shift from ‘simple’, mobile, egalitarian forager groups
be senior to others and there are significant inequalities to ‘complex’ hierarchical societies.
in men’s marriage prospects accompanying significant This logic, although coherent, carries several
differences in individual autonomy between the sexes assumptions (see Rowley-Conwy 2001) of which I
(Hart & Pilling 1960; Martin 1999). Further, many highlight two. The first is that modern mobile, egalitar-
hunter-gatherer groups, for example those living on ian forager groups make good models for past forager
the Pacific Northwest coast of North America (e.g. the societies. This assumption has been discussed at length
Chinook) formerly had social stratification, hereditary elsewhere. It is made difficult firstly because the politi-
‘castes’, and discrepancies in wealth (Ames 2003; Hajda cal organization of many contemporary foragers has
2005). Some groups held slaves (Ames 2003). Such been seen by some as a product of state interactions
status differences were also observed, though to a (e.g. Wilmsen et al. 1990; Headland et al. 1989; Lieber-
lesser extent, among the Chumash people of California man et al. 2007) and because many forager groups in
(Arnold 1992) and among several New Guinean groups Australia, especially in coastal regions (Martin 1999)
(Roscoe, this volume). Patterns of storage, wealth and have strong gerontocratic hierarchies, even without
status differentiation are also visible archaeologically storage and sedentism (Myers 1999). However, although
in several past hunter-gatherer populations, including there are problems with this view, it is one that I, like
several prehistoric North American groups (Arnold others (e.g. Lee 1998; Layton 2001; Marlowe 2005) gen-
1992; Sassaman 2004) and those of Jōmon period Japan erally support. In the words of Robert Layton (2001:
(Arnold 1992). In this latter case, there is some disagree- 314–15), ‘I consider the tendency for hunter-gatherers
ment about the extent of inequalities observed in grave with very different histories to converge on particular
goods (Pearson 2007), a problem exacerbated by the solutions to living in certain environments… insightful
fact that the ‘Jōmon’ period (14,000–300 bc) is broadly in understanding the role of hunting and gathering in
defined and neither resource use nor demography human evolution’.
were temporally or spatially homogeneous (Crema The second assumption is the almost Rousseauian
et al. 2016). notion that egalitarianism is the ancestral condition of
Such hierarchies are generally found in the con- mankind, and that the appearance of storage, sedentism
texts of storage and sedentarism, especially in areas and the advent of agriculture or food storage, initiated
where resources are clumped and monopolizable (e.g. a shift towards inequality and hierarchy (Testart et al.
fishing weirs or fertile stretches of coast; Kelly 2013: 255) 1982; Kelly 2013). This assumption is reflected in the
and/or are temporally desynchronized, necessitating title of the present volume; even to ask whether we
storage (e.g. anadromously breeding fish & seasonal can ‘speak of inequality before farming’ is to assume
nuts; Testart et al. 1982; Arnold 1992; Cannon & Yang ancestral egalitarianism.
2006; Sakaguchi 2009). In this view, storage accompanies However, if we look beyond the human species, to
sedentism – stores cannot be abandoned – and reli- gregarious primates and other group living mammals,
able year-round food access. This leads to population we regularly find hierarchy and profound inequality
growth, which further reduces residential mobility in resource (food and mate) access. Chimpanzees (Pan
(Kelly 2013), prohibiting people from relocating to avoid troglodytes), for example, have dominance hierarchies
would-be despots. Population size increases also require which influence both resource access (Murray et al.
increased intensification of labour and so ‘leaders arise 2007) and, among males, number of offspring sired
as a product of the need to coordinate communal labor (Constable et al. 2001). Male bonobos (Pan paniscus),
and alleviate the stress on group members of punishing although less often violent and less male-dominated
free-riders’ (Kelly 2013: 267). Alternatively, viewed in than Pan troglodytes, also form linear dominance hier-
terms of Marx’s theory of alienation, storage creates archies both in captivity (Vervaecke et al. 2000, though
surplus which, if monopolized by a minority of indi- see Paoli et al. 2006) and the wild (Surbeck et al. 2011).
viduals, can be leveraged as capital either to pay other If we assume, as many have done (McGrew 2010), that
individuals to generate and defend more surplus, or to the last common ancestor of humans and Pan was more
invest into ‘heavy and non-transportable equipment for Pan-like than human-like (Wrangham 1987; McGrew
food processing [production] and food storage’ (Testart 2010), we take human egalitarianism to be a derived
et al. 1982: 525) which generate greater individual condition. If egalitarianism was widespread among
wealth for resource holders. Although the specific earlier hominins, it must have appeared at some point
mechanisms are complex, multifaceted and not widely during the last 4–8 million years (Hobolth et al. 2007;
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 Egalitarianism and democratized access to lethal weaponry: a neglected approach

Langergraber et al. 2012). Knauft et al. (1991), dis- the means of production’ (Lee 1990: 254). I call this
cussing violence, describe this as a ‘U-shaped curve’. the ‘meals-on-legs’ hypothesis, though elsewhere in
Equality, in this view, was absent throughout most of the literature ‘foraging-mode-of-production theory’
our evolutionary history, appeared at some point, and is preferred (Gardner 1991: 453–4). This hypothesis is
then disappeared again with the advent of storage and similar to and compatible with the idea that hierarchy
sedentism. If this is the case we need not only to explain is related to storage, sedentism and the monopolization
why egalitarianism disappeared. We must also explain of defendable resources (Testart et al. 1982; Kelly 2013).
how it appeared and was regulated in the first place. These ideas have been reviewed elsewhere and,
There have been several attempts to do this. with the exception of the two ‘resource distribution’
Boehm et al. (1993) have argued that egalitarianism is explanations for egalitarianism which I return to in the
the consequence of an egalitarian ‘ethos’, where indi- conclusion, I discuss them no further. One specific idea,
viduals who become over-assertive or self-aggrandizing that egalitarianism is related to democratized access
are subject to criticism and ridicule (‘Any San who to the means of coercion (Woodburn 1982), especially
tries for personal ascendency is quickly cut down…;’ lethal ranged weaponry (Bingham 2000), is discussed
p. 230) and are deliberately disobeyed. Gardner (1991: only occasionally in the literature. Here I hope to dem-
457) advances a similar argument and calls this ethos onstrate that this idea is compelling, especially when
‘individual autonomy syndrome’. Suzman (2017a,b) considered in the context of the literature concerning
has also recently advanced this view and highlighted animal hierarchies.
the importance of ‘bushman banter’ in maintaining In this chapter I first provide a brief and selec-
egalitarianism. Although among many forager groups tive overview of A) the patterning and consequences
people will vociferously complain if someone is seen to of hierarchy amongst non-human animals and B) the
be taking more than their share (see, for example, Peter- reasons why hierarchies and inequalities between
son 1993), this is a proximate explanation (see Bateson individuals are so widely observed among non-human
& Laland 2013) and does not explain how complainants group living-mammals. In doing so, I hope to dem-
enforce their claims or why non-egalitarian groups do onstrate that forager egalitarianism is unusual when
not have a similar ethos. considered in an evolutionary perspective, and to show
Woodburn (1982) has, among other things, that the phenomenon probably followed a ‘U-shaped
stressed the importance of mobility and the fact that, curve’. Second, and drawing on this logic, I explore
where individuals can move between locations freely, the hypothesis that forager egalitarianism is related
interpersonal relationships ‘do not involve long-term to the appearance of lethal weaponry and poisons. I
binding commitments’ (p. 434) and, moreover, mobil- argue that this idea is compelling when considered
ity allows ‘people to segregate themselves easily from in the context of animal hierarchies. Finally, I explain
those with whom they are in conflict’ (p. 435) and avoid why the idea is difficult to test in both ethnographic
would-be despots. and archaeological contexts.
Several authors have also stressed the importance I conclude that the resource distribution hypoth-
of food resource access and distribution in maintain- esis is more compatible with the available evidence,
ing egalitarianism. Kristen Hawkes (2000) has argued although argue that the two theories are not necessarily
that the unpredictability and high daily variance in mutually exclusive. The fact that many non-egalitarian
individual hunting success rate typical of many hunter- groups also have widespread access to lethal weaponry,
gatherer groups ‘undercuts hierarchy’ (p. 59). ‘Any discussed in the conclusion, appears problematic to
hunter’s success on one day will always be followed the theory, although I propose that the lethal weapons
by failures, limiting the extent to which anyone can hypothesis is yet compelling and may still serve as an
maintain superiority over others’ (p. 72). important mechanism within contexts where valuable
Further, hunted game are seldom temporally resources such as land or cattle are not monopolized.
clumped and are, therefore, difficult for particular I argue that a more systematic analysis of the ethno-
individuals to monopolize. As consequence ‘people graphic record is warranted.
are not dependent on specific other people for access
to basic requirements’ (Woodburn 1982: 434). This idea The patterning and logic of hierarchy in group
has been expressed in terms of Marxian theory (Win- living mammals
terhalder 2001) – or what Lee (1990), quoting Engels
(2010), refers to as ‘primitive communism’. By this logic Group living among animals carries with it many
‘the environment itself [acts as] the storehouse’ (Lee advantages. In most species, group living reduces
& DeVore 1968: 11–12), no one individual can control predation. In some species, individuals may actively
surplus and ‘the whole population retain[s] access to deter predators through group defence and mobbing
85
 Chapter 6

(Russell & Wright 2009; Gursky 2010). More broadly may also experience more stress and disease (Sapolsky
applicable is the fact that 1) when grouped with other 2005). In certain species such as meerkats (Suricata
individuals, the risk to the individual of being targeted suricatta), which live in relatively harsh environments
is reduced (Hamilton 1971), and 2) groups have many and can seldom successfully migrate from their groups
more eyes and ears, increasing the speed of predator as lone breeding pairs, the majority of low-ranking
detection, while also decreasing the individual cost of females may not reproduce (MacLeod et al. 2013),
anti-predator vigilance (Mooring et al. 2004; Davies and higher-ranking females may attack or evict those
et al. 2012). Group living may also facilitate defence conspecifics with whom reproductive competition is
of resources (Wrangham 1980; Bryant & Grant 1995), most likely (Young et al. 2006).
cooperative foraging (Creel & Creel 1995; Boesch 2002; Animal dominance hierarchies are epiphenomena:
Carbone et al. 2005) and information transfer (de Groot the emergent properties of multiple individual-level,
1980; Wilkinson 1992) usually dyadic, interactions, each probabilistically in
The disadvantage of group living is that individu- the interest of both parties. Indeed, when construct-
als are often thrust into competition with conspecifics ing a hierarchy, researchers generally measure dyadic
over both food resources and, more often among males, ‘displacements’ or ‘feeding supplants’, or other dyadic
who generally have a higher potential reproductive cues such as fear or greeting vocalizations (Wittig &
rate (Clutton-Brock & Vincent 1991; Clutton-Brock Boesch 2003; Fedigan & Bergstrom 2010). The hierar-
& Parker 1992), mate access. Such disputes are sel- chy, which is not necessarily stable, is the final ranked
dom settled equitably. When in direct competition order of which individuals defer to which others.
over mates or food, many gregarious animal species The basic logic of such dyadic interactions, set out
have ‘dominance hierarchies’, where less dominant clearly by Kaufmann (1983: 3), is simple. ‘It is usually
individuals defer to those individuals higher up the advantageous for both individuals to recognize and
‘pecking order’. This is not always the case and when abide by an established, relatively peaceful dominant-
resource distribution presents few opportunities for subordinate relationship. This saves both individuals
direct contest competition, as among predominantly time, energy, and the risk of injury. In addition, the
folivorous female mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla dominant presumably gains immediate priority of
berengei; Watts 1994), hierarchies may be flat or may access to contested resources. Usually the subordi-
not be seen. However, where animal hierarchies are nate, who would probably lose in combat anyway, is
found, they often have profound consequences to the better off to bide its time until able to compete from a
health, nutrition and reproductive success of individu- position of greater relative strength’. Potentially fatal
als living within groups. fighting is only worthwhile when ‘a major part of a
These consequences are often most clear in male- contestant’s lifetime reproductive success is at stake’
mating competition and in numerous species, for (Enquist & Leimar 1990: 1)
example mandrills, macaques, langurs and fallow This idea has been modelled game-theoretically,
deer (de Ruiter & van Hooff 1993; Dixson et al. 1993; using a simple dyadic ‘Hawk-Dove’ game (see May-
Launhardt et al. 2001; Say et al. 2003) it is not uncom- nard Smith & Price 1973; Enquist & Leimar 1990;
mon for the male at the top of the hierarchy to sire ≥60 Matsumura & Kobayashi 1998; Matsumura 1999). In
per cent of a group’s offspring in any given year. In these models, after an initial ‘display’, individuals take
species such as gorillas, the majority of other males turns and may either escalate and continue fighting
may be ejected from groups altogether (Robbins 1999). until injured or the opponent retreats (‘Hawks’), may
The effects of hierarchy are also plainly seen in feeding retreat if the opponent escalates (‘Doves’) or may
competition. For example, a study of Kenyan baboons escalate and then mirror their opponent (‘Retalia-
(Papio anubis) revealed that the highest ranking three tors’). Two further variables are then adjusted; the
females ate 30 per cent more food than the three at win probabilities of the competing individuals and the
the bottom of the hierarchy (Barton & Whiten 1993). severity of injury relative to the value of the resource
Similarly, at Gombe national park, low ranking female over which they are competing. As demonstrated
chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) foraged in a smaller area by Matsumura & Kobayashi (1998), and assuming
than higher ranking females, especially during times complete information, where the severity of injury
of food scarcity (Murray et al. 2007). These differences is much greater than resource value and/or there are
in food access may translate directly into fertility, as large asymmetries between the win probabilities of
is observed among low-ranking females in numerous two individuals in a dyadic contest, Dove/Hawk or
group living primates, including macaques, baboons, Hawk/Dove strategies are evolutionarily stable. In
geladas, grivets and others (Harcourt 1987). In species these cases, the individual with the lower chance
with more stable hierarchies, low-ranking individuals of winning should play the dove strategy and the
86
 Egalitarianism and democratized access to lethal weaponry: a neglected approach

one with the higher chance of winning should play (Gurven 2004), low male and female reproductive
the hawk strategy. ‘Egalitarian’ retaliator/retaliator skew (Marlowe 2005; Marlowe & Berbesque 2012)
strategies, where neither individual escalates, also and relatively few inequalities in status (Woodburn
become evolutionarily stable, alongside Dove/Hawk & 1982) appear as outliers and do not, prima facie, seem
Hawk/Dove strategies, where the win probabilities are to fit the logic of animal dominance interactions. In the
more even. Of course, individuals do not always have following section, I propose that, when human lethal
complete information and so should use cues such as weaponry is considered in the context of the literature
body size, ritualized displays, or, at greater cost, with on animal dominance interactions, egalitarianism
an initial contest, before choosing which strategy to should be expected.
adopt (Hammerstein 1981; Parker & Rubenstein 1981;
Setchell & Wickings 2005). Egalitarianism by method of mutually assured
As is implied by these models, dominance rela- destruction: the levelling effects of democratized
tionships are often initially ‘determined, especially access to lethal weaponry
among strangers of approximately the same size and
sex, by fighting. [Or are] determined by a mutual Lethal weapons in ethnographic context
assessment of each other’s likelihood of winning a Forager hunting technologies and toolkits vary consid-
serious fight… [through] recognition of differences erably across the globe, as do hunting strategies. In the
in size, age, etc’ (Kaufmann 1983: 3). Signals or cues words of Marlowe (2005) ‘There are horse-mounted,
may be used in assessment of fighting ability such as bow-and-arrow hunters of bison, harpoon hunters of
croak depth in European toads (Bufo bufo; Davies & walrus who travel in kayaks, salmon weir-fishers, and
Halliday 1978) and perhaps snout, rump and genitalia spear, blowgun, and net hunters’. Most ethnographi-
colouration among male mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx; cally described residentially mobile foragers, however,
Setchell & Wickings 2005). have one element of technology in common; they are
There are several further complications. Fight- possessed of long-ranged, projectile weapons which
ing ability/resource holding potential can change can be used to kill at a distance, are possible to make
greatly throughout an individual’s lifetime due, for from freely available materials, and often employed
example, to disease, senility and injury, leading to in conjunction with potentially lethal poisons.
changing dominance relationships (Matsumura & The most well known of these is probably the
Kobayashi 1998). In certain taxa such as baboons, bow and arrow. Bows are composed of tensile ‘string’
random acts of aggression may be employed by tied to both ends of an ‘arc’ of pliable wood. Arrows of
dominant individuals to suppress increases in resource wood and usually with feather stabilizers (fletching)
holding potential among subordinates (Silk 2002). and whittled to a point or fixed with an arrow head, are
Furthermore, dominance interactions are not neces- fitted to the bowstring with a notch at the base. They
sarily dyadic and coalitionary support may modulate have an effective range of c. 26 metres (Churchill 1993).
dominance relations in some taxa. For example, it I am most familiar with Hadza hunting technol-
has been proposed that, where individuals can rely ogy, described here. Almost every male Hadza over
on coalitionary support from a parent, dominance the age of 5–6 years has a bow (ko’o) (Marlowe 2010: 84;
ranks may be parentally inherited, as observed among Crittenden et al. 2013). Adult bows are a mean 154 cm
female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta; Berman in length and mean peak pull strength is between 61.61
1980). Changing and unstable alliances may lead to pounds (27.94 kg) (Stibbard-Hawkes et al. 2018) and
rapidly shifting hierarchies. The killing, in 2011, by 69.4 pounds (31 kg) (Marlowe 2010). Bows are made
a group of three lower ranking males, of the alpha from appropriately sized tree-branches, usually of
male of a Mahale chimpanzee community (Kaburu et Grewia spp. or Dombeya kiriki (Bartram Jr 1997; Marlowe
al. 2013) provides a good anecdotal example of this 2010), which are first cut from the tree and roughly
phenomenon in group-living apes. Finally, inclusive shaped with an axe, then whittled with a knife (Fig.
fitness may play a role and, where relatedness is 6.1). Today, bows are usually strung with commer-
high, individuals, rather than competing, may even cially produced rope though strings were traditionally
subsidize the reproduction of close relatives at cost to made from the nuchal ligament of a large quadruped
their own direct fitness (Sherman et al. 1995). (Bagshawe 1925; Woodburn 1970). Hadza arrows come
Despite these complications, the basic logic of in several types, either wooden (usually Grewia spp.),
animal contest remains clear and explains why ‘des- tipped (pointed/barbed) or fitted with a wooden or
potism’ and dominance hierarchies are so frequently iron arrowhead (Woodburn 1970; Marlowe 2010). Iron
observed in nature. Numerous human forager groups, arrow-heads are made with scraps of iron or traded
characterized by wide redistribution of foraged food iron nails. Finally, the Hadza habitually use two types
87
 Chapter 6

Figure 6.1. A Hadza man whittling a bow.

of poison, panjube and shanjo. Both are plant-based, The second most widely occurring ranged
panjube extracted from the branches of Adenium obe- weapon type is the spear-thrower, named the ‘atlatl’
sum and shanjo from the seeds of Strophanthus eminii in American or ‘woomera’ in Australian contexts. Both
(Marlowe 2010: 89). Both act on the heart and induce operate similarly. They consist of a wooden shaft, with
fatal cardiac arrest (Bartram Jr 1997). Panjube, about either a hook, spur or cup, which is used to secure a
which more is known, will kill within 20 minutes wooden ‘dart’ or ‘spear’. This spear may be sharpened
and 5 hours depending on the strength and dose of or hafted with a stone, bone or metal point, much like
the poison and the size of the animal (Bradfield et al. an arrowhead. The shaft provides leverage, which
2015) or within a couple of minutes if hit directly in allows the dart to be thrown to an effective range of
the heart or intestines (Marlowe 2010: 89). c. 39 m (Churchill 1993). Spear throwers were used
Numerous other groups employ bows and in most parts of North, West and Central Australia,
poisoned arrows. Several San-speaking populations though less commonly in the South and East (see Fig.
including the Ju/’hoansi and Hai||om employ hunt- 6.2; Davidson 1936). Bows were never used in Australia
ing bows in conjunction with poisons made variously and nor could I find any mention, in any ethnographic
from plants (Adenium spp.) and larvae (e.g. Diamphidia literature, of poisoned weapons there. Spear throwers,
spp.) (Chaboo et al. 2016). The Agta of Luzon in the sometimes in association with poisons, are or were
Philippines also employ barbed arrow points and occa- also used by numerous populations in the Arctic and
sionally also poisons (Griffin 1997). Bows and arrows, in North, Central and South America, though in most
with or without poisons are or were also used by the cases such groups also used bows (see Grund 2017,
Mbuti of central Africa (Turnbull 1964), the Okiek of for a brief but thorough review).
East Africa (Kratz 2014), the Aché of Paraguay (Walker There are two further notable weapon types,
et al. 2002), the Andamanese (Radcliffe-Brown 2013) poisoned blowguns and handspears. Blowguns or
and many other groups worldwide. blowpipes consist of a long (0.46–7 m) tube of drilled
88
 Egalitarianism and democratized access to lethal weaponry: a neglected approach

or hollowed wood or naturally hollow bamboo or North American continent (Fig. 6.4). Remarkably, their
reed (Jett 1970). These are sometimes made from a use in Madagascar (Jett 1970) and the American tropics
single tube, and sometimes composites with an inner (Jett 1991) appear both to be cases of diffusion from
tube and attached outer-tube (Jett 1970). In Borneo, Southeast Asia. Blowguns provide greater precision
wooden blowguns may be fitted with a spearhead to in poison delivery than other weapon types, though
act as dual-purpose weapons, although this type is not leave shallower wounds. They are thus most effective
found elsewhere (Jett 1970). Exhaling sharply into the on smaller prey and are usually used to hunt arboreal
pipe propels darts of clay or, more usually, sharpened/ species (Endicott 1979). For example, in the Batek case
splintered wood or bamboo, sometimes with fletching. blowguns are predominantly used on bamboo rats,
The efficacy of these darts is entirely dependent on bats, birds (Endicott 1979) and small primates.
the use of poisons, which vary regionally in type and Hand spears are found throughout the world in
origin. In the Old World blowguns were used widely conjunction with other weapon types and, where the
by hunter-gatherer groups in south East Asia (Fig. above technologies are absent, as in parts of Australia
6.3) including Malaysia, Indonesia, South India and (Davidson 1936) hand spears may be used exclusively.
Madagascar (Jett 1970; Endicott 1979). Blowguns are These very simple weapons are made of a single piece
also found in much of Central America, the north of of wood sharpened to a point, and of variable length.
the South American continent and the southeast of the They may be thrown. Two Australian populations,

Hand spears only,

spearthrowers lacking

Hand spears numerous

or prominent, spearthrowers
present

Hand spears present but

unimportant, spearthrowers
typical

‘Graebner’s area’ – spearthrowers

not used and no pre-1936 archaeological
Figure 6.2. A map of the evidence of their use
distribution of hand spears
Spearthrowers reported absent
and spearthrowers throughout but named in vocabularly
Australia, adapted from
Davidson (1936).
89
 Chapter 6

•
• 30°N

• Blowgun distribution
•• Old World
•• •
?
20°N

•
• •
10°N

• ••
70°E 80°E

•••
0°
?
?
•
• •
10°S
• 10°S

Continuous occurrence
20°S
• Isolated occurrence
20°S

40°E 50°E 90°E 100°E 110°E 120°E 130°E 140°E 150°E 160°E

Figure 6.3. A map of the recent historic distribution of blowdart use throughout the Old World, reprinted with
permission from Jett (1991). Occurrences in Egypt and Europe not shown.

the Tiwi and the Tasmanians, used throwing-spears by all men, however physically weak, cowardly,
in hunting (Churchill 1993). Hand-thrown spears, unskilled or socially inept, of the means to kill secretly
though of a larger calibre than spear-thrower projec- [or easily] anyone perceived as a threat to their own
tiles, are effective at shorter distances than bows and well-being not only limits predation and exploita-
spear-throwers (c. 6–8 m) (Churchill & Rhodes 2009). tion; it also acts directly as a powerful levelling
mechanism’.
Lethal weapons as a levelling mechanism Put more directly in terms of animal dominance
These weapons, bows and arrows, spear-throwers, contests, democratized access to lethal weaponry
blowpipes and hand spears, have five key commonali- has two main impacts. First, democratized access
ties. First, they can be used at a distance, and where to lethal weaponry greatly flattens inequalities in
there is no immediate risk of injury from any target fighting ability between individuals. Providing they
that is not similarly equipped with an equivalently are not too young or senile to use a bow, this is true
powerful ranged weapon. Second, in most cases a clean regardless of differences in age, strength or condition.
shot will be either immediately or eventually fatal, Second, the chance of fatal injury involved in even
especially where potent poisons are used. Third, all short altercations is dramatically increased; while an
have the potential to be immediately lethal in ambush individual may take repeated bites, blows or scratches
contexts. Fourth, although all require some specialized and live to fight again, a weapon wound may easily
knowledge to make and use, they can be made from result in death. These are exactly the two key param-
materials that are freely available to all individuals. eters included in Matsumura & Kobayashi’s (1998)
Fifth, although these are hunting weapons, they are game-theoretical model of dominance interactions.
also similarly effective against people. Not coincidentally, it was in these conditions that, in
The outcome, as James Woodburn (1982: 436) put Matsumura & Kobayashi’s model, the ‘egalitarian’
well, is that: ‘In normal circumstances the possession strategy, among others, became evolutionarily stable.
90
 Egalitarianism and democratized access to lethal weaponry: a neglected approach

Using different variables, and framed in the and the capacity to kill at range facilitated coalition-
context of cooperation, not dominance relations, the ary punishment by allowing ‘many animals to attack
lethal weapons hypothesis has been recently modelled a target animal simultaneously’ (p. 250). In doing so,
by Phillips et al. (2014) using an iterated prisoner’s ranged weapons substantially decrease the risks of
dilemma game. Assuming that non-cooperators were injury to an individual punisher. This, in turn, allows
more likely to enter disputes, Phillips et al. (2014) humans solve collective action problems by penalizing
showed that, where such disputes were likely to be ‘free-riders’ at minimal personal cost.
lethal, non-cooperative strategies, perhaps unsurpris- Another variant of the lethal weaponry hypoth-
ingly, were far less successful. This article has received esis has also been applied directly to animal dominance
lamentably little attention with six citations at the time relationships. Female lions (Panthera leo) have highly
of writing. egalitarian social relationships and relatively low lev-
A variant of the lethal weapons hypothesis has els of reproductive skew (Packer et al. 2001). Feeding
been proposed by Bingham (2000). Here, again, the supplants are rare ‘and there is no discernible feed-
idea is framed in the context of cooperation rather ing hierarchy among females’ (p. 691). Furthermore,
than hierarchy. Bingham argued that ranged weaponry mothers ‘voluntarily’ contribute to communal cub

N
40°

••
•

Blowgun distribution 30°N

New World

•
20°N

110°W
10°N

••
100°W
90°W

•• •
• • • •
•• • •• 0°
•
Continuous occurrence •• • •
• Isolated occurrence
•• •
•• • •
• •
80°W 70°W 60°W 50°W 40°W

Figure 6.4. A map of the recent historic distribution of blowdart use throughout the Americas, reprinted with
permission from Jett (1991). All occurrences ethnographic, except the Peruvian coast, which is archaeological.
91
 Chapter 6

rearing. Packer et al. (2001) have argued that this women. Grund (2017) makes a similar argument,
phenomenon may in part be due to the fact that fight- proposing that bows, which have a steeper learning
ing among lions, who are well adapted carnivores, is curve than atlatl and, thus, a higher barrier for profi-
unusually costly. Such ‘extensive weaponry carries a ciency, preclude women, who are afforded less time
greater risk of “mutually assured destruction” than to practise, from effectively using hunting weapons.
in other social species’ (p. 691). However, here there This, Grund argues, leads to greater social disparity
are some complications. Firstly, lions are cooperative between the genders. This logic does not hold in the
hunters and habitually rely on peer support in securing Hadza case – women do not often in practice learn
resources, a fact which Packer et al. (2001) also argue to make or use weapons and yet are afforded almost
plays a contributing role in maintaining egalitarian- complete autonomy in where they live and who they
ism. Second, male lions, although they may cooperate, marry, yet may hold in other contexts (Deaner & Smith
exhibit profound reproductive inequalities (Packer & 2013; Grund 2017). Darwin (1871), Wolpoff et al. (1976)
Pusey 1982); the lethality of male intra-sex altercations and Wrangham & Peterson (1996), although not directly
does nothing to prevent this, perhaps because of the discussing hierarchy, have suggested that reductions
high value of mating access. in canine size sexual dimorphism throughout hominin
The phrase ‘mutually assured destruction’ is evolutionary history may be due to their replacement
familiar from the logic of ‘nuclear deterrence’; the idea by extra-somatic weapons. Boehm (2009), although he
that, when neither belligerent in a war can expect to sur- places great emphasis on ethos, also argues that assas-
vive an all-out attack, it is rational for neither to escalate sination, homicide and the ‘elimination of upstarts’
hostilities. This has been cited as the reason why the may be one way of maintaining egalitarianism, and
cold war of 1947–91 between the Eastern and Western discusses the lethal weapons hypothesis directly with
Blocs never resulted in direct and open conflict. A com- special reference to Kalahari foragers (pp. 174–81).
pelling counter argument is that, individually, people Finally, the lethal weapons hypothesis was also pivotal
and governments are not reliably rational entities and to a recent theoretical review of the origins of human
can and do make illogical decisions. For this reason, political systems (Gintis et al. 2015).
the nuclear deterrent, even if effective, should not be
relied upon as a sensible long-term strategy for main- Expectations of the hypothesis and the difficulty
taining peace. In an evolutionary timeframe however, of testing
it is not necessary that all individuals act rationally
all the time. It is only necessary that altercations are This lethal weaponry hypothesis of egalitarianism
sufficiently deleterious as to be selected against. And is simple, and generates a single, elegant prediction:
indeed, there is much evidence from forager groups society level inequalities in resource access should
that interpersonal violence with weaponry, although be inversely related to A) the extent of democratized
rare, regularly does result in fatal injury. For example access to and B) the lethality of weapons. Of further
Woodburn (1982: 436) reports that Hadza ‘recognise consideration, and in concordance with models from
the danger of public violence’ and (Marlowe 2010: the animal literature (Matsumura & Kobayashi 1998),
141) reports ‘Men are slow to anger, but… can quickly the seriousness of injury ought also to be relative
kill with poisoned arrows. All murders I am aware of, to the value of the contested resource, and so the
except one… were committed by men, and all were hypothesis is perhaps more fruitfully tested in for-
apparently disputes over women (jealousy).’ Despite ager groups where land and other valuable resources
the lethality of the bow, the Hadza murder rate is are not monopolized. Despite the simplicity of these
estimated at only 6.6 per 100,000 people Marlowe prediction, they are so difficult to test using available
(2010: 141). For this reason, I argue that lethal weap- ethnographic and archaeological datasets as to be
onry does act as both a deterrent to, and a significant practically non-falsifiable.
selection pressure against attempts to take more than
one’s share or exercise control over others. The result Testing in ethnographic context
is, put in Hobbesian terms, a cold war ‘of every man Testing the lethal weapons hypothesis among ethno-
against every man’ or, framed in Rousseauian terms, graphic forager populations is difficult for two reasons.
liberty, egalitarianism, autonomy and freedom from First, the majority of forager groups are possessed
despotism. of similarly lethal weapons. The bow is widespread
Variants of the ‘lethal weapons hypothesis’ are among hunter-gatherer groups outside Australia and,
proposed or alluded to by several other scholars. Dar- where not found, the spear-thrower usually is (see
mangeat (2016) has argued that male monopolization Churchill, 1993). In circumstances where neither were
of lethal weaponry might facilitate male control over used, such as traditionally amongst the aboriginal
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 Egalitarianism and democratized access to lethal weaponry: a neglected approach

people of Tasmania (Oswalt 1976: 263–4) or Southern systematic differences in inequality between those
Australia (Davidson 1936), individuals still had access groups who predominantly used the spear-thrower
to handheld spears which, although not affording and those who used the handheld spear or shorter-
the safety of distance, yet probably still decreased ranged throwing spear (see Fig. 6.2).
discrepancies between individual fighting ability and An initial search revealed that much of the ethno-
increased the lethality of fights. Where there exists graphic literature on hunting technology is ‘scattered,
little variation, cross-sectional, correlative statistical and highly variable in its thoroughness’ (Jett 1970:
hypothesis testing is not possible. 622) and not readily available online or in most British
This problem is compounded by the fact that libraries. Furthermore, ethnographic accounts of poison
none of the significant cross-cultural datasets, the appear, in my literature searches, especially limited. To
Ethnographic Atlas/Standard Cross Cultural Sample (Mur- build such a database would be a significant undertak-
dock & White 1969), Binford’s 2001 Frames of Reference ing. Furthermore even if a good, cross-cultural database
dataset nor the Human Relations Area File, provide were constructed, lack of variation and the problem of
good, tabulated descriptions of ranged weapons tech- phylogenetic correction might both pose difficulties.
nology. Binford’s database1 contains no tabulated However, such a project may yet be a fruitful avenue
information on weapons technology. The SCCS does for further research.
provide two ‘weapons/ammunition’ variables (V1044/
V1065) but these are binary, ‘present/absent’ data, and Testing in archaeological context
most cases are missing.2 It may be possible to build Given the difficulties involved in testing the hypoth-
a database with materials from the HRAF, although esis cross-culturally, it is next sensible to look to the
this project is beyond the scope of the current work. archaeological record. Here, again, there are difficulties.
Furthermore, in exploratory searches of the HRAF3 It can be difficult to find evidence of hierarchy in
and literature searches more broadly, it appears that the deep past. In the context of farmers and so-called
ethnographic accounts of poison use are especially ‘complex’ foragers, grave goods and settlement pat-
limited and superficial. Cross-cultural hypothesis test- terns (Binford 2001) may be used to identify social
ing among hunter-gatherer groups is rendered even distinction. I make three comments on this. Firstly,
more problematic by small sample sizes, a problem such methods are contentious and, when grave goods
exacerbated by the necessity of phylogenetic correc- and settlement patterns are available, data may be
tion, with its accompanying information loss. Though open to multiple interpretations (e.g. Pearson 2007).
cross-cultural reviews of forager weapons technology Secondly, and more importantly, such data only
do exist, those I have found either focus in specific appear within the last 16,000 years, and cannot be
detail on the hunting technologies of a limited number used for testing the ‘lethal weapons hypothesis’ across
of groups and do not provide a broad, cross-cultural hominin evolutionary history. Third, the hypothesis
sweep (see Knecht 1997) or do not provide readily is more fruitfully tested in the absence of valuable
tabulated ethnographic data (Churchill 1993) monopolizable resources. In mobile forager groups
To further test the lethal weapons hypothesis, with few personal possessions, differences in hierarchy
and the associated idea that gendered inequalities in and autonomy between groups would be effectively
lethal weapons access are related to power dispari- invisible and if, indeed, foragers in the deep past were
ties between the genders, it would be worthwhile to similar in the extent of their egalitarianism to those
build a good, cross-cultural ethnographic database described in the ethnographic literature, this would
of weapons technology, coding the ease of use, ease leave no discernible trace.
of access and potential lethality of different weapons One possible solution, specifically in the context
types. Of further importance is the distribution and of inequalities in reproductive skew, is to look at sexual
efficacy of different poisons which greatly increase dimorphism between hominin species. In many extant
weapon lethality. As Bartram Jr (1997: 337) put well, primate species, body and canine size dimorphism
among African foragers, the bow is more important appears a reliable proxy measure of the extent of direct
as a ‘poison delivery system’ than a weapon in its male-male competition and reproductive skew (Plav-
own right. Furthermore, poisons seem not to be used can & Van Schaik 1997), although the extent to which
on the Australian continent where many foragers behaviour in past populations can be reconstructed
have non-egalitarian gerontocratic systems of status using such methods is debated (Plavcan et al. 2005).
differentiation, often in association with high levels Low male reproductive skew is not equivalent to
of polygyny (e.g. Hart & Pilling 1960). It would be egalitarianism, though it may tell us something about
further interesting to look closely at the Australian the extent of inequality in male dominance relation-
ethnographic evidence, to see whether there existed ships. Hominin evolution is indeed characterized by
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 Chapter 6

Table 6.1. Body weight dimorphism in Hominoidea and fossil hominins (estimated), adapted from McHenry (2005), with dates from
Klein (2009).
Species Male body size (kg) Female body size (kg) Ratio Age (ma)
A. afarensis 44.6 29.3 1.5 3.8–2.9
A. africanus 40.8 30.2 1.4 3.0–2.4
A. boisei 48.6 34.0 1.3 2.3–1.4
A. robostus 40.2 31.9 1.2 1.8–1.4
H. habilis sensu stricto 37.0 31.5 1.2 2.3–1.6
H. rudolfensis 59.6 50.8 1.2 2.4–1.8
Early African H. erectus/ergaster 62.7 52.3 1.2 1.8–0.7
H. neanderthalensis 60.1 51.8 1.2 0.5–0.3
H. sapiens 64.9 53.2 1.2 Extant
P. troglodytes 54.2 39.7 1.4 Extant
P. paniscus 47.8 33.1 1.4 Extant
G. gorilla 157.9 75.4 2.1 Extant
P. pygmaeus 78.8 (Morph II) 38.8 2.0 Extant
H. syndactylus 11.3 11.2 1.0 Extant
H. lar 5.5 5.2 1.1 Extant

decreasing sexual dimorphism (Table 6.1). Canine although at Sibudu Cave, South Africa, several conical
size and estimated body weight dimorphism among bone points, similar in shape to those used by southern
australopithecine species were greater than in modern African Bushmen, have been found dating to before
humans, though lower than those of gorillas (McHenry 61 ka (Backwell et al. 2008). Poisons are even more dif-
1992; Plavcan & Van Schaik 1997). Homo erectus, H. ficult to reliably identify in the archaeological record,
rudolfensis and H. neanderthalensis had sexual body although Podocarpus (a genus of poisonous conifer)
size dimorphism equivalent to H. sapiens (McHenry resin identified on two microliths at Sibudu, South
2005), meaning that modern human levels of sexual Africa dated to c. 65 and c. 62 ka may represent their
dimorphism appeared in the hominin lineage around earliest known use (Wadley et al. 2015). Other poten-
2.4 ma. tial candidates include beeswax laced with Euphorbia
Evidence for lethal weaponry is much more sp. at Border Cave, South Africa and dated to c. 40 ka
recent. The best evidence for projectile weapons comes (D’Errico et al. 2012) or a potential poison applicator
in the form of small stone bladelets (microliths) with stick at the same site dated to c. 24 ka and containing
one edge blunted (backed), presumably to facilitate Ricinus sp. (D’Errico et al. 2012).
hafting, that are the correct size and shape to have been Spears, thrown or handheld, have a longer his-
used in conjunction with a weapon delivery system tory. The earliest uncontested evidence of spear use
‘most likely in the form of spear-thrower-delivered comes from Schöningen, Germany, where eight per-
darts’ (Churchill & Rhodes 2009: 201). The earliest fectly preserved wooden spears were found dating
backed microliths come from Pinnacle Point, South to between 300–400 ka (Thieme 1997; Villa & Lenoir
Africa, dated to c. 71,000 years ago (Brown et al. 2012). 2009). It is unclear whether these were handheld or
Similar backed microliths appear later at a number of thrown (Sahle et al. 2013). ‘Rifling marks’ on a horse
other sites in eastern and southern Africa including scapula from Boxgrove, England, and dated to 500 ka
Howiesons Poort, South Africa, between 60–65 ka (Roberts 1998) provide the earliest good evidence of
(Jacobs et al. 2008), the Naisiusiu Beds at Olduvai throwing spears, although it is assumed, based on the
Gorge, Tanzania between 42 and 62 ka (Skinner et al. proportion of large fallow deer in faunal assemblages
2003) and Mumba Cave, Tanzania, at c. 57 ka (Gliganic at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in Israel that hominins must
et al. 2012). Outside Africa, evidence of long-range, have used hunting weapons by at least 800 ka (Rabi-
high-velocity projectile weapons is found at Ksar Akil, novich et al. 2008).
Lebanon, and El Wad, Israel, both dated to between As far as is known then, the appearance of weap-
40–50 ka (Shea 2006; Churchill & Rhodes 2009). The ons technology in the archaeological record postdated
earliest uncontested evidence of the bow4 dates to the appearance of human-like sexual dimorphism in
only 11 ka from Stellmoor, Germany (Cattelain 1997), the hominin lineage. Mechanically projected weapons
94
 Egalitarianism and democratized access to lethal weaponry: a neglected approach

appear recently, and are not associated with evidence the presence of a powerful state perhaps limits the
for increased egalitarianism. Spears, although of far relevance of this example.
greater antiquity, can only be seen >1 ma after the Here, in both cases, inequalities seem unrelated
appearance of modern human patterns of sexual to access to lethal weaponry. What horticulturalists
dimorphism. and pastoralists do have, which many nomadic forag-
This venture is complicated greatly by tapho- ers don’t, is personal property and highly defensible
nomic concerns. Most weapons can be built entirely and monopolizable resources – livestock or land. And,
without lithics, metals or any other archaeologically indeed, reliance on and defence of monopolizable
visible material as regularly happens in ethnographic resources, even with democratized access to lethal
context (e.g. Marlowe 2010). Indeed, Waguespack weapons, is in numerous contexts related to inequalities
et al. (2009) have shown experimentally that there in health, status and, especially for males, high repro-
are very few advantages to using stone-tipped over ductive skew (Kelly 2013; Powers & Lehmann 2014;
wooden arrows. Atlatl, blowguns, throwing spears Mattison et al. 2016). Ready access to lethal weaponry
and associated poisons are often made with entirely does not have a levelling affect in these contexts. For
biodegradable materials. Spears – in their most basic this reason, the ‘resource distribution’ hypotheses
form sharpened branches – are similarly impossible to considered above – especially the ‘forager mode of
detect and are probably simpler to manufacture than production’ theory (Lee 1990) and those related theo-
the knapped stone Oldowan and Lomekwian lithic ries which highlight the roles of sedentism and storage
industries that appear in the archaeological record (Testart et al. 1982; Kelly 2013) or the defensibility of
at 2.6 ma (Semaw et al. 1997) and 3.3 ma (Harmand transmittable wealth (Mattison et al. 2016) - are greatly
et al. 2015) respectively. Indeed, spear-like probing more consistent with the cross-cultural ethnographic
sticks are used in the hunting of bushbabies (Galago and archaeological evidence.
senegalensis) by chimpanzees (Pruetz & Bertolani 2007; Further, I have so far emphasized that the lethal
Pruetz et al. 2015). Therefore, and although the best weaponry hypothesis is compatible with the literature
interpretation of the current evidence fails to support on animal dominance relations. And this is true. How-
the lethal weapons hypothesis, the archaeological ever, the resource distribution hypotheses are similarly
record is effectively silent on this issue, and it is pos- consistent with animal socio-ecology. Although the
sible that spears have a far greater antiquity than the explanatory power of environmental variables in shap-
current evidence suggests. ing primate social relations has recently been critiqued
(Thierry 2008; Clutton-Brock & Janson 2012), differ-
Conclusions: a tantalizing possibility, though less ences in the defensibility of food resources have been
compelling than resource distribution many times convincingly related to the patterning of
hierarchical relationships in different primate species.
There are further issues, even more problematic for Hierarchies are more despotic when resources are more
the lethal weapons hypothesis, at least in non-forager easily monopolized, more egalitarian when resources
contexts. The first is that many groups, especially pas- are dispersed (Sterck et al. 1997). Archaeologists,
toralists and horticulturalists, have both democratized including other authors in this volume, are justified in
access to lethal weaponry and high reproductive skew continuing to search for relationships between resource
and inequalities in property ownership. For example, use, storage, sedentarism and inequality. And this is
Tanzanian Dataga pastoralists regularly carry bows not inconsistent with Matsumura & Kobayashi’s mod-
and yet have high rates of polygyny (Muller et al. els of dominance animal relations, which assesses the
2009) and inequalities in property ownership. Democ- potential risk involved in competitions, relative to the
ratized access to weapons in tandem with inequalities value of the contested resource.
in resource access and status are frequently observed It is apparent then, that this ‘lethal weapons
among other pastoralists such as the East African hypothesis’, if it does hold explanatory power, is surely
Maasai, among non-egalitarian hunter-gatherers such only one of many significant mechanisms which allow
as the Chinook (Hajda 2005) and also among many egalitarianism to be maintained. Lethal weapons do
forager-horticulturalists such as the New Guinean not appear to foster equality in groups with property,
Garisakang (Konečná & Urlacher 2017). Furthermore, storage and perimeter defence, where the value of held
in the present-day USA, guns, though regulated, are resources is high relative to the risk of injury, and where
more easily available than elsewhere in the world. resources may be effectively cooperatively defended.
Here such access to lethal weaponry is found in However, in more limited contexts, especially where
association with profound inequalities in wealth and high-value monopolizable resources such as arable
status, and has not flattened hierarchies, although land, cattle or fishing weirs are not found, the idea
95
 Chapter 6

may still hold explanatory power. It may go some Adaptations of the Channel Islands. American Antiquity
way towards explaining why hierarchies are generally 57, 60–84.
flatter and resource access more equal among many Backwell, L., F. D’Errico & L. Wadley, 2008. Middle Stone
human foragers than among other group-living ani- Age bone tools from the Howiesons Poort layers,
Sibudu Cave, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological
mals. Indeed, it would be surprising if the invention of
Science 35, 1566–80.
lethal extra-somatic weapons did not have some effect Bagshawe, F., 1925. The Peoples of the Happy Valley (East
on dominance relations. Moreover, the hypothesis is Africa) The Aboriginal Races of Kondoa Irangi. Part
neglected. As argued, a tabulated overview of diversity II: The Kangeju. Journal of the Royal African Society 24,
in weapons technology in the ethnographic record 117–39.
would be valuable. Particular consideration should be Bahuchet, S., 1999. Aka Pygmies. In The Cambridge Encyclope-
paid to poisons which greatly increase weapon lethality dia of Hunters and Gatherers (1st ed.), eds. R.B. Lee & R.H.
(Bartram Jr 1997) and are not universally found nor, to Daly. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 190–4.
the author’s knowledge, recorded in Australia. It is pos- Barton, R.A., & A. Whiten, 1993. Feeding competition among
female olive baboons. Animal Behaviour 46, 777–89.
sible that the results of such research would not support
Bartram Jr, L.E., 1997. A comparison of Kua (Botswana) and
the hypothesis. Regardless, and despite the problems Hadza (Tanzania) bow and arrow hunting. In Projectile
highlighted here, I contend that through modelling, Technology, ed. H. Knecht. New York: Plenum Press,
cross-cultural comparison or closer analysis of the 321–43.
archaeological record, the lethal weapons hypothesis Bateson, P., & K.N. Laland, 2013. Tinbergen’s four questions:
yet merits further scholarly attention and consideration. An appreciation and an update. Trends in Ecology and
Evolution 28, 712–18.
Acknowledgements Berman, C.M., 1980. Early agonistic experience and rank
acquisition among free-ranging infant rhesus monkeys.
International Journal of Primatology 1, 153–70.
Thanks to those who have taken the time to read and Binford, L.R., 2001. Constructing Frames of Reference: An Ana-
comment on this manuscript, including Robert Layton, lytical Method for Archaeological Theory Building using
Jo Setchell, Jim Roscoe, Eric Alden Smith, Robert Atten- Hunter-Gatherer and Environmental Data Sets (1st ed.).
borough and three anonymous reviewers. Thanks also Los Angeles: University of California Press.
to Robert A. for fielding questions about ‘woomera’ Bingham, P.M., 2000. Human Evolution and Human His-
and for sharing anecdotes of cobwebby atlatl-wielding tory: A Complete Theory. Evolutionary Anthropology
dons and New Guinean ‘human-to-human mayhem’. 9, 248–57.
Bird, R., 1999. Cooperation and conflict: The behavioral
Thanks to all those who played a role in organizing
ecology of the sexual division of labor. Evolutionary
this volume and the associated conference, especially Anthropology 8, 65–75.
Luc Moreau. Further thanks to Luc for giving me the Blurton Jones, N.G., 2016. Demography and Evolutionary Ecol-
opportunity to present on and write about a topic that ogy of Hadza Hunter-Gatherers. Cambridge: Cambridge
is so greatly interesting. University Press.
Boehm, C., 2009. Hierarchy in the forest: The evolution of
Notes egalitarian behavior (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Boehm, C., H.B. Barclay, R.K. Dentan, M.-C. Dupre, J.D. Hill,
1. R-Repository from https://github.com/benmarwick/
S. Kent, B.M. Knauft, K.F. Otterbein & S. Rayner, 1993.
binford accessed on 4 May 2018.
Egalitarian Behavior and Reverse Dominance Hierar-
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3. http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu accessed on 4 May
Boesch, C., 2002. Cooperative hunting roles among Taï
2018.
chimpanzees. Human Nature 13, 27–46.
4. Since this chapter was written, further evidence has
Bradfield, J., M. Lombard, J. Reynard & S. Wurz, 2020. Further
been published of early bow and arrow use at both
evidence for bow hunting and its implications more
Klasies River Mouth, South Africa >60 ka (Bradfield et
than 60,000 years ago: Results of a use-trace analysis
al. 2020) and Fa-Hien Lena, Sri Lanka c. 48 ka (Langley
of the bone point from Klasies River Main site, South
et al. 2020).
Africa. Quaternary Science Reviews 236, 106295.
Bradfield, J., L. Wadley & M. Lombard, 2015. Southern
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Adaptation and cumulative processes in human prehistory

Robert H. Layton

The paper argues for a synthesis of Darwinian and for another of equal value and goods are valued in
Marxist theories of evolution. It is based partly on two terms of their usefulness to the owner (Marx 1930:
previous papers: Layton & Rowley-Conwy (2013) and 87ff). The germ of capitalism lies in the origin of a
Layton (2005). The argument that hunter-gatherer soci- new concept of exchange, in which the aim is to make
eties evolve via a natural progression from simple to a profit. The value of a good in exchange comes to
complex is still sometimes defended (Rousseau 2006). dominate over its use value.
Here, I argue instead that hunter-gatherer social strate-
gies are adaptations to specifiable ecological conditions Co-operation versus competition: co-evolution as a
(Darwin), but also that social strategies have emergent potential synthesis
consequences which shape the political structure of The unit of selection in Darwinian evolution is the
hunter-gatherer society (Marx) (see Fitzhugh 2000: individual. Darwin (1859) was interested in competi-
107–8; Layton 2000: 111–19). Ecology can create an tion between individuals of the same species because
envelope in which various social strategies may be in this is where competition for food is most intense, so
play but, over time, the evolutionarily stable strategy adaptation in social behaviour (co-operation, reci-
will be the one that gives actors the optimum return procity) within a species was beyond the scope of his
under prevailing ecological and social conditions. argument. He did, however, notice that ‘hive bees’
pollinate one species of clover, but ‘humble bees’ pol-
Marx and progressive evolution linate another. From this, he deduced that each species
While the notion of evolution as progress – from sim- of bee was visiting the species of clover in which the
ple to complex, from superstition to rationality – was arrangement of stamens and pistils was most suited
pre-eminent in nineteenth century thinking, Marx to the habits of that insect. Similarly, individuals in a
differed from other nineteenth century evolutionists species of bee with slight differences in the length or
in identifying the mechanisms by which human social curvature of the proboscis might be able to obtain their
differentiation occurred. Adam Smith had argued that food more efficiently than others. ‘Thus (he wrote) I
self-interested market exchange generated universal can understand how a flower and a bee might slowly
opulence (Smith 1976 [1776]: 22), but Marx (1930 become, either simultaneously or one after another,
[1867]) showed how the internal dynamic of industrial modified and adapted to each other in the most per-
capitalism created ever increasing social inequity. fect manner’ (Darwin 1886 [1859]: 75), a process now
He found the driving force of social instability in the known as co-evolution. Darwin’s example recalls
capacity of human beings to produce, by their own Adam Smith’s image of the butcher, brewer and the
labour, more than they needed to subsist. In Capital baker, each satisfying their own needs by providing
(1930 [1867]), Marx argues that simple economies are resources to others. The Red Queen hypothesis has
characterized by direct exchange between produc- a more Marxist flavour. The Red Queen hypothesis
ers. It was this type of exchange that Smith (1976: 27) (van Valen 1973) models the co-evolution of predator
described in his famous dictum, ‘It is not from the and prey: in any generation, only the faster cheetahs
benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, will capture enough gazelles to feed their young,
that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to and only the faster gazelles will escape to raise their
their own self-interest’. One commodity is exchanged young, creating a spiral of ever more specialized
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adaptation. In biology, the types of interaction between B is trustworthy. Reciprocal altruism provides an
individual pairs of species identified by Darwin and important strategy for coping with unsynchronized
van Valen have been generalized in the concept of a foraging success in hunter-gatherer communities and
‘fitness landscape’; a complex system in which every acts as a levelling mechanism that promotes egalitari-
organism and every population is a part of the envi- anism within bands.
ronment exercising selective pressures on, and being
influenced by, the other species with which it interacts Theory applied to hunter-gatherer societies
(Kauffman 1993: 181).
I propose that the phenomenon of co-evolution Price and Brown (1985) cited four types of archaeologi-
in an ecological or social system offers a potential cal evidence for the process they term ‘intensification’
synthesis of the Marxist and Darwinian approaches.
The principle of co-evolution integrates the concept • increasing technological specialization
of the self-interested individual with the emergent • reduced mobility and larger settlements
properties of interaction. Two theories have been • boundary defence of territories
proposed to explain the evolution of co-operation • differentiation of social rank
among animals of the same species. Hamilton’s (1964)
theory of kin selection is most applicable among These criteria correspond quite closely to Woodburn’s
social insects. Where all the ants or bees in a colony (1982) category of delayed return hunter-gatherer soci-
are produced by the same queen, they will all be eties, as opposed to his immediate return egalitarian
half siblings. If one dies to save others the ‘altruistic’ hunter-gatherers. Price and Brown’s approach would
gene will be perpetuated in many of its half-siblings. implicitly treat Woodburn’s ‘immediate return’ socie-
Among humans and other mammals Trivers’ (1985) ties as a sort of null point, whereas one of Woodburn’s
theory of reciprocal altruism generally carries more best known achievements was to demonstrate that
weight, because it does not depend on close genetic egalitarianism is deliberately contrived by members
kinship to make social behaviour adaptive. Reciprocal of the community. I disagree, however, with Wood-
altruism depends on mutual trust within a continuing burn’s (1980: 101) contention that egalitarian societies
social relationship. Hunter-gatherer bands provide an can function under any environmental conditions. I
ideal forum for this kind of interaction. will argue that egalitarian societies arise where it is
Game theory provided a break-through in the in participants’ best interests to practice the kind of
study of social interaction. The aim of game theory social strategies whose consequence is to generate
is to show what will happen if particular social strat- egalitarianism.
egies are played against themselves and others, in In the following section I explore the extent to
order to measure the costs and benefits for the play- which hunter-gatherer complexity (‘intensification’)
ers. Maynard Smith termed the strategy that wins can be explained as a suite of adaptations to specific
against itself and all other existing strategies being ecological conditions
played in that field of interaction, an evolutionarily
stable strategy (Maynard Smith 1982: 10). Strategies • Sharing vs storage can be explained as social adap-
may be evolutionarily stable in one environment, but tations to the extent to which seasonal resource
not in another. availability is predictable or not. If seasonal
Reciprocal altruism occurs when individual A resource availability is predictable, storage can
helps individual B on the understanding that if A needs be adaptive. If not, sharing may be a more suc-
help at a later date, B will provide it. It can become an cessfully strategy.
evolutionarily stable strategy where there is a risk of • Following Torrence (1983; 2001) I point out that
hunger, and where it is impossible to predict which complex technology is associated with highly
individual will be successful in obtaining food on any seasonal environments in which hunting pre-
one occasion, yet those who are successful get more dominates over gathering (see Torrence 2001:
than their immediate need. When the once-successful figs. 4.1 and 4.2).
individual is unsuccessful on another occasion, the • Territoriality is associated with environments in
debt can be repaid and a relationship of mutual trust which resources are sufficiently densely and pre-
built up. Co-operation or reciprocity will only be dictably distributed to repay the cost of defending
adaptive if the benefits to each participant are greater them (among animals as well as humans – Davies
than if each individual acted selfishly alone, and it can & Houston 1984; Dyson-Hudson & Smith 1978).
only succeed when A knows he/she has an on-going • These conditions are all found in higher latitude
social relationship with B, which demonstrates that temperate environments, but ‘delayed return’
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conflates at least two axes of variation (Layton dramatically illustrate the difference between low and
2005: 140): technology and territoriality. high latitude tool kits.

As Ben Fitzhugh (2003: 14) writes, ‘Explaining the weapons instruments

evolution of complex hunter-gatherers becomes a mat-
Arrente 4 (21 parts) 4 (7 parts)
ter of identifying the ecological (social and physical)
(Central Australia)
conditions under which self-interested individuals
would find it most advantageous to compete for status Taremuit 18 (133 parts) 1 (3 parts)
[and], attempt to control or amass resources.’ (Arctic)

Storage vs sharing Torrence explains the difference as a response to two

Evolutionary anthropologists have devoted much related factors. In high latitudes plant foods are scarce
research to investigating reasons why it might be and meat makes up a larger proportion of the diet.
adaptive for the hunter to give away part or all of his Animals, however, are more difficult to catch and,
prey (see Stibbard-Hawkes 2017 for a critical review). particularly when each species is locally available for
Winterhalder (1987) provided a testable model: a only a short period, it pays to have effective weapons.
hunter-gatherer band containing six hunters, who Due to their technology Woodburn classified ‘some’
all go hunting independently. Each one is only suc- Inuit as delayed return societies. Arctic Inuit society
cessful one day out of six; but no-one knows when was nonetheless traditionally egalitarian, like recent
they will succeed. If the one who is successful shares low-latitude hunter-gatherers, because of the high level
his catch with the others each evening, every family of unpredictable daily risk in the Arctic. Co-operation
will always have enough to eat. Among the Ache of in seal hunting, for example, was necessary because
South America a family of four could only make use each seal kept several breathing holes open and each
of 50–60 per cent of the calories provided by a single had to be guarded. This co-operation evened out
peccary before it rotted, so it is more efficient to share individual hunting success.
the surplus (Kaplan et al. 1990: 114; Kaplan & Hill 1985:
237). The success of the hunter’s strategy of sharing Mobility and territoriality
depends on reciprocal altruism; he will only benefit The ability to move between bands is fundamental
if he receives a share of another hunter’s catch on a to human hunter-gatherer behaviour, especially in
subsequent day when he himself is unsuccessful. As resource-poor environments. Movement may serve
Winterhalder (1987) explained, this strategy is adaptive several purposes. The band territory rarely enables
in a stochastic environment, where success in hunting self-sufficiency in subsistence resources. Woodburn
is unpredictable and varies from hunter to hunter on (1982) argued that the desire to avoid disputes and
any particular day. In a highly seasonal environment, overbearing would-be leaders were the main reasons
where glut and shortage are predictable and effect for movement between bands among the Hadza.
everyone equally it is more adaptive to store part of Turnbull and Abruzzi both reached the same conclu-
the glut and retrieve it during the season of shortage. sion with regard to movement between Mbuti bands
(Turnbull 1965: 106, 223; Abruzzi 1980). Equalizing
Technology band size may also be an underlying consideration.
Hunter-gatherer technology is subject to two conflicting There are echoes here of Marx’s ‘Primitive Commu-
adaptive pressures, precision versus flexibility. Preci- nalism’ but, rather than supporting the concept of an
sion demands that specific implements be designed ‘original human condition’, the evidence again points
to achieve particular tasks efficiently, while flexibility to egalitarianism as the outcome of social strategies
encourages multi-purpose tools that can exploit a that are adaptive in particular ecological conditions.
wide range of more or less unexpected encounters. Pooling of resources does not cease simply
Optimal strategies are those that give the greatest because, as Rousseau (2006) argued, people suddenly
return for least effort: in any ecological setting there find it irksome to have to share, but because in certain
will be ‘trade-offs’ between conflicting goals, such as ecological circumstances it no longer works to their
design for specific tasks versus multi-functionality, advantage in the long run. Claiming exclusive access
tools made ‘on the spot’ and those carefully looked over territories is most profitable when resources are
after. The optimal solution will depend on the local densely and evenly distributed, but in sufficiently short
environment. supply to make it worthwhile competing for them
Two of Torrence’s examples (see the larger com- (Dyson-Hudson & Smith 1978; Gould 1982). Among
parative tables in Torrence 1983: figs. 3.1 and 3.2) recent hunter-gatherers boundary defence was most
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 Chapter 7

emphatically practiced on the Northwest Coast of North distribution, and the risk of local resource failure is
America. As resources become more unpredictable, unsynchronized, permitting mutual access to tempo-
however, it becomes increasingly less certain that the rary abundances is a way of insuring against starvation.
individual or group will be repaid for defending the If one band’s territory experiences better rainfall than
territory and defence eventually becomes uneconomic. neighbours, it will benefit the band to allow other
As resources become scarcer, an increasingly large ter- bands to share its windfall, providing those bands
ritory would be needed to guarantee self-sufficiency. in turn allow their former hosts to camp with them
These constraints arise in both low-latitude semi-arid when the unpredictable sequence of rainfall favours
and arctic environments. Cashdan was the first to the former guests (Smith 1988; Winterhalder 1990: 67).
point out that low-latitude hunter-gatherers generally Other bands must ask permission before they share
adapt to this constraint by allowing the kind of inter- your resources, as this acknowledges the debt (Lee
access described by Lee, Turnbull and others rather 1979: 336; Turnbull 1965: 96).
than abandoning territoriality altogether (Cashdan
1983). Peterson (1975) and Cashdan called this ‘social Inequality and the breakdown of reciprocal altruism
boundary defence’, that is, defending access to the Woodburn (1980: 101) wrote that the differences
social group that holds the territory. between immediate and delayed return societies
Social boundary defence generates equality could not be explained by simple environmental
between bands that allow each other access to their factors. My original aim in constructing the four-cell
‘territories’, and here again a Marxist approach pro- diagram (Fig. 7.1, from Layton 2005: 140) was to show
vides additional insight into the emergent social that once ‘delayed return’ among hunter-gatherers
consequences of human adaptive strategies. Wood- was disaggregated into two axes it became easier to
burn rightly regards the ability to change camps as a demonstrate correlations with ecology. Low seasonal
vital way of preventing the emergence of overbearing variation was associated with simple technology and
leaders, and therefore integral to the egalitarianism immediate consumption, while high seasonal variation
characteristic of ‘immediate return’ societies. Recipro- was associated with complex technology and storage.
cal exchange is supported by the egalitarian principle ‘Flexible’ patterns of territoriality, i.e. mutual rights
that surplus resources should be shared rather than of access to neighbouring territories, were associated
hoarded. When all hunter-gatherer bands in a region with the absence of unilineal descent groups, whereas
suffer equally from uncertainty as to future resource claims to exclusive access were associated with descent

Delayed return as a composite category

No descent groups Totemic lineages,

cross-cousin marriage

maximum

Inuit Northwest Coast complex technology,

storage of food

seasonal
variation

!Kung simple technology,

Australian
Hadza immediate
Aborigines
consumption

minimum
territorial pattern
Flexible Unilocal

immediate return

Figure 7.1. Delayed return as a composite category (from Layton 2005: 140).
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 Adaptation and cumulative processes in human prehistory

groups. Including North Australian Aboriginal societies and even fear. In a few societies on the north coast of
in the latter category, I pointed out that in Australia, as Australia, men can also negotiate marriages between
a consequence of unpredictable variation in resource clans in such a way as to gain more wives than their
availability, exclusive access was limited to sacred younger brothers (see Hart & Pilling 1960: 15–18 on
sites and the right to wear body paintings identifying the Tiwi, and Keen 1982 on the Yolngu). Today, and in
the dancer with the group’s totemic ancestor. On the the recent past, the Northwest Coast was substantially
Northwest Coast, exclusive access extended to forag- different. Totemic clans defended resource patches
ing territories (hunting, salmon fishing and shellfish and killed trespassers found on their territories. Food
gathering grounds), and it was the exclusive rights was processed by smoking, drying or potting in fat,
to food-yielding areas that underpinned the right to and stored for the winter season of feasting. During
distribute food competitively at feasts. Sedentism is the summer, clans accumulated surpluses of food
feasible on the Northwest Coast, but generally not in in their own territories which were then distributed
Australia, although permanent villages were described during competitive inter-clan feasting in the potlatch.
at the time of colonization in South West Australia Hayden (2018) argues that secret societies seem
(Hallam 1989). only to emerge among transegalitarian (complex)
Woodburn classes Australian Aboriginal societies hunter/gatherers and subsequent agricultural tribal
as having delayed return primarily because they practice or chiefdom societies. Hayden concludes that secret
strategic marriage alliances lining clans (1982: 449, n3). societies probably do not exist in Native Australia
The cultures found in Australia north of the MacDon- and I agree. However, Hayden’s criteria for the pres-
nell Ranges also embody clan totemism, which makes ence of secret societies among hunter-gatherers (this
them appear similar to the undoubtedly delayed-return volume) provides a useful measure of the relatively
societies of the Northwest Coast of North America. egalitarian character of Native Australian societies,
Cross-cousin marriage will only generate regular alli- because it highlights which characteristics are not
ances when it is practiced between unilineal descent satisfied (Table 7.1, based on the characteristics set out
groups. Further south, in the Western Desert, people in Hayden (forthcoming, chapter one). In compiling
have the option of joining the band in whose country this table I have relied mainly on my field experience
they were born, or their father’s or mother’s band. This with the Anangu of the Western Desert and the Alawa
negates the value of cross-cousin marriage as a means of the ‘Gulf Country’ south of the Gulf of Carpentaria,
to create inter-group alliances. Membership of a local with more limited knowledge of the Worora on the
group accrues through time, as one demonstrates a Kimberley coast and the Gunwinggu of Arnhem Land.
commitment to living and sharing with other members Measuring Australian cultures against the character-
and caring for the local country (Layton 1995). istics that Brian Hayden identifies in secret societies
Even in Northern Australia, where unilineal clans shows that the features most likely to be associated
exist and cross-cousin marriage is practiced, water is with sedentism are absent.
the only resource dense and predictable enough in Hayden (forthcoming: 267) suggests that the
location to be defended. Sacred sites, to which only Djanggawul ceremony among the Yolngu of Arnhem
members of the local group in whose country the site Land comes closest to constituting an Australian secret
lies have access, are always situated near water. On society. Howard Morphy and his linguist wife Frances
the other hand, the local unpredictability of rainfall attended a Djungguwan (Djanggawul) ceremony dur-
and consequent variable abundance of food resources ing their long-term field research among the Yolngu.
make it beneficial to allow neighbouring groups Howard Morphy writes that the Yolngu system of
(bands or clans) mutual access to the remainder of knowledge is a progressive one, linked to a hierarchy of
the local group’s country. Social boundary defence is status, but ‘Individuals acquire the knowledge often in
therefore practiced, although visitors need guidance a relatively informal way – through participating in cer-
from members of the local group to avoid uninten- emonies, being taught by senior members of their clan,
tional trespass on sacred sites. Some Native Australian showing a willingness and capacity to learn, and being
societies appear to have followed a trajectory towards trusted’ (Morphy 1991: 84). There were both restricted
the territorial aspects of ‘delayed return’ (Woodburn) and public ceremonial grounds, but the restricted
or ‘complexity’ (Price and Brown), but only as far as ground was simply a clearing where men prepared
ecology permits [and I don’t mean to imply they were sacred objects, painted their bodies and performed
trying to get further but failed!]. The most common secret phases of the ceremony. Women nonetheless
route toward differences in power is to acquire more know much of what happen on the men’s ceremonial
religious knowledge over a wider region than other ground. It seemed to the Morphys that women were
members of one’s generation, which generates respect excluded from certain contexts and occasions rather
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Table 7.1. Are there secret societies in Aboriginal Australia?

Characteristics that are present
Regional interaction spheres. Yes: major ceremonies provide the primary context for regional gatherings.
Ritual sites are characterized by distinctive configurations of rock art. Yes, sometimes, providing the site is located near suitable rock
surfaces (see, for example the case of the art of the Wandjina in the Kimberley region).
Ritual paraphernalia is concealed or destroyed between performances. Yes.
An iconographic ‘vocabulary’ identifies which ancestral being (kangaroo, python, emu etc.) is represented in body decoration or cave painting,
although the art style of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land is considerably more representational than the ‘geometric’ style of central
Australia.
Several distinct ritual cults in the same community; age and sex divisions in cult membership. Yes, there are both men’s and woman’s cults,
to which all or part of which the other gender is denied access.* However, in moiety cults such as those in the Gulf Country there is
a division of ritual labour between the Miniringgi ‘owners’ who belong to clans in one moiety and the Junggaiyi ‘workers’ (sisters’
sons of the Miniringgi) in the other moiety. At a ceremony the Minirringgi dance wearing sacred painting identifying them with their
totemic ancestors while the Junggaiyi prepare the dance ground, paint up the Minirringgi and sing the ritual song cycle. These roles
are reversed in the other moiety’s ceremony, so inequality is avoided. The organization of major ceremonies is therefore such that
they cannot be held without drawing on co-operation from a variety of groups or kin categories, rather than confined to a select few
initiates. Indeed, the purpose of the ceremonies is to reinforce a regional network of inter-clan relationships.
Esoteric knowledge. Yes, this is the key resource held by senior men and women. Initiates are instructed in progressively deeper levels
of understanding concerning the landscape created by the totemic ancestors and its social implications.
Characteristics that are partly satisfied
Special ritual sites in remote locations. Yes, with the caveat that ‘remoteness’ may be culturally defined as no-go areas relatively close to
camp such as a rock shelter or a clearing naturally surrounded by boulders.
Ecstatic states. When dancers in a ceremony are painted to represent their totemic ancestor and dance to the accompaniment of verses
from the song cycle tracing the ancestor’s travel, they become, or embody that ancestor. No hallucinogens are used, but the dancer
may achieve an altered state of consciousness.
Characteristics of secret societies that are not found
Amassing the high fees required for initiation and advancement are predicated on the ability to produce reliable surpluses and storage. No.
Australian ceremonies can only be held during periods of natural resource abundance. They therefore take place more rarely in the
Western Desert than in the Gulf Country. But even in the Gulf Country and Arnhem Land ceremonies are only held once every few
years, perhaps because the low population density is insufficient to generate enough young people to initiate more frequently. On the
Northwest Coast they are held every year during winter, accompanied by feasts.
Feasting. No. The logistics of ensuring all members of a large gathering have sufficient to eat is hard enough to achieve. One
Gunwinggu man described to me how a large goanna (lizard) might be caught alive and tied to a tree with one leg amputated to
prevent it escaping until it was needed as food. Usually women forage for vegetable foods to feed everyone, if (or when) they are not
themselves participating in the ceremony.
Special structures used for rituals are erected within or near the community. Not found, even in permanent settlements established since
colonization, although simple, temporary structures may be constructed on ritual grounds.
Human sacrifice and cannibalism. Not in Australia. Hayden (forthcoming, chapter two) states that on the Northwest Coast slaves were
sacrificed during ceremonies but considers evidence for cannibalism to be questionable.
Special burials of high-ranking members. Not in Australia, and Hayden notes that it is difficult to prove on the Northwest Coast.
* Both in the Western Desert and in the Northern Territory’s Gulf Country I was made aware of women’s cults
from which men are excluded.

than from acquiring knowledge (87). As in the Gulf storing food, the lack of dense and predictably located
Country, the senior sisters’ sons, members of the other resource patches that are defendable, and the need for
moiety, made decisions and were consulted before geographical mobility beyond one’s own local group
each phase of the ceremony. The senior sister’s son and its ‘country’. A mutually reinforcing relationship
oversaw the production of every painting and started therefore appears to exist between sedentism, aggrega-
most of them himself. He also marked out the ceremo- tion in villages, inequality and the defence of territories
nial ground. As in the Gulf Country, the other moiety (the horizontal axis on the 4-cell diagram, Figure 7.1).
has a parallel ceremony, the Gunabibi (Berndt 1951; For Jérôme Rousseau (2006), social evolution
Warner 1958: chapter 9), in which these roles would means progressive evolution, from simple to complex
be reversed. societies, and not Darwinian adaptation to specific
The features not found in Australia, but present environments. He accepts Woodburn’s claim that
on the Northwest Coast of North America, are absent the distribution of immediate and delayed return
due to lower population densities, the difficulty of systems cannot be explained by ecology, and argues
108
 Adaptation and cumulative processes in human prehistory

that Middle-range societies emerge with the transfor- In the open field zone of England, a stable social
mation from immediate to delayed return. This comes system existed for some 800 years after ad 1000, in
about because ‘it is onerous to be obliged to share the which each village’s land was divided into two types;
product of one’s labour with others’ (61). He does not ploughed fields and common grazing. The productive
consider whether agents’ behaviour is itself adaptive, capacity of common land was too low and unpredict-
for themselves or for those who exploit them. Ecology able to justify its division. Every household managed
does not, contra Rousseau, just impose limits on agency; its own plough-land, but the commons were jointly
it also encourages particular types of social strategy. If managed and each household was entitled to put
sharing and reciprocity become ‘onerous’ rather than livestock on common land. Access was regulated by
beneficial to the participants, it is because the ecology a village committee whose members determined how
(fitness landscape) of social interaction has changed. many animals each household could graze, to avoid
The Prisoner’s Dilemma was developed to model the overuse. The committee also made sure that no-one’s
circumstances in which the mutual trust on which ploughing encroached on public footpaths or neigh-
reciprocal altruism depends can be sustained, and the bours’ strips. This system broke down as farming
circumstances in which it will break down. techniques and the market for agricultural produce
improved, tempting wealthier villagers to enclose
The Prisoner’s Dilemma and its endgame portions of the commons for their own exclusive
use and profit, renouncing their obligations toward
Axelrod’s classic work on the Prisoner’s Dilemma poorer fellow-villagers. A wave of enclosure, at its
shows the adaptive value of repeated exchanges in peak between 1760 and 1820, spread across the open
which participants can develop mutual trust so that field zone and brought the system in England to an
each party will uphold a commitment to sharing and end (see Layton 2000, 333–48 for a detailed discussion
reciprocity. The Prisoner’s Dilemma models a situation of competing analyses of the dynamics of enclosure,
in which two prisoners (thieves, or freedom fighters) and the different trajectories followed in England
have been captured and placed in separate cells. Under and France).
interrogation, each is told that if both confess, they will James Scott (1976, 207–12) described a similar
receive a light sentence, in recognition of their collabo- process in Southeast Asia that followed the introduc-
ration with their jailers. If they remain silent when the tion of Green Revolution crops during the 1960s, whose
other confesses, they will be severely punished. The consequences he compares to the Enclosure Movement
prisoners realize that, if neither confesses, they will in England. Only relatively wealthy villagers could
both go free. Axelrod (1990: 10–13) appreciated that afford the risks of adopting the new Green Revolution
co-operation (mutual silence) would only be achieved if crops because, although they gave greater yields in the
each prisoner knows he can trust the other. Since they long run, they were more vulnerable to failure in the
are isolated in different cells, trust must be based on short term. This risk could only be tolerated by those
prior knowledge. To rely on each other, the prisoners living above subsistence level. The new crops also
must have already interacted with each other in ways required chemical fertilizer and more sophisticated
that test their mutual loyalty. equipment or hired labour to cultivate and harvest.
Axelrod also found that, for reciprocity to per- Networks of mutual aid broke down and poorer vil-
sist, participants must anticipate that the relationship lagers were liable to become wage labourers working
will continue indefinitely into the future. If partners for their increasingly wealthy neighbours, or obliged
anticipate no longer needing each other they will to migrate to the cities (Scott 1976: 15–20).
defect. Jansen documented this outcome during the
disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Once it Inequality before farming
became clear that Yugoslavia would soon cease to
exist, and people would need to identify as Serb, Croat The transition from equality to inequality documented
or Bosnian if they were to keep their houses and jobs, by the ethnographic examples above would, from an
they frequently broke off personal relationships with archaeological perspective, have seemed instantane-
members of other ethnic groups. ‘Suddenly every- ous. How quickly might the social organization of a
thing had to change: address books, the language and hunter-gatherer community shift from reciprocity
our names, our identity…. Everything changed with to competition if circumstances were to change such
astonishing speed into old garbage’ (Jansen 1998: 95, that it was no longer in people’s interests to maintain
quoting the novelist Dubravka Ugrešic). People who relationships of reciprocity and co-operation with
had not discarded their old identities became known neighbouring groups (bands, clans)? Ben Fitzhugh’s
as ‘Yugozobies’. paper (this conference) on the archaeology of Kodiak
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 Chapter 7

Island and the Kuril chain, put beside the work of On Kodiak Island the transition to defended ter-
Maschner and others on the archaeology of the North- ritories takes place around 2500 bp. The subsequent
west Coast of North America (Maschner 1997; Ames & record could be interpreted as a kind of domino effect,
Maschner 1999; Hoffman et al. 2016; Coupland et al. in which a succession of changes leads to ever greater
2016 ), may throw light on this question (see Table 7.2). inter-group rivalry (cf. Renfrew 1978). Eventually,
Both columns in table two indicate a five thou- villages were compelled to participate in trade and
sand year period of occupation by small, mobile warfare in order to resist a network of neighbouring
bands before evidence implying claims to exclusive, competitors (Fitzhugh 2003: 34).
defended access of resources appears. This transition In Australia it is the relatively unpredictable ecol-
takes place around 4000 bp on the Northwest Coast. ogy and the lack of regular (seasonal) surpluses that
Hoffman et al. (2016) describe their investigation of an renders sharing and reciprocity more adaptive than
archaeological site located in what was once an ecologi- hoarding and competition. This poses the question,
cally rich wetland on the edge of a stable sandy ridge can the archaeological transitions from mobility to
on the lower Fraser River. At around 40,000 bp a garden sedentism and from peaceful interaction to warfare
was created to cultivate wapato (Sagittaria latifola) the documented on the Northwest Coast and Kodiak be
edible root of a water plantain that was an important explained by the gradual emergence of seasonally
source of dietary starch during the winter. The base of predictable abundances in food sources?
the garden was artificially lined with stones that may At a gross level, climatic conditions have been
have previously been used in roasting pits. Gardening stable since the time the Northwest Coast was settled
was most intense during the period 4100–3200 bp, after (White et al. 2015). Between 20,000 and 15,000 bp the cli-
which the site was abandoned. Ancient wapato tubers mate had been highly variable, cold stadials alternating
were excavated, along with the broken ends of nearly with warm interstadials. During this period, a founding
150 probable digging sticks used to prize the wapato human population entered Beringia. From 12,900 to
roots free from the stone platform. 11,600 bp the younger Dryas, the last major stadial, took
During the period that wapato was cultivated place. However, at about 11,600 bp, the period when
(the late Charles Culture, 4000–3500 bp), cemeter- the northwest coast was occupied, the Younger Dryas
ies also came into use in the coastal Salish district, came to an abrupt end, giving way to several millennia
implying, as Coupland et al. (2016) point out, a more of optimal conditions which corresponded to the Early
stable residence pattern than previously practiced. and Middle ‘Archaic’ (White et al. 2015: 118) in Native
Coupland et al. describe large quantities of stone American archaeology. Between 8000 and 4000 bp the
and shell beads associated selectively with cemetery Mid-Holocene Transition brought a drier climate. The
burials. Most graves at Tsawwassen contained few or only dramatic climatic event thereafter was the ‘Little Ice
no beads, but one young individual aged 11–14 was Age’, beginning at 700 bp. White et al. (citing Anderson
associated with over 53,000 stone beads. In view of 1995; Benson et al. 2009) note this period was associated
his young age, Coupland and his co-authors plausibly with increasing warfare, migration and malnutrition in
conclude that the beads imply differential inherited North America, yet defensive sites were already being
status. At Green Point, another late Charles Culture constructed on both Kodiak and the Northwest Coast.
burial site, the remains of at least 4 individuals were At a local level, two ecological changes on the
excavated, but only one was associated with (stone) Northwest Coast seem potentially significant. The
beads, of which there were ‘thousands’. The third site, first was the stabilization of sea-levels at their present
DjRw-14, which is the main subject of Coupland et position by 5000 bp (Ames & Maschner 1999: 88). This
al.’s paper, contained five burials. Burial 2, the earli- also stabilized the lower courses of rivers draining
est (6490–6350 bp), was rich in both stone and shell into the ocean, ‘encouraging the growth of ecologi-
beads. The other four burials all date to the late Charles cally productive estuarine and deltaic environments
Culture. Burial 1 contained 350,000 stone beads and including larger salmon runs.’ Second, Red Cedar used
1,000 shell beads. Burial 3 contained the skeletons of to construct clan houses and ocean-going canoes did
two young men but yielded only 650 stone beads and not reach its present distribution until between 5000
1,550 shell beads. Burial 4, of an infant, contained no and 3000 bp (Ames & Mashner 1999: 52). Even then,
beads at all. Just as the wapato garden was abandoned they comment, it would have taken another several
at c. 3200 bp, the use of cemeteries was a localized hundred years before cedar trees were big enough to
development and only lasted for around 500 years. make large canoes or house planks. Evidence of plank
Coupland et al. point out that the emergence of social houses and villages appears during the Middle Pacific
inequality in the Salish Sea region was not, therefore, period and the rectangular plank house characteristic of
a steady, irreversible evolutionary progression. permanent villages seems to be an early Middle Pacific
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Table 7.2. Chronology of the transition to inequality on the Northwest Coast and Kodiak Island.
Dates bp Northwest Coast (Ames & Maschner 1999; Maschner Kodiak Islands (Fitzhugh 2003 and this volume)
1997*; Coupland et al. 2016, Hoffman et al. 2016)
250 European colonization Russian conquest. By contact period individuals claimed
ownership to most resource patches. Inherited rank,
competitive feasting and supra-village alliances.
500 Most defensive sites built between 1200–700 bp, when Multi-roomed houses in large defended winter villages.
population peaks. Villages moved to sites on long, Non-local warfare in which villages sacked, men killed
straight shorelines, giving better visibility, but at cost and women enslaved. Whale hunting. Trade networks.
of vulnerability to storms and less easy access to inter- 750 bp: Late Kachemak ends, Koniag Period begins.
tidal or open water resources. Consequent sharp rise in
relative importance of salmon in diet
1000 Warfare evidenced in construction of defensive sites in Small defensive sites evidence for localized warfare
defensible locations, and in population decline (267).
Houses are much larger and located in larger villages,
some on headlands and rocky bluffs
1500 Bow and arrow introduced to region between 1800 and
1500 bp
2000 ‘Middle Pacific’ period ends (1800–1500 bp); ‘Late Pacific’
period starts
2500 Cemeteries imply sedentism and group territories. Sea 2200: Late Kachemak. Population growth, local
level reaches present position, larger salmon runs. competition, mortuary tradition and enhanced
identity marking through art implies signalling group
membership, status displays.
3000 Red cedar reaches its present distribution between
5,000 and 3,000 bp
3500 ‘Middle Pacific’ period starts: Large shell middens 3700: Early Kachemak: notched pebbles interpreted
associated with house floors. Many artefacts and as net weights; semi-circular knife blades increase
‘behaviours’ start to resemble ethnographically known efficiency of food processing. Aggregation in mainly
Northwest Coast culture, but settlements are much winter villages, located at stream mouths and along
smaller and less permanent than in Late Pacific with larger rivers.
smaller houses. Weapons found in archaeological sites.
Majority of victims are men
4000 4200: earliest shell middens; may have accumulated at 4000: Tents replaced by semi-subterranean dwellings.
defensive sites. Evidence of growth population and sedentism
Garden plots and cemeteries in Coast Salish area 4500: Intensive salmon processing begins [conference
(Coupland, Hoffman) paper]
5000 Early Pacific Period: First evidence of conflict seen in Ocean Bay 2: 5200–3700: flaked stone tools replaced by
non-lethal skeletal injuries ground slate hunting and cutting implements
5500 ‘Early Period’ ends
6000

7,000 Ocean Bay Period: Generalized technology exploiting

coastal resources. Small residential groups regularly
moving camp
7500 Kodiak Island first occupied
8000

9000

10,000

11,000 ‘Early Period’ Northwest Coast first occupied, groups

are small and mobile. No archaeological evidence for
warfare or conflict
* Maschner’s dates, expressed as bc/ad, are here converted to bp (zero bp = ad 1950, but since the table deals
in units of 500 years, I have rounded this up to ad 2000)

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 Chapter 7

innovation (Ames & Maschner 1999: 93, 141). Ames & inequality enabled by a changing ecological envelope
Maschner (1999: 48) sensibly caution that ‘Given the but generated by [Marxist] dynamics of ownership
long temporal scales at which archaeologists work, it is and exchange of property in which individual agents
frequently possible to see changes in human economy were caught up in social relationships upon which
and society that occur at more or less the same time as they depended, although the wider consequences
climatic and other environmental shifts…. Our view is of which were beyond their control. The seasonal
that climate or the environment do not cause anything. richness of the northwest coast environment, and
Rather, they set the parameters and rules under which the facility with which food could be stored in this
people make decisions.’ cool temperate environment, were beyond any pos-
Fitzhugh (2003: 13, my emphasis) gives more sibility in central and northern Australia. The extent
weight to technology ‘The emergence of complexity to which society and technology took up existing
requires a variable landscape with productive, stable possibilities in their ecological envelope in the last
and defendable resource patches punctuated by less four to five thousand years, or the extent to which
productive and stable zones. The Kodiak case illustrates the ecology was itself changing, remains a question
the importance of technology and demographic characteristics for further investigation.
in the creation of such an environment. Ultimately, it is
political competition (physical and symbolic) and not References
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 Part II
Social inequality in
Upper Palaeolithic Europe
 Chapter 8

Did secret societies create inequalities

in the Upper Palaeolithic?

Brian D. Hayden

If we, as prehistorians, would like to know what social a very different view of Upper Palaeolithic economic
life was like in the Palaeolithic, including aspects of and social life which is more consistent with accounts
inequality, we cannot avoid basing key aspects of our of complex hunter/gatherers such as those in California
models on ethnohistoric or ethnographic accounts of and the Northwest Plateaux of North America.
hunter/gatherers at one level or another, for better or The differences between simple foragers and
worse. The Man the Hunter conference and volume complex hunter/gatherers can be briefly summarized
made a major contribution towards clarifying the as follows. Simple foragers typically could only extract
range of variation and the basic similarities of forag- limited amounts of food from their environments. Con-
ing (or simple hunting and gathering) societies in sequently, their population densities were low (usually
terms of subsistence, mobility, social organization, less than 0.1 per sq. km), they had to move about the
sharing and egalitarian values, and other fundamental landscape at regular intervals to access different food
characteristics (Lee & Devore 1968). These conclu- sources, long-term storage was absent, there was no
sions were largely based on ethnographies of the San, labour-intensive architecture, sharing and egalitarian
Hadza, Boreal Cree, and Australian Aborigines. While ethics dominated values and behaviour, emphasis was
brief consideration was also given to more complex on group well-being, individual aggrandizement was
types of hunter/gatherers with quite different char- not tolerated, competition involving food resources
acteristics, these were not a major focus of attention was proscribed, prestige objects were absent or rare
and subsequently have been largely ignored by most or relegated to communally held ritual domains, and
prehistorians and others dealing with the Palaeolithic. private ownership of resources was extremely limited
Indeed, when most archaeologists speak of Palaeo- or absent. In short, they epitomized hunter/gatherers
lithic hunter/gatherers informally or in publications, as Man the Hunter volume typified them.
it is almost always stated or implied that they refer In contrast, complex, or transegalitarian, hunter/
to foragers (simple hunter/gatherers) rather than gatherers had the resources and technologies to extract
seasonally sedentary complex hunter/gatherers (see significantly more resources from their environments
Arnold et al. 2016; Hayden 2014; Guy 2017: 19–21). to the point of producing some surpluses for exchange
As a case in point, Testart (1982 – see Guy 2017: 59, or other uses in normal years. As a result, their popula-
102, 254–7) insisted that Upper Palaeolithic groups in tion densities were higher, (usually above 0.2 people
Western Europe were all egalitarian foragers. Never- per sq. km – Ames 2004: 367), they were seasonally if
theless, as this conference indicates, over the last few not fully sedentary, they typically stored considerable
decades, there has been an increasing awareness that volumes of staple foods, obligatory sharing of food
many aspects of Upper Palaeolithic archaeology do was reduced to immediate kin, prestige or wealth
not conform to the ethnographic accounts of simple items occurred regularly in domestic and funerary
foragers (Hayden 2007, 2008; Guy 2017). Rather, the contexts, and prestige items as well as storage facili-
high population densities, seasonally or fully sedentary ties and resource locations were individually or family
habitations, the indications of mass harvesting and owned. There was surplus-based feasting and com-
storage, the specialized art and prestige items, the rich petition over a range of socio-political and economic
burials including those of children, and indications privileges, and marriage involved wealth exchanges.
of feasting – among other things – have engendered These factors resulted in significant socioeconomic
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 Chapter 8

inequalities sometimes even involving slavery, e.g., deaths or injury, or as compensation for the loss
among Northwest Coast groups, the Ainu, and the of a kinship member through marriage);
Calusa. 5. creating debts.
Together with others like Arnold et al. (2016), I
have argued that the emergence of complex hunter/ I maintain that the proliferation of portable art and
gathers, rather than the advent of agriculture, was prestige items (e.g., beads, shells, sculptures, amber,
the most important cultural watershed in cultural Solutrean laurel leaves) in the Upper Palaeolithic in
evolution (Hayden 2014). Complex hunter/gatherers some regions reflects the use of prestige items for some
established the socioeconomic premises upon which or all of the above socioeconomic functions.
all subsequent cultural developments were created, I have also suggested that with the production
including the Industrial-cybernetic societies of today. of surpluses – in part a natural outcome of storage
All of the major technological advances usually attrib- according to Testart (1982) and Halstead (1989, 1990)
uted to the agricultural revolution actually occurred – ambitious individuals began to devise a number of
first among complex or transegalitarian societies, strategies to use surpluses in order to advance their
including: pottery, use of metals, monumental archi- own self-interests in terms of power and wealth. These
tecture, fine art, specialist crafts, brewing, music, and strategies included: feasting; contractual debts; estab-
cultivation. Social and ideological changes usually lishing wealth as a prerequisite for marriage or proper
attributed to the Neolithic also first appeared in funeral rites; the need for wealth to create defensive
complex hunter/gatherer societies, including ances- alliances; wealth penalties for breach of contract or
tor worship, hereditary classes, indebtedness, and injuries or for infractions of community taboos; the use
slavery. of wealth or feasts to obtain positions of political power;
Thus, there are two diametrically opposed inter- and the use of wealth to access powerful supernatural
pretations of Upper Palaeolithic society: egalitarian forces. I have discussed a number of these strategies
foragers vs. complex hunter/gatherers. Together with elsewhere. Here, I would like to explore the role of
researchers like Bordes & Sonneville-Bordes (1970: 64), wealth-based rituals in creating inequalities in the
Jochim (1987), Soffer (1989), Beaune (1995), Alhouse- Upper Palaeolithic. I have suggested that such rituals
Green (2002: 226, 230), Vanhaeren & Errico (2005), and most prominently took the form of ancestor cults and
Guy (2017), I have argued for some time that there secret societies (Hayden 2003, 2008: 100, 102). Both
is compelling archaeological evidence that at least in ancestor cults and secret societies were relatively com-
the most favourable Upper Palaeolithic environments mon features in ethnographic transegalitarian hunter/
such as the Southwestern French refugia, societies gatherer societies, and both could occur in the same
were transegalitarian in nature (Hayden 1990, 2001, societies. For example, some Californian groups had
2007, 2014; Owens & Hayden 1997). The mere presence both Kuksu secret societies and ancestral mourning
of recurring prestige items constitutes an important rituals; and on the American Northwest Coast and
indicator of transegalitarian organization. I have Interior, secondary burials (indicative of ancestors’
suggested that the breeding of dogs also occurred for importance) and ancestral totem poles occurred in
prestige purposes (in part due to the costs involved communities together with a variety of secret socie-
– see Hayden 2014: 120). The documentation of these ties. Since these cult types were fairly common among
practices in the Upper Palaeolithic by Germonpré et ethnographic complex hunter/gatherers, shouldn’t we
al. (this volume) further supports such a view. expect them to have been common among prehistoric
If we examine ethnographic uses of prestige complex hunter/gatherers as well?
items, they were used for a limited range of functions
in traditional societies, all of which were fundamental Ancestor cults
to transegalitarian dynamics (Hayden 1998, 2008: 87).
These functions consisted of: In an article with the fetching title, ‘“Magdalithique”
et “Mégaléniens”’, Van Berg & Cauwe (1996; Cauwe
1. converting surplus production into more durable 2001) documented Upper Palaeolithic human remains
and fungible material forms; that resembled burial or disposal patterns in the Neo-
2. displaying economic success; lithic, especially in megalithic areas. Human remains
3. contracting important sociopolitical relations or from both periods were characterized by a few special
hosting important sociopolitical events, including burials with most remains from other individuals
marriages, alliances, feasts, funerals; being fragmented, manipulated, dispersed, and moved
4. substituting surplus production or wealth for around the landscape. In the Neolithic, this might be
human lives (in compensation payments for most parsimoniously interpreted in terms of removal
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 Did secret societies create inequalities in the Upper Palaeolithic?

of body parts for ancestral veneration. This similarity justifications for the resulting inequalities. I use this
of patterning raises the question of whether ancestor example simply to make the general point that rituals
cults existed in the Upper Palaeolithic. Similarly, the – at least those that require wealth – can be used in the
occurrence of secondary burials in the Upper Palaeo- creation of socioeconomic inequalities, and that this
lithic (Beaune 1995: 252; Pettitt 2010) is most plausibly was a plausible tactic used by ambitious individuals
a part of ancestor veneration (Hayden 2003, 2008: 100). in some of the better-off Upper Palaeolithic groups in
As Teit (1900: 330) noted for one group of Northwest Western and Eastern Europe.
Interior Indians, there was no burial for the poor, and
only the most wealthy had secondary burials. Although Secret societies
no attempt has yet been made using Lorenz curves
to quantify the degree of inequality represented by While the study of ancestor cults is relatively well
Upper Palaeolithic burials, the great disparities in studied ethnographically and almost self-evident in
grave goods would almost certainly yield very high many archaeological contexts – from Neolithic cham-
Gini coefficients of inequality characteristic of some bered tombs to Egyptian pyramids – another similar
of the most stratified societies known (see Schulting strategy for using rituals to create socioeconomic
1995; Kohler & Smith 2018). inequalities has received remarkably little attention
Ethnographically, ancestor cults were used to by most archaeologists. I refer to the role of secret
claim rights to resources and as warrants for line- societies as possibly present and powerful in many
age heads to impose their wills on younger lineage surplus-producing communities from the Classical
members and affines, as well as to leverage resources Age back to the Upper Palaeolithic. The topic may be
from other lineage members for rituals and feasts that unfamiliar to many prehistorians, especially in Europe
were promoted as necessary for good crops, fertility, and the Near East. I will therefore first define secret
and economic success – all putatively bestowed by societies and then discuss some of their important
properly venerated ancestors as exemplified in the characteristics for archaeologists. We can then examine
Torajan area of Sulawesi (Eliade 1958: 350; Freedman the material record of the Upper Palaeolithic to see
1965, 1970; Lewis 1989: 102–32; Sandarupa 1996). what the potential applicability might be for using the
Typically, in order to render an ancestor powerful in secret society concept for interpreting the social and
the afterlife – i.e., able to provide material benefits for ritual structure of the time.
descendants – costly sacrifices of animals, displays of
prestige items, and consumption of prestige foods were Definitions: What are secret societies?
required. Many of these things were bestowed upon Historically, secret societies among tribal, transegalitar-
guests, thus creating alliances and debts that could be ian, and chiefdom societies were voluntary, ranked,
used to structure political power and further the host’s ritual associations whose memberships, or at least
economic advantages via marriages with desirable the upper ranks of memberships, were exclusive and
families, access to resources and labour of other kin who typically claimed to possess ritual knowledge of
groups, and support in any conflicts whether within great value to their own members or knowledge which
the village or intervillage (Hayden 2009). could be used for the benefit of others, usually at a
Thus, to promote their own power-base and eco- cost. This ritual knowledge constituted the ‘secret’ in
nomic control, ambitious individuals pushed funerals these organizations. The existence of the societies and
to become as expensive as a kin group could bear. their memberships was typically public knowledge
Subsequent expensive rituals for ancestors were used and was not part of the ‘secret’. In fact, secret socie-
for the same ends as well as to justify material and ties generally put on periodic public performances
social inequalities – i.e., the ownership of resources and feasts to demonstrate their arcane powers and
and the production of surpluses were not due to the their profane wealth. As documented in detail in my
exploitation of others, but were due to the carrying out monograph on secret societies (Hayden 2018), in order
of rituals that empowered some ancestors to bestow to obtain access to the ritual knowledge held by high
material success upon those performing the rituals. If ranking members, initiates characteristically paid high
families were poor, it was blamed on the fact that they admission and advancement fees involving wealth
did not perform the proper (costly) rituals (which only payments and feasts given to the society. Because of
the rich could afford – see Hayden 2009 and 2017 for this, secret societies were only found in areas where
examples from Southeast Asia). It seems evident that significant amounts of surpluses occurred. Although
ancestor cults were used to create power within kin secret societies generally claimed to undertake rituals
groups, to create debts within and between kin groups for the benefit of their communities – or alternatively
that advanced individual self-interests, and to create terrorized their communities with displays of putative
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 Chapter 8

untamed spirit powers – the underlying motives of

secret society leaders was to increase their own benefits,
wealth, and power (see particularly Hoffman 1891;
Wissler 1916; Drucker 1941; Harley 1941a,b; Speiser
1996). Kinship organizations, like ancestor worship in
lineages and clans, limited the extent to which ambi-
tious leaders could extend their power. To overcome
these kinship constraints, secret societies provided
an effective way of extending control by recruiting
wealthy leaders from multiple kinship groups. They
even overcame community limitations by including
members from a number of local communities thereby
establishing regional ritual networks focused on the
wealth and power aspects of members.
The power in the high ranks resulted from several
sources. First, high ranking members were already the
most wealthy and powerful members of the commu-
nity with considerable kin or other support. With their
memberships in secret societies, all the most powerful
individuals combined their powers and resources.
Second, the ideology of the secret society claimed
that the community owed large debts to the secret
society for its supernatural protection and for ensur-
ing health and prosperity in the community. Third,
various means were used to obtain acquiescence for Figure 8.1. A sketch of an Elk secret society dancer
secret society ideological claims and practices. These among the Ogalala Sioux on the American Plains
included: demonstrations of putative supernatural (Wissler 1916: 87). This illustrates the use of masks
powers (essentially stage magic) or orchestrations of and the transformation of ritualists into therianthropic
supernatural spirit appearances (in masks and cos- animals. It also illustrates the existence of mythological
tumes), the giving of feasts for the community with the composite beings.
expectation of acceptance of the society’s ideological
claims, and lastly, the use of force. Dominant secret Third, aerophone instruments, especially flutes
societies claimed the right to punish, fine, or kill anyone and bullroarers, were often used to portend the arrival
who contravened their dictates and claims, justify- of spirits or were said to be spirit voices, and were
ing these actions on the grounds that transgressions carefully hidden from non-initiates (Fig. 8.2).
threatened the well-being of the community (Drucker Fourth, animal iconographies in secret societies
1941; Deacon & Wedgewood 1934; Harley 1941a,b). generally did not focus on subsistence animals but
rather animals viewed as powerful (e.g., bears, felids,
Material characteristics snakes, scorpions, large herbivores), and sometimes
It should be noted that there was considerable cross- included mythical beasts (Fig. 8.1).
cultural variability in many features of secret societies. Fifth, initiations usually involved the seclusion
Nevertheless, there were also some striking tendencies, of the initiates and the induction of Sacred Ecstatic
especially in the most developed and powerful secret Experiences (SEE’s) to convincingly demonstrate the
societies. Many of these characteristics can assist in power of the societies to contact sacred forces. Vision
the archaeological identification of secret societies (for quests could be part of these seclusion rituals.
details, see Hayden 2018). First, ethnographic exam- Sixth, human sacrifices and cannibalism featured
ples typically developed a body of esoteric knowledge in a number of secret societies, probably as techniques
known only to the higher ranks. This esoteric knowl- to demonstrate power, to ensure commitments of new
edge often included astronomically knowledge that initiates, and/or as emotional shocks that promoted
could be materially represented as in solar alignments. altered states of consciousness.
Second, many secret societies also used costumes A seventh common characteristic was that mate-
and masks to impersonate spirits or claimed the abil- rials procured from distant sources, especially shells,
ity of members to transform themselves into animal and prestige items were typically used as society
forms (Fig. 8.1). paraphernalia and imbued with special supernatural
120
 Did secret societies create inequalities in the Upper Palaeolithic?

Figure 8.2. Bone flutes used to represent the voices of spirits in Californian secret society rituals (Kroeber 1925:
Plate 43).

powers. Trade in these items as well as the spread of Eleventh, many secret societies were dominated
such cults to neighbouring communities helped to by men, but women not infrequently either had their
create regional ritual and interaction networks. own secret societies or participated in men’s organiza-
Eighth, decoration on objects generally reflected tions in various roles.
secret society iconography. Twelfth, young children of high ranking members
Ninth, special locations or structures in or near were very frequently inducted into secret societies.
communities as well as remote locations were used
for private secret society rituals or meetings. Of note, Evidence from the Upper Palaeolithic
caves or rock shelters were sometimes used for remote
rituals including solstice observances, fertility rites, Let us now compare the above characteristics to
initiations, seclusion, storage of ritual paraphernalia, the archaeological record of the European Upper
and other unspecified rituals. For further details, see Palaeolithic.
Evidence from the Upper Palaeolithic (below) and espe-
cially Hayden (2018). However, special structures, Resources, surpluses, and complex hunter/gatherers
sometimes painted with power animals, were also While many European regions undoubtedly had very
located within communities and used for secret society limited resources, some areas became rich refugia for
meetings (Figs. 8.3 & 8.4). animals and corridors for animal migrations, especially
Tenth, the most powerful leaders of secret socie- in the foothill regions of the Massif Central (Jochim
ties were frequently buried in remote or special places 1987). The sharp increase in the number of sites and
to prevent their bones from being used to obtain super- the intensity of their occupation that occurred in the
natural powers, however, sometimes their bones, and Upper Palaeolithic indicates new ways of extracting
especially their skulls were retained by the society for and storing foods. Mellars (2009: 216–17) even envis-
display and rituals. Such burials and skull retention aged population densities in some areas rivalling
only involved a few exclusive individuals and some- population densities of agriculturalists (see also Guy
times took the form of skull cults. For further details, 2017: 66, 267). Seasonal or full sedentism in some areas
see Evidence from the Upper Palaeolithic (below) and also attests to dramatically increased ability to extract
especially Hayden (2018). resources as does the evidence for mass harvests,
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 Chapter 8

Figure 8.3. The interior of an Egbo ritual house of the Ekoi tribe in Nigeria (Talbot 1912: 264). Note the drum at the
back and the apparent cattle skulls (prestige or power animals) on the back wall.

Figure 8.4. The interior of an Egbo ritual house at Akangba, Nigeria (Talbot 1912: 249). Note the power animals
painted on the walls.
122
 Did secret societies create inequalities in the Upper Palaeolithic?

filleting and storing dried meat or fish, and locations in Font-de-Gaume, the Axial gallery in Lascaux, or the
of major sites near river fordings for capturing animals life-size three-dimensional stone sculptures at Cap
or fish (White 1985; Beaune 1995: 53, 81, 84, 132, 204, Blanc) all would have required considerable wealth
216; Hayden 2007: 89; 2008: 97; Guy 2017: 80–2, 87–90, to underwrite (Hayden 2008: 104). Some of these have
198–9, 201–2). Moreover, the proliferation of exotic and been estimated to take weeks or months to create (Guy
prestige objects, some of which were brought 600 km 2017). Similar heavy investments in secret society ritual
from their sources (Gladkih et al. 1984, Taborin 1993), features may be represented by the ‘monumental’
indicates that surpluses underwrote the exchange of mammoth bone architecture on the Russian Plain at
non-essential luxuries. The breeding of dogs which had Mezin which could only accommodate a few people
to be fed substantial amounts of food also indicates but would have taken about 60 man-days to construct
the existence of surpluses (see Germonpré et al., this (Gladkih et al. 1984; see Hayden 2008: 93). Secret
volume). These features of Upper Palaeolithic societies societies would have provided not only a plausible
also strongly imply that communities in favourable motivation for creating this art and architecture, but
environments were complex hunter/gatherers. also the material wherewithal to undertake such pro-
The existence of a limited number of lavish Upper jects. In essence, I have argued that both cave art and
Palaeolithic burials, including children (e.g., Sunghir, portable art constituted prestige objects or displays
La Madeleine, Grotte des Enfants, Arene Candide – (Hayden 2008: 90–1).
Binant 1991; Pettitt 2010), further indicates the existence
of surpluses or wealth and pronounced socioeconomic Small exclusive groups
inequalities that are characteristic of complex hunter/ Caves are ideal natural features for excluding unwanted
gatherers. The fact that burials (especially those with observers and conducting affairs in private. Moreover,
substantial grave goods), cave art, portable prestige the spaces available for viewing some of the best
objects, and high site densities all tend to occur in the paintings in Upper Palaeolithic caves were often
same restricted areas of Europe (such as the French small (Owens & Hayden 1997: 122, 153–4; Clottes &
Perigord and Charente) is a strong indication that there Lewis-Williams 1998: 20; Villeneuve 2008; Hayden
was something special about these locations favour- 2018), implying that only small exclusive groups
ing all these developments. The most obvious factor were involved (Beaune 1995: 238, 274). This is what
uniting them all was the high resource productivity one would expect of secret society memberships or at
of these areas. Why else would they be geographically least their high-ranking leaders. Importantly, there is
restricted? In addition to the inferences derived from considerable ethnographic documentation for the use
these factors, Emmanuel Guy (2017: 187–92, 209–13) of caves by secret societies either for holding rituals or
has argued that the degree of realism displayed in as locations for secluding new initiates (Hayden 2016,
Upper Palaeolithic art only occurs in societies with 2018). Good examples come from California where
pronounced socioeconomic inequalities and wealthy solstice rituals were observed and from the Northwest
patrons that could support the training of specialists Coast where seclusions and initiations took place. In
to produce such art. the American Pueblos secret societies also used caves
for some of their special rituals involving fertility and
High costs of rituals and art success in war as well as for storing ritual parapher-
Because secret societies try to impress people with nalia. Archaeologists have often recovered important
both their arcane and profane powers, and because caches of ritual paraphernalia from such caves includ-
they obtain considerable wealth from initiations or ing feathers, scalps, prayer sticks, and weapons (Ellis
community contributions, secret societies have a strong & Hammack 1968). Additional examples of caves used
tendency to develop the display art and underwrite its for fertility or unspecified secret society rituals come
production. This can result in distinctive elaborately from New Guinea and Vanuatu (see Hayden 2018).
decorated sanctuaries (Figs. 8.3 & 8.4) as in West Africa, Given the suitability of caves for inducing numinous
Vanuatu, and the American Pueblos which often fea- emotions, caves are eminently adapted for secret
tured iconographies of power animals (Hayden 2018). society activities.
In fact, Speiser (1996: 373) observed that art in Vanuatu
really only was common in areas where secret societies Sacred ecstatic experiences
existed. The specialist training that must have been Caves are also ideal places for inducing altered states
required for producing the masterpieces of European of consciousness and SEE’s (Sacred Ecstatic Experi-
cave art, as well as the lengthy time and considerable ences). The other-worldliness of flowstone formations
effort (including scaffolding) that it took to complete and the sensory deprivation of darkness and silence
major friezes of cave art (e.g., the procession of bison together with deep reverberations of sounds favour
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 Chapter 8

numinous experiences among those who enter these bone fide members of secret societies at the regional
realms (Tuzin 1984). Some smaller caves with especially level (Hayden 2018). Other archaeological materials
difficult access like Pergouset and Combarelles II could that were probably used as costume elements include
have been used for the seclusion of initiates which feathers, hides (with phalanges attached), talons, and
probably included vision quests. Ethnographically, shells. Upper Palaeolithic use and caching of these
vision quests were often associated with children in costume elements (usually in rockshelters or caves) has
high ranking families (Schulting 1995). been recorded by Bouchud (1953) and others (Solecki
& McGovern 1980; Laroulandie 2003 – see also Beaune
Instruments 1995: 92, 168–9; Hayden 2008: 90–1).
Almost all of the musical instruments recovered from
Upper Palaeolithic sites are the same ones used ethno- Paraphernalia and exotica
graphically by secret societies to represent the voices Over the geographic expanse where secret societies
of spirits. These are mainly flutes and bullroarers, but occur, there is a great range of exotic items that could
could easily extend to lithophones and drums (Morley be used in secret society rituals including the feath-
2009, 2013). Ethnographically, in order not to reveal ers and talons mentioned above commonly used as
the true nature of these sounds, the instruments were sacrae. In the Upper Palaeolithic, shells were some of
carefully kept out of sight of the uninitiated public. It is the most widely exchanged items (Taborin 1993), but
therefore of considerable interest that bone ‘flutes are jet and amber, stone beads or sculptures, and pelts
commonly found inside the decorated caves’ (Morley with attached claws (Beaune 1995: 66, 175–9, 185)
2013: 126) and in burials but rarely elsewhere (Morley constitute other possible ritual materials. While these
2009: 168–87, 106, 126; 2013: 41). Morley explicitly could simply be used as prestige items on clothing,
relates their use to ritual contexts (2009: 162, 167, 172
– see also Beaune 1995: 221).

Iconography of power animals

As many prehistorians have noted, Upper Palaeolithic
cave and portable art focused on power animals rather
than subsistence animals (Mithen 1988; Beaune 1995:
194, 198–9, 209–10). Why this was so has always been
something of a conundrum, however such a feature is
entirely expectable in the framework of secret socie-
ties. Thus, bison, aurochs, horses, mammoths, felines,
bears, rhinoceroses were main features and could vary
in frequency between caves or from one part of a cave
to another (Guy 2017: 170–84) as often occurred with
different secret societies or different grades within
secret societies. The occurrence of some imaginary
animals and ‘ghosts’ also has parallels in ethnographic
secret societies.

Costumes and therianthropes

In addition to the dramatic lion-headed ivory sculpture
with shoulder scars from Hohlenstein (Marshack 1991:
Fig. 231), there are a number of cave images clearly
depicting either masked individuals or therianthropic
transformations into power animals (Beaune 1995: 169;
1998: 204; Otte 2016). One of the clearest examples is Figure 8.5. The ‘Sorcerer’ from Les Trois Frères Cave in
‘The Sorcerer’ in Les Trois-Frères Cave (Fig. 8.5) which France (Bégouën 1909: 305). Compare this to Fig. 1.1.
bears a remarkable resemblance to a secret society While the similarities may be convergences stemming
depiction from the American Plains (compare Fig. 8.1). from a common general belief framework, the similarities
While shamans used similar concepts, these rarely took nevertheless strengthen the impression that the elaborate
the form of masks or were rarely materialized in sculp- Upper Palaeolithic cave paintings (including mythic
tures. Such practices seem more consistent with secret animals and transformed or costumed men) were
societies including the use of body scars to identify products of secret societies.
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 Did secret societies create inequalities in the Upper Palaeolithic?

they could also be used in secret society rituals like is common among complex hunter/gatherers and
the cowrie shells or quartz crystals obtained from great detailed astronomical knowledge has been recorded
distances comparable to Upper Palaeolithic transport for secret societies in complex hunter/gatherer cultures
of shells over 600 km from sources (Taborin 1993). The like the Chumash (Hudson & Underhay 1968; Hayden
shells used by the Midewiwin secret society around the & Villeneuve 2011).
North American Great Lakes came from ocean sources
and were ritually ‘shot’ into initiates (Hoffman 1891) Use of remote locations
or used in a similar manner by other secret societies. Although some of the largest major art and ritual
cave sites may also have been used as habitation sites
Regional networks (at least at the entrances), many of the major painted
Although there are some minor stylistic differences caves exhibit little or no evidence of habitation in
from region to region, one of the more remarkable or around the caves (e.g., Font-de-Gaume, Lascaux,
features of Upper Palaeolithic art is the widespread Bernifal, Niaux). The location of special secret society
similarity over large distances and the prestige mate- meeting and ritual locations removed from habitation
rial exchange networks extending many hundreds of sites (but usually within a kilometre or two of resi-
kilometres (Bahn 1982; Taborin 1993; Lacombe 1998; dences) is entirely consistent with the use of caves by
Beaune 1995: 198–9; Langlais 2010). This must represent ethnographic secret societies. However, ethnographic
continuing interaction between groups, and this has secret societies also generally had special meeting and
often been viewed in terms of the need for subsistence ritual places within or adjacent to the main residential
alliances and high mobility in resource poor areas with communities. Therefore, in cases like Le Placard where
simple foragers like the Arctic Inuit (Gravel-Miguel there are impressive accumulations of what may be
2011). However, such models have not proved con- normal residential debris in the entrance, it is possible
sistent either with periods of climatic deterioration or that some interior chambers in the dark parts of the
with the proliferation of prestige items. In fact, in the cave were used as meeting places for secret societies
Upper Palaeolithic, higher rates of interaction seem to within or near the community encampments.
occur with improvements in climatic conditions (Gravel-
Miguel 2011), indicating a relationship of interaction Special burials
and art with good resources. This is consonant with For the entire Upper Palaeolithic in Europe, only about
the secret society model based on the production 100–200 intact burials have been found, of which only
of surpluses and wealth and regional interactions. 40 had any associated grave goods with some of the
Ethnographic secret societies are known for their deceased elaborately adorned with shells, beads, and
regional networks involving mutual participation other items. (Beaune 1995: 175–9; Pettitt 2010). Thus, as
of high-ranking members from different communi- on the Northwest Plateaux of North America (Schult-
ties in rituals, exchanges of rituals or paraphernalia ing 1995), it seems evident that most people were not
and wealth, and other ritual interactions. These fea- buried at death (Taborin 1993: 306; Pettitt 2010: 213).
tures seem to provide a better model for explaining This raises the question of why so few individuals were
widespread art similarities in the Upper Palaeolithic, buried. A number of the formal burials occurred in
especially given that the art primarily depicts power remote or hidden locations like the interior of Cussac
animals of importance to secret societies. Cave where the first remains were 180 m from the cave
entrance. Moreover, as in Cussac, skulls were particu-
Esoteric knowledge larly selected for removal and curation (Aujoulat et al.
Surprisingly sophisticated astronomical knowledge 2002; Henry-Gambier et al. 2013; Guy 2017: 135, 161–4).
and monitoring of celestial bodies has been inferred This kind of special – often hidden – burial treatment
to have been utilized by people using painted caves. of high ranking members (or their children) is typical
According to measurements taken by Jègues-Wolk- of ethnographic secret societies including the retention
iewiez (2000, n.d.), there is a very strong association of bones, especially skulls in hidden or difficult-to-
between the orientation of painted cave entrances and access locations such as under megaliths. ‘The idea is
solstice or equinox positions of the sun with the solstice clearly to prevent the skull being stolen and an enemy
sun illuminating far into the entrances of caves like using the mana inherent in it’ (Speiser 1996: 275). In
Lascaux and Bernifal. The Blanchard plaquette also the Upper Palaeolithic, there is even an example of an
appears to be a record of the moon’s phases together human skull recovered from a stone coffer at Rond
with its nightly highest points in the sky as they du Barry cave (Guy 2017: 164) that parallels the stone
varied over several lunar cycles. The development of coffers (Fig. 8.6) used to house skulls used in secret
astronomical monitoring of important solar positions society rituals in Vanuatu (Deacon & Wedgewood 1934:
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 Chapter 8

Cannibalism
One of the surprises in my survey of ethnographic
secret societies was the high incidence of cannibal-
ism that was reported. While this was not a universal
feature, it was nevertheless common. It is therefore
interesting to note that there is strong evidence for
cannibalism in a number of Upper Palaeolithic sites
(Villa 1992, Saladié & Rodríguez-Hidalgo 2017: 1044–6).
The modification of crania to form skull cups or bowls
at Le Placard (Fig. 8.7), Gough’s Cave, and Isturitz
Figure 8.6. A stone cist or small dolmen containing the (Mort & Gambier 1991; Bello et al. 2015; Guy 2017: 162)
skull of a high-ranking member of a secret society on could plausibly have been part of rituals involving
Malekula Island, Vanuatu (Deacon & Wedgewood 1934: cannibalism. In addition, Pettitt (2010: 216–17) stated
447). This is notably similar to some Upper Palaeolithic that 40 percent of the human remains from the Upper
skull and body burials in cists or small dolmens such as Palaeolithic exhibited cutmarks. This may indicate a
those at the French cave sites Rond-du-Barry and Saint considerable level of cannibalism, but Guy (2017: 164)
Germain-la-Rivière. has argued for the use of such bones in ancestral rites.
In contrast, Beaune (1995: 246, 251) presented evidence
for human sacrifice, decapitation, and scalping in the
447) where skulls were widely curated, or hidden, or Upper Palaeolithic. The issue needs further investiga-
used in rituals by secret societies (Speiser 1996: 275–80, tion, but it seems that at least in a surprising number
319, 345; Deacon & Wedgewood 1934: 447, 546, 585). of sites, cannibalism may have been part of the ritual
While some of these features might also be accounted practices in the Upper Palaeolithic, and one of the
for by ancestor cults, the attempt to hide burials, as most plausible contexts was in secret society rituals.
in Cussac, is not consistent with known ancestor cult
practices which generally attempt to display ancestral Age and sex
importance. Thus, I think the secret society framework On the basis of handprints, footprints, and finger flut-
is a more compelling explanation. ings, both male and female children were evidently
involved in some cave rituals (Beaune 1995: 196, 234,
237; Sharpe & Van Gelder 2005; Pastoors et al. 2015;
Clottes 2016: 109–10). This age and sex profile matches
the ethnographic age and sex profile documented
for secret society initiates, at least for those children
belonging to the most powerful families (Owens &
Hayden 1997). In contrast, as Beaune (1995: 234) has
noted, the young age of some of these children is not
consistent with coming-of-age tribal initiations which
are often invoked by prehistorians to explain the pres-
ence of children in caves.

Conclusions

No one of the criteria discussed in this chapter may

provide iron-clad proof that secret societies existed
in the more affluent Upper Palaeolithic communities.
However, taken all together, these criteria provide
Figure 8.7. One of the skull cups recovered from the compelling reasons for concluding that secret socie-
Solutrean deposits in Le Placard (Breuil & Obermaier ties were, in fact, a major feature of many Upper
1909: Fig 5). The edges have been carefully chipped into Palaeolithic societies, especially those that produced
a bowl shape and cut marks on the temporal areas are notable art. By placing secret societies in the Upper
clearly depicted. These skull modifications may have Palaeolithic context, a number of the more puzzling
resulted from cannibalism or from the use of skull parts of features of Upper Palaeolithic archaeology become
deceased leaders of secret societies to obtain some of their explicable, including the emphasis in art on power
supernatural power. animals, the reason why deep caves were used for
126
 Did secret societies create inequalities in the Upper Palaeolithic?

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Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans

to spatio-temporal variations in resources:
inequality, storage and mobility

William Davies

Recognizing and quantifying degrees of inequality, would need to be negotiated, or renegotiated in the
storage and mobility in the Upper Palaeolithic is not case of unforeseen events.
a straightforward process. How long-lived were any The long-term socio-economic basis for struc-
instances of Upper Palaeolithic inequality, given the tural inequality, even transegalitarianism (Table 9.1),
climatic and environmental instability of the period? has often been linked to resource predictability and
Such environmental changes were significant, affect- abundance (e.g. Dyson-Hudson & Smith 1978; Mar-
ing the types/variety and abundance of resources ean 2015, 2016; Hayden 2003). Foragers located in
within human lifetimes (e.g. van Andel & Davies 2003; areas with predictable and abundant resources are,
Gamble et al. 2005). Thus, what were the potentials for according to this model, more likely to be sedentary
establishing long-lasting inegalitarian socio-economic and territorial, e.g. Pacific Northwest Coast groups
systems based on control of rich, predictable resources? that rely on obtaining and storing large quantities of
‘Resources’ include not just food resources, but those fat-rich anadromous fish (primarily salmon). Some
needed to fuel heat and light and make artefacts. authors, e.g. Bordes & de Sonneville-Bordes (1970),
People, in the form of labour and expertise (social have suggested that the environmental conditions of
knowledge), can also be seen as resources (Gamble Northwest North America might have been analogous
1999). Resources themselves can thus be mobile, stored to those in Upper Palaeolithic Europe. In this paper, I
and controlled. However, not all resources (e.g. secular will examine the following questions:
skill and knowledge) were finite, temporally restricted
or easily controllable, and thus not hoarded in some • Can we be sure that the productivities of Upper
‘zero-sum’ situation, whereby someone benefited at Pleistocene European environments resembled
the expense of another. those known for forager societies today (cf.
Definitions of ‘stratified societies’ generally Hayden 2008: 81)? (The implications of ‘non-
conflate social, economic and political inequalities, analogue’ ecological communities will also be
which are closely linked, but distinct, phenomena considered.)
(Hayden 2008: 18). Socio-economic control can be • Could socio-economic complexity have existed
exerted over resources and/or stored produce, or goods without a resource base that generated consistent
and exchange networks, while political control (over surpluses?
the work of individuals, etc.) can operate through • Was cosmological or ritual knowledge directly
many strategies (marriage/bride prices, exchange, founded/dependent on productive biotic
extortion, war, rituals, feasts) (Hayden 2008: 22). resources, and might it have been easier to con-
Inequality is multi-scalar, from temporal to long- trol than technical knowledge?
lasting (multi-generational), and from individuals to
metapopulations. Long-lasting inequalities, operat- Control of ritual knowledge can be found in extant
ing at large (metapopulation) scales would only be forager groups, often based on gender and age, without
sustainable if social institutions that could maintain necessarily leading to clear patterns of inegalitarianism
consistent aims were present. Without such institutions or transegalitarianism, e.g. Kalahari San or Australian
(including communal belief systems), stability could Aborigines (Cashdan 1980; Woodburn 1982, 2005;
not be sustained or coerced, and every action or plan Testart 1989; Boehm 1993; Layton 2005; Hayden 2008).
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The spectre of equifinality (several possible explana- within each broad category vary in the intensity and
tions for a pattern) thus haunts our interpretations: expression of their traits, and all have their own con-
what can our data tell us unequivocally, and how tingent history. We shall explore the extent to which
should we incorporate ethnographic parallels into our we can, and should, generalize from both ethnographic
analyses? and archaeological data, and how we should link the
two lines of evidence (if possible or desirable). Table
Testing for inegalitarianism in the Upper 9.2 outlines how transegalitarian social traits might
Palaeolithic record be tested archaeologically. It is important to identify
possible sources of equifinality in our evidence: how
The key egalitarian and transegalitarian categories confident can we be in asserting that specific traits
(Table 9.1) form a continuum of variation (through to (or combinations of them) are diagnostic of structural
full structural inequality), though they should not be inequalities, or can they be explained in other ways?
interpreted as an evolutionary succession. Societies Are some traits better at indicating inequality than

Table 9.1. Defining key terms of reference.

Egalitarian societies Active and systematic elimination of distinctions (except those of sex) based on wealth, power and
(Testart 1982; Woodburn status. Individuals have influence, but no power, and hierarchies (e.g. of knowledge) can exist in
1982; Zubrow 2010) egalitarian contexts. Zubrow (2010: 113–14): equality has different scales (proportional/ relative vs.
quantitative/absolute) and dimensions (horizontal vs. vertical distinctions (or not) in treating individuals
in a group). He identifies five models of equality (pp. 114–16):

1. Equal treatment for all (no preference of provision or receipt; blind equality in how an individual
relates to others/groups/social institutions; all expected to have same baseline abilities, even if they
do not).
2. Equal outcome (initial conditions are not important, but results should be equal: egalitarianism of
ends, not means; assumed that individuals are diverse, and have variable opportunities – often from
no control over circumstances; different preferences might influence the equality outcome; difficult
to organize beyond the local scale). Reduces the differences among households and individuals over time.
3. Equal opportunity (for everyone to develop their own talents; equal rewards for equal performances
– the ‘opportunity to try,’ not the ‘opportunity to succeed’; permits a divided and hierarchical
society, predominantly organized around individualism; accepts that not all talents are equally
valued by society; socially conservative, in that there is prior acceptance of a social order of value).
Over time, inequality will increase, by following meritocratic principles, even though no-one is denied the
opportunity to participate.
4. Equality of resources (all individuals treated as equal – no further transfers of resources will
make them more equal; there is a potential difference between private and public resources, and
no division of resources is equal if, after division, anyone would prefer someone else’s portion of
resources, goods and services). The market is needed to recognize one’s socio-economic position,
but it can also lead to individuals monopolizing/maximizing their position (though not always at the
expense of others).
5. Equality of welfare (all are equally successful, with equal, though heterogeneous, enjoyment
from life; goal is to achieve the greatest average welfare, as long as this does not detract from the
fair shares of others, but it is unclear how this model allows resource provision for those with
disabilities). If anyone develops more expensive tastes than others, or is pessimistic rather than
optimistic, more resources will be needed for equal success or enjoyment.
Transegalitarian societies Between egalitarian and inegalitarian societies, and equivalent to ‘complex’ hunter-gatherers, e.g.
(Owens & Hayden 1997; Pacific Northwest Coast (cf. Table 9.2). Created by ‘aggrandizers’, who range in intensity from Despots
Hayden 1995, 1998, 2008) (relatively egalitarian: no stratification as the position is ephemeral; duplicated across settlements and
households; some surplus-based corporate kin groups; feasting used to build alliances; compensation
payments made to allies for death in conflict; operative in only one or two realms, e.g. warfare and
production), to Reciprocators (overtly non-egalitarian: leaders competing within the community, so
some stratification within corporate groups; moderate heredity of positions; strategies for creating
debts, surpluses and power, including bride-wealth, more elaborate feasts, and perhaps child growth
payments; minor public, feasting or ritual community architecture; surplus-based corporate groups,
whose aggrandizers have increased wealth, more wives and larger social networks), to Entrepreneurs
(clear evidence of institutionalized inequality; strong heredity and stratification within corporate groups;
non-monumental community architecture; some community cult architecture; duplicated corporate
monumental architecture; surpluses used in competitive feasts to create contractual debts, involving
interest payments; loans and investments are the primary means of obtaining wealth and power; warfare
is less important, as it interferes with generation of surplus and exchange; marriage used to transfer
wealth through bride-payments; aggrandizers consolidate control of a wide range of leadership roles,
e.g. military, ritual, financial/economic).

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 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

Table 9.2. Characteristics of ‘Generalized’ (egalitarian) and ‘Complex’ (transegalitarian) hunter-gatherers (modified and augmented from Hayden
2003: 125 & 2008: 15-16; also Owens & Hayden 1997, Testart 1982). Reference to archaeological indicators given by numbers in parentheses for
relevant characteristics; my additions (numbered) given in italics.
‘Generalized’ hunter-gatherers ‘Complex’ hunter-gatherers
Resources • Limited (1–3, 5, 6); • Abundant (1–3, 5);
• Fluctuating & vulnerable (1–3, 5, 6); • More stable (2, 3) & invulnerable (1–3, 5, 6);
• No storage (2, 3, 6); • Storage (2, 3, 6);
• No small or secret/concealed resources (3, 4) • Small or secret/concealed resources are important
(3, 4)
Population density 1–10 (5, 6) 10–1000 (5, 6)
(person/100 sq. km)
Annual mobility Nomadic foraging (6–9) Full or semi-sedentism (6–10)
Social & ideological • No individual ownership (2, 4, 7, 11); • Private property/resource ownership (1, 4, 7, 8,
adaptation 12, 13, 14);
• Sharing; no economic competition (1?, 7, 11?, 13); • Economic competition, and specialization (1–3,
4?, 7);
• Egalitarian society (1–4, 9–11, 13); • Hierarchical society, and poor vs. wealthy (4, 7, 8,
10, 12?, 14);
• Alliances (11?, 12); • Economic trade (13);
• Slavery (14?);
• Sporadic revenge raiding (14) • Increased warfare (15)
Archaeological Little/no evidence of resource intensification;
1  1  Management and intensification of favoured
indicators resources;
2 Generalized technology; 2 Specialized, complex technology;
3 Few/no storage features or resources (pits, 3 Significant storage features (pits, caches,
caches, smoking/drying hearths, filleting using smoking/drying hearths, filleting using blades;
blades; grease extraction); grease extraction);
4 No remains from small secret/concealed 4 Remains of small concealed/secret resources, and
resources, and little/no technology for them; specialized technology for them;
5 Simply structured, small sites, with thin deposits; 5 Large, structured, sites with thick, dense artefact
deposits;
6 Fine-grained spatial distribution of sites; 6 Patchy spatial densities of sites;
7 No permanent architecture; 7 Permanent architecture, e.g. monuments,
terraforming, restricted private spaces;
8  Seasonality indicators (plants & animals), including 8 Ancestor cults: mortuary practices, body-part
fruits/seeds, tooth cementum, etc.; ‘talismans,’ body modification, secret art; masks;
9  Isotopic and skeletal signatures of dietary status, 9  Seasonality indicators (plants & animals), including
activity and mobility by age and sex; fruits/seeds, tooth cementum, etc.;
10 Ancient DNA evidence of effective population 10 Isotopic and skeletal signatures of dietary status,
structure. activity and mobility by age and sex;
11 No primitive valuables; 11 Ancient DNA evidence of effective population
structure.
12 Informal exchange items; 12 Primitive valuables (status items, jewellery, etc.);
13 No rich burials; 13 Regional trade networks;
14 Individuals with perimortem injuries. 14 Rich vs. poor burials;
15 Cemeteries with high levels of violent deaths.

others, or is the evidence from a particular trait more Egalitarian societies actively squash any attempt to
convincing than from combinations of traits (as listed monopolize resources, labour, ritual, etc. (Cashdan
in Tables 9.1 and 9.2)? If either of those situations 1980; Woodburn 1982, 2005): what, therefore, might
could be demonstrated, what are the implications for prompt group members to tolerate an appropriation of
our reconstructions of Upper Palaeolithic inequality? communally held rights? Could it have arisen through
It is worth noting that the simple linear tran- elaboration of ritual knowledge and rights, as postu-
sition sequence of control ⇒ power ⇒ wealth ⇒ lated by Woodburn (1982, 2005) for delayed-return
inequality ⇒ hierarchy (with power deriving from societies (Appendix A),1 or were the causes economic
varying control of natural resources, property, labour or socio-political (e.g. Cashdan 1980; Hayden 1998,
and production, ritual, exchange networks, etc.) is 2003; Zubrow 2010: 117)? The option of group fission
tautologous. ‘Control is power rather than simply a would surely have been available to Palaeolithic forag-
means to power’, as Clark (1998: 501) observed, so how ers as a means of conflict-resolution, or for escaping
did emergent control/power arise in the first place? the dictates of a despot (Table 9.1), unless something
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were to restrict that option (e.g. population packing in clan only gives exclusive rights (through initiation)
adjoining areas or topographic barriers: Boone 1992: to enter sacred sites, wear totemic paintings during
312–13). The concept of ‘motility’ (Weig 2015: 423) is restricted ceremonies and curate its sacred objects; it
key to this discussion (see p. 145). does not confer exclusive hunting and gathering rights
As will be discussed below, it is not clear that (Layton 2005: 140). Water is the resource that governs
either topographic or environmental barriers, or popu- logistical movement in desert conditions (e.g. southern
lation packing, were significant factors in the Upper Africa and much of central and western Australia), with
Palaeolithic. The major basis of the assertion that predictable sources being localized and uncommon;
transegalitarianism was present in the Upper Palaeo- otherwise, reciprocal access to clan territories is prac-
lithic, and indeed drove many of its innovations via tised, to reduce risk from unpredictable resources and
the whims of ‘Big men,’ is that resources were rich in rainfall (Layton 2005: 140). If no transfer of resources
western Eurasia, allowing the production of surpluses from seasons of surplus to ones of shortfall occurs,
that could be controlled (Owens & Hayden 1997: 123; then maximum populations must lie below the lean
Hayden 2003, 2008). However, the term ‘surplus’ is season’s minimal productivity (Layton 2005: 133):
a slippery one: are we discussing the stockpiling of effectively Liebig’s law of the minimum. Inter-season
abundant, but temporally restricted, resources to pro- transfers of resources allow maximal populations to
vide essential subsistence in periods of dearth (Layton rise slightly (up to the median productivity between
2005), or a constant withdrawal and storage (probably the seasonal extremes) (Layton 2005).
monopolized) of superfluous resources throughout These should all be borne in mind when evalu-
the year, which could then support a non-producing ating the environmental impact on European Upper
class? Zubrow (2010: 117) has argued that unequal Palaeolithic societies, which covered a wide range of
status began in the Upper Palaeolithic, owing to the often rapidly changing environmental types, from drier
way resources were distributed within and between conditions in the Mediterranean to more temperate
groups, rather than through the richness of resources and colder conditions at higher latitudes. Climatic
generally or the nature of production. Different ways fluctuations also affected the distribution of resources
of sharing, and of using space, would also potentially (including water); it is worth noting that the Last Gla-
cause the development of inequalities (Zubrow 2010). cial Maximum was not just relatively cold, but that
Woodburn’s (1982, 2005) immediate- and delayed- levels of precipitation declined in many regions (Clark
return systems form two poles of a socio-economic et al. 2009; Heyman et al. 2013; Monegato et al. 2015).
continuum (Appendix A), and some forager societies
(notably in Australia) have traits from both extremes Environmental contexts of late Pleistocene
(Woodburn 1982, 2005; Riches 1995). This led Layton western Eurasia
(2005: 140) to sub-divide the delayed-return pole by
separating seasonal fluctuation in productivity from The assumption that environments in the European
territorial patterning. Layton reminds us that while Upper Palaeolithic were richly resourced is key to the
highly seasonal distributions of resources may require argument that the production and accumulation of
complex technology and storage of food to equalize surpluses (owing to the nature of resources and tech-
food supply across the year, they do not of themselves nological improvements in hunting and processing
always lead to elaborate social organization. Inuit equipment) enabled the development of socio-eco-
may have complex technology, but are essentially nomically complex, transegalitarian societies in this
egalitarian: there is flexibility of movement within period (Owens & Hayden 1997: 123; Hayden 1998; 2003:
communities, and no descent-group claims over par- 123, 129–30). The plains of western Europe comprised
ticular parts of the group’s territory. Meat-sharing is prairies of unequalled richness,2 with abundant prey
restricted to family groups in summer and co-operating (Hayden 2008: 82, after Bordes 1969: 128). By analogy
hunters (only in winter is food shared throughout the with Pacific Northwest Coast Indians, whose econo-
co-resident extended family); levelling transactions mies are founded on large salmon migrations, Hayden
enforce the redistribution of material goods between (2003: 81) argued that large reindeer migrations were
households if some are thought to have too much the equivalent seasonal surplus resource harvested and
(Layton 2005: 139). While some (mostly central and stored by transegalitarian Upper Palaeolithic foragers.
northern) Australian Aborigines practise clan totemism The supposed rich hunting grounds of southwest
and strategic inter-clan marriage alliances (Woodburn France, northern Spain, northern Italy and the Russian
1982, 2005; Riches 1995), their technology is generally Plain are used to explain the high development of art,
simple, and there is flexible movement between bands wealth, complexity and ritual (Hayden 2003: 129–30;
(Layton 2005: 139). Inherited membership of a totemic 2008: 82). These generalizations, though, conceal
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considerable variation in the nature of food resources and V layers at La Madeleine indicate reindeer hunt-
in those four regions. The Upper Palaeolithic records of ing in at least five periods of the year, across all four
northern Spain and northern Italy are not marked by seasons (Fontana 2017: 353). This pattern contrasts
(significant) reindeer remains; most of the ungulates with the evidence from the Aude basin (winter/spring
were relatively sedentary and territorial, e.g. red deer. hunting) and the Paris Basin (autumn hunting) for the
In addition, reindeer are not a simple terrestrial Magdalenian.
analogue for salmonids. While the extent to which The evidence for relatively sedentary reindeer
salmonids are r-selected (Hayden 1981) is debatable – in the Périgord region forces reinterpretation of the
while they reproduce once, followed by the catastrophic proximity of several Magdalenian sites to natural fords
mortality of the reproducing generation, they also live (White 1985). Reindeer crossings near La Madeleine
several years, develop slowly, reproduce late, have and Laugerie-Haute (White 1985: 125) would have
relatively large size, and are affected by competition occurred several times a year, and in small herds
– reindeer are clearly at the K-selected end of the spec- rather than in large aggregations. Modern reindeer
trum (Pianka 1970: 593; Parry 1981). Modern Rangifer can swim extended distances (at least 6.5 km: Burch
have two main ecotypes, and studies of Upper Palaeo- 1972), and unless the Vézère was particularly fast-
lithic specimens are needed to establish which reindeer flowing during the classic Magdalenian, it is unlikely
ecology was targeted at each Upper Palaeolithic site. that reindeer were restricted to natural fording places
Woodland reindeer form relatively small herds and in the river (cf. Burch 1972: 347; White 1985: 129–30).
undertake restricted seasonal migrations, while tundra Thus, contra Hayden (2003), it is difficult to argue for
reindeer form much larger aggregations and migrate mass intercept kills of migrating reindeer aggrega-
extensively (Burch 1972). The latter type migrate in long tions in southwest France on current evidence; instead
files of individuals that do not follow the same routes of labour-intensive processing and storage of large
each year (Burch 1972: 351): they are thus unpredictable. quantities of meat in a few short periods during the
This unpredictability is compounded by the dynamics year, annual supply of reindeer seems to have been
of reindeer populations, which can fluctuate greatly more evenly distributed. Did that obviate the need for
in size over cycles of 25–100 years (Burch 1972: 359), storage, as temporal fluctuations in supply were not
owing to factors such as food supply, climatic and local pronounced? The lower quantities of reindeer available
weather conditions, and parasites (Solberg et al. 2001; in the Périgord would restrict the amounts that could
Albon et al. 2002; Uboni et al. 2016). Reindeer move- have been harvested and stored, but perhaps there
ments might be consistent and well-patterned for a few might have been targeted exploitation of reindeer in
years, and then suddenly shift (within a year), perhaps August, when hides and meat were in prime condition
by 800 km, owing to changes in snow conditions en (Burch 1972: 359)? Fontana’s (2017: 355) estimates of
route: good news for hunters in the new destination, seasonality indicate July and August hunting events
but disastrous for those in the previous location, expect- for La Madeleine levels 27 (Magdalenian IV) and 25
ing a reindeer bonanza (Burch 1972: 354). A limited (Magdalenian V), respectively.
series of isotopic studies have been carried out so far, Elsewhere, e.g. the North European Plain Magda-
indicating presence of reindeer of the aggregating and lenian, and at other times, e.g. the Weichselian Middle
migrating ecotype at Jonzac, southwest France (Quina Palaeolithic of southwest France, seasonal intercept
Mousterian: 68–81 ka) (Britton et al. 2011; Niven et al. hunting of reindeer herds was practised (Price et al.
2012; Richter et al. 2013), and Stellmoor, north Germany 2017; Britton 2011). Whether the reindeer in those
(Hamburgian, c.  15.0–14.0 ka, and Ahrensburgian, two examples were long-distance migrants, or mov-
c. 12.8–11.4 ka) (Price et al. 2017). ing between different biomes within the same broad
These strontium results might appear to support region, is more debated (cf. Britton et al. 2011; Price
Hayden’s (2003) assertion that reindeer in southwest et al. 2017: 384). The large reindeer assemblages from
France (‘Dordogne’) were intercepted and harvested the lateglacial sites of Meiendorf and Stellmoor (north
in bulk during their autumn aggregation migration to Germany) appear to mix different ecotypes: some had
their wintering grounds. However, a combination of relatively restricted ranges, and others moved long
antler, dental development and wear, and foetal long distances between distant summer and winter ranges
bone evidence (Fontana 2017) indicates that during (implied by larger inter-tooth δ18O differences and
the Gravettian, Solutrean and Magdalenian (at the more strontium variation than seen in less-migratory
well-known sites of Abri Pataud, Laugerie-Haute, Bade- individuals) (Price et al. 2017). Given the essentially
goule, Fourneau du Diable, La Madeleine, and possibly homogeneous strontium values for the North Euro-
Combe-Saunière), reindeer were hunted throughout pean Plain, which are matched by values seen in the
the year in the period c.  30–15 ka. Magdalenian IV reindeer teeth and antlers (implying reindeer did not
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stray from the region), it is the δ18O and δ13C values as an aggregation of hunters designed to produce a
that give some indication of climatic conditions and seasonal surplus (either filleted or stored underwater)
dietary intakes. On that basis, Price et al. (2017) argue to mitigate shortages during lean seasons. Similar pat-
that summer grazing pastures were east of Meiendorf terns of indiscriminate slaughter in strategic parts of
and Stellmoor, with hunters intercepting them as they the landscape, followed by selective butchery, have
shifted westwards in late summer/early autumn. The been documented for Neanderthals (synthesized in
variable isotopic values between and within Stellmoor White et al. 2016), so there seems little to distinguish
reindeer suggest varying herd densities (and composi- Neanderthals from modern humans in this regard (cf.
tions) in the vicinity, and that the site might have been Hayden 2003). Firm evidence of controlled access to
positioned centrally within a herd range during the surpluses in the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic eludes
lean season(s), rather than on a migration path (Price us at present, and it is not clear what this evidence
et al. 2017; cf. Burch 1972: 351). should look like, or how it could be measured: hearths
The evidence considered so far would imply that can be used for multiple purposes over their use-lives,
the migratory patterns of late Pleistocene reindeer were and no drying rack evidence has been recovered.
more variable than those seen in modern populations The economic alternative to storage based on spe-
(Price et al. 2017: 388–9), and this would have implica- cialization in migratory species is resource-spectrum
tions for Hayden’s interpretation of reindeer as a rich, broadening (both plants and animals), seen in both
storable, resource in the Upper Palaeolithic, not just Neanderthals and Upper Palaeolithic modern humans
in terms of their migratory predictability, but also in (e.g. Freeman 1981; Berganza et al. 2012; Pétillon 2016;
their seasonal availability/quantities. Hayden’s (2008: Pryor et al. 2013; Costamagno & Laroulandie 2004;
82) two exploitation models for large-scale hunting – Stringer et al. 2008; Hardy et al. 2013; Henry et al.
intercept hunting of big migrations versus hunting of 2014). The taxa exploited, and their relative quantities,
less-mobile, spatially restricted prey – can thus both are highly spatio-temporally variable, but all show
be applied to late Pleistocene reindeer. Given shifts in evidence of cut-marks, disarticulation, burning/cook-
prey behaviour over time and space, both strategies can ing and human tooth marks. Often taxa were used
sometimes be found at the same sites, e.g. Stellmoor, for products (feathers, talons, bones, teeth, fur/hides,
where small-scale hunting of reindeer is recorded etc.), as well as being consumed: were such resources
(drives or stalking of small groups, whose carcasses (particularly mammalian and avian carnivores) con-
were then intensively exploited) in the Hamburgian sumed more for symbolic purposes than nutritional
(Magdalenian), while in the Ahrensburgian, large- ones? If the former, then who was involved in the
scale ambush hunting (taking many individuals while consumption (the whole group, or a sub-section of it)?
they were in the water, and butchering the carcasses Fish consumption evidence is present in both late Mid-
selectively) occurred (Bokelmann 1991; Bratlund 1991, dle Palaeolithic and Upper Palaeolithic assemblages,
1996; Price et al. 2017). Burch (1972: 363) estimated a seemingly becoming more economically important
processing time of several days for up to 12 people to in the lateglacial (Magdalenian) (e.g. Costamagno &
process kills from the huge aggregations at Meiendorf Laroulandie 2004). To what extent did the collection of
or Stellmoor. The Ahrensburgian layer at the latter such resources dictate the positioning of sites, perhaps
site had a Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) of near fording places (e.g. White 1985: 131)?
302 reindeer, which were selectively filleted (perhaps Marine mammals, such as whales, also seem
to save time – cf. Burch – and to minimize interest to attain a new importance in the Magdalenian of
of other carnivores) (Bratlund 1996), plus another Franco-Cantabria, being not only depicted in art (Fritz
12 almost complete skeletons (Price et al. 2017). Late & Roussot 1999: 82–3), but also turned into bone tools
summer/early autumn would have been a good time (Pétillon 2016). The fat and meat content of these
for quickly air-drying thin strips of filleted meat beached whales would have been a great bonus to
for later consumption, as well as processing prime- groups living near the Atlantic coast, although we
condition hides (Burch 1972). The unused portions of cannot know if the blubber was stored/matured in
most carcasses, plus the 12 that were not exploited at bogs and streams, as it was in Tierra del Fuego (Moore
all, seems to argue against the controlled production 1980; Jackson & Popper 1980). Fuegian Yaghan groups
of surpluses by individuals or families: why were could expect one or two whale beachings per year, and
returns not maximized? However, it is possible that groups would aggregate to process the carcass (Jackson
these carcasses might have been anchored to the bot- & Popper 1980). The circulation of whalebone projectile
tom of the lake with rocks to store them for a future tips far inland from the Atlantic coast in Magdalenian
need that ultimately did not arise (Speth 2017: 60). This France (Pétillon 2016) might have been the result of
large-scale hunting of reindeer can still be explained exchange, or direct procurement by a variety of groups.
136
 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

Environmental productivity Great Basin, Plateau forests and Sub-polar environ-

While Upper Palaeolithic foragers appear to have ments. The LGM simulation ET interquartile range
had a wide range of exploitation strategies (from shows clearer similarities with the Pacific Northwest
relatively specialized to broad-spectrum), it is still not Coast and Sub-polar environments. At face value, this
clear whether any surpluses stored were for anything would support Hayden’s (2003, 2008) contention that
more than time-scheduling of resource extraction and the Pacific Northwest Coast is an analogue for the
consumption to account for fluctuations in supply European Upper Palaeolithic. However, the situation
(Ingold comment, in Testart 1982: 532), or alternatively becomes more complex when we focus more on ET
to augment or provide variety to an otherwise monoto- values for key regions of the European Upper Palaeo-
nous diet (Moore 1980; Jackson & Popper 1980). We lithic (e.g. Cantabria, southwest France and Moravia),
should note that species exploited, and the quantities and when we consider NPP. The cells in the Stage 3
recovered for each taxon, do not of themselves tell Project simulations containing key Cantabrian Upper
us about environmental productivity. Instead, they Palaeolithic sites have surprisingly low ET values
tell us about the broad choices and preferences of the (tending to Bailey’s ‘very cool,’ or Binford’s ‘boreal,’
occupants of a particular locale, though occupation category, shifting towards ‘cold’/‘Arctic’ at the LGM
duration and palimpsest activity will have an effect on (21 ka)). Only the similarly westerly and maritime-
patterning. To this end, we should consider environ- influenced site of Paviland shows similar values (akin
mental primary productivity from regional models of to those seen today for Polar and Sub-polar foragers).
Marine Oxygen Isotope Stages (MOIS) 3 (c. 59–25 ka) Further to the east (southwest France, Moravia and
and 2 (c. 25–11.5 ka) (periodization and models will the site of Sunghir), ETs are generally higher, falling
be based on Stage 3 Project data (van Andel & Davies within the ‘cool,’ or upper range of Binford’s ‘boreal,’
2003), as they were available for analyses). There have category. Any similarity in ET values to those seen
been several such projects over the last twenty years in today’s Pacific Northwest Coast from the selected
(van Andel & Davies 2003; Allen et al. 2010; Huntley regions in this paper (southwest France, Moravia and
et al. 2013; Tallavaara et al. 2015; Burke et al. 2017), Sunghir) is terminated by the LGM, when ET values
and they allow us to use climatic and environmental drop (Fig. 9.2, Appendix B).
models to compare productivity over time and space NPP, as can be seen in Figures 9.1 and 9.2, does
with uniform data and methods. not show such a clear latitudinal and longitudinal
Binford (2001) and Kelly (2013) have both plot- pattern. Overall in Europe, there is a slight drop in
ted modern fisher-hunter-gatherers against local Net mean and median NPP between 42 ka and 21 ka, but
Primary Productivity (NPP: estimating the amount what is most striking is the lack of productivity over-
of new plant growth within a given area over time lap between late Pleistocene Europe and present-day
(grammes of carbon per sq. m per year)) and Effec- Pacific Northwest Coast (Figs. 9.1, 9.2; Appendix B).
tive Temperature (ET: a measure of the length of As indicated in the ET values, Cantabria and Paviland
the growing season in a location, and its intensity also show depressed NPP values (similar to those for
of solar energy (Bailey 1960; Binford 1980, 2001)). current Polar foraging groups), which perhaps are
The ETs seen in Figures 9.1 and 9.2 (and Appendix the result of relatively consistent temperatures: while
B) comprise values for ethnographic groups (Bin- most days each year seem to have been above 0°C
ford 2001; Kelly 2013), and for each 60 x 60 km cell (Cantabria, 42 ka: 11–12 months; 30 ka: 9–12 months;
in the Stage 3 Project Regional Climate Models for
42 ka (‘Stable Warm’), 30 ka (‘Cold’) and 21 ka (Last
Glacial Maximum (‘LGM’)) (see van Andel & Davies
2003). Given that the ethnographic values presented Figure 9.1 (overleaf). Net Primary Productivity (NPP)
here mainly derive from mid-to-high latitudes, it is and Effective Temperature (ET) conditions for extant
unsurprising that their levels of seasonal insolation fisher-hunter-gatherers, in comparison to reconstructed
are similar to those estimated for similar latitudes in NPP and ET values for Upper Palaeolithic Europe (42 ka
late Pleistocene Europe. The boxplots for the three [stable warm conditions], 30 ka [cooling conditions] and
Pleistocene simulations cover a wide range of ET 21 ka [LGM]). ET categories (Bailey 1960: 7–8): Mild
values, from ‘very cold’ (Bailey)/‘Arctic’ (Binford) to (13.4–15.5 °C), Cool (11.6–13.4 °C) and Very cool (10.0–
‘mild’ (Bailey)/‘warm temperate’ (Binford) (Bailey 11.6 °C) (cf. Binford’s (1980: 14) ‘Warm temperate’
1960: 7–8; Binford 1980: 14), although the interquartile = 14.0–15.9 °C, ‘Cool’ = 12.0–13.9 °C, and ‘Boreal’ =
ranges for 42 ka and 30 ka perhaps most resemble 10.0–11.9 °C); Cold (8.6–10.0 °C), Very cold (7.5–8.6
those for the Pacific Northwest Coast, partially over- °C) and Glacial (below 7.5°C) (cf. Binford’s (1980: 14)
lapping also with ETs for the North American Plains, ‘Arctic’ = 8.0–9.9 °C).
137
 Chapter 9

15

14

13
Alsea
Nuuchahnulth (Nootka)
Twana Puyallup-Nisqually
Effective Temperature (degC)

12 Ainu
Kwakwak'awakw (Ft. Rupert)
Quinault
Makah
S. Tlingit Tsimshian
11
Haida

Bella Coola (Nuxalk)

N. Tlingit
10

Ethnographic: Polar
9
Ethnographic: Sub-polar
Ethnographic: Pacific NW coast
Ethnographic: Plateau forests
8 Ethnographic: Plains
Ethnographic: Great Basin
Ethnographic: California
7
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
NPP (g/C/m2)

15

Mild
14

13

Cool
Effective Temperature (degC)

12
Very cool/boreal

11

10
(Very) Cool/Arctic

Stage 3 Project 42ka

9 Ethnographic: Polar
Ethnographic: Sub-polar
Ethnographic: Pacific NW coast
Ethnographic: Plateau forests
8
Ethnographic: Plains
Ethnographic: Great Basin
Ethnographic: California
7
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
NPP (g/C/m2)

138
 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

15

Mild
14

13

Cool
Effective Temperature (degC)

12

Very cool/boreal
11

10

(Very) Cool/Arctic
Stage 3 Project 30ka
Ethnographic: Polar
9
Ethnographic: Sub-polar
Ethnographic: Pacific NW coast
Ethnographic: Plateau forests
8 Ethnographic: Plains
Ethnographic: Great Basin
Ethnographic: California
7
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
NPP (g/C/m2)

15

Mild
14

13

Cool
Effective Temperature (deg C)

12

Very cool/boreal
11

10
(Very) Cool/Arctic

Stage 3 Project 21ka

Ethnographic: Polar
9
Ethnographic: Sub-polar
Ethnographic: Pacific NW coast
Ethnographic: Plateau forests
8 Ethnographic: Plains
Ethnographic: Great Basin
Ethnographic: California
7
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
NPP (g/C/m2)

139
 Effective Temperature (degC) Net Primary Productivity (gC/m2/year)
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100

Polar Polar

Sub-polar/cold forest Sub-polar/cold forest

Pacific NW Pacific NW

Plateau forests Plateau forests

Plains Plains

Great Basin Great Basin

California California

Europe: 42ka Europe: 42ka

Europe: 30ka Europe: 30ka

Europe: 21ka Europe: 21ka

Effective Temperature (42ka) Net Primary Productivity (42ka)

140
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
Chapter 9

Polar Polar

Sub-polar Sub-polar

Pacific NW Pacific NW

Plateau forests Plateau forests

Plains Plains

Great Basin Great Basin

California California

Europe 42ka Europe 42ka

Cantabria (42ka) Cantabria (42ka)

SW France (42ka) SW France (42ka)

Moravia (42ka) Moravia (42ka)

Figure 9.2 (cont. opposite). Spatio-temporal distributions of NPP and ET in Upper Palaeolithic Europe, and by region/site: Cantabria,
southwest France, Moravia, and two key isolated sites (Paviland and Sunghir). Mean values denoted by white diamonds.
 Effective Temperature (30ka) Net Primary Productivity (30ka)
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100

Polar Polar

Sub-polar Sub-polar

Pacific NW Pacific NW

Plateau forests Plateau forests

Plains Plains

Great Basin Great Basin

California California

Europe 30ka Europe 30ka

Cantabria (30ka) Cantabria (30ka)

SW France (30ka) SW France (30ka)

Moravia (30ka) Moravia (30ka)

Paviland (30ka) Paviland (30ka)

Sungir (30ka) Sungir (30ka)

Effective Temperature (21ka) Net Primary Productivity (21ka)

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100

141
Polar Polar

Sub-polar Sub-polar

Pacific NW Pacific NW

Plateau forests Plateau forests

Plains Plains

Great Basin Great Basin

California California

Europe 21ka Europe 21ka

Cantabria (21ka) Cantabria (21ka)

SW France (21ka) SW France (21ka)

Moravia (21ka) Moravia 21ka)

Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

Figure 9.2 (cont.).

 Chapter 9

21 ka: 10–12 months; Paviland, 30 ka: 6 months), also (in some models) carbon dioxide concentrations
temperatures above 10°C (42 ka: 2 months; 30 ka: 1–2 and forest canopy structure (Huntley & Allen 2003;
months; 21 ka: 0–1 months) are rather less common, Allen et al. 2010; Huntley et al. 2013). These simulations
unlike the situation seen in southwest France, Moravia thus need testing against other lines of evidence. Dated
and at Sunghir (Fig. 9.3). With NPP values generally plant macrofossils can yield useful productivity data
lying below 320 g carbon per sq. m per year for the if well-enough preserved. Analyses of growth rings
key European Upper Palaeolithic regions/sites (Figs. in carbonized wood from Upper Palaeolithic sites
9.1, 9.2; Appendix B), rather than the Pacific North- corroborate low productivities in the late Pleistocene:
west Coast’s range of 633–943 g carbon per sq. m per the Gravettian sites of Pavlov, Dolní Vĕstonice and
year, it is hard to see how the latter could be seen Krems-Wachtberg show clear growth-ring evidence
as an analogue of resource richness for the former. for slow-growing, dense wood in the environs of these
Instead, Upper Palaeolithic Europe’s productivities sites, and also implying delayed springs, cool sum-
seem to have been much lower: more akin to those mers and early, cold, autumns (Beresford-Jones et al.
from current Great Basin environments, as well as 2011; Pryor et al. 2016; Opravil 1994; Damblon 1997;
those from Polar, Sub-polar and Plateau biomes (Fig. Cichocki 2000; Cichocki et al. 2014). Slowly growing
9.2). More recent NPP estimates by Allen et al. (2010) trees and shrubs would have affected the productiv-
and Huntley et al. (2013) have done little to alter our ity of firewood, raising the key question of how long
preceptions of relatively low productivity European high-latitude groups could remain in an area before
Upper Palaeolithic environments. fuel became exhausted, enforcing displacement of
Different methods of estimating NPP privilege people for decades until the supply was replenished
different aspects of plant growth: not just growing (Pryor et al. 2016). The shortage of fuel would not only
temperatures, precipitation and potential evapotran- affect the ability to provide heat (for warmth, cooking
spiration (e.g. Kelly 2013; Tallavaara et al. 2015), but and manufacturing) and light, but also for smoking

400
SW France Above 0C
42ka Cantabria
Above 5C
Above 10C
350

300

250

Moravia
Days

200

150

100

50

0
-5.634 -4.887 -4.137 -3.384 -3.233 -2.484 -1.732 -0.726 -0.596 0.062 0.968 1.081 1.753 16.331 16.372
Longitude (degrees)

Figure 9.3 (opposite and above). Number of days per year with (growing) temperatures above 0°C (blue), 5°C (orange)
and 10°C (grey) at 42 ka, 30 ka and 21 ka.
142
 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

400
Above 0C
SW France
30ka Cantabria
Above 5C
Above 10C
350

300

250
Days

200 Paviland Moravia

Sungir'
150

100

50

0
-5.634 -4.887 -4.137 -3.384 -2.484 -1.732 -4.282 -0.726 -0.596 0.062 0.968 1.081 1.753 1.859 16.33116.37217.23118.149 40.31
Longitude (degrees)

400
Above 0C

21ka Cantabria Above 5C

Above 10C
350

300
SW France

250
Moravia
Days

200

150

100

50

0
-5.634 -3.384 -3.233 -1.732 -0.596 0.062 0.968 1.081 16.331
Longitude (degrees)

143
 Chapter 9

surplus meat for storage. Slow growth also would affect surely have ensured that only relatively ephemeral
the suitability of locally available wood for produc- socio-economic inequalities might develop.
tion of wooden tools (e.g. projectile shafts: see p. 150). Issues of seasonal availability and quantities of
The structure of c. 8–10 cm thick spruce logs over the resources are beginning to be more clearly articu-
Dolní Vĕstonice Triple Burial (Trinkaus et al. 2006: 16) lated, although our knowledge of environmental
presumably required wood of suitable dimensions, productivities is in its infancy: NPP simulations need
rather than of a particular structural quality. greater detail and testing against environmental
Glacial aridity and – by extension – clear skies proxies (including tree growth rates) from archaeo-
have been seen as a driving force of Guthrie’s ‘Mam- logical sites or their environs. It is currently difficult
moth steppe’ (Guthrie 1982, 2001; Guthrie & van to estimate aquatic productivities, so our picture of
Kolfschoten 2000), creating large areas of mid-lati- total primary productivity (including underground
tudinal steppic (mostly herbaceous) vegetation that storage organs from aquatic plants and marine algae)
supported megafauna such as mammoth, woolly for the European Upper Palaeolithic is by no means
rhinoceros, reindeer, musk ox, saiga antelope, cave complete. Archaeological evidence of marine and
lion, wolf and fox, in non-analogue combination freshwater resources exists, e.g. in Cantabria and
with horse, red deer, hyaena and aurochs. The rapid Moravia (Freeman 1981; Pryor et al. 2013), though
Dansgaard-Oeschger climatic cycles would help to a more holistic environmental productivity model
create changing environmental compositions and (incorporating both aquatic and terrestrial biomes)
productivities in a given location, and these fluctua- would enable us to assess the extent to which aquatic
tions operated at much larger spatio-temporal scales resources might have been used to mitigate lower
(and with much more unpredictability) than those terrestrial productivities. Evidence for exploitation
acknowledged in Owens & Hayden (1997: 123). This of marine algae has been inferred from molluscan
unpredictability would have made it difficult for evidence at just two late Upper Palaeolithic Iberian
structured socio-economic complexity to arise in sites: Parpalló (Solutrean) has six Neritina sp. shells,
much of the Upper Palaeolithic (next section). Soil claimed by Freeman (1981: 151) to be too small to
micromorphological studies of the 2005 excavations be food, though they could have served as potential
at Dolní Vĕstonice  II, and at the contemporaneous beads/pendants), while Santa Catalina has Rissoa parva
site of Předmostí, have indicated that the Gravettian (Final Magdalenian: level II) and Bittium reticulatum
occupation was on the surface of an incipient soil (with (Azilian: level I) shells (Berganza et al. 2012: 178–9).
evidence of grassland vegetation and some (conifer- It is unclear whether seaweed was used for packing
ous) trees): periodically saturated, but otherwise marine fauna to maintain freshness, and/or as food.
showing evidence of low soil moisture (Beresford- To return to the quotation near the start of this
Jones et al. 2011; Paine 2012). The small quantities of section, rather than ‘unequalled richness,’ the evi-
micro-debitage at Dolní Vĕstonice  II (2005 excava- dence instead suggests intermittent resource bounties.
tions) might indicate ephemeral occupation, and the Climatic and environmental fluctuations might have
agglomerated, deep series of hearth deposits suggests permitted the intermittent occurrence of individu-
use, interspersed with ‘significant periods of disuse’ als with competitive and aggrandizing tendencies
(Beresford-Jones et al. 2011, 1959) when loess covered (Hayden’s (1995, 1998) ‘despots’: Table 9.1). The
the hearth. This sequence of use and disuse might have problem of equifinality makes it difficult to see any
lasted some six centuries (Beresford-Jones et al. 2011, evidence of Upper Palaeolithic storage as indicating
1954). It could be that the disuse reflected relocation long-lasting, structural inequalities: the general indica-
to another part of the Pavlovské Hills where preferred tions of variable, and often depressed, productivities
conditions arose or survived, but overall, the associa- in the late Pleistocene, together with the nature of the
tion of many Moravian and Austrian Gravettian sites available resources, suggest that storage was prac-
with periods of soil formation is intriguing (Paine tised to mitigate fluctuations in supply (household
2012): where did human groups go when conditions self-sufficiency). It is therefore hard to see how other
deteriorated, preferred plants and animals were community members could be persuaded to surrender
displaced, and aeolian sediments began to accumu- control over any temporary surpluses they might have
late? Occupation at Dolní Vĕstonice II might cover a accumulated; certainly, clear surpluses could not be
single Dansgaard-Oescheger event, perhaps situated continually accumulated over lifetimes (unless more
in the GS-5b oscillation in NGRIP (c. 32.04–30.84 ka) durable materials were selected: see pp. 150, 153).
(Beresford-Jones 2011, 1962; Rasmussen et al. 2014). The whole chain of inference (generation of surpluses
Such apparent lack of stability in regions with highly that allow development of inter-individual/-familial
developed Upper Palaeolithic material culture would competition and prestige, and then the formation of
144
 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

secret societies that control relationships of political, exploitation of small fauna and plants, their presence
economic and supernatural support (Owens & Hayden is consistent enough to suggest they were a significant
1997: 124)) thus lacks a firm foundation: resources are economic resource for some groups. The restricted
not demonstrably ‘rich’ and ‘reliable.’ mobility of such resources might imply sedentary or
semisedentary human economies, allowing persis-
Upper Palaeolithic demography tence in a location and the practice of activities that
required reduced mobility. However, evidence for
Population estimates are generally relatively low for population packing in the regions with clear evidence
Upper Palaeolithic Europe, using a variety of proxy of broad-spectrum economies is unclear. Demographic
evidence (Appendix Table 9.C1). Maximal estimates estimates for Upper Palaeolithic populations are miss-
generally lie below six figures for the whole of Europe, ing for much of the Mediterranean region, but those
with late Magdalenian/final Pleistocene populations for southern Iberia, southern France and parts of
being the largest. When we consider population densi- Italy are relatively low (Kretschmer 2015; Maier et al.
ties, recent modelling does not suggest any densities 2016). Exploitation of a wide range of food resources
above Hayden’s (2003) threshold of 10 persons per may have been needed simply to support groups in
100 sq. km (Table 9.2). Most reconstructed Upper relatively arid environments, where large herbivores
Palaeolithic densities lie well below six people per were also rarer than on the mammoth steppe. Even in
100 sq. km, which is below the modelled transitional that habitat, sites such as Pavlov and Dolní Vĕstonice
threshold from band-organized societies to more do not show clear evidence of long-term occupation,
tribal/chiefdom-based ones: 6.3–63.1 persons per 100 despite the range of species exploited (Wojtal et al.
sq. km (Fig. 9.4; Newell & Constandse-Westermann 2012, 2018). It is possible that long-term intensification
1986). Simulated population densities are higher for at the latter sites was limited by local environmental
some regions and periods, but there is little to sug- instability (Paine 2012) and restricted productivity of
gest more tribally or chiefdom-based societies in the key resources like firewood (Beresford-Jones et al. 2011;
Upper Palaeolithic. The nearest example to the latter Pryor et al. 2016). Thus, there might have been transient
is the Franco-Cantabrian Upper-Final Magdalenian, ‘big men’ (Cashdan 1980) or despots (Table 9.1) at these
where multiple authors have modelled the densest sites, but nothing more structurally inegalitarian.
Upper Palaeolithic populations in Europe: perhaps Archaeological evidence for group sizes at Upper
reaching maximal estimates of 17–20 persons per 100 Palaeolithic sites is limited. Many estimates depend
sq. km (Appendix Table 9.C1), or third quartile values on the sizes of features and assemblages (artefactual
of 7.8 persons per 100 sq. km in southwest France and faunal) at sites, which may have been contingent
(Kretschmer 2015). Similar densities were reported for on local spatio-temporal resource availability (Appen-
two Inuit groups that specialized in aquatic and small dix C). The Middle Magdalenian at Maszycka (Poland)
game resources, with some reindeer exploitation (18–19 has yielded what is argued to be a catastrophic death
persons per 100 sq. km: Burch 1972: 350). Such densi- assemblage for a household (several related families?),
ties suggest that social population units [bands] would thus providing a rare indication of group size and
have permeable boundaries, situated within bounded composition. However, even this assemblage cannot
ethnic groups and exogamous breeding populations be seen as a direct reflection of group demography, as
(cf. Sikora et al. 2017). The estimated low regional the bone fragments are highly modified and were prob-
population densities and occupation areas (e.g. Maier & ably selectively deposited. Their fragmentary condition
Zimmermann 2017) would have placed greater empha- has made it difficult to calculate the number of cave
sis on the location of individuals within a territory in occupants: initial estimates of at least 16 individuals
Newell and Constandse-Westermann’s model, creating (one male and seven indeterminate infants, three female
a system of overlapping mating networks. Densities juveniles, three female and two male adults) (Kapica
scarcely attain those seen for Pacific Northwest Coast & Wierciński 1993) have since been revised as a mini-
societies (mostly 10–96 persons per 100 sq. km: Kelly mum of nine individuals (four adults (one sexed as
2013, Appendix Table 9.C1). As discussed earlier, we male); five children) (Orscheidt et al. 2017). Empirical
have little evidence, even in Franco-Cantabria, for evidence of Upper Palaeolithic site demography (size
consistent production of surpluses that would sustain and organization) is thus rare and variable, making
transegalitarian societies and the subordination of it difficult to relate directly to resource consumption.
bands to tribal/chiefdom social structures. Mobility and motility have been recognized as
The Upper Palaeolithic evidence for broad-spec- key aspects of Palaeolithic demography for several
trum consumption has demographic implications. decades (Dyson-Hudson & Smith 1978). Motility is
While there is no clear evidence of predominant the ‘the capacity or potential to be mobile’ (Weig 2015,
145
 Chapter 9

423), setting the choices and limitations that precede Potential examples of resource division do exist, but
movement into a temporal dimension. Zubrow’s (2010) not on a scale where we can generalize for a whole
equality of opportunity (Table 9.1) can be used to region or technocomplex: a wide variety of habitat
evaluate intragroup motility options and constraints: sizes and structures can be found within each major
was motility connected to age, sex and social ties, with Upper Palaeolithic technocomplex.
resulting differences in potentials for interaction and Environmental fluctuations during the Upper
transfer of knowledge (Weig 2015: 428)? Palaeolithic would have affected economies (resource
Aggregation to exploit high-density (and predict- abundance, distributions and predictability; technol-
able) resources would be one example of motility, and ogy) demography (population sizes, densities and
another would be constraints on group fission, e.g. mobilities) and knowledge exchange (density and
population ‘packing,’ topographic barriers or warfare, structure of networks). Fluctuations and changes are
that might restrict options for movement (Hayden seen in all the major Upper Palaeolithic technocom-
2008: 22; Boone 1992). Most European Upper Pal- plexes (Davies 2001; Maier & Zimmermann 2017; Maier
aeolithic contexts were in areas with not particularly et al. 2016; Appendix Table 9.C3). Technological change
abundant or predictable resources. Options A, B and may be more indicative of motility and mobility than
D (Fig. 9.5) are therefore more likely than geographi- increasing intensification and surplus-production
cally stable territorial systems with resource contests. (Appendix Table 9.C2). Habitat-tracking (targeting
‘Contests’ are a form of resource competition where particular biomes) underpins both human demic dis-
available patches are restricted by prior occupancy persal and contraction/refugiation. Dispersal processes
or despotic control; pairwise competitions between operated at multiple spatio-temporal scales, not just
individuals over particular resource patches result happening at the start of the Upper Palaeolithic and the
in success or failure in winning or holding a patch Lateglacial; likewise, contraction/refugiation processes
(Boone 1992: 315–16). Individuals’ fitness thus cor- were not restricted to the LGM. Late Pleistocene spatio-
relates with unequal patch qualities (and differential temporal shifts in the mosaic of biomes and resource
access to them); the fitness of those holding desirable attractors created corresponding shifting potentials for
territories is not necessarily lowered by the addition of motility in Upper Palaeolithic societies. The durability
other people. Social hierarchy can therefore develop and nature of any resource ‘hot-spots’ would determine
around resources that are defendable and divisible, if whether they would generate contests rather than
the costs of defence can be maintained. The alternative scrambles. High-density networks would be more
competitive strategy for resources (Boone 1992) is the resilient to environmental perturbations, as they have
scramble: all individuals are equally empowered and a high capacity for information transmission, unlike
informed to choose the best-available resource patch low-density ones with few connections or ones with
or strategy, but in sparse and unpredictable patches a few highly connected hubs (Fitzhugh et al. 2011).
that are not economically defensible, every additional Information exchange is key to adaptations in areas
participant lowers the fitness of other group members. with scarce and often unpredictable resources (Fig. 9.5).
There is little evidence of resources that were predict- It operates at two main social and spatial scales (local/
able or dense enough to be defendable or divisible, inter-band; supra-/multi-band), tracking environmen-
and thus there is no clear socio-economic develop- tal productivities and changes with different levels
ment throughout the European Upper Palaeolithic. of adaptive depth (Fitzhugh et al. 2011: 91). Mobility

Figure 9.4 (opposite). Reconstructed population densities compared against the modelled transition (6.3–63.1 persons
per 100 sq. km: between the two vertical red lines) from band-organized societies to tribal/chiefdom-organized ones
(Newell & Constandse-Westermann 1986). Means for the three social groupings are shown with log10 double standard
deviations (95 per cent confidence): band-level societies (mean: 10.1 persons per 100 sq. km; range: 0.2–504.3 persons
per 100 sq. km at two standard deviations; N=93), dialect tribes (mean: 26.1; range: 0.4–1586.3 persons per 100 sq. km;
N=169), and tribal/chiefdom-level (mean: 83.9 persons per 100 sq. km; range: 4.3–1646.0 persons per 100 sq. km at
two standard deviations; N=76). Thickness of grey and black lines beneath each mean reflects the relative proportion
of groups in that category (<9.9 (grey), 9.9->99.1 (grey) and 99.1 (black) persons per 100 sq. km). (a) Aurignacian,
Gravettian, Solutrean and Magdalenian population estimates: means (◆) (Bocquet-Appel & Demars 2000); minimal
(×) and maximal (+) estimates (Hahn 1977; Straus 1986; Biraben 1988; Zimmermann 1996; Rozoy 1996, 2001). (The
Hahn (1977) estimate of 10–20 persons per 100 sq. km for the Central European Aurignacian is uncertain, as it is based
on very few, widespread, sites.) (b) Earlier and later Gravettian, Solutrean/Badegoulian, and Middle-Final Magdalenian
median (▲) and interquartile ranges for key occupied areas in Europe (from Kretschmer 2015; Maier et al. 2016; Maier
& Zimmermann 2017).
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Figure 9.5. The effects of resource predictability and abundance on territorial organization and exchange networks
(after Dyson-Hudson & Smith 1978; Boone 1992; Marean 2015; Fitzhugh et al. 2011). The y-axes of both grids are
different, which ensures that they do not directly map onto each other; resource productivity is taken to be sufficient to
support population density, and therefore omitted by Fitzhugh et al. (2011). ‘LTK’ = Local and Traditional Knowledge.
Categories E–F are all assumed by Fitzhugh et al. (2011: 97) to be founded on sufficient environmental productivity
for the local population density. ‘Effective’ and ‘extended’ scales taken from Gamble (1999: 50–3). E–H: hypothetical
prestige exchange patterns in italics.
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 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

Table 9.3. Information transmission types (Fitzhugh et al. 2011) compared to demographic (including longevity of units) and spatial attributes
from forager societies (Newell & Constandse-Westermann 1986; Wobst 1974). (‘Half-life’ reflects longevity and relative stability of social units in
equilibrium conditions, and gives a minimal indication of the time taken for half the original existing units to become extinct, e.g. half of families
survive a single generation (Wobst 1974).)
Population Spatial extent (sq. km) Duration (yrs)
Social Unit (‘half-life’) Information transmission type
N Mean Range (2 SD) N Mean Range (2 SD)
Language family 23 4514.09 165.2– 23 18,801.82 537.03– 2000–8000 Oral history (millennial scale).
124,165.23 657,657.84 Inter-regional (>320 km)
& regional (160–320 km)
networks
Tribe/Chiefdom 193 897.18 112.7–7142.0 215 3303.62 46.78–233,287.79 691-716 Local & traditional knowledge
(centennial scale). ‘Supra-band’
Dialect tribe
(64–160 km) & local band
Band 113 297.21 43.76–2018.53 69 1926.95 19.45–190,883.33 >180 (<64 km) networks
Household/ c. 25 Partnerships (decadal), e.g.
family hxaro networks & task groups,
and local adaptive mechanisms
Individual 30–34
(annual/sub-annual scales)

facilitates multi-scalar transmission of information, from and light; people, in the form of labour and expertise,
highly detailed local knowledge (containing redundant can also be seen as resources. Selection of particular
information collected during everyday activities), more resources, the manufacture of artificial materials,
cursory and infrequent regional information exchange and the social value placed on them (as reflected in
(loss of detail between bands over distance: susceptible procurement, transport, processing and storage) will
to down-the-line bias), and inter-regional exchanges all be examined in this section. We shall consider the
between minimal bands (supra-band aggregations, extent to which activities and processing of resources
informal long-distance travel/‘walkabouts,’ inter-indi- can affect motility, and the potentials for secrecy in
vidual partnerships and marriage-alliances) (Fitzhugh the use of materials or the control of know-how. If
et al. 2011: 91). If the network is fully integrated over the resource patterning discussed so far provides no
varying social and spatial scales, lower-amplitude, often clear support for structural inegalitarianism in Upper
frequent, shifts in resource attributes (productivity, Palaeolithic societies, can we identify inequalities in
diversity and distribution) can be closely monitored. resource usage?
Larger-amplitude fluctuations require more extensive The extent to which dedicated specialists were
information networks or greater mobility if groups are required in the sourcing and processing of technical
to survive, to mitigate the effects of any deterioration. resources in the Upper Palaeolithic is unclear: we have
Informal regional networks (Fig. 9.5: E) are resilient to no unambiguous archaeological evidence to suggest
environmental change, having a greater range of adap- secret workplaces or controlled access to technical
tations at different scales (‘maximum adaptive depth’ knowledge. Reconstructed Upper Palaeolithic group
(Fitzhugh et al. 2011: 96)) and frequent, unconstrained, sizes suggest that what might have been small activity
local and regional interactions. They are further char- areas (e.g. the rear of Hohlenstein-Stadel cave, Ger-
acterized by ‘a relatively continuous social landscape, many (Aurignacian) (Kind et al. 2014)) could in fact
with few social or physical barriers’ and short interaction have contained the whole group, not just a fraction of
distances (Fitzhugh et al. 2011: 96). Fluidity of group it. That is not to state that all Upper Palaeolithic people
membership, via fission-fusion processes, could reduce were equally talented or experienced in every technical
the costs of information transmission over longer dis- skill, but archaeologically it is difficult to distinguish
tances (Table 9.3, Fig. 9.5), though the range of material equality of opportunity in acquiring skill from more
culture transmitted at the supra-band scale is more hierarchical control of knowledge and expertise by
restricted (Gamble 1999: 49–63). specialist craftspeople (Table 9.1). Human skeletal
remains can show evidence of persistent behaviours,
The social construction of resources in the e.g. heavy manual labour, repetitive manual actions,
Upper Palaeolithic but are difficult to link to specific activities and tool-
types, and so cannot be used to demonstrate inequality
As stated at the start of this paper, ‘resources’ are in the technical sphere. However, artificial materials
not self-evident entities. They include not only food, (e.g. composite pigments, mastics, ceramic) have
but also those needed to make artefacts and fuel heat greater potential for specialist, secret (or ad hominem)
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knowledge than those that are common and require image production at Niaux, based on pigment recipe
relatively straightforward processing (e.g. stone, bone). variation, while Lorblanchet et al. (1990, 7) argued for
Some natural materials, such as antler, ivory and wood, similar gaps in production (millennia) in Cougnac.
may have been commoner and more accessible in some This irregularity would appear to support a model of
parts of Europe than elsewhere, leading to variation in ritual knowledge inequality that was individualized,
potentials for unequal access within technocomplexes: rather than structural and consistent. Such resource
in areas where they were scarce or unknown, exchange use was thus not transegalitarian, but consistent with
or long-distance procurement would be needed to the variation seen in generally egalitarian extant for-
provide them, with better-connected individuals ben- agers. If production of pigments and art were part of
efiting more than others. transegalitarian status and regular initiation ceremo-
Intra-site spatio-temporal patterning of resources nies, would we not expect more consistent ‘recipes’
and associated technologies has potential for evaluating for pigment production?
Upper Palaeolithic inequalities, e.g. the combination of Natural distributions of resources were not homo-
comminuted and heat-altered resources into specific geneous across Upper Palaeolithic Europe, affecting the
artificial compounds (pigments, mastics, ceramics, ability to deliver equality or opportunity or outcome
and even some foods). Concealment of such materi- (Table 9.1) at anything greater than the local scale.
als or the knowledge of their ingredient proportions Technological options to maximize available resources,
and processing (Table 9.2) needs to be demonstrated and social ones to obtain suitable materials from else-
case-by-case, and is not exclusively diagnostic of where, were evident in the Upper Palaeolithic from its
structural inegalitarianism. We should not rely on inception, allowing people to mitigate fluctuations in
similarities of form, when the resource ingredients, supply to some extent. In regions where such materi-
technological styles and archaeological associations als might be in short supply, e.g. wood suitable for
can be much more varied. Generalized traditional artefact manufacture in higher latitudes, technology
analyses of Upper Palaeolithic art, focusing on simi- would have to focus on maximizing the productivity
larities of form, have begun to be tested by studies and conservation of scarce resources. Compositing
of the varying chaînes opératoires used to produce suitable sections of scarce material (e.g. slow-growing,
the pigments (e.g. Leroi-Gourhan 1982; Lorblanchet dense, locally available wood), or protecting them
et al. 1990; Clottes et al. 1990). Today’s egalitarian with commoner resources (stone/antler projectile tips),
forager societies display inequalities of knowledge, might have helped to prolong the lifespans of tools,
particularly relating to craft-specialization and ritual e.g. the Ahrensburgian pine arrowshafts of Stellmoor
involvement (Woodburn 2005: 26). Clottes et al. (1990) (Price et al. 2017: 213; Bokelmann 1991: 79).
emphasize differences in pigment ‘recipes’ between The ability to create artificial resources, often from
Magdalenian sites; the same images were even painted materials not reliant on biological productivity, seems
with different ‘paint pots’ (varying pigment recipes to have been relatively spatio-temporally restricted:
and sources of constituent ingredients). Were such ceramic and pigment production was intermittent,
differences the results of different artists and their and highly localized. It is premature to say whether
individual preferences, or of artists of different status such materials were exchanged, or whether they
(or place of origin)? Other artificial materials display were restricted to households or certain members
similar heterogeneity: ceramic figurines from the of the group. During manufacture, artificial (plastic)
earlier Gravettian (Pavlovian) sites of Dolní Vĕstonice resources would have constrained motility, requiring
and Pavlov show different ways of shaping the form episodes of intensive time-budgeting, unlike more
and surface features, varying between site locales, and durable materials (bone/antler/ivory, stone) that could
also within the same artefact type (Farbstein & Davies be carried round the landscape while being worked.
2017). It has also become apparent that Pavlovian Proximity to fire would have governed production
knapped stone assemblages were heterogeneous at of ceramics, mastics, etc., and ceramics could not be
the same sites (Polanská & Novák 2014), implying moved even short distances before they were dry
household-based or diachronic variations in lithic and enough (Farbstein & Davies 2017). This variation in
ceramic chaînes opératoires for assemblages that have temporality of different resource types would surely
tended to be seen in monolithic terms. have affected household motility, unless people were
The fluctuating population histories of many prepared to abandon such objects between produc-
Upper Palaeolithic regions of Europe probably ensured tion stages.
loss and reinvention of technical knowledge and use Many resources are socially constructed; there
of raw material sources over time and space. Clottes are no a priori reasons why they should be needed,
et al. (1990) identified significant chronological gaps in rather than desired, by people. In extant acephalous
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 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

foraging societies, there is little structured control of Who consumed which resources?
individuals’ actions. Children are guided towards Resource use (including the sourcing, processing and
self-reliance, rather than their labour being controlled sharing of materials) is one of the easier ways to track
through lineages (Woodburn 1982), and leaders have Upper Palaeolithic individuals’ agency: how did it fit
no redistributive roles or formal political power (Cash- into household and broader economies? Late Magda-
dan 1980: 119; Appendix A). Freedom to associate with lenian sites in northern France give some indication of
(or dissociate from) others affects what people learn resource movements round sites, and the potentials
to do, and from whom. Knowledge and labour are for inequality within living groups. Pincevent level
therefore not strictly controlled by any individual, IV-20 covers c. 4500 sq. m, and within it at least eleven
though there is potential for some practitioners to hearths show refitting evidence for contemporaneity
be more influential than others, and ritual activities (David & Orliac 1994: 158; Enloe 2010a: 41). Assum-
are still generally more controlled (corporate, not ing perhaps five people per group, David and Orliac
individualized) than other spheres of activity. In this estimated c. 55 people occupying the site for several
context, we might interpret the finger-prints of mostly weeks in autumn. Refitting of reindeer bones, and
immature individuals on Pavlovian ceramics as part of reconstruction of butchery patterns, clearly indicates
juvenile involvement with ceramic production (Králík sharing at the point of distribution among members of
et al. 2002; Králík & Einwögerer 2010). a socio-economically integrated community of house-
Hayden’s ‘despots’ seem founded more on war- holds (Enloe & David 1989; Enloe 2010a,b). Meat-rich
fare and production (Table 9.1) than ritual; while portions of single reindeer (upper forelimbs) were
control of the latter is seen in all extant hunter-gath- distributed over distances of up to 63 m (Enloe 2003),
erers, initiation into such activities is not restricted in though marrow-/fat-rich distal limb elements seem not
many groups, except by sex (Appendix A). Hayden to have been shared, instead being restricted to what
(1998: 12) has argued for the transformation of food might have been successful hunters’ households (Enloe
surpluses and labour into less-perishable wealth, such 2003). The latter (hearths M89, V105, T112) are marked
as the accumulation of exotic resources or prestige by rich flint and bone assemblages, and more variety of
goods. The drive to accumulate such prestige would reindeer body parts (Enloe 2003). The asymmetric, but
lead to competition to attract the (best) craftspeople to extensive, distribution of resources (donor-recipient
produce such wealth (Hayden 1998: 17). As we have or reciprocal sharing) might show strong potential for
already seen, population levels and environmental inequalities to develop, through control of what one
productivity were not elevated enough to restrict household chooses to give another, or even deciding
people’s motility, making it hard to control them. to stop sharing (Zubrow 2010). However, retention of
Indeed, the best craftspeople – if we can demonstrate some body parts does not necessarily prove inegali-
the existence of despots in some parts of the Upper tarianism, and could instead be interpreted as akin
Palaeolithic – would surely have had greater negotiat- to carcass division seen in immediate-return societies
ing power if their skills were in demand. They could (Appendix A). Inegalitarianism would be easier to
thus range widely, and move between groups, on the demonstrate if some households consistently received
strength of their skills. The potential for identifying the low meat-yield portions (phalanges, etc.) rather than
movement of such expert practitioners is constrained the upper limbs documented by Enloe and David.
by preservation/recovery and by our confidence in The penecontemporaneous site of Verberie (level II.1)
identifying the ‘hand’ of such people in the archaeo- shows a different pattern of resource distribution, with
logical record (artworks, specialist knapping, etc.). primary butchery evidence (corporate processing?)
At present, there is little Upper Palaeolithic evi- being found at the site (Audouze & Enloe 1997). Sharing
dence for the production of consistent surpluses that seems to have occurred at the point of consumption,
would sustain an elite; instead groups might have had but there is no evidence for Pincevent-like reciprocal
intensive seasons of activity, when surpluses were sharing (Enloe 2010a). The site is much smaller than
processed and stored for subsequent periods of low Pincevent, with the excavations covering some 400
environmental productivity. In such situations, the sq. m, and it is possible that the site might have been
activities of specialists would vary over the course of occupied by one household (Audouze 2010). If there
the year, perhaps concentrated in periods when their were more than one household at Verberie, there is
participation in subsistence was not so important. no evidence of sharing between them. Faunal refits
Thus, equalities of outcome and/or opportunity would in this assemblage are much more restricted than
still be possible (Table 9.1), with every member being those at Pincevent, with material moving an average
able to make individual contributions to the overall maximal distance of c. 4 m (c. 20 m at Pincevent), and
life of the group. not shared between hearths (Enloe 2010a). The most
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securely refitting carcasses were found in a single The role of ‘prestige’ goods in personal and cor-
large dump, between the two main hearths, implying porate exchange networks also needs definition, and
a more communal consumption of food (Enloe 2010a), ‘prestige’ itself is variously characterized. Increasing
which might in turn imply some control within a sin- distance from a source can transform the mundane
gle household over what people ate, and when. The into the exotic and prestigious (Gamble 1999: 95), as
strategies seen at Pincevent might indicate equality of can expenditure of time and expertise in manufac-
opportunity (the down-the-line sharing of resources ture (including the sourcing of particular resources).
was too weakly discriminatory to be classed as struc- Hayden’s (2008: 85) definition is more functionalist,
turally inegalitarian), while those at Verberie had more with prestige items being used to resolve problems, or
potential to promote equality of resources (if the site to pursue socio-political goals. However, such prob-
were occupied by a single household) (Table 9.1). lems and goals are difficult to define for the Upper
In theory, resource consumption would also have Palaeolithic, so focus has tended to shift to ‘ritual’ con-
been affected by skill level: less-experienced or less- texts. Given that ritual, prestige, objects can be found
skilled practitioners would have been less efficient in in acephalous delayed-return societies (Woodburn
resource use, with mistakes leading to discard of mate- 2005), e.g. Australian Aborigines, without requiring
rial (Pigeot 1990; Audouze & Cattin 2011). However, transegalitarian societies, their presence in Upper
there are also clear examples of skilled individuals Palaeolithic contexts need not indicate transegalitar-
making artefacts more complex and complicated than ian organization (Layton 2005). Personalized prestige
necessary. Such objects would include Aurignacian objects, perhaps used in ritual contexts, might include
split-based antler points and ivory musical pipes, pendants and beads (especially perforated human
and Solutrean leafpoints. It is difficult to know the and animal teeth), raptor bones, talons and feathers,
extent to which these examples represent display or and highly decorated ‘utilitarian’ objects (e.g. spear-
prestige items; all three were subsequently replaced/ throwers): all compatible with portability and mobile
survived by simpler versions of the same artefact type lifestyles (Henry-Gambier et al. 2004; Svoboda 2006;
(various simpler-based osseous points, bird-bone pipes Laroulandie 2016; Álvarez-Fernández 2009). Small,
and various unifacial knives and spear-tip forms), portable artworks could have been personal objects
which might imply diachronic decreases in prestige, (especially if adapted for wearing on the person), but
through lower time investment in manufacture and alternatively their surface wear and polish could have
fewer ‘redundant’ features. Current archaeological arisen through more communal use. Shells, amber,
evidence cannot falsify interpretations proposing lithic/mineral and osseous materials are easier to track
a variety of skilled practitioners within essentially than bone, antler and ivory, although ivory must have
egalitarian societies: we cannot identify the exclusive been imported into Gravettian northern Italy (Mussi
actions of socio-economic specialists. Palaeolithic art 2000: 363). Very few show the distances (600–1000 km)
varies greatly in quality, and we cannot demonstrate described for the Pacific Northwest Coast (Hayden
that the skilled knappers of Solutrean leafpoints were 2008: 92; cf. Féblot-Augustins 2009; Hussain & Floss
the same specialists producing elaborate osseous arte- 2016). The oolitic limestone used in the Willendorf 1
facts. Ceramics, wherever present in the Palaeolithic, figurine seems to have come from Stránská skála,
are hard to define as ‘exclusive’ technology. The basic near Brno: a Euclidian distance of 136 km (Binsteiner
resources (wetted sediments) are hard to monopolize, et al. 2008). This transportation of resources contrasts
and both Pavlovian and Epigravettian figurines seem with the earlier Gravettian (Pavlovian) ceramic Dolní
to have been fired in domestic hearths (Farbstein & Vĕstonice  1 figurine, found broken (by firing) in a
Davies 2017; Soffer et al. 1993). Economic support for large hearth in the ‘upper settlement’ of site I (Oliva
non-subsistence activities might have been more flex- 2005: 66; Soffer et al. 1993: 271). Such differentiation
ible in Upper Palaeolithic groups than is often assumed of mobility must have meant that prestige-through-
(Hayden 2003: 131), with each group member having distance would have varied within what we see today
the opportunity to switch between subsistence provi- as an emic artefact class, and also has implications if
sion and elaborate manufacture of non-subsistence we wish to see Gravettian female figurines as objects
goods over the course of a season or year, as determined exchanged between groups to mitigate climatic chal-
by preference or ability. Skills could be (and probably lenges (Gamble 1982).
were) distributed through the group, rather than in the Network structure is key to reconstructing the
control of a small sub-group, ensuring that devotion of social contexts of exchange and ‘prestige’ goods. The
‘surplus’ time to non-subsistence activities might have latter can be controlled and hidden more in closed soci-
moved around the group, rather than being held in eties with hierarchies, whereas exchanged resources/
the hands of a few specialists who delivered ‘prestige.’ objects are more mobile (and ephemerally owned) in
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 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

open-networked societies (Fig. 9.5). Resource exchange or sources in the Upper Palaeolithic record: wood
via down-the-line transmission, aggregations and suitable for making tools (e.g. spear handles), mastics
personal networks would have worked differently in and hides. Hide-processing is evident at sites such as
‘open’ versus ‘closed’ social networks, yielding differ- Dolní Vĕstonice  II and Pavlov  I (Wojtal et al. 2012,
ent opportunities for potential inequalities. If groups 2018), but not in notably high quantities. If hides were
were small, and/or dispersing, open social networks exchanged for other resources, it does not seem to have
would have ensured they were more successful in been intensive, and thus we have to look elsewhere for
mitigating unpredictable or new environments (Fig. evidence to support Upper Palaeolithic transegalitari-
9.5: E, and perhaps F): resources and knowledge anism. While our discussion of these materials must
would be distributed through personal networks, and remain hypothetical at present, we should not forget
periodically through aggregations and down-the-line that such materials were important, and that we can-
transmission. More closed social systems would exert not trace the movements of all materials important to
greater control over what was exchanged and by Upper Palaeolithic groups.
whom, with down-the-line transmission and personal Specialist objects may also inform us about Upper
networks being more restricted and hierarchical, and Palaeolithic inequalities. Such items (musical instru-
also competitive in the case of aggregations (Fig. 9.5: ments, weapons, adornment, pigment mixtures, lamps
G, H). used for accessing deep parts of caves) might have
The range of materials used in Upper Palaeo- been privately owned, rather than being communal
lithic pendant manufacture varies from the local to items. Musical instruments, in durable resources (bone,
exotic: ivory, chlorite, calcite, talc, haematite, lignite, ivory: Conard et al. 2009) are intermittently found in
amber, bone, animal and human teeth, marine and the Upper Palaeolithic record, though it should be
fossil shells for the Aurignacian alone (White 2007). remembered that such objects were not essential for
Simple proximity to sources of resources does not musicking, and anyway could have been made from
explain the patterns we see in sites, implying that more perishable materials (Lawson & d’Errico 2002).
network connections must have structured resource The idiosyncrasies of particular instruments might
use and exchange. The greater quantity of talc beads correspond to the manufacturing techniques of indi-
at Brassempouy than in the Castel-Merle sites might vidual makers and/or the preferences of the player, if
be explained by the former’s greater proximity to the those were not the same people. The Aurignacian and
Pyrenees, yet Isturitz is even closer to those mountains, Gravettian bird-bone pipes from Isturitz show consist-
but has none. Instead, ivory was almost exclusively ent obliquity of the finger-holes in relation to the long
used at Isturitz, although amber is the only material axis, implying a formalized playing style (Lawson &
at that site to yield a bead production chaîne opératoire d’Errico 2002): were such practices agreed by players,
(White 2007: 294–5). Aurignacian ivory beads at the and if so, were such agreements informal or enforced?
Castel-Merle sites appear to have been manufactured The latter does not prove transegalitarianism, as ritual
in winter (White 2007: 296), presumably with the beads standardization is also found in more egalitarian forag-
moving outwards along exchange networks, while ers. Playing an instrument is not intrinsically zero-sum,
marine shells from the Atlantic and Mediterranean as it does not prevent involvement of others with the
coasts moved in opposite directions to Castel-Merle music, unless the space is too small or inaccessible
(Taborin 1993). Desirable (prestige?) items are revealed to allow large group participation. In such contexts,
in what seem to be sculpted ivory marine shells in two the use of musical instruments in exclusive ritual
Aurignacian sites (La Souquette; Spy) (Otte 1979: 304; behaviours might be argued, though most recovered
White 1989: 378), while a Gravettian ivory pendant instruments have been recovered from what appear
that mimics a fossil cowrie was found at Pair-non-Pair to be generalized living spaces. Magdalenian bird-
(Taborin 2000): were these pieces made for individu- bone pipes from Isturitz appear to be less technically
als that had no access to the real shells (envy and/ complex than the earlier Aurignacian-Gravettian ones
or imitation)? If so, there was inequality of access to (Lawson & d’Errico 2002), implying different require-
resources (Zubrow 2010) at these sites, but whether ments over time.
‘fake’ shells amount to transegalitarianism is hard Apparent ‘caches’ of Upper Palaeolithic objects
to demonstrate without demonstrable inequalities (Davies 2001; Peresani 2009; Verpoorte 2012; Steguweit
of access to other, currently unknown resources. 2015; Kilby 2019), would appear to be the actions of
Some materials, however, could not be reproduced or individuals or sub-groups provisioning the landscape
faked, and would need to be obtained directly or via for re-tooling when necessary (Binford 1979; Kuhn
exchange with areas that possessed them. Many are 1995). The alternative explanation (hunters carry-
perishable, ensuring we cannot test their importance ing replacement osseous points on their person, and
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re-tooling when at rest at a site) does not explain why starvation or predation, but of course such ceremonies
some Aurignacian sites have huge numbers of such are not unique to transegalitarian societies or restricted
points, while others have very few or none). Caching to certain lineages in current foragers (Appendix A).
might have restricted access to such objects/materials It is hard to evaluate evidence for initiation on extant
at the intragroup scale: those that knew the locations Upper Palaeolithic human remains (incisions, tattoos,
of these caches would be able to utilize them, whereas piercing, removal of body parts, etc.: Hayden 2003),
others would not. However, such behaviour is not but it may be possible to interpret the incised mark-
unique to inegalitarian societies, as many economi- ings on Aurignacian figurines (e.g. Hohle Fels female
cally egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies today have figurine, Hohlenstein-Stadel Löwenmensch) as somehow
hierarchies of knowledge (Table 9.1; Appendix A). reflecting initiation. Pre-20  ka child/infant burials
Delayed-return strategies are thus suggested (though recovered from central Europe are often of neonates
are hard to quantify) in Upper Palaeolithic provision- (Krems-Wachtberg 1–3, Dolní Vĕstonice (‘DV-‘)4, etc.)
ing strategies (Appendix A). Some Magdalenian sites (Einwögerer et al. 2006; Svoboda 2006): presumably
suggest the provisioning of deep caves with lamps, too young to have been initiated before death, but
sometimes in pairs; they seem to have been placed which are sometimes accompanied by considerable
strategically in Lascaux (de Beaune 1987: 571–2). As investment of time and resources (ochre, ivory, mam-
with apparent caches of osseous points, not every cave moth scapulae). These child burials are also marked by
art site yielded lamps (Rouffignac, Niaux, Les Trois their proximity to domestic contexts, rather than being
Frères, etc.), implying the use of other light-sources, hidden in relatively inaccessible locations. Identifying
or the removal of lamps from deep caves after use more complex, transegalitarian cultures in the Upper
(most were recovered from ‘domestic’ contexts) (de Palaeolithic that valued women (as means of wealth
Beaune & White 1993: 112). It is hard to tell if lamps transfers) and children (as means for investment of
(each supplied with animal fat resources throughout surpluses in expensive maturation ceremonies that
their use-lives) were personal or communal objects, increased value at marriage) is perhaps easier for Lat-
with interpretations largely based on archaeological eglacial (post-20 ka) inhumations, when the number of
context (special-activity/‘ritual’ vs. ‘domestic’) and elaborately buried (including rich grave-goods) females
levels of decoration (personalization?). Some highly achieves greater parity with males. Before 20 ka, rela-
decorated lamps have been interpreted as being used tively few females were given such treatment (DV-3,
in special rituals, e.g. one found in the Puits de Lascaux Crô-Magnon 2, Pataud, Ostuni 1, Brno III, and possibly
(de Beaune 1987: 573). the now-missing Sunghir 8: Pettitt 2011; Trinkaus et al.
Locales that can be controlled, owing to their size 2014). It is thus difficult to evaluate Hayden’s (2003:
or accessibility, can make it easier to evaluate the level 130) contention that a significant increase in the burial
of restriction in the use of certain resources. However, (sometimes with great wealth) of women and children
such discussion relies on the deposition and leaving of occurred in the Upper Palaeolithic, unless one focuses
resources in those places; if resources were carried out on the Lateglacial.
of the special activity areas, it is impossible to evaluate Burials are perhaps the best-explored aspect of
potential inequalities deriving from restricted resource Upper Palaeolithic funerary practice, but fragmentation
use. The gallery above the Magdalenian camp at La and other procedures seem to have been commoner.
Garma shows clear evidence of people moving along it, There are no clear burials for the Aurignacian, and
but relatively little material evidence of activity, apart Gravettian, Solutrean, Epigravettian and Magdalenian
from some painted signs (Arias 2009: 266–7). Other funerary practices are varied (Henry-Gambier et al.
caves have more substantial evidence of specialized 2004; Fabbri 1992; Garralda 1992; Le Mort & Gambier
use of resources in deep galleries, e.g. placement of 1992; Straus et al. 2015; Henry-Gambier 2018). Funer-
objects in fissures/cracks and on ledges, cave art, clay ary practices do not simply consume resources; the
sculptures of animals, mostly, but not exclusively, from dead (whether complete inhumations or isolated body
the Magdalenian (Arias 2009; Medina-Alcaide et al. parts/skeletal elements) can be treated as resources in
2018). The Hohlenstein-Stadel Löwenmensch (Aurigna- their own right, e.g. cases where intentional deposi-
cian) is more typical of the earlier Upper Palaeolithic: tion, selective redeposition, or fragmentation and
an object positioned in a restricted part of a site, with transformation into pendants, grave goods, etc., can
very little other evidence of activity nearby (Kind et al. be demonstrated (Henry-Gambier et al. 2004; Svoboda
2014), which may have been used by a whole group, 2006; Trinkaus et al. 2014; Straus et al. 2015). Discrete
or a smaller sub-group (initiates?). body parts and elements were sometimes found in
Hayden (2003, 104) has emphasized the impor- association with burials (Sázelová et al. 2018). We
tance of initiation ceremonies, perhaps driven by may ask if Aurignacian and Gravettian examples of
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 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

perforated human teeth (Henry-Gambier et al. 2004; have preceded the deaths: were old materials/artefacts
Svoboda 2006: 26) represent personal items, given included in the burials, and thus taken out of circula-
they are adapted to be carried on the person. Whether tion? Bader recorded a felid paw, clusters of ivory
they were personally owned or held in trust for a beads, ‘apparently from discarded clothing’ (Trinkaus
group, their final resting places are not distinctive or et al. 2014: 16), as well as perforated fox teeth, broken
structured, so it is impossible to say more about their pieces of ivory spear, small pierced stone pendants
potential significance for inequality: why might they and ochre, in the cultural layer at Sunghir, implying
have been discarded as if waste? these artefacts and resources were not confined to the
Sunghir individual 4 is more straightforward: burials. Central European Pavlovian funerary practices
the deliberate deposition (following a long period of (some inhumations) also incorporated resources, but in
curation and treatment with red ochre) of this femoral lesser quantities than seen at Sunghir. Some superficial
diaphysis in association with Sunghir 2 gives it a clear similarities are present between the two regions, e.g.
context, which gains additional significance when use of perforated canid canines, ivory pendants and
the genetic relationships of Sunghir individuals 1–4 ochre in inhumations, but there are also differences:
are considered (Sikora et al. 2017). None of these four (modified) mammoth scapulae capping some burials
males was closely related (i.e. was more than three (Pavlov 1, DV-4, Brno II, Krems-Wachtberg double
generations apart), and there are subtle differences burial, Předmostí I), and the Dolní Vĕstonice Triple
in the materials and treatments accorded different Burial was essentially laid on the ground surface,
individuals. While many features are shared between associated with hearths, and covered with a wooden
Sunghir 1–3 (mostly the wealth of body adornment structure (Trinkaus et al. 2014; Svoboda 2006, 2008;
and ochre, indicating the wearing of richly decorated Einwögerer et al. 2006). Many human remains at these
clothing), there are quantitative and qualitative dif- sites are fragmentary (individual bones and teeth;
ferences (Appendix D). The Sunghir 2 and 3 juveniles isolated body parts), and scattered in the cultural
have more ivory beads than the mature adult Sunghir 1, layers, making them impossible to relate to particular
scaled about two-thirds smaller than those associated resources and/or objects (Svoboda 2006; Trinkaus et
with the latter (White 1993), allowing large numbers al. 2000, 2010, 2017).
to be incorporated onto the smaller clothing worn Can we identify the lineage-based expenditure of
by children. Other ivory objects (‘bracelets’) were resources on funerary treatments of the dead, primarily
numerous on the arms of Sunghir 1, but were present inhumations? The aDNA evidence indicates exoga-
in lower quantities on Sunghir 2 and 3, who instead mous mating networks for Sunghir (Sikora et al. 2017),
were accompanied by ivory ‘lances’ and lattice-worked and all genomes come from males of heterogeneous
ivory discs. Both Sunghir 1 and 2 had several dozen lineages, while dietary data (stable isotopes and zinc
perforated fox canines on their heads (caps/hoods?), traces) imply that Sunghir 1–4 did not consume the
but Sunghir 2 also had at least 250 pierced fox teeth same diets (Appendix D). Some level of dietary het-
incorporated into a belt, as well as an ivory mammoth erogeneity does not disprove a lineage-based control
sculpture placed under his left shoulder (close to where of food for elite individuals (Appendix A), but it does
Sunghir 4 was laid) (Trinkaus et al. 2014; White 1993). make it difficult to be certain such a socio-economic
These three inhumed individuals consumed resource structure existed at Sunghir, particularly as we lack
quantities at levels currently unknown for other Upper remains from more group members to test the isotopic
Palaeolithic funerary sites; not only were the graves and mineral trace values and aDNA. Some individuals
richly provisioned, but the grave-goods were personal- from Dolní Vĕstonice, Pavlov and Krems-Wachtberg
ized. This conspicuous consumption would certainly have yielded aDNA (Fu et al. 2013, 2016; Posth et al.
imply inequality of treatment (the other inhumations 2016), showing some intra-site lineage diversity. It
at the site were probably slightly later, and seem to has been suggested that two of the three males from
have been less richly provisioned), but the puzzle is the Dolní Vĕstonice Triple Burial (DV-14 and DV-15)
that the environment was not particularly produc- shared a mitochondrial haplogroup (U5), and thus a
tive (Appendix B). Could transient inequalities (and maternal connection (Fu et al. 2013: 556), with DV-13
ascribed status) have arisen in this peripheral group, possibly being a paternal half-brother (Mittnik et al.
perhaps based on ritual rather than socio-economic 2016: 5). However, it should be remembered that the
controls, without needing a secure resource base that similarities in mitochondrial and Y-chromosome hap-
produced consistent surpluses? The thousands of body logroups at Sunghir were interpreted as more distant
ornaments that were included in the burials would relationships after more detailed genomic analyses
have taken over 10,000 hours of material collection and (Sikora et al. 2017). If the individuals of the Triple
production time (White 1993), but such activity must Burial were closely related, the allocation of resources
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 Chapter 9

to their inhumation might have been based in lineage. peripheral occupation regions (Paviland, Sunghir).
The Pavlov 1 and DV-16 burials share mitochondrial Given the scanty British record of the Gravettian
and Y-chromosome haplogroups, but we cannot be (Jacobi & Higham 2011), it is not even certain that the
certain they were contemporaneous or diachronic individual buried at Paviland was a long-term local
members of a lineage. While these Dolní Vĕstonice and resident; he could have spent much of his life elsewhere
Pavlov individuals were buried with grave goods, the in Europe (including land now submerged by sea).
quantities and variety of the latter do not match those While the wealth and variety of animal resources
seen at Sunghir, despite the greater environmental exploited in Dolní Vĕstonice and Pavlov might have
productivity of the local area. More genomic work is led some researchers to label them ‘feasts’ (Wojtal et
needed on these Central European Gravettian burials al. 2012, 2018), there is no evidence to suggest single
before we can speak with confidence about marriage events of resource mass-consumption. The evidence
network structure. Ancient DNA from isolated human for large-scale consumption of stored food is equally
skeletal elements (DV-42 and DV-43, both found close contentious. While some pits in Upper Palaeolithic
to central hearths in a settlement unit (Svoboda 2006)) sites on the Russian Plain and central Europe (Sof-
adds some mitochondrial haplogroup diversity, but fer 1985, 1989) have been interpreted as for storage
these remains were not accompanied by any resources (for bones or meat still on the bone) within or just
(i.e. grave goods): were they themselves ‘resources’ in outside dwelling structures, other researchers have
social or symbolic activities? questioned whether the contents of some pits were
The re-use of space, and sometimes of human primary (i.e. fresh meat, inferred from articulated
body parts, could have operated at all scales of access, skeletal elements) or secondary (i.e. waste disposal)
from private (individuals or sub-groups) to whole (cf. Soffer 1989; Iakovleva et al. 2012; Svoboda et al.
groups or aggregations. If DV-42 and DV-43 were re- 2016). Further west in Europe, away from permafrost
used in domestic contexts, near central hearths, this conditions, evidence for clear storage pits is absent.
use might imply sub-group or group involvement. Stellmoor implies the storage of seasonal surpluses,
Other examples, owing to space restrictions, might but the method of preservation is unclear (drying or
have involved rather more restricted numbers of par- smoking fillets, or immersion of carcasses?), and no
ticipants. While the El Mirón ‘Red Lady’ was buried storage features were identified. The same is the case
in a relatively large cave, the grave was in a restricted for storage of foods that serve more as condiments to
part of the site, behind a large block and c. 2 m from provide variety or improve taste, than as main dietary
the cave wall (Straus et al. 2015). The original inhuma- components: there is certainly potential to hide stores/
tion, and subsequent removal of body parts (cranium caches of such materials (fungi, etc.) in secret locations
and most of the long bones) might thus have been for exclusive use by certain members of a group, but
conducted by a restricted number of participants. The archaeological testing would demand a large sample
burial contained objects (pendants, needle fragments, of human remains (e.g. catastrophic death assemblage
antler projectile tips, etc.) that cannot be confirmed as of a group) to test the composition of each member’s
part of the burial (Gutiérrez-Zugasti & Cuenca-Solana dental calculus (cf. Power et al. 2015).
2015); only a covering of red ochre was re-applied to Evidence for physiological stress in Upper Pal-
the bones after they had been disturbed (Marín-Arroyo aeolithic human remains varies, but does demonstrate
2015). This ochre was presumably specially obtained dietary fluctuations in both Moravia and Sunghir:
for this purpose (from a source c. 26 km to the north), such evidence might imply a lack/absence of storage
as the ochre elsewhere on the site was more locally to mitigate resource instability. While Harris lines
sourced (Román et al. 2015). (transverse lines in long bones) are relatively rare in
If the surviving Upper Palaeolithic individuals Moravian Gravettian human remains (minor defects in
were specially selected for funerary treatment, their DV-14 and DV-15 (both from the Triple Burial), DV-16
consumption of resources did not follow a standard- and Pavlov 1), they are much more pronounced and
ized pattern, either within or between sites, or whether common in Sunghir individuals 1, 2 and (especially)
synchronous or diachronic. While there are some 3, representing possible stress episodes (malnutrition
repeated traits (e.g. use of ochre, body adornment and/or disease) (Trinkaus et al. 2006, 2014). Dental
and grave goods), the individuals themselves display stress indicators (interruptions of tooth growth: linear
heterogeneous nutritional, activity and ontogenetic and and pit enamel hypoplasias) are more common in
histories, even given the fact that we lack remains for Upper Palaeolithic humans from Sunghir and Moravia,
most people from the period. Such funerary sites were generally indicating that individuals encountered most
not restricted to the most productive areas (southwest stress post-weaning (c. 2–5 years old) (Trinkaus et al.
France, Moravia), but also occurred in unproductive 2006: 456; 2014). However, Sunghir 3 had at least three
156
 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

separate (dental) stress events between the age of 1.5 opportunity, outcome and ritual participation in the
and 5.6 years old, with Harris lines continuing until Upper Palaeolithic, though we should also remember
his death at the age of about ten (Trinkaus et al. 2014: there are inequalities of preservation and recovery that
289–90). This individual also had bowed femora, as make it hard to establish baselines for the nutritional
did DV-15, implying that mobility for both individuals status and wealth of individuals. To what extent were
was not easy, yet both show clear evidence of active individuals with elaborate funerary practices seen as
lives (Trinkaus et al. 2006: 444; 2014: 288). DV-15 shows special people by their groups? We do not have the
osteo-arthritic evidence of repetitive loading on the remains of all their contemporaries against which to
right arm and hand in particular (the left hand of DV-13 compare them, so tend to assume that buried indi-
shows a similar pattern), implying the dragging of viduals (primary and secondary inhumations) were
heavy loads beside/behind the body, perhaps using a intentionally important because they became fixed
strap (Trinkaus et al. 2006: 428, 443). Sunghir 1 (c. 35–45 monuments in the landscape. Yet body fragmentation
years) had osteoarthritis in his thumbs, midcarpals renders the dead portable on the person (e.g. Aurigna-
and wrists, related more to activity levels and joint cian human tooth pendants): would this behaviour
overloading than to age (Trinkaus et al. 2014). No such be more suitable for highly mobile groups than for
stress indicators have been identified in the surviving semi-sedentary ones (Table 9.2), given that it favours
long bones of the El Mirón ‘Red Lady,’ perhaps indicat- a personalized relationship with the dead rather than
ing greater dietary stability in some Lateglacial groups a spatio-temporally fixed, territorial-monumental
(Carretero et al. 2015: 24). Upper Palaeolithic thus one? Some sites fall between these poles of motility
remains show a variety of activity levels and stresses, and immobility, such as the inhumations that were
making it difficult to categorize individuals as ‘elites’ post-depositionally re-worked and bones removed.
or ‘transegalitarian.’ Among the adults, osteoarthritic The fate of the missing long bones from the El Mirón
lesions related to repetitive, intensive tasks are com- ‘Red Lady’ burial is unknown: they might have been
mon, but we cannot yet be confident in distinguishing re-buried elsewhere, kept for use in ceremonies (‘tal-
craft/specialist activities from a palimpsest of different ismans’ sensu Hayden (2003, 132)?), or fragmented/
activities over the course of a lifetime. destroyed.
The ritual complexity of Upper Palaeolithic
Conclusions groups indicates strong potentials for inequality, but
accompanying economic evidence is not available to
Summarizing the evidence for the European Upper support interpretations of transegalitarianism. Eco-
Palaeolithic, it is hard to support interpretations of nomically, resources were seldom stable enough to
consistent, structural transegalitarianism. Instead, I support the production of surpluses, implying that
propose shifting patterns of Upper Palaeolithic resource storage for was needed for lean seasons, rather than to
consumption and ritual control that appear to mimic support a non-productive elite. This apparent discon-
some aspects of the structural inequality stages defined nection between overall environmental productivity
by Hayden, but which appear to have been ad hominem and ritual complexity (e.g. Sunghir and Paviland)
rather than dynastic. Nevertheless, some changes over means we have to consider more nuanced, and possibly
time are identifiable, e.g. some apparent differences non-analogue, explanations for the patterns we see.
in inhumations before and after 20 ka. Males seem to The problem of equifinality makes it hard to discard
have been preferentially selected for funerary treat- interpretations of broadly egalitarian societies (per-
ment and investment of particular types of resources haps with some ‘despots,’ or sub-groups controlling
in the period before 20 ka for some sites (e.g. Sunghir). ritual activity) in favour of stratified transegalitaran-
LGM socio-politics were clearly subtle and diverse, ism. Motility, within relatively unpopulated Europe,
probably varying by sex/gender, age and seasonal combined with resource unpredictability in many
social organization (Wengrow & Graeber 2015), and areas, would have allowed communities a reactive
reduced mobility/motility does not correlate with response to despotism. The Upper Palaeolithic can be
increased signals of inequality. The Solutrean is noted seen as a series of population responses to fluctuating
for its elaborate material culture, yet appears to lack environmental conditions, including variations in the
any clear burials (unlike the preceding, more mobile degree of mobility. Mobility, documenting changing
Gravettian). The Magdalenian has complex and varied human responses to shifting environmental condi-
technology and funerary practices (including a more tions and potentials, seems able to explain much of
equitable proportion of female inhumations than seen the archaeological record. Innovations can be seen in
earlier), yet its abundant art varies greatly in profi- this context of mobility, rather than the need to invoke
ciency. There were certainly inequalities of resources, ‘aggrandizers’ to drive change. Even the trade and
157
 Chapter 9

exchange of material goods might instead represent and thus not long-distance migrants (Trinkaus et al.
direct procurement by highly mobile populations, e.g. 2014: 7). Much more work is needed on modelling
by individuals less tied to childcare commitments (Fig. and testing NPP estimates for Sunghir, and in using
9.5: E). For much of the Upper Palaeolithic, people stable isotope and strontium analyses (if practicable)
do not seem to have been sedentary enough to allow to tease apart the movements of prey species. More
transegalitarianism to flourish (Table 9.2): the early detailed evaluation of the economic basis and ecology
Upper Palaeolithic and earlier Magdalenian show of this locale would allow the extant data on nutritional
evidence for high mobility, while the less mobile status of the surviving individuals to be set into a
Solutrean evidently did not feel obliged to mark ter- more detailed exploration of potential inequalities.
ritories with burials. Currently, aDNA from Sunghir 1–4 indicates exoga-
There is little evidence of warfare in the Upper mous breeding networks, implying more open (not
Palaeolithic (cf. Table 9.1). It is possible that it was closed) social networks (Gamble 1999) that are less
present, but that the victims’ remains were fragmented compatible with transegalitarian societies (Table 9.2;
and not buried (though some might have been turned Appendix A). Yet the preponderance of male burials at
into tooth pendant trophies?). The Sunghir 1 individual the site implies some degree of male control of ritual
certainly met a violent death, but the motive (if it knowledge (not necessarily of inequality in other
was intentional and not accidental) for his demise is socio-economic spheres: Appendix A). In contrast, the
impossible to ascertain (Trinkaus et al. 2014); none of reworking, and re-resourcing, of the El Mirón female
the other penecontemporaneous burials at the site or burial might imply more involvement of women in
in the European Gravettian shows similar evidence ritual knowledge.
for death from a weapon. Perhaps a better candidate Such detailed, localized studies need to be rep-
for warfare might be the individuals from Maszycka licated across the full spatio-temporal span of the
cave, who have been interpreted as the killing of a Upper Palaeolithic, wherever the evidence is (poten-
Magdalenian group by neighbouring (Epigravettian?) tially) available. They are our best hope of reducing
competitors (Kozłowski & Sachse-Kozłowska 1993: the effects of equifinality, given that outcomes and
170); however, this violence may have occurred in the traits can have several explanations. The range of
context of dispersing populations, rather than com- variability within Upper Palaeolithic technocomplexes
petition between semi-sedentary groups. At present, means that we cannot generalize for each one: we
the available evidence can be explained as ‘sporadic cannot assume they are meaningful ‘cultures’ in an
revenge raiding’ (Table 9.2), rather than organized ethnographic sense. Few archaeological data are direct
warfare. measures of a socio-economic aspect; most are prox-
Given that so many Upper Palaeolithic environ- ies, from which archaeologists infer heterogeneous
ments have no modern analogues, and were very interpretations. More direct measures of behavioural
spatio-temporally variable, assumptions that late complexity (strontium and stable isotopic analyses;
Holocene complex foragers can be transposed onto the aDNA) can be augmented by detailed study of site-
late Pleistocene run many risks. Indeed, the Holocene formation processes (taphonomic factors need to be
groups of the Pacific Northwest Coast themselves assessed before complex behaviour can be asserted)
show a range of socio-economic organizations, from and experimental evaluation of important features
small, thinly scattered and highly mobile at the start of (reconstructions of some large dwelling structures,
the Holocene, to more sedentary, densely populated e.g. on the Central Russian Plain, would benefit from
and complex socio-political organization rather more rigorous testing of their viability). Testing the indi-
recently (e.g. Ames 1991). More attention needs to be vidual components of these structures will also provide
paid to local conditions in Upper Palaeolithic locales information on the sources of materials used, and how
before we can be confident in moving from contingent landscapes were provisioned: caches of resources and
explanations to generalizing ones. tools, burial goods, and the resourcing of structures
To take an important example, the Sunghir site and artworks in deep cave systems. Once positioned,
and funerary complex offer many challenges and many of these concentrations of material can be viewed
opportunities for our interpretations of inequality in as caches, whose materials could be recombined or
the Upper Palaeolithic. The wealth exhibited in the re-positioned as desired. In this sense, the mammoth
two intact burial pits (Sunghir 1–4) is extraordinary, dwellings at sites like Mezhirich were monumental
possibly derived more from deposits of subfossil ivory constructions that required considerable labour for
(finite resources) than ongoing local environmental initial construction (Soffer 1985), but which could
productivity (i.e. live mammoths). The reindeer at then be used as ‘caches’ of material suitable for other
the site are thought to have been the forest ecotype, structures or purposes, if required. Likewise, the El
158
 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

Mirón ‘Red Lady’ burial’s status could have shifted Ames, K.M., 1991. The archaeology of the longue durée: Tempo-
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A comparative perspective on the origins of inequality

Matt Grove

This paper offers a comparative perspective on the was one of equality requires not one but two reversals
origins of inequality, using examples from primates on a single, peculiar branch of the tree. First, at some
and other animals in an attempt to illuminate the point after the last common ancestor with chimpan-
capacities for and manifestations of inequality in our zees, the lineage represented by this branch evolved
species. At its heart is the finding – well-studied and towards a state of egalitarianism. Then, at some later
long-established – that social inequality is rife in the time, this lineage evolved back towards the state of
animal kingdom. This is accompanied by the twin inequality from which it had arisen, such that today
suspicions that 1) inequality was the ancestral hominin it matches all other terminal nodes of the tree. This
condition and 2) we have not in fact deviated too far scenario is, of course, highly unlikely relative to the
from this condition at any point in hominin evolution. alternative: that egalitarianism was simply never a
These suspicions are raised by even a cursory glance feature of human evolution.
at the available comparative data, but are further What follows is not a systematic, phylogenetically
reinforced by the examination of a curious methodo- controlled study, but rather a series of examples chosen
logical anomaly that persists within archaeology and to highlight the similarities between humans and other
anthropology. Evolutionary biologists, ecologists, and animals (particularly other primates) in key areas, and
zoologists begin with the assumption that individuals to suggest that we should give serious consideration
are self-interested, and that inequalities in access to to considering inequality as the ancestral state. This
food, mates, and other resources automatically follow. approach is not intended to suggest that equality or
Researchers in these disciplines have spent consider- inequality are in any sense genetically determined,
able time (and achieved some of their most notable but rather that the inertia of ancestral social systems is
breakthroughs) studying and deriving explanations likely to exert selective pressures favouring individuals
for instances in which this appears not to be the case. best suited to those systems. Running through much of
Archaeologists and anthropologists, by contrast, begin the paper is an attempt to distinguish differences from
with the assumption that individuals were at some inequalities, and an investigation of whether the for-
point in the past fundamentally egalitarian, and seek mer may be more visible archaeologically. The paper
to show how this may in fact have benefitted them concludes with suggestions on the kinds of differences
in the wider social context. The uncritical adoption that might be easily and frequently observable in the
of this assumption of ancestral egalitarianism then archaeological prior to the advent of farming.
motivates us to devote considerable amounts of time
to explaining the apparently de novo appearance of The state of nature
human inequality.
A simple argument from parsimony, however, One advantage of adopting a comparative perspective
suggests that there is likely to be little validity to on the origins of inequality is that it permits analysis
the assumption of ancestral egalitarianism (see Fig. of the circumstances under which inequalities per-
10.1). All primate species, including humans, show tain in other (more or less closely related) species. It
widespread instances of social inequality today; this therefore enables us to provide novel insights into
suggests that the ancestral state was also one of inequal- the ‘state of nature’ debate that has so often featured
ity. The assumption that the ancestral hominin state in anthropological discussions of (in)equality (e.g.
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Equality A

Inequality

Species 1 2 3 4

Figure 10.1. Four species share a common ancestor at A; since all species show inequality, we assume that this was also
the case for A. Arguing that species 4 evolved towards a state of inequality from one of equality also necessitates a prior
reversal; the species must have first evolved from a state of inequality to one of equality. A more parsimonious argument
would suggest that neither of these reversals occurred.

Testart 1988, 1989; Widerquist & McCall 2015). This asserting that as Almanzor recognizes no power above
debate – which is quite distinct from that raised by his own, he should be recognized as a common foe to
evolutionary psychologists over the alleged ‘environ- all mankind, and ‘hunted like a beast of prey’. This
ment of evolutionary adaptedness’ (sensu Cosmides echoes Hobbes’ notion of the state of nature as a war
& Tooby 1992) – is often framed as a discussion of the ‘of every man against every man’, and finds its most
relative merits of Hobbes’ Leviathan (1651) and Rous- lasting expression in Tennyson’s notion of ‘nature red
seau’s Discourse on Inequality (1754) or the subsequent in tooth and claw’. Thus the Dryden / Rousseau image
Social Contract (1762), but poetic renderings of similar of the state of nature evokes freedom and equality; it
sentiments have also made a lasting impression on accords with the use of the term ‘primitive’ to mean
anthropological dialogues. A particularly enduring ‘pristine’. Hobbes and Tennyson, by contrast, assert that
image, published some 90 years before the Social Con- freedom can only be achieved through the imposition
tract, is that of Dryden’s ‘noble savage’. The phrase is of a social order that removes the danger of overt and
spoken by Almanzor, a Moorish warrior at the Battle endless competition; here ‘primitive’ means simply
of Granada, revoking the impositions of the Moorish ‘uncivilized’.
King Boabdelin: Rousseau develops the argument that a social con-
tract should emerge organically and, though regulated
I am as free as nature first made man, by government, it should also be subject to dissolution
Ere the base laws of servitude began, if that government begins to extend its power beyond
When wild in woods the noble savage ran. the remit approved by the populous. For Hobbes,
governance must be imposed rather than organic,
This embodies the sentiment, often attributed directly because the natural self-interest of individuals prevents
to Rousseau, that the state of nature is one of uncon- their acting collectively in service of the greater good.
strained freedom; that laws imposed upon this state Though an abundant literature on game-theoretic sce-
will lead inevitably to an erosion of that freedom, narios demonstrates that self-interest is not necessarily
and ultimately to inequality through unjust govern- a barrier to cooperation (e.g. Hamilton & Axelrod 1981),
ance. Boabdelin’s response is distinctly Hobbesian, a more intriguing argument involves the possibility
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that individuals possess an innate or developed moral experiments with human subjects demonstrate that
sense, or at least an aversion to demonstrable injustice. responders routinely reject unequal offers (e.g. Camerer
This possibility has been investigated extensively by 2003; Güth & Kocher 2014), exhibiting both first- and
economists and sociologists (e.g. Fehr & Schmidt 1999; second-order IA. Though the proportion offered by
Camerer 2003; Güth & Kocher 2014); from a compara- proposers differs cross-culturally (e.g. Camerer 2003;
tive perspective, it is of particular interest that theories Henrich et al. 2004), it averages at approximately the
developed to explain the dynamics of contemporary equality condition of 0.5 (e.g. Henrich et al. 2004).
human markets have also facilitated the study of ‘ineq- Recent experiments also demonstrate first-order IA
uity aversion’ in primates and other animals. in chimpanzees (Brosnan et al. 2005, 2010; Proctor et
‘Inequity aversion’ (IA) describes the tendency of al. 2013), capuchins (Brosnan & de Waal 2003; Fletcher
individuals to resist inequitable outcomes. In practice, 2008; Takimoto & Fujita 2011), macaques (Massen et al.
this involves refusing a transaction because the benefit 2012), corvids (Wascher & Bugnyar 2013), and domestic
received is perceived to be either too small or too large dogs (Range et al. 2009, 2012; Horowitz 2012). Second-
relative to that of others. Like cooperation, IA has been order IA, however, appears on the basis of current
studied with great simplicity and clarity via game- research to be limited to humans and chimpanzees
theoretic approaches that ensure self-interested and (Brosnan et al. 2010; Proctor et al. 2013). An interesting
inequity averse strategies result in opposing actions. compliment to this phylogenetic pattern is the finding
Although there are other formalizations, the results that 4 to 7-year-old children demonstrate first but not
discussed here rely primarily on the ‘ultimatum game’ second-order IA, whereas 8-year-old children demon-
and a series of non-verbal equivalents used to test for strate both (Blake & McAuliffe 2011; Blake et al. 2015).
the presence of IA in primates and other animals. In Brosnan & de Waal (2014: 1) note that inequity
its basic form, the ultimatum game involves a decision aversion is primarily of benefit to species in which
about how to distribute a resource. A proposer, in individuals cooperate with non-kin, arguing that the
possession of the resource, offers a proportion of that sense of fairness evolved not ‘for the sake of fairness
resource to the responder, who can either accept or per se, but in order to reap the benefits of continued
reject this offer. If the responder accepts the offer, she cooperation’. In this sense IA may be a mechanism
receives the proportion of the resource, with the pro- similar to reciprocal altruism, in which a self-interested
poser retaining the remainder. If the responder rejects agent sometimes benefits from behaving ‘altruistically’
the offer, however, both the proposer and responder (e.g. Trivers 1971). If in repeated trials of the ultimatum
receive nothing. In a related formulation known as game the proposer and responder regularly reverse
the impunity game, rejection by the responder does roles, it may be possible that a ‘fair’ division (i.e. = 0.5)
not prevent the proposer from receiving her share. emerges via reciprocity; equivalently, it may be possi-
Note that in both formulations a purely self-interested ble that generosity on the part of the proposer enhances
proposer would offer as little as possible, and a purely her reputation, leading to benefits in currencies other
self-interested responder would always accept, since than those directly involved in the game. IA may also
provided the offer is greater than zero it represents a depend on cognitive abilities similar to those required
gain, regardless of its size. Thus when an offer of is for reciprocal altruism, such as memory for previous
rejected, it suggests IA rather than self-interest on the exchanges or the ability to predict another’s response
part of the responder. Most studies of IA in non-human to a given action. In the case of second-order IA, such
primates and other animals implement analogues of abilities are clearly present in at least chimpanzees
the impunity game, in which the proposer’s motiva- and humans, while in the case of first-order IA they
tion to share should be reduced, since rejection does extend to a number of more distantly related primate
not affect her payoff. species. The comparative perspective therefore sug-
‘Since the offer is a proportion of the resource, it gests that the capacity for recognizing and reacting
must vary between 0 and 1. It is therefore possible to inequity may be phylogenetically ancient. Equally
to delineate two types of IA that depend on whether ancient, however, is the tendency for ultimately self-
the offer is greater than or less than 0.5. First-order IA ish motivations to usurp that capacity in practice, as
occurs when the responder refuses an offer of less than individuals pursue their natural self-interest at the
half the resource; in such cases, the responder is react- expense of other group members, seeking advanta-
ing to an offer that is perceived to be unfair to herself. geous access to resources or mates. This pattern is
Second-order IA occurs when the responder refuses analogous to the collapse of cooperation in the pres-
an offer of more than half the resource; in such cases, ence of free-riders, and leads to various examples of
the responder is reacting to an offer that is perceived social inequality in primate societies. Below, I focus
to be unfair to the proposer. Myriad ultimatum game on two examples of primate social inequality that are
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of particular relevance to the study of human evolu- detection and defence behaviours of dominant adult
tion, and argue that we should not view the ancestral males. What is missing, however, is a clear structure
state as one of (social) equality. On balance, the study through which dominance can be inherited, and this
of primate societies lends considerably more support potentially explains why dominance relations remain
to Hobbes than to Rousseau. fluid rather than entrenched.
Although there are intriguing counterpoints –
Primate inequalities Kawai (1958) found that infant Japanese macaques
‘inherited’ positions immediately below their moth-
The first and perhaps most obvious situation in ers in the group dominance hierarchy – the nature
which inequality is manifest in primate groups is the of inheritance in human societies is for the most part
dominance hierarchy. Though primates as an order qualitatively different from anything that exists in
demonstrate a range of social structures from the egali- non-human primate societies. Inheritance in human
tarian to the ‘despotic’, classic linear hierarchies are societies is generally discussed in terms of ‘wealth’,
perhaps the simplest case. These appear in a number but as Borgerhoff Mulder and colleagues (2009) make
of baboon and macaque species, and are maintained clear, wealth can be understood to include not only
through threat behaviours and occasionally violent resources, but also information (both genetic and
confrontations. Strict linearity implies that, for exam- cultural), relationships, territory, and a number of
ple, the dominant or alpha male always prevails in other factors that ultimately have the potential to
competitive situations against any other male, with elevate reproductive success. At least some of these
the beta male prevailing against all males but the factors are inheritable in non-human primates, yet in
alpha, and so on down the hierarchy. In baboon and the vast majority of cases none are actually inherited.
macaque societies there are linear hierarchies within Thus ‘persistent institutionalized inequality’, defined
both males and females, with males dominant over by Mattison and colleagues (2016: 185) as ‘differential
females in most cases. These hierarchies become more access to power or resources involving institutionali-
rigid, and confrontations more frequent, in harsher zation of status hierarchies by hereditary privileges’,
environments when food is less plentiful. Dominance is does not exist in non-human primate society. The vast
also correlated across the various currencies of benefit; majority of non-human primates live in unequal socie-
for example, the alpha has primary access to both food ties, yet in many this inequality of outcome may have
and mating opportunities. developed despite equality of opportunity; high levels
The pervasiveness of dominance hierarchies in of inter-generational wealth transmission in human
primates – even those species shown in experimental societies ensure that the opportunities themselves are
studies to display inequity aversion – demonstrates also unequal.
that an appreciation of ‘fairness’ is a necessary but not A second situation in which social (in)equality
a sufficient precursor for the emergence of egalitarian can be examined in primates is that of food-shar-
society. There are a number of informative differences, ing. Since this an apparently altruistic process, it is
however, between dominance relations in humans and informative to study the individual motivations for
those in non-human primates. Of particular interest is and patterns of food-sharing in primates to ascertain
the fact that dominance relations in primates can be whether food is distributed equally, or whether par-
highly dynamic, and related to this is lack of a clear ticular individuals are favoured. Food-sharing has
system through which dominance positions can be long been a central tenet of ethnographically informed
inherited from parents to offspring. Baldwin (1968), archaeological models of human evolution, particu-
for example, demonstrated numerous changes in the larly when combined with the transport of resources
ranking of four adult male squirrel monkeys over the to a central location (e.g. Isaac 1981, 1983). As is often
course of just four months; over this period only one of the case, this line of reasoning appears to have been
the four males failed to attain alpha status, and it was motivated by the idea that food-sharing is a uniquely
not unusual for the lowest ranking male to become the human behaviour. Thus Isaac (1983: 534) imagines
highest ranking as the result of a single challenge to the the baffled reaction of a chimpanzee: ‘these humans
previous incumbent. Dominance relations in primates get food and, instead of eating it like any sensible
may reflect intrinsic differences such as age, weight, or ape, they haul it off and share it with others’. Since
strength, but they can also rely on alliances between Isaac’s pioneering archaeological work, however,
individuals; in many species, dominant males require research into primate food-sharing has expanded
the support of females in order to retain their positions considerably, to the extent that it is now known to
(e.g. capuchins, Fedigan 1993; gorillas, Watts 1996), be relatively common (e.g. Feistner & McGrew 1989;
with females in turn benefitting from the predator Brown et al. 2004).
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A recent review by Jaeggi & van Schaik (2011) strongly associated with coalitionary support. Meat
found that in 12 of the 68 primate species for which data was shared infrequently with females, and although
were available food was shared with non-kin adults sharing was more likely with oestrus than anoestrus
(and in far more cases with kin, particularly offspring). females, this did not lead to mating advantages.
Such sharing occurred in all great apes surveyed except The fact that meat is shared non-randomly among
the gorilla. Although sharing is often passive (i.e. it male chimpanzees indicates that favoured partnerships
may take the form of tolerated theft or a response to can emerge; such partnerships are then strengthened
harassment), Jaeggi & van Schaik (2011: 2126) make the through reciprocity into alliances that facilitate the
important point that the distribution of food may still progress of males towards the upper reaches of the
be unequal, with possessors of food choosing to tolerate dominance hierarchy (de Waal 1982; Goodall 1986).
theft only from particular individuals. In such cases, That food-sharing, so often seen as a hallmark of
sharing may be targeted towards particular individu- human society, exists in our closest primate relatives
als, may reinforce reciprocal relationships, and may and is used primarily to reinforce the coalitionary
be reciprocated in other currencies, as appears to be and dominance relations that are perhaps the clearest
the case in both orangutans and chimpanzees. In both example of primate social inequality, should make
these species, food-sharing appears to be highly tacti- us think carefully about our supposedly egalitarian
cal, with apparently altruistic acts being reciprocated origins. Hypotheses regarding the individual benefits
within particular sub-groups. of food-sharing have also been tested with data from
Van Noordwijk & van Schaik (2009) report consist- human foragers, with many similar hypotheses garner-
ent patterns of tolerated theft among orang-utans, with ing support. Although reciprocity in food-sharing can
food routinely passing from males to females. Often, reduce subsistence risk and lead to a form of ‘long-term
the shared items – pieces of fruit, vegetable matter or egalitarianism’ it is also vulnerable to free-riders and
pieces of termite-infested wood - were of limited nutri- can generate and reinforce inequality when subsets of
tional value and would not have been overly difficult individuals reciprocate primarily or exclusively with
for either the male or the female to obtain. Thus the one another (e.g. David-Barrett & Dunbar 2014). In
tolerance of theft by males appears to serve a primar- this sense, food-sharing should not necessarily be seen
ily socio-sexual function, allowing them to maintain exclusively as a way of ‘averaging out’ the differences
associations with females who might otherwise leave, between individuals; it is also a way in which those
seeking out associations with other males elsewhere. differences can be amplified over time. Such effects
Van Noordwijk & van Schaik (2009) further propose can be even more noticeable when individuals take on
that attempts to take food by females constitute tests different roles in communal activities, as is now amply
of a male’s tendency towards coercion and aggression, demonstrated in a diverse range of species.
both of which are prevalent in sexual settings among
orangutans. Although no short-term trading of food for Inequality and difference
mating, grooming, or agonistic support was observed,
males who tolerate theft by females may increase their The above discussion of chimpanzee meat-sharing
likelihood of mating opportunities in the longer term. considered only the division of the spoils of the hunt,
The existence of tactical food-sharing in our clos- rather than the coordination of the hunt itself. Whilst
est cousin, the chimpanzee, has been more extensively chimpanzees generally hunt in groups, some groups
studied, and demonstrates the diversity of motivations pursue prey as a series of individuals, each perform-
that might lead to the unequal treatment of conspecif- ing essentially the same actions (e.g. in hunting red
ics (de Waal 1997; Mitani & Watts 2001; Slocombe & colobus at Ngogo (Mitani & Watts 1999)). In other
Newton-Fisher 2005; Gilby 2006; Hockings et al. 2007). groups, individuals adopt different roles and appear
Of particular interest in terms of human evolution is to coordinate their actions towards the common goal
the sharing of meat among chimpanzees. It has been (e.g. in hunting of juvenile baboons at Gombe (van
hypothesized that meat-sharing between males rein- Lawick-Goodall 1968)). That individuals form ‘teams’
forces social alliances, and that sharing of meat by in this way provides a novel angle on the issue of
males with females increases mating opportunities. inequality in groups. In particular, it raises an impor-
Mitani & Watts (2001) performed detailed analyses of tant distinction between difference and inequality
meat-sharing events between chimpanzees at Ngogo, which has important applications in archaeological
Kibale National Park, Uganda, with their results sug- studies of the latter.
gesting that male-male alliances are the most important To illustrate this distinction, and to provide a
feature in structuring exchanges. Meat was shared fuller discussion of the possibility that differences may
non-randomly and reciprocally among males, and was ultimately lead to inequalities, a number of potentially
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illuminating examples from other species are consid- to the opposite flank of a herd of prey; they will then
ered. The first involves so-called ‘sneaky matings’ in attack from this opposite flank, driving the herd back
olive baboons (Packer 1977), in which a pair of low towards the majority of the group. In other cases the
ranking males form a partnership allowing them access lion group will attack from one direction only, but
to an oestrous female who would usually be guarded certain individuals will move rapidly to the sides of
by the alpha male. While one of the pair engages the the prey herd, corralling them into a central area where
alpha male in an aggressive encounter, the other is they are easier to attack. Potentially in the first example,
able to move away and mate with the female without and certainly in the second, some lions adopt the same
disruption, and with minimal risk of an attack by the role in each and every hunt. This is despite the fact
alpha against either the female or the ‘sneaky’ male. that individuals in the left and right ‘wing’ positions
Thus two quite distinct actions are undertaken by the must travel considerably further in order to encircle
two males of the partnership, who will at a later stage, the herd (see Stander 1992: Figure 1). Intriguingly,
and potentially with a different female, swap roles so even when group composition changed, individuals
that both will ultimately gain mating opportunities. tended to stick as often as possible to their preferred
This is clearly an instance of reciprocity, as well as an positions in the hunt.
example of a case in which the concurrent performance There exists among hunting lions a division of
of different roles by different individuals is essential labour that involves individuals adopting different
to achieving a goal. Neither animal could succeed roles on a semi-permanent basis. This rules out the
alone, and therefore the partnership provides benefits neat reciprocity explanation applicable to olive baboon
that individual actions could not. Whilst in any given ‘sneaky matings’, and is quite different to the appar-
exchange one animal is paying a cost while the other ently fluid way in which hunting chimpanzees adopt
receives a benefit, in the longer term the payoffs for different roles on an ad hoc basis. The question of why
the two animals are equivalent. Equality is achieved the lions studied by Stander (1992) have adopted such a
through the reversal of roles. structured division of labour – with individuals taking
Returning to the example of chimpanzee hunt- on quite distinct roles in the course of repeated hunts –
ing reported from Gombe by van Lawick-Goodall is clearly pertinent to both human hunting behaviours
(1968), some of the hunters surround the prey, driv- and the existence of labour divisions more generally.
ing it into the trees, whilst others climb neighbouring There are many aspects of this division of labour
trees, ensuring that it is captured when attempting that enhance hunting success, and Stander’s (1992)
to jump to safety. Again, the collective nature of the detailed consideration of the data suggests a number
hunt achieves a goal that no single chimpanzee could of explanations that might be generalized into basic
achieve alone, yet in this case differing roles appear theoretical principles. During the wet season, when
to be adopted on an ad hoc basis, based on the prior prey is relatively densely distributed, it is possible for
actions of other individuals. Despite this collective lions to hunt individually with considerable success,
action, there often exist both individuals who have and this is generally what they do. In the dry season,
participated in the hunt but do not receive a share of however, prey are found in smaller groups and at
the prey and individuals who have not hunted but lower densities, and rates of solo hunting success fall
do receive a share of the prey. Although a collective to unsustainable levels. Thus group hunting emerges
effort is required to succeed, this is not recognized in as a response to seasonal fluctuations in precipitation.
the subsequent process of sharing, which reverts to the Furthermore, success in hunting groups is significantly
concerns regarding dominance and alliance formation greater when individual lions occupy their preferred
highlighted above. The complimentary roles of the roles in the hunt. The combination of coordination and
hunters are neither formally established nor rotated, specialization thus ensures success during seasons in
as in the case of baboon matings. which prey are scarce and harder to catch.
There do exist, however, situations in animal When considering the division of labour in human
behaviour in which individuals take on distinct roles foraging groups, discussions often focus primarily
in communal activities and stick to these roles for on the sexual division of labour, for which adaptive
extended periods of time. One of the best examples explanations generally refer to the economic balance of
comes from analyses of hunting behaviour in lions a high-yield, high-variance resource with a low-yield,
(Stander 1992). During hunts, lions frequently split low-variance resource (e.g. Kaplan & Hill 1985; Gurven
into formations that allow them either to ambush prey et al. 2000). There is also some suggestion that physical
or to corral them into situations in which they are differences between males and females may predispose
effectively surrounded. In some cases individual lions them towards hunting or gathering (though the finding
will move away from the group, moving discreetly that males hunt and females gather is not universal,
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and is further complicated by the fact that animal as searching for more fundamental indicators. The idea
well as plant resources can be ‘gathered’). The sexual of difference as an indicator of inequality suggests a
division of labour, however, is just one example of the different approach to the archaeological record – one
way in which tasks can be distributed in a group, and which moves beyond the idea of (in)equality as a
may not be the most revealing example for the study dichotomous variable and increases the number of
of the way in which differences between individuals archaeologically documented attributes that can be
can lead ultimately towards social inequalities. In interpreted as having a direct bearing on the issue.
lions there is, in a sense, a sexual division of labour As a formative attempt to develop this perspec-
that underlies the hunting division of labour, in that tive, the following paragraphs present a description
it is primarily the females that hunt. I would argue of a series of interacting archaeological sites from the
that the division of labour among hunting female lions Upper Magdalenian of the Paris Basin. The description
is more akin to specialization, with each individual draws comparisons between the various observations
establishing a particular, persistent role within the of primate societies documented above and the extent
group. It is in the context of specialization that some to which the spatial division of tasks, specializations,
of the most intriguing evidence for the presence of and the presence of differences between individuals
social inequalities prior to the Holocene can be found are evident at these sites. Magdalenian cultures first
in the archaeological record. Though a focus on mate- appeared in the Périgord during the beginning of the
rial culture forces us towards an examination of craft Tardiglacial, approximately 17,000 bp, and persisted
specialization rather than specialization per se, this does until the end of the Pleistocene at approximately
not overly diminish the opportunity for tracing exam- 11,700 bp. The earlier phases of the French Magdale-
ples of social difference in the archaeological record. nian were strictly confined to the southwest during the
Older Dryas, but during the subsequent Bolling phase
Difference and specialization humans were able to spread north through the Loire
Valley and into the southern part of the Paris Basin,
Whilst there is no evidence that the different roles ultimately reaching the Meuse plateau in northern
taken by hunting female lions in the above example Belgium. The archaeology of the period is divided
lead directly to differences in social status, a number into 7 tool phases (labelled 0–6), based on the sites of
of theoretical models suggest that even minor, random La Madeleine for the earlier and Laugerie-Haute for
differences between individuals could do exactly the later material. These later phases (4–6) are those
that. In their simplest form, the ‘winner-loser’ models represented in the Paris Basin, where they are combined
common in evolutionary biology assume a number of with a distinctive blade-based assemblage featuring
events in which individuals compete for a resource. dihedral burins, becs and perforators (Audouze 1987;
The winner of a given competitive event will be more Gordon 1988). Bone and antler working are particularly
likely to win future events, due to the resource it has prevalent, as befits a society for whom the hunting of
gained; thus slight initial differences, even if occur- reindeer was such a dominant means of subsistence.
ring randomly within a group, are multiplied over the Faunal assemblages are often essentially monospecific,
course of repeated competitive events (e.g. Lindquist & demonstrating the profound reliance on Rangifer taran-
Chase 2009). Importantly, differences on multiple axes dus that has led to the Magdalenian being described
may be correlated. If the resource is a food resource, it as ‘l’âge du renne’.
may lead to better nutrition and greater strength and Evidence of specialization is evident at multiple
size on the part of the winner, which may in turn lead scales in the Upper Magdalenian of the Paris Basin. At
to an elevated position in the dominance hierarchy and the broadest scale, there is clear evidence of individual
more frequent mating opportunities. sites themselves playing distinct roles in the broader
The above scenario is undoubtedly an over- economy of the region. The idea that different sites
simplification, but it demonstrates how simply, rapidly could serve different functions is certainly not restricted
– and perhaps inevitably – differences between indi- to such recent material (see, for example, Leakey 1972
viduals become magnified to the extent that they and Isaac 1997), but the articulation of differential pro-
become manifest as marked social inequalities. The duction is certainly much clearer in the archaeological
remainder of this section examines an example in which record of the Upper Palaeolithic than that of the Early
differences – both between sites and between individu- Stone Age, and suggests that differences were designed
als – are archaeologically visible. It is hoped that this rather than epiphenomenal. Enloe & David (1997), for
consideration of difference in an archaeological context example, conclude that Verberie was a hunting camp
will illuminate situations in which social inequali- occupied by a specific task group, whereas Pincevent
ties are present but are not visible to archaeologists was ‘occupied by consumers as well as producers’
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(ibid.: 55). Faunal remains suggest the removal of the Palaeolithic. Yet more recent investigations by
food-rich elements from the former site, whereas the Julien & Karlin (2014) also reveal incipient differences
latter displays a relatively complete faunal profile. between individuals at Pincevent. At Pincevent Level
By contrast, Etiolles is generally regarded as a blade IV20, an autumn reindeer-hunting camp extending
production site (Karlin et al. 1992; Olive & Taborin over some 5000 sq. m, these authors identify four
2002). Evidence of hunting at Etiolles is limited, and families, totalling around 30 people. The four central
the site lies close to a source of remarkably large flint residences plus peripheral workshops demonstrate
nodules. Further to the local raw material, non-local the occurrence of spatially isolated activities including
flint was brought to the site from the valleys of the the manufacture of hunting weapons and the drying
Eure to the west, the Marne to the northeast, the Oise to and preparation of hides. Julien & Karlin (2014) assert
the north, and the Loing to the south (Olive & Taborin that the diversity of activities that took place among
2002). Olive & Taborin argue that Etiolles was a point these individuals called for the presence of a ‘project
around which various travel routes revolved, such that manager’, an individual who they refer to as the ‘celui-
mobile hunters were able to stock up on blade blanks qui-sait’. Furthermore, the residence and workshop of
for use at other sites. this individual have been identified, and the transfer
At this broadest scale it is clear that distinct of both meat to and lithics from this individual show
activities, such as lithic production and targeted a highly evocative pattern.
hunting, occupied different places within the basin. Julien & Karlin (2014) argue that the transfer
Such evidence is not sufficient, of course, to assert of reindeer meat, demonstrated via carcass refitting,
with confidence that different tasks were carried out from other families to the individual inhabiting Unit
by different individuals; reindeer hunting involves T112 demonstrates both that this individual hunted
exceptionally high mobility, and it is possible that less often than others, and that (s)he was accorded
these different localities were used by a roving popu- a greater status than other members of the group.
lation during different seasons of the year. Instead, This was likely to be due to this individual’s ability
it may demonstrate a move towards an economy to produce exceptionally large blades, examples of
increasingly dependent on delayed returns (sensu which have been shown via refits to have been trans-
Woodburn 1982): an investment in lithic production ferred to the residences of all other families. Thus far
prior to reindeer migration, followed by the storing this might be evidence simply of barter for different
of food following the windfalls created by intercept commodities, but Julien & Karlin (2014) suggest
hunting of large herds. Yet there is also an intriguing that the ‘one who knows’ was both the organizer of
parallel with the idea of teams in animal societies, hunting strategies and the head of the community,
introduced above. Anderson and Franks (2001: 535) as evidenced by the position of Unit T112 facing the
define teams as groups whose members perform other residences of the group. It seems likely that the
different subtasks concurrently, with each task being knowledge of advanced lithic reduction techniques –
successfully completed if and only if all subtasks are coupled with the skill required to produce successful
undertaken. The major difference between a team blanks – accorded this individual a separate status
of chimpanzees and a team of Palaeolithic reindeer within the group as a whole. Thus Pincevent Level
hunters may therefore lie in the spatio-temporal extent IV20 represents an example in which what is at first
over which the principle task is undertaken (see also observed as a difference between individuals – with
Gamble 1999). one expert knapper producing blades for use by the
At a finer scale, the multiple localities at the site wider group – can also be seen as a case in which the
of Pincevent reveal evidence of reciprocity, yet they individuals of the group are accorded differing status.
also reveal evidence of the different roles played by
families and individuals, and demonstrate how dif- Conclusions
ferences can easily result in inequalities. Evidence of
food-sharing at Pincevent has been demonstrated by The available evidence suggests that the ‘state of
the refitting of reindeer bone between hearths (Enloe & nature’ was a state of Hobbesian self-interest and
David 1992; Audouze & Enloe 1997), whilst at Etiolles inequality; this applies to the hominins just as it does
the circulation of blade blanks between households to all other animals. Our close primate cousins, like
suggests that ‘several human groups that were united us, have the ability to recognize inequity in social
enough to help each other’ camped together at the exchanges; yet they persist, like us, in structuring their
site (Olive & Taborin 2002: 102). Enloe (2001) regards social relations around various inequalities in access
the faunal evidence from Etiolles as representing the to resources. Dominance hierarchies and the prefer-
first unequivocal demonstration of food-sharing in ential sharing of food are just two examples for which
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Effort in Crows and Ravens. Plos One 8(2). doi:10.1371/ Widerquist, K., & G. McCall, 2015. Myths about the state
journal.pone.0056885 of nature and the reality of stateless societies. Analyse
Watts, D.P., 1996. Comparative socio-ecology of gorillas. & Kritik 37, 233–58.
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Press, 16–28.

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Could incipient dogs have enhanced differential

access to resources among Upper Palaeolithic
hunter-gatherers in Europe?

Mietje Germonpré, Martina Lázničková-Galetová,

Mikhail V. Sablin & Hervé Bocherens

The dog is the only domesticated species that dates from study Palaeolithic Eurasia to learn about the first
before the origin of agriculture when human popula- dogs. Although the ethnographic record from the cir-
tions were living as hunter-gatherers (e.g. Germonpré cumpolar North, as defined by Anderson (2017: 134),
et al. 2009, 2015, 2018; Thalmann et al. 2013; Freedman cannot be used as a direct basis for a comparison with
and Wayne 2017). Morphological and genetic analyses Palaeolithic Eurasia, it can help to envisage how Upper
have shown that dogs descent from an extinct Eurasian Palaeolithic humans and animals regarded each other
Pleistocene wolf population or possibly several popula- and interacted (cf. Robert-Lamblin 2001; Germonpré
tions (e.g. Germonpré et al. 2009; Thalmann et al. 2013; & Hämäläinen 2007; Sharp & Sharp 2015) and what
Skoglund et al. 2015; Frantz et al. 2016). Although the forms of social life were possible under the conditions
dogs’ ancestor is now known, many questions remain, of a foraging mode of subsistence during the Upper
such as how the first dogs could have participated in Palaeolithic (cf. Artemova 2016).
the daily life of their owners (Losey et al. 2018). Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain
In this contribution, we first summarize two the initial steps in the domestication process of the
models on the origin of the dog; then we detail two wolf (see Germonpré et al. 2018 and references herein).
canid morphotypes from the Upper Palaeolithic; next, According to Stépanoff & Vigne (2018), the beginning
we look to the Upper Palaeolithic sites that have evi- of the domestication process was related to the con-
dence for the presence of incipient dogs. After that, we cept of seeing living animals as co-operating partners
review ethnographic sources for dog-related practices instead of treating the animals as material. We favour
among Northern societies and whether and how these a human-initiated model in which wolf pups were
could enhance differential access to resources and adopted. Wolf denning (culling or capturing of wolf
influence social status distinctions. Subsequently, we pups at dens during spring) is traditional known to be
discuss what could have been the roles of early dogs practiced in order to reduce interspecific competition
in some Upper Palaeolithic societies. Finally, we pro- for prey (Farnell 2005) or to protect herds of domestic
pose a tentatively narrative on how the contributions ungulates (Lescurieux 2007; Charlier 2015). Possibly,
of Palaeolithic dogs could have affected differential a comparable tradition existed in some regions of
wealth and influenced social distinction among past Eurasia during the Upper Palaeolithic. Captive wolf
men and women. pups would then be available to be raised at the
Upper Palaeolithic camps for several motives and
The domestic dog and its origin likely some pups, the most docile (cf. Pierotti & Fogg
2017: 222) and less fearful ones, could have survived
According to Gompper (2014: 10) ‘…the dog can be until adulthood and reproduced, permitting a new
defined as a domestic animal based on some combi- selection on every next generation leading ultimately
nation of human manipulation of their reproduction, to Palaeolithic dogs (Germonpré et al. 2018). This
human selection on their genotypes or phenotypes, suggests some acknowledgment of the recognition of
their commensal interactions with humans, and their emotional inequality among the canid puppies, and
role in the culture of humans.’ such a selection behaviour by humans (affecting the
Pleistocene wolves are the single ancestors of captive canids) may tell us something about the emo-
dogs (Thalmann & Perri 2018). We must therefore tional behaviour of humans regarding other human
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and non-human persons (cf. Losey et al. 2011). These Palaeolithic dogs in Upper Palaeolithic sites
domestic canids can but need not be the direct ances-
tors of recent dogs. We have described two morphotypes of fossil canids
The self-domestication model proposed that some in the Late Pleistocene (Germonpré et al. 2009, 2012,
wolves adapted to the human niche by scavenging 2015, 2017a). The Pleistocene wolf morphotype is
on human waste dumps at postglacial permanent similar in size and shape to the recent wild wolves
settlements (Coppinger & Coppinger 2001). As it is from northern Eurasia although the snout of this fos-
now certain that the first dogs were already living sil morphotype is on average longer and wider than
during the Pleistocene, the revised model states that the muzzle of the recent Northern wolves in our data
wolves adapted to the human niche by feeding on sets. The Palaeolithic dog morphotype has a unique
garbage dumps or stored food at Upper Palaeolithic morphology that falls outside the size and shape
sites. Those wolves that were not fearful or aggressive variability of Pleistocene and recent Northern wolves
adapted to the human niche and dogs evolved gradu- (Galeta et al. 2020; Germonpré et al. 2009, 2012, 2015a,
ally from this subpopulation (Zeder 2012; Larson & 2017a) (Fig. 11.1). This morphotype has a smaller skull
Burger 2013; Morey & Jeger 2015). Interesting to note size and a shortened snout with a proportionally wide
in this context is that in North America First Nations palate and a shorter and higher mandible compared to
hunters regularly left at the kill sites parts of the game the wild type (Germonpré et al. 2015, 2017a), features
for the wolves, coyotes or foxes (Wilson 1924; Tan- related to the domestication syndrome (cf. Wilkins et al.
ner 1979; Brightman 2002; Sharp & Sharp 2015) out 2014; Morey & Jeger 2015; Sanchez-Villagra et al. 2016;
of respect (Pierotti & Fogg 2017) or, as noted in the Wilkins 2017). Moreover, the skulls and mandibles of
ethnographic record of Northern Eurasia, as coun- Palaeolithic dogs differ from those of recent Northern
ter offerings of meat to be presented to a landscape indigenous dogs (Germonpré et al. 2017a). Unfortu-
master (Anderson 2017) or for the raven who guided nately, postcranial skeletal elements associated with
the hunter towards the game (Shirokogoroff 1935). At skulls or lower jaws from Palaeolithic dogs are very
the kill sites, the contacts and interactions between rare. As the mean total lengths of skull and lower jaw
Pleistocene wolves and Palaeolithic hunters were in of Palaeolithic dogs are significantly smaller than the
all likelihood very limited (Germonpré et al. 2018). corresponding mean lengths of Northern wolves (Ger-
Furthermore, Pleistocene progenitor wolf(ves) popula- monpré et al. 2015a: tab. 4; Germonpré et al. 2017b: tabs.
tions could only have developed in a separate ecotype 5, 7), we propose that the mean lengths and widths of
when anthropogenic refuse would have been highly the long bones are probably smaller in the Palaeolithic
predictable and abundant. This was likely not the case dog morphotype than the mean values in the Pleisto-
during the Late Pleistocene (Lupo 2019). Additional cene wolf morphotype. Long bones from large canids
critic on the self-domestication model is related to the have been described as ‘dog-like in size’ when at least
limited accessibility of stored food and garbage and to one of their measurements falls inside the observed
the behaviour of habituated wolves (Koler-Matznick range of the recent Northern dogs and is smaller than
2002; Germonpré et al. 2018). the corresponding lower limit of the observed ranges
In Germonpré et al. (2018) we used the scheme in Northern wolves (Germonpré & Sablin 2017; Ger-
provided by Sigaut (1980) on domestication to explore monpré et al. 2017b). It is possible that the ‘dog-like in
the diversity of the relationships between humans size’ canids could be female Palaeolithic dogs.
and large canids and highlighted the importance European Palaeolithic dogs and ‘dog-like in size’
of a ‘ritualized socialization between humans and canids have been reported from early and middle Upper
wolves’ (Stépanoff & Vigne 2018: 11). Sigaut (1980) Palaeolithic sites from Europe above 45° latitude. So
distinguishes four main types of contributions that far, their remains seem to be absent in natural sites
a wild or domestic animal can provide: behavioural and in Middle Palaeolithic sites. Their presence has
contributions, energy, corporal products and signs. been attested in following Aurignacian and Gravettian
Also, in this chapter, we organize our survey on an European sites, dating from before the Last Glacial Max-
adapted scheme based on Sigaut (1980). We do not imum (LGM: c. 26.5 to 19 ka (Clark et al. 2009)): Goyet
want to imply with this practical scheme that dur- (50°N), Předmostí (49°N) (Fig. 11.2), Kostenki-1/I (51°N),
ing the Upper Palaeolithic the relationship between Kostenki-8/I and Kostenki-8/II (51°N), Kostenki-11/Ia
humans and their domestic canids was hierarchical; on (51°N), Kostenki-12/I (51°N), Kostenki-14/III (51°N) and
the contrary, we wish to underline the multi-layered Kostenki-21 (51°N) (Germonpré et al. 2009, 2012, 2015;
dimensions of this ancient companionship (cf. Ander- Camarós et al. 2016; Germonpré & Sablin 2017; Reyn-
son 2017) and to highlight that dogs played a number olds et al. 2019). In addition, a skull from an incipient
of different roles (cf. Hayden 2014). dog has been recovered from the Razboinychya cave
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 Could incipient dogs have enhanced differential access to resources

Figure 11.1. Lateral view of the Pleistocene wolf skull (total skull length: 261 mm) from the Trou des Nutons cave,
Belgium. Photograph Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.

Figure 11.2. Oblique view of a Palaeolithic dog skull (total skull length: 232 mm) from the Gravettian Předmostí site,
Czech Republic, with a fragment of a flat bone inserted between the front teeth. Photograph Mietje Germonpré; skull
from the collections of the Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic.
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(51°N), a natural site in southern Siberia (Ovodov et al. material types of inequality? Mattison et al. (2016: 185)
2011) and several canid skulls and lower jaws, possibly define inequality as ‘differential access to power or
related to an early stage of domestication, were found resources, with persistent differences often resulting
at the middle Upper Palaeolithic Yana site (71°N) in from hereditary privileges or formal position’. Kelly
northern Yakutia (Nikolskiy et al. 2018). However, the (1995) emphasizes that social inequality is inseparable
description of all these skeletal remains as from incipi- from gender inequality. According to Borgerhoff-Mulder
ent dogs is not unequivocally accepted (e.g. Crockford and collaborators (2009, 2011), inequality is associated
& Kuzmin 2012; Morey 2014; Boudadi-Maligne & with cross-generational wealth transmission among
Escarguel 2014). Nevertheless, recent genetic research families. They define different types of wealth: embodied
brought to light that the divergence between the ances- wealth that includes body weight, reproductive suc-
tors of the recent dogs and recent wolves is very ancient cess, practical skills, productive knowledge; material
and that the first steps of this domestication process wealth that includes land, livestock, household goods;
likely can be situated in a time frame between 20,000 and relational wealth that includes social ties in net-
and 40,000 years ago (Thalmann et al. 2013; Skoglund works and symbolic goods. Although the transmission
et al. 2015; Botigué et al. 2017; Thalmann & Perri 2018). of wealth to offspring is modest in hunter-gatherers,
Remains from Palaeolithic dogs are more plentiful children born in better-off families have, nevertheless,
known from late Upper Palaeolithic European sites in a bigger chance of becoming affluent (Borgerhoff-
Spain (Vigne 2005), France (Pionnier-Capitan et al. 2011; Mulder et al. 2009). Chaudhary et al. (2016) showed
Boudadi-Maligne et al. 2012), Germany (Nobis 1986), that relational wealth is heritable among recent hunter-
Switzerland (Napierala & Uerpmann 2010), Ukraine gatherers and that cooperative alliances can be passed
(Pidoplichko 1998; Germonpré et al. 2009), European on inter-generationally. Hunter-gatherers societies can
Russia (Sablin & Khlopachev 2002) and Siberia and the be subdivided in those with considerable residential
Far East (Birula 1929; Pavlow 1930; Dikov 1996; Losey mobility with their members living in smaller groups
et al. 2013; Germonpré et al. 2017a). and those with larger groups residing year-round or
The above implies that already starting from seasonally in villages (Kelly 1995; Smith et al. 2010).
the Aurignacian the Palaeolithic dog morphotype is Smaller hunter-gatherer societies are often considered
associated with some Upper Palaeolithic societies. to be more egalitarian (Kelly 1995). Egalitarian societies
Interesting to add is that several Upper Palaeolithic are described by Artemova (2016: 14) as ‘a society in
sites with Palaeolithic dogs or ‘dog-like in size’ canids which all the people have equal access to all material and
(e.g. Goyet, Předmostí, Kostenki-1/I, Eliseevichi) are spiritual values of their culture and have equal personal
characterized by the presence of male burials and/ freedom and equal opportunities for decision-making.’
or female humanoid figurines (Pettitt 2018) and/or Larger hunter-gatherer groups live, in general, in larger
by direct (e.g. Praslov 2000) or indirect evidence (e.g. settlements; their reduced residential mobility is strongly
Germonpré et al. 2007; Shipman 2015; Germonpré & related to spatiotemporal resource distribution that can
Sablin 2017; Wißing et al. 2019) of mammoth hunting. lead to food storage and material wealth accumulation
In a number of these sites, dating from the Gravettian (cf. Sahlins 1972) and can be linked to important socio-
and Epigravettian, specialization in bead and blade political changes (Kelly 1995). In addition to wealth,
production, specialized exploitation of fur bearers and exclusive and ritual knowledge is a type of capital that
procurement of exotic materials, and/or architectural can influence an individual’s place in the social life of
constructions made of mammoth skeletal elements his community, can be inherited and become a source
suggest hierarchically organized societies with social of inequality (Smith et al. 2010; Artemova 2016).
differentiation (Soffer 1985). Other evidence of social We want to examine in this study whether dogs,
differentiation exists in the European Upper Palaeolithic: which are part of the wealth of their owners, could
the specialized knowledge related to the realism in Pal- influence cross-generational transmission of different
aeolithic figurations shown in Upper Palaeolithic caves aspects of wealth and could serve fitness interests of
hints at inequalities of specialization and could imply a men and women differently. According to Hawkes
hierarchy of statuses within groups (Guy this volume). et al. (2018), women have more interest in managing
off-springs quality-quantity trade-offs by provisioning
The utility of indigenous dogs for Northern people their children directly. In contrast, men share meat
from large game they killed as public goods (Hawkes
What evidence exists that dogs in hunter-gatherer and et al. 2018) and display in this way their generos-
small-scale societies could enhance differential access ity and commitment (Gurven & von Rueden 2006;
to resources and influence social status distinctions Stibbard-Hawkes 2019). This latter type of meat shar-
that could vary between embodied, relational and ing compensates the unpredictability of the hunting
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 Could incipient dogs have enhanced differential access to resources

of large game, benefits all and provides the suppliers for the puppies (McCormack 2018); women from
highly valued reputations and marks them as distinctly northeastern North American cultures sometimes
esteemed social partners (Hawkes et al. 2018; Stibbard- breastfed puppies (Roberts 2017). The Iňupiaq
Hawkes 2019), thus contributing to the relational and people held dogs for company (Wilders 1976) and
embodied wealth of the hunters. little girls treated the puppies as babies (Spencer
We integrate here a non-exhaustive list on the 1959). In Siberia, the Chuckhi children (Vaté 2013)
utilities of indigenous dogs, based on the circumpolar and the Oka-Soiot children (Oehler 2018) play
ethnographic literature, of the four main types of ‘prod- with and socialize dog puppies, a kind of dual
ucts’ (behaviour, energy, body, sign), as proposed by apprenticeship (Vaté 2013). In contrast, Mongolian
Sigaut (1980) that dogs can contribute to their male and/ nomads are rude to their dogs in order to make
or female owners. We use subsequently the term ‘role’ the animals tougher; children may not play with
or ‘contribution’ instead of the term ‘product’ and we dogs, not even with puppies (Charlier 2015).
add a fifth type: the prestige role of dogs (Table 11.1). (iii) defence: In various nomadic societies of Central
A first type of role is related to the behaviour of and Northern Asia, the prime assignment of the
dogs. Several subtypes are proposed by Sigaut (1980) dog is to guard the camp and the people. Watch-
(Table 11.1). dogs, often tethered, warn about approaching
wolves, bears and strangers and their barking has
(i) food-related: Dogs can function as hunting aides a dissuasive function (Shirokogoroff 1929; Les-
because they can diminish search costs, augment cureux 2007; Vaté 2013; Klokov & Davydov 2018;
prey encounter rates, drive prey into locations Oehler 2018). At Orochen campsites, dogs are
where they can be killed, keep dangerous animals tied up in a circle, so they can be easily observed
at bay, trail wounded prey and locate carcasses (Brandišauskas 2017). According to the Chuckhi
of perished animals, all factors that improve reindeer herders, people should not walk alone
hunting success (Balikci 1989; Abe 2005; Grøn & in the tundra without a dog (Van Deusen 1999).
Turov 2007; Koster 2008; Vaté 2013; Perri 2016; When people leave the camp to gather berries
Lupo 2017; Samar and Kim 2017; Roberts 2017; and mushrooms, a dog is taken along (Vaté 2013;
Oehler 2018) (Table 11.1). In hunter-gatherer Klokov & Davydov 2018). In Mongolia, dogs are
societies men, in general, hunt large game that is not allowed inside the dwellings. A dog must be
subsequently distributed as public good; women a good guardian and therefore must be ferocious
occasionally hunt small game, which is mainly (Charlier 2015). In fact, a dog should be docile
used for family provision (e.g. Blieg Bird & Bird with its owners but aggressive towards strangers,
2008; Sharp & Sharp 2015; Hawkes et al. 2018). In although they are taught not to be over-aggressive
Siberia, skilful hunting dogs know how to bark (Lugli 2016). Also in North America dogs are used
in different ways to inform their master about for protection at the camps (Wilson 1924; Nelson
different kinds of animals and they are reputed 1983).
to tell in the dreams of their owners where game In the circumpolar North, dogs were also
can be found (Brandišauskas 2017). important as guardians against evil spirits (Vaté
However, there are downside effects of 2013; Laugrand & Oosten 2015; Samar & Kim
hunting with canines. In Neotropic small-scale 2017).
societies, dogs can spend too much time in chasing It should be noted that the protection from
unwanted prey species and increase encoun- dangerous predators is a reciprocal interaction.
ters with predatory felines (Koster 2008a, b). In In the Gwich’in camps, the dogs were tethered.
Tropical and Neotropical small-scale societies, In this way they were kept nearby and did not
hunting dogs die young (≤ 4 years old) (Koster wander off and could so be protected from being
& Tankersley 2012; Lupo 2017). Furthermore, it preyed upon by wolves (Anderson et al. 2017).
seems that the uses of dogs for hunting was rather Also in the Russian North dogs are protected from
limited in northern North America at contact predators by living in the human society (Klokov
times (McCormack 2018). The Hidatsa dogs, for & Davydov 2018).
instance, did not help in hunting (Wilson 1924).
The dogs of the Mongolians nomads do not assist A second type of role of dogs relates to energy (Table
in hunting because of the risk that they would 11.1). Dogs often helped their owners with the transport
turn from guardians to predators (Charlier 2013). of goods as pack animals. In this way, they carried
(ii) social aspects: In the western Subarctic during pre- two large bags on the left and right side of their back
contact times, women managed the dogs and cared filled with supplies or meat from kills (Nelson 1983;
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Table 11.1. Comparison of dog roles (cf. Sigaut 1980) based on the ethnographic and archaeozoological (Upper Palaeolithic) record (non-exhaustive
list). Key: l – living; d – dead; + – clear evidence; (+) – likely; ? – possible.
Recent northern dog Palaeolithic dog
ethnographic record archaeozoological (UP) record
(i) food-related
hunting aide (l) + (+)
Balikci (1989), Abe (2005), Grøn & Turov (2007), Koster (2008), Morey (2010), Perri et al. (2015),
Vaté (2013), Perri (2016), Brandišauskas (2017), Lupo (2017), Shipman (2015), Perri (2016),
Samar & Kim (2017), Roberts (2017), Oehler (2018) Lupo (2017)
hunting aide by dreaming (l) + ?
Brandišauskas (2017)
(ii) social
managing/handling (l) + (+)
Wilson (1924), McCormack (2018)
compagnon/pet (l) + +
Spencer (1959), Wilders (1976), Oswalt (1979), Vaté (2013), Janssens et al. (2018)
Behaviour

Oehler (2018)
(iii) defence
guarding/sentinel (l) + +
Wilson (1924), Shirokogoroff (1929), Nelson (1983), Lescureux Zapata et al. (2016)
(2007), Vaté (2013), Loovers (2015), Charlier (2015), Lugli
(2016), Brandišauskas (2017), Klokov & Davydov (2018),
Oehler (2018)
berry picking aide (l) + (+)
Vaté (2013), Klokov & Davydov (2018)
guarding against evil spirits (l) + ?
Vaté (2013), Laugrand & Oosten (2015), Samar & Kim (2017)
dogs protected by humans (l) + (+)
Laugrand & Oosten (2015), Anderson et al. (2017), Klokov &
Davydov (2018)
transport/pack animal (l) + (+)
Wilson (1924), Spencer (1959), Prokof’yeva et al. (1964), Germonpré et al. (2016),
Black (1973), Nelson (1983), Balikci (1989), Speth et al. (2013), Germonpré (unpublished)
Energy

Loovers (2015), Sharp & Sharp (2015), McCormack (2018)

dog races (l) + ?
Ivanov, Levin & Smolyak (1964), Ivanov, Smolyak & Levin
(1964), Samar & Kim (2017)
fur (d) + (+)
Bogoras (1904), Black (1973), Balikci (1989), Issenman (1997)
wool (l) + (+)
Teit (1900), Sokolowa (1982), Solazzo et al. (2011), Hayden
(2014)
meat (d) + +
Spencer (1959), Black (1973), Brightman (2002), Laugrand & Pionnier-Capitan et al. (2011)
Body

Oosten (2015), Charlier (2015), Roberts (2017)

fat (d) + (+)
Klokov & Davydov (2018)
long bones (d) + +
Teit (1900) Germonpré et al. (2017b)
saliva (l) + ?
Rasmussen (1932)

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 Could incipient dogs have enhanced differential access to resources

Table 11.1 (cont.).

Recent northern dog Palaeolithic dog
ethnographic record archaeozoological (UP) record
visual display/amulet
(dentition, bones) (d) + +
Rasmussen (1932), Black (1973), Samar (2009) Gvozdover (1995), Germonpré
et al. (2012)
sacrifice/ritual (body) (d) + (+)
Henry (1809), Jochelson (1905), Black (1973), Yamada (2001),
Samar & Kim (2017)
symbolic meaning colour red +
(d) +
Vasilev (1948), Laestadius (2002), Samar (2009) Street et al. (2015), Reynolds et
Sign

al. (2019)
spiritual guide/mediator
(body) (d) + (+)
Teit (1900), Jochelson (1905), Kretschmar (1938), Popov & Street et al. (2015)
Dolgikh (1964), Black (1973), Schwartz (1997), Yamada (2001),
McCormack (2018)
ritual (head/skull) (d) + +
Black (1973), Akino (1999), Lugli (2016), Oehler (2018) Polikarpovich (1968), Sablin &
Khlopachev (2003), Germonpré
et al. (2009, 2012, 2017b)
status (l) + (+)
Teit (1900), Ivanov et al. (1964), Black (1973), Oswalt (1979),
Nelson (1983), Hayden & Schulting (1997), Koster (2012),
Hayden (2014), Prentiss et al. (2014), Oehler (2018)
being fed/controlled diet (l) + +
Shirokogoroff (1929), Prokof’yeva et al. (1964), Black (1973), Bocherens et al. (2005)
Sharp (1976), Sokolowa (1982), Nelson (1983), Balikci (1989),
Brightman (2002), Abe (2005), Laugrand & Oosten (2015),
Sharp & Sharp (2015), Lugli (2016)
Prestige

cleaning human excrements (l) + (+)

Shirokogoroff (1929), Brightman (2002), Willerslev (2007),
Charlier (2015), Laugrand & Oosten (2015)
fish based diet (l) + ?
Prokof’yeva et al. (1964), Black (1973), Sokolowa (1982),
Brightman (2002)
dog sharing (l) + (+)
Spencer (1959), Stepanova et al. (1964), Wilders (1976), Balikci
(1989), Brandišauskas (2017), Oehler (2018)

Balikci 1989). Estimates, based on ethnographic data stay out overnight thanks to the supplies carried by
from North America, for the weight of a dog back pack the dogs (Sharp & Sharp 2015).
range from 15 to 20 kg (Speth et al. 2013; Loovers, pers. In Siberia, among the Nivkh, Orochen and Ulcha,
comm. 2016). In many hunter-gatherer societies, it is dog races were held during the celebration of the
the women that have the burden of carrying goods bear festival (Ivanov, Levin & Smolyak 1964; Ivanov,
and looking after transport (Wilson 1924; Sahlins 1972; Smolyak & Levin 1964; Samar & Kim 2017) (Table 11.1).
McCormack 2018; Loovers 2015), so pack dogs, which There is no hard evidence for the existence of sleds
haul fire wood, water and belongings, can ensure that in the Upper Palaeolithic; the oldest unambiguous
women have to carry less or can help to move extra remains of sleds date from the Early Holocene (e.g.
possessions. Moreover, pack dogs have been shown to Pitulko & Kasparov 1996), so the specifics of dog teams
permit long hunting expeditions since hunters could will not be detailed here. Nevertheless, it cannot be
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excluded that sled dogs already existed by the end of the bed of a new-born child (Samar 2009). The above
the Pleistocene (Pitulko & Kasparov 2017). Interesting examples hint that body parts of dogs had a protective
to add here is that sled dogs are not regularly used as role in Northern societies.
watchdogs since they scarcely bark (Strecker 2018). Several peoples of East Asia such as the Nivkh,
Herding performed by dogs is not discussed here Nanai and Ainu raised a bear cub, captured after its
since it has no bearing on the utility of Palaeolithic dogs. mother was killed, in order to have a bear feast when
A third type of dog contribution is related to cor- it had grown up (e.g. Batchelor 1909; Kitagawa 1961;
poral products and includes the utilization of dog skin Yamada 2001; Willerslev et al. 2015). When the animal
and consumption of dog meat (Table 11.1). Circum- became adult, it was killed during a sending-away
polar women use wolverine, wolf, fox and dog skins ceremony. The Nivkh men sacrificed dogs so that the
for decorative borders, to make trousers and to apply souls of these animals could guide the soul of the bear
ruffs around the hood or sleeves of parkas, because killed at the festival to the place where the Master of
the long and uneven guard hairs of these carnivores the Mountain/Forest, who is the owner of the game,
repel frost (Balikci 1989; Issenman 1997). The Nivkh dwells (Yamada 2001; Black 1973). The sacrificed dogs’
used dog skin to line cradles and wrap babies (Black heads were hung on trees around the location of the
1973). The Koyukon did not use dog skin because it ritual deposition of the bear skull and bones (Black
has a strong smell; furthermore, since dogs are close 1973). Also, the Oroks ritually killed dogs as a part of
to people their fur would revive the lost affection with their bear festival (Samar & Kim 2017). In Northern
the domestic animal (Nelson 1983). Northwest Coast small-scale societies, people often adorned the killed
Indians bred special wool dogs, the wool of which bear with the colour red (ochre, alder bark juice, blood).
was used for weaving prestigious blankets and capes Such anointment was not limited to the bear; sometimes
(Teit 1900; Solazzo et al. 2011; Hayden 2014). Also, in the hunters, their wives, the guests and the dogs present
Siberia the wool of dogs was used (Sokolowa 1982). at the bear hunt, killing or feast were daubed with the
In times of starvation, the Inuit ate dogs (Lau- colour red (for details see Germonpré & Hämäläinen
grand & Oosten 2015). It seems that the Inland Iňupiaq 2007). The Saami put alder bark juice on their dogs
people consumed dogs, especially puppies, more during the bear hunt (Laestadius 2002). The Nanai
regularly (Spencer 1959). For the Rock Cree, dog meat placed, during a bear feast, wood shavings smeared
was an emergency food (Brightman 2002). The socie- with blood of a dog through a hole inside the skull of
ties from northeastern North America ate their dogs the bear (Samar 2009). Before the ritual deposition of
in times of scarcity and during ceremonies (Roberts the cleaned bear remains, the Orochi covered the bear
2017). For the Chipewyan, the dog is inedible due skull with dog blood (Vasilev 1948).
to the fact that dogs eat anything (Sharp 1976). The The ethnographic literature of the circumpolar
Nivkh consumed dog meat in a ritual context (Black North abounds with beliefs that human souls need
1973). Mongolian nomads sometimes taste dog meat the souls of dogs to accompany them (e.g. Kretschmar
as a medicine (Charlier 2015). In the Russian North, 1938; Schwartz 1997). In Northwest northern America,
dog fat can be used as a medicine for lung diseases when their master died, dogs were sacrificed by men
(Klokov & Davydov 2018). (cf. McCormack 2018) and their carcasses were hung
The Mid-Fraser peoples made fish hooks from from poles near the grave (Teit 1900). Also, the Siberian
dog bones (Teit 1900). Among the Copper Inuit, the Koryak had this tradition (Jochelson 1905). During
saliva of a dog was considered as a medicine for certain Ket and Nivkh funerals, men sacrificed dogs, often by
illnesses (Rasmussen 1932). strangulation, so that the dog souls could guide the
The fourth role of dogs corresponds to signs. human soul to the after-world; the meat of the killed
However, in contrast with Sigaut (1980), we propose dogs was eaten (Popov & Dolgikh 1964; Black 1973).
to limit this type not only to the complete body of the The dogs themselves can receive a specific treat-
animal, but include also blood and skeletal parts, like ment upon death. Mongolian nomadic pastoralists,
teeth and skulls. Therefore, some functions grouped before displacing their dead dogs, put a piece of fat,
under this type could overlap with bodily functions. butter or some milk in their mouth; their tail is chopped
The bones, dentition and blood of dead dogs can have of and put under the snout during burial (Lugli 2016).
a special meaning. For the Copper Inuit, the wearer of The Oka-Soiot hunters place also butter or something
an amulet made of the bones of a dog will be revenged delicious in the dog’s mouth upon burial, to feed it for
by the soul of that dog, if murdered (Rasmussen 1932). the road (Oehler 2018). Some Ainu had a dog-sending
Among the Nivkh, infertile women and women desir- ceremony for dead dogs; the remains were deposited
ing another child wore dog tooth amulets (Black 1973). together with offerings of among others dried fish; a
The Ulchi hung up dog canines as protection above hole in the head permitted the spirit of the deceased
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 Could incipient dogs have enhanced differential access to resources

dog to pass through (Akino 1999) (Table 11.1). In the Although dogs are often considered to have a
North, not only dogs, but also wild canids could be similar diet as their owners (e.g. Guiry 2013), the eth-
given food after they died. Foxen and wolves, after nographic record from the circumpolar North shows
being trapped and skinned, could receive a specific that dogs are regularly fed selection of undesirable
treatment. The Koyukon people placed a bone between food that is unpopular with humans, like reindeer
the front teeth of a skinned fox and put a piece of dried and moose longs and stomachs (Nelson 1983; Sharp &
fish in the mouth of a skinned wolf (Nelson 1983). Sharp 2015), reindeer meat with a lot of parasites (Sharp
In North America and Siberia, dogs were also 1976), unpalatable glands (Balicki 1989), worn-out
sacrificed by men as an offering to calm down bad clothing made from the skin of prey animals (Laugrand
weather or as an offer to the Supreme Being (Henry & Oosten 2015), cooked old meat, hooves, intestines,
1809; Jochelson 1905; Black 1973). periosteum and blood (Abe 2005) or family’s leftovers
We add here a fifth type of dog contribution: the (Lugli 2016); dogs could, in this way, contribute to
prestige role of dogs (Table 11.1). Keeping dogs is a cleaning waste (Shirokogoroff 1929). Dogs eat also
costly affair. In societies that use dogs in hauling, dogs human excrements (Shirokogoroff 1929; Brightman
are more frequently provisioned than among those 2002; Willerslev 2007; Charlier 2015, Laugrand &
societies that utilize dogs in non-hauling activities Oosten 2015). Furthermore, the composition of the dog
(Lupo 2019). A detailed account of how frequently food varies seasonally (Oehler 2018). However, dogs
dogs are being fed and with what resources as reported cannot live long on garbage; their diet must therefore
in the ethnographic record is detailed in Lupo (2019, be supplemented (Lupo 2017). Especially, dogs used
Appendix 2). According to Chikachev (2004, in Klokov for hauling require a diet with high levels of fat and
& Davydov 2018), a dog team of 10 sled dogs con- protein (Lupo 2019). Often in hunter-gatherer societies,
sumed almost 4 tons of fish each year. Families of the fish and hare are considered to be the most appropriate
Northwest coast of North America fed each of their dog food (Prokof’yeva et al. 1964; Black 1973, Sokolowa
dogs about a kilogram of salmon every day (Hewes 1982; Brightman 2002).
1973). Dogs living in northern climates need adequate People without dogs were considered to be poor
nourishment to maintain thermal neutrality in cold and depended on others to travel (Spencer 1959). The
weather (Lupo 2019). Not all hunter-gatherer families village grouped its dogs if there was a need to travel
have dogs, since dogs required a lot of food. In general, by dog team (Wilders 1976). When the Netsilik needed
hunters have one, two or three (Wilders 1976; Loovers more dogs for a long journey they borrowed them from
2015; Oehler 2018; Lupo 2019). Therefore, dog owner- close relatives (Balikci 1989). The Yukagirs households
ship could indicate wealth and status and be related to combined their dogs to transport their belongings
increasing social inequality among hunter-gatherers (Stepanova et al. 1964).
(Prentiss et al. 2014). In North America and Siberia, In Greenland, poor people wore parkas made
hunter-gatherers also kept wild-born animals, such as from dog skin, a distinction that, according to Oswalt
eagles, crows, foxes, bears, wolves, deer and bison, as (1979), indicated some inequality in the society. Pos-
pets (e.g. Shirokogiroff 1935; Heizer & Hewes 1940). sibly, poor people used for this the skins of ill-fed,
According to Hayden (2014), domestic and wild-born free-roaming dogs, while the fur of the more prestig-
pets acquire a lot of food; raising them demands a lot ious dogs could have been used for better clothing
of resources and only wealthy families can afford to (Haynes pers. comm. 2018).
do so. The keeping of tamed and domestic animals
can thus be part of a form of status display (Hayden Indigenious dogs and social inequality
2014). The dog was for the Nivkh an important sta-
tus symbol (Black 1973). A high number of dogs in a It seems that, in general, northern people had at the
family was a sign of wealth. As much as 40 dogs were most a few dogs per household. Dogs could guard
kept; they were fed fish and seal fat (Ivanov, Levin & their owners, act as companions and hunting aides,
Smolyak 1964). Well-trained dogs could contribute to assist with body and soul in feasts and ceremonies, be
the hunting success of their master and increase his used as fur, tool and food source and play a prestige
social status. The Koyukon people bestow prestige role. People who had dogs could travel more easily.
on the owners of well-trained dogs (Nelson 1983). According to McCormack (2018), in Athapaskan and
The Oka-Soiot hunters lent their talented hunting Algonquian societies, the use of dogs for hunting was
dogs without expecting a share of the game (Oehler limited and dogs were typically used for packing
2018). Dogs were killed as a sacrifice upon the death of and hauling (see also Lupo 2019). In some groups the
their master, displaying individual wealth (Teit 1900; women took care of the dogs, in others, men handled
Hayden & Schulting 1997). dogs, children socialized puppies and were socialized
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by them. Generally, there is lack of evidence for eating can be lent to help others with hunting. In addition,
dog on a regular basis. It seems that trained dogs were dogs permit longer journeys that could facilitate the
not sold nor traded, although dogs, mostly puppies, acquirement of exotic goods and the enlargement of
were given away or exchanged by women (Wilson 1924; the network of their owners. Moreover, the important
Shirokogoroff 1929; Spencer 1959). From the above, it part dogs play in rituals could be linked to secluded
is clear that dogs played important socio-economic, knowledge. These are all benefits that can subsidize the
emotional and ritual roles in Northern societies. In some relational and embodied wealth of male dog owners.
parts of the North, dogs held an ambiguous position. Therefore, it is plausible that (talented) dogs attribute
Talented, good-hunting dogs were respected but dogs to social inequality and serve the fitness interests of
were also considered dirty because of their feeding on their male masters. We cautiously suggest that dogs can
human excrements, their sexual practices and their augment the embodied wealth of their female owners
smell (Brightman 2002; Willerslev 2007). Nevertheless, through their role in transportation by reducing the
dogs could signal prestige and status since especially physical stress their female masters must endure and
wealthier households could afford keeping many dogs through their defensive role at camp sites and berry
(Prentiss et al. 2014). Furthermore, a positive correla- and mushroom gathering localities by protecting their
tion exists between highly ranked male hunters and owners and her children from physical violence. In
highly ranked dogs in small-scale societies (Koster & addition, the lending of dogs to help others with less
Tankersley 2012). Orochen hunting teams invite a lucky dogs and the exchange or giving away of puppies
hunter to make his trained dogs available for the whole could increase the relational wealth of female owners.
group; such sharing strengthens the friendship among Thus, likely dogs could influence social inequality and
hunters (Brandišauskas 2017). Dogs sometimes were improve the health outcome of their female masters
shared among people from a same settlement or nearby and children and thus increase the fitness interests of
settlements to help those with less dogs with hunting women with dogs.
or transport, without expecting a return (Shirokogoroff
1929; Spencer 1959; Stepanova et al. 1964; Wilders 1976; The utility of Palaeolithic dogs for Upper
Oehler 2018). An advantage of such lending could be Palaeolithic people
that the owner must not feed the dog as long as the
animal is with the borrower. An obvious gain is that We want to consider whether Palaeolithic dogs could
lending dogs strengthens social relations and friend- have enhanced differential access to resources, attrib-
ships (cf. lending of donkeys: Marshall & Weissbrod uted to the accumulation of wealth and influenced the
2009) and could induce cooperative behaviour (Barclay social inequality of their owners. Therefore, we revise
2013). So, talented dogs could add to relational forms the possible uses of the contributions that could have
of wealth of their owners. This type of wealth is less been delivered by Palaeolithic dogs (cf. Sigaut 1980),
easily passed on to the next generation than mate- examine the registration of such dog contributions in
rial aspects of wealth (Smith et al. 2010) but can be the archaeozoological record from the European Upper
transmitted nevertheless (Kelly 2010; Chaudhary et al. Palaeolithic and compare these with data from the
2016). Dogs play an important part in rituals and it is ethnographic literature (Table 11.1). The ethnographic
possible that the executers of these rituals transmitted evidence permits to conceptualize a set of predic-
their privileged knowledge concerning dogs to the tive statements regarding relationships between the
next generation (cf. Borgerhoff-Mulder et al., 2009). presence of dogs, the acquisition and maintenance of
Such monopolized knowledge could contribute to differential wealth and the probability that some forms
trans-generational social differentiation (cf. Hayden of inequality could have emerged in Pleistocene Europe,
2008; Artemova 2016). before agriculture. From the ethnographic data we
We propose here that dog husbandry signals deduce that ownership of dogs, because of the feeding
material wealth and social status since dog feeding is costs, confer status to their masters. Viable arguments,
very costly and competes with human food especially however, cannot be found for dogs having a causal
in those regions where food availability is seasonal (cf. role in the development of material wealth, although
Ingold 1980; Lupo 2019), but probably dog ownership dog husbandry can reflect material wealth. On the
does little to accumulate material wealth for households other hand, talented hunting dogs, and maybe also
(cf. Russell 2012). In addition, we tentatively propose the privileged knowledge concerning rituals involving
that dogs can contribute to aspects of the relational dogs, could increase the relational wealth and serve the
wealth of their male owners: talented dogs can increase fitness interests of male dog owners. Pack and guard
the prestige of their masters by contributing to the dogs could augment the embodied and relational
hunting success of their masters and because they wealth and enhance the fitness interests of their female
188
 Could incipient dogs have enhanced differential access to resources

masters. We conclude with a simplified narrative on contexts and composed mainly by remains from
the influence of dog ownership on different forms of young people (Klíma 1991; Brůžek & Velemínská
wealth and social status during the Upper Palaeolithic. 2008). An isolated human pelvis, found outside
The first type of role is related to the behaviour the mass grave, shows a large puncture. Most
of Palaeolithic dogs and includes several subtypes likely, a sharp, pointed object perforated the
(Table 11.1). pelvic bone and probably also the abdominal
cavity and caused the violent death of this per-
(i) food-related: Dogs play in many forager societies son (Klíma 1991). This evidence of interpersonal
an important role as hunting aide. For detailed violence suggests that large Palaeolithic dogs
analyses concerning the use of Palaeolithic dogs could have been useful as guards at Předmostí to
for hunting, the reader is referred to Perri (2016) protect against physical assault. It appears, based
and Lupo (2017). The debate whether Palaeolithic on the cementochronology of the dentition of
dogs were already fellow hunters of Upper Palae- several species (Nývltová Fišáková 2013) and the
olithic hunter-gatherers is difficult to demonstrate extended and intensive occupations (Svoboda et
(Morey 2010) and is not closed yet (Shipman 2015; al. 1994), that Předmostí was inhabited during all
Perri et al. 2015). However, if Palaeolithic dogs seasons. The mammal assemblage of Předmostí
would have contributed to the hunting of large is dominated by mammoth remains, including
game, there should be evidence of intentionally mammoth calves ranging in age at death of a
feeding them and of efforts to promote their few days to several months old (cf. Musil 1968).
longevity (Lupo 2017). Mammoth meat was likely a staple food of the
(ii) social aspects: Remains of two dogs are associated inhabitants of the site (Oliva 1997; Bocherens et
with the double human burial of the Magdalenian al. 2015). The processing of mammoth meat and
Bonn-Oberkassel site in what is now Germany. fat must have been very time-consuming. The
One Magdalenian dog suffered from a fatal canine Palaeolithic dogs could have helped to protect the
distemper infection. Several enamel hypoplasia stored mammoth resources at the Předmostí site
lines on the dentition suggest that the dog was against plunderers (cf. Wengrow & Graeber 2018).
seriously ill when it was between five and six In the first phases of the domestication process, it
months old, it died when it was about seven is likely that the Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers did
months old (Janssens et al. 2018). Its masters not place a strong selective pressure on the can-
must have been taken care of the pup, otherwise ids that would have led to a body size reduction
the animal would not have survived so long. The (Sablin & Khlopachev 2003; Pierotti & Fogg 2017).
authors propose that the inferred supportive care A recent study of Zapata et al. (2016) comparing
was based on compassion or empathy and that the a genome-wide association mapping for fear and
Bonn-Oberkassel dog could suggest an emotion- aggression traits across dogs from diverse breeds
driven human-dog bond (Janssens et al. 2018). with the genetic variation in extant wolf popula-
Alternatively, the supportive care was maybe tions revealed that reduced fear and aggression
motivated by the fact that its owners wanted to alleles are more frequent in modern dog breeds
promote the pups’ longevity because it was sired than in wolves, consistent with a selection of
by or belonged to the litter of talented hunting reduced fear and aggression variants during the
dogs. domestication process. In addition, the reduced
(iii) defence: It can be expected that the presence of fear/aggression allele is often in perfect linkage
Palaeolithic dogs at camp sites and at berry or disequilibrium with the allele for increased-body
mushroom gathering localities conveyed some size. This could suggest that a selection of less
selective advantage to the people. These palaeo- fearful/aggressive individuals accorded with ani-
dogs could have been very useful as sentinels, by mals with a large body size. Those large and less
warning of the approach of predators or unfamil- fearful/aggressive domestic canids probably were
iar humans through vocalizations; this would suitable for the protection against apex predators
have provided protection to the inhabitants of the (Zapata et al. 2016), especially during the early
camps and the gatherers collecting at a distance and middle Upper Palaeolithic. The Palaeolithic
from the settlements, likely women and children. dogs could have helped their masters to control
The Gravettian Předmostí site in the Czech local populations of large carnivores, such as
Republic, dated at c. 28,500 years ago (Germonpré cave hyenas and cave bears, which went extinct
et al. 2017b), is mostly beknown for its rich human during the early and middle Upper Palaeolithic
assemblage, extracted from different burial (Stiller et al. 2014; Stuart & Lister 2014), cave
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lions, which became locally extinct in Europe The oldest, undisputed remains of sleds date
between approximately 30,000 years and 19,000 from the Early Holocene (e.g. Pitulko & Kasparov
years ago (Stuart & Lister 2011) and Pleistocene 1996). At the early Holocene Zhokov site in arctic
wolves. In this way, life became safer for children Siberia, the presence of sled dogs suggests that their
(Germonpré et al. 2018) and competition for prey origin could date back from the end of the Pleistocene
diminished (cf. Grøn & Turov 2007), possibly (Pitulko & Kasparov 2017). Moreover, a bone tool
increasing the hunting success rate of the Upper found at the late Palaeolithic Siberian Afontova Gora
Palaeolithic dog masters. Once apex predators sites is reminiscent to toggles from sled dog harnesses
like the cave hyena and cave lion became rare (Pitulko & Kasparov 2017). Interesting to add here
or extinct, selection of larger individuals would is that the mammal assemblages from the Afontova
have been less useful (cf. Germonpré et al. 2009). Gora sites contain remains from canids described as
domestic dogs (Pawlow 1930; Germonpré & Sablin
A second type of role of palaeodogs is related to 2017a).
energy (Table 11.1). According to Maier et al. (2016), Corporal products of Palaeolithic dogs, the third
Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers living at higher type proposed by Sigaut (1980), could have converted
latitudes, north of the timberline and in the zone of the advantages, such as fur for clothing, meat and fat for
continuous permafrost, had to adapt to a cold and dry food, long bones and teeth as the raw material for the
climate in a treeless landscape and needed to travel fabrication of tools (Table 11.1). The interest of Upper
long distances to satisfy their daily requirements. Palaeolithic people in bodily products from Palaeo-
Palaeolithic dogs could potentially have been very lithic dogs can be deduced from canid bones bearing
suitable for the logistical and residential mobility of marks of human manipulation. So far, human traces
their people, helping with the transportation of gear, on canid remains from Palaeolithic dogs or ‘dog-like
firewood, lithics, body parts of prey, etc. (Germonpré in size’ canids have not been observed that could be
et al. 2017a). related to the recuperation of fur. However, it is worth
It is interesting in this context that all early and mentioning here that several Upper Palaeolithic sites
middle Upper Palaeolithic sites where remains of include important amounts of large canid bones that
Palaeolithic dogs and ‘dog-like in size’ canids are indicate the use of large canid pelts to tailor cold
present north of timberline and in the zone of continu- weather clothing (Collard et al. 2016; Wilczyński et al.
ous permafrost at latitudes above 45°N. Pack dogs can 2015). One bone from the Gravettian Předmostí site,
permit long expeditions since hunters could stay out a tibia described as ‘dog-like in size’, formed likely a
overnight thanks to the supplies carried by the dogs raw source and was probably cut as part of a chaîne
(cf. Sharp & Sharp 2015) and in this way, could make opératoire of tool making (Germonpré et al. 2017b). At
it easier for their masters to obtain information and Předmostí, there is no clear evidence of dog meat con-
non-local goods. Distinct skeletal evidence for the use sumption, although it is likely that Pleistocene wolves
of dogs as pack animals, sled-dogs or travois-pulling and ‘wolf-like in size’ canids were eaten occasionally
dogs could be anticipated in the archaeological record (Germonpré et al. 2017b). Cynophagy was practiced
(Morey 2010). Deformed spinous processes found on at the late Upper Palaeolithic site of Pont-d’Ambon
vertebrae from prehistoric dogs have been proposed (France) (Pionnier-Capitan et al. 2011).
to result from carrying burdens on their back (e.g. The fourth canid role is related to signs (Table
Warren 2000), although diagnostic alternatives should 11.1). Specific human treatments of skeletal remains
be considered (Lawler et al. 2016). At the Gravettian and the information that can be deduced from the
Předmostí site, the limited presence of canid vertebrae unusual placement of these remains at several Upper
affected by spondylosis deformans does not sup- Palaeolithic sites hint at the symbolic and ritual impor-
port an argument for the use of domestic canids as tance of certain species (Germonpré & Hämäläinen
pack animals. Such inferences as pack dogs should 2007; Livarda & Madgwick 2018). Human-modified
be deduced from other skeletal elements, including teeth have been proposed to be exponents of the
analyses of entheses on long bones (Germonpré et al. collective symbolic imagination (White 2007). The
2016). In addition, the low incidence of spondylosis symbolic meaning of the colour red likely emerged
deformans at the Předmostí assemblage suggests that very early, in the African Middle Stone age (Watts
the large canids from this site did not become very 2002; Hovers et al. 2003). Red ochre is often associ-
old. Indeed, preliminary results from age estimations ated with Upper Palaeolithic human burials, female
based on dental wear show that most large canids from figurines and fossil bear remains, and has been related
Předmostí died when they were between four and six to rituals (e.g. Germonpré & Hämäläinen 2007; Svo-
years old (Germonpré, unpublished data). boda 2008a; Pettitt 2010). Interestingly, at the Russian
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 Could incipient dogs have enhanced differential access to resources

Gravettian Kostënki-21 site (southern assemblage), ritual importance these domestic canids held within
the only mammal bone associated with ochre is the some Upper Palaeolithic societies. It has been pro-
maxilla of a ‘dog-like in size’ canid (Reynolds et al. posed that elaborate rituals can be related to the
2019). Decorated wolf/dog metapodials and copies monopolization of special knowledge, can provide
of these bones carved out of mammoth ivory testify mechanisms for social differentiation and can produce
to the symbolic significance large canids held for the authority positions (Owen & Hayden 1997; Artemova
people from the Russian Avdeevo site, dating from 2016), although there is no direct evidence of this
the Gravettian (Gvozdover 1995). relating to the dog rituals described above.
At the Gravettian Předmostí site, several canid An additional type of contribution is the pres-
remains bearing sign-related modifications have been tige role of Palaeolithic dogs (Table 11.1). The cost of
unearthed (Germonpré et al. 2012, 2017b). A few Pal- managing Palaeolithic dogs by Upper Palaeolithic
aeolithic dog skulls from the Předmostí assemblage hunter-gatherers must have been high and probably
were at the time of their death manipulated and this was only possible during times and at locations
modified by prehistoric humans: their braincases were when surplus food, which could be stored in pits or
perforated (Germonpré et al. 2012), in a way akin to on scaffolds, would be available and/or when the
the perforations executed during bear, wolf and dog advantage of having dogs would outweigh the costs
sending-away ceremonies of the Ainu (Akino 1999; of keeping them. The pre-LGM Palaeolithic dogs and
Walker 2005) or during Khanti bear rituals (Jordan ‘dog-like in size’ canids are mostly found in sites with
2003). Another Palaeolithic dog was inserted a bone a preponderance of mammoth remains and/or with
fragment between its front teeth (Germonpré et al. evidence of mammoth hunting such as the Gravettian
2012; Germonpré et al. 2017b) (Fig. 11.2), reminiscent Předmostí (Czech Republic) and Kostënki-1 (Russia)
of the food Mongolian and Oka-Soiot dogs receive sites (e.g. Germonpré et al. 2012; Germonpré & Sablin
upon burial (Lugli 2016; Oehler 2018) or the gifts wild 2017). Also, several Epigravettian mammoth sites
canids receive by the Koyukon people after being from the central East European plains, like Mezhirich,
skinned (Nelson 1983). Mezin, Yudinovo and Eliseevichi, delivered remains
At Eliseevichi, a Russian Epigravettian mammoth from Palaeolithic dogs and ‘dog-like in size’ canids
site dated at c. 17,000 years, a skull from a Palaeolithic (Sablin & Khlopachev 2002; Germonpré et al. 2009;
dog was found in a hearth near a concentration of Germonpré & Sablin 2017). Ethnographic data reveal
mammoth skulls (Polikarpovich 1968). Its braincase that the specialist hunters of forest elephants had tre-
is perforated at both sides. Cut marks occur on the mendous prestige, held secret knowledge transmitted
zygomatic and frontal bones. Both carnassial teeth to them by their fathers (Bahuchet 1985), and were
were removed by damaging the alveolar rims. The much appreciated for their high contribution to meat
location of the skull and the manipulations this sharing (Duda 2017). During the Aurignacian, the
animal underwent suggest a ritual context (Sablin & Gravettian and the Epigravettian, mammoth meat was
Khlopachev 2003; Germonpré et al. 2009; Demay 2019). regularly consummed in Western, Central and Eastern
The Magdalenian double burial of Bonn- Europe (e.g. Bocherens 2015; Germonpré et al. 2008;
Oberkassel include skeletal elements of two dogs. Wißing et al. 2019). Mammoth ivory was used as a
The human skeletons and the remains of the young source of tools, ornaments and statuettes (Gaudzinski
dog that suffered from canine distemper were sprayed et al. 2005; Khlopačev 2006; Khlopachev 2013; Wolf &
abundantly with red ochre. One tooth pertains to an Vercoutere 2018; Borgia 2019; Lázničková-Galetová
older and smaller dog (Street et al. 2015; Janssens et 2019). Gravettian human burials were often covered
al. 2018). Possibly, these dogs died at the same time by mammoth scapulae (Svoboda et al. 2008b). The
as the man and the woman. Maybe, they were sacri- mammoth was part of the life and death of Upper
ficed so to be interred together with the dead humans Palaeolithic people (Barkai 2019; Hussain 2019). Prob-
to take the role of spirit guide into the after world ably, the men who led the hunts on this meaningful
(Street et al. 2015). Whatever is the interpretation of and weighty mammal must have been experienced.
this collective burial, it forms indisputable evidence Palaeolithic dogs could have helped these specialists
that the dogs, of which at least one had received con- with the sharing of the meat of the killed animals
siderable care before its death (Janssens et al. 2018), by transporting body parts from the kill sites to the
were part of the life and death of Upper Palaeolithic residential camps where the meat from the hunted
hunter-gatherers. mammoths could be distributed. In this way, the
The anthropogenic handling and modification of incipient dogs could have contributed to the prestige
Palaeolithic dog remains from the above-mentioned of the mammoth killers. At camp sites, it seems that
sites testify of the special symbolic connotation and the diet of the Palaeolithic dogs was controlled. The
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reconstruction of the diet of several Palaeolithic dogs Palaeolithic dogs and social inequality
from the Gravettian Předmostí site revealed that the
Palaeolithic dogs were fed reindeer and muskox meat. Thanks to their Palaeolithic dogs, Upper Palaeolithic
The absence of mammoth in their diet suggest that, hunter-gatherers could have accessed a larger vari-
in contrast with other carnivores, they did not have ability of resources, improved their living conditions,
access to mammoth carcasses and thus likely were managed better their environment and facilitated
tethered for at least part of the time (Bocherens et al. their mobility. The competence necessary to conduct
2015). This could suggest that they also functioned ceremonies in which Palaeolithic dogs played a ritual
as sentinels. The abundancy of the mammoth, a pre- role could suggest that a monopolized knowledge,
ferred food of the Předmostí human (Bocherens et al. which could have been hereditary, was present in
2015) and other early modern humans (Drucker et al. some Upper Palaeolithic societies.
2017; Wißing et al. 2019), permitted that animals that Palaeolithic dogs must have been very costly to
likely were hunted for other resources, e.g. reindeer keep, and only wealthy families must have been able
which’s skin was undoubtedly sought for tailoring to do so. Likely, dog husbandry signalled material
cloths and making tent coverings, were available as wealth. Households probably could have taken care
food for Palaeolithic dogs. In addition, it seems that of only a limited number of Palaeolithic dogs. How-
also the diet of domestic canids from Late Glacial ever, in a given region the dog population size must
sites was controlled by humans (Baumann et al. 2020). have been large enough to be viable and it is likely
Recent studies on stable isotopes of faunal remains that incipient dogs, probably puppies, were readily
from the Epigravettian Mezhirich site in the Ukraine exchanged. Laikre et al. (2016) proposed that the
and Magdalenian sites in Central Europe showed that metapopulation effective size of Fennoscandian wolves
some, but not all large canids did consume mammoth should amount to at least 500 for long-term genetic
meat (Drucker et al. 2014, 2018; Baumann et al. 2020). viability, so we tentatively assume that in a given
The dog-like canids had a diet dominated by reindeer region the effective population size of Palaeolithic
and horse (Baumann et al. 2020). dogs could sum up to 500. We consider it plausible
Differential burial types, specialization in pro- that during seasonal gatherings at aggregation sites,
duction and /or remains of monumental architecture puppies, maybe foremost male dogs (cf. Phung et al.
at these Gravettian and Epigravettian sites suggest 2019), were traded or exchanged. Palaeolithic dogs
a developed system of ranking among these Upper were likely not a scarce good. Talented dogs and their
Palaeolithic societies (Soffer 1985; Wengrow & Grae- offspring, on the other hand, must have been much
ber 2015). The Palaeolithic dogs from these sites valued. The presence of large Palaeolithic dogs and
were rather large, having an estimated body mass of ‘doglike in size’ canids at residential sites, such as
about 36 kg (Germonpré et al. 2015); the fact that they Předmostí, Kostenki-1/I and Eliseevichi, with male
required a lot of food could in itself have signalled burials and/or female figurines (cf. Pettitt 2018) and
the status of their masters. Post-LGM Palaeolithic with evidence of specialization in ivory bead and tool
dogs found at several Western and Central European production, exploitation of fur bearers, procurement
sites are smaller (Nobis 1986; Chaix 2000; Vigne 2005; of exotic materials, and mammoth hunting – features
Pionnier-Capitan et al. 2011; Napierala & Uerpmann that likely refer to some sort of social complexity –
2010), having estimated shoulder heights ranging is perhaps not a coincidence. Nevertheless, there is
from 30 to 45 cm (Pionnier-Capitan et al. 2011). Their evidence that Palaeolithic dogs lived already together
smaller body size, compared to pre-LGM palaeodogs, with humans during the Aurignacian (Germonpré et
could have permitted that they were nimble hunting al. 2019). The beginnings of the domestication process
companions, ‘light enough to run over packed snow’ of the wolf were likely driven by many motives, not
(cf. Roberts 2017: H1). The assemblages at these post- just prestige and status (Germonpré et al. 2018) and
LGM sites are dominated by mammals as reindeer, could have arisen in egalitarian societies.
red deer, roe deer, ibex, aurochs and/or horse; the Based on the ethnographic and archaeozoological
woolly mammoth, woolly rhinoceros and large car- evidence, we summarize here a tentatively narrative
nivores such as the cave hyena, cave bear and cave on how the utilities of Palaeolithic dogs could have
lion were already extinct or had become scarce by that contributed to the daily life of past humans, how this
time. In these conditions, smaller dogs would have could have enhanced differential access to resources,
been more opportune, because they would require how it could have affected differential wealth and
less food (Germonpré et al. 2012). This could maybe how this could have influenced social distinctions
imply that their influence on status and prestige of among men and women of the Upper Palaeolithic.
their masters could have had less bearing. We proposed that, initially, wolf pups were adopted
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 Could incipient dogs have enhanced differential access to resources

and raised primarily for their significance in the cos- mobility but pronounced logistical mobility and in
mology of some Upper Palaeolithic societies, their which ceremonies were regularly held.
ritual importance and their fur (Germonpré et al. Further research, though, is necessary to confirm
2018). Women must have played a primordially role and extend this simplified narrative. However, in
in this by caring for and feeding the blind, helpless our opinion, due to the poor archaeological record
wolf pups and by dressing the skin of the (young) it would be hard to discern direct evidence that the
adult wolves for cold adapted clothing for them- ownership of Palaeolithic dogs would benefit indi-
selves, their children, spouse and other dependents. viduals. Furthermore, we believe that the balance of
The grown captive wolves were probably killed by advantages and costs of Palaeolithic dog husbandry
men during rituals and for fur harvesting. The costly depended on climatic variables and environmental
keeping of these animals must have signalled status characteristics and that a positive outweigh was prob-
and the raising of these canids likely increased the ably more pronounced in more northern regions (see
embodied and relational wealth for both the women also Schnitzler & Patou-Mathis, 2017).
and men who owned captive wolves. In a next step,
early Palaeolithic dogs could have guarded camp Conclusion
sites, hauled firewood and water and accompanied
women and children on gathering trips, and in this With this chapter we want to illustrate how Palaeo-
way augmented the embodied and relational wealth lithic dogs could have contributed to a better life for
of their female owners. Palaeolithic dogs could have their masters and whether this could have enhanced
transported big chunks of meat from large game, such social inequality among the Upper Palaeolithic
as the highly esteemed mammoth, from the kill sites to hunter-gatherers. By comparing the ethnographic and
the residential sites and acted thus as a kind of partner archaeozoological record, we propose that Palaeolithic
of the male hunters by helping to share highly valued dogs could have functioned as sentinels, attributed to
benefits. This aid must have increased the social stand- a less-strenuous mobility, acted as social companions
ing of successful hunters of big game. In addition, and hunting aides, been kept for their fur, bones, meat
by carrying additional supports, Palaeolithic dogs and fat, participated with body and soul in feasts,
permitted their masters to undertake longer journeys ceremonies and rituals and been prestige displays. It
which helped to obtain exotic goods, support and is clear that the roles Palaeolithic dogs played in the
information and to develop extensive long-distance symbolic and ritual realm were very important; it is
networks, adding to the relational wealth of their these functions that are best registered in the archaeo-
male owners. Furthermore, talented Palaeolithic dogs zoological record of the Upper Palaeolithic (Table 11.1).
could have been lent to needy people. Such a sharing The feeding of the Palaeolithic dogs must have been
could have signalled the generosity of the male and a burden for their masters and keeping many dogs
female dog owners and augmented their reputation could have been a display of high status (cf. Driscoll
(cf. Stibbard-Hawkes 2019). Probably in a later phase, 2010). Furthermore, it cannot be excluded that a shar-
maybe in the Late Glacial, Palaeolithic dogs became ing practice of dogs existed among some of the Upper
real hunting companions; this would advance the Palaeolithic hunters-gatherers. Although Palaeolithic
embodied and relational wealth and augment the dogs did not help to accumulate material wealth,
social status of their male masters. they likely enhanced differential access to resources,
We propose that from the early beginnings of increased the embodied and relational wealth and
the wolf domestication, canids had the capacity to fitness benefits of their masters and, although they
augment the embodied and relational wealth and the were not a crucial factor, they could have attributed
social status of their male and female owners. Thanks to some form of social inequality in Upper Palaeolithic
to intergenerational transmissions of these assets, Pal- societies. It can be hoped that a multidisciplinary
aeolithic dogs helped to increase the fitness interests approach, including osteometrical, archaeozoological,
of their masters. Although ownership of Palaeolithic biogeochemical and genetic methods, can result in a
dogs was probably not crucial for the development of better understanding of the enduring impact of the
non-egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies, the presence interactions between Upper Palaeolithic peoples and
of palaeodogs could, nevertheless, have contributed their dogs on both species and others.
to the enhancement of inequality in the Upper Palaeo-
lithic. Domestic canids probably influenced more the Acknowledgments
social status of their masters in those Upper Palaeolithic
economies that were based on large game hunting and The authors would like to express their gratitude to Luc
important food storage, that had reduced residential Moreau for inviting the first author to participate to the
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colloquium on ‘Social Inequality before Farming?’ and préhistorique de l’âge de pierre sur le mont Verholensk
for inviting the authors of this study to contribute to près Irkoutsk. Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR, 91–3.
this volume. We are very grateful to Ann Prentiss, Brian Black, L., 1973. The Nivkh (Gilyak) of Sakhalin and the lower
Hayden and two anonymous reviewers for their very Amur. Arctic Anthropology 10, 1–110.
Blieg Bird, R., & D.W. Bird, 2008. Why Women Hunt Risk
thoughtful comments that helped us to improve the
and Contemporary Foraging in a Western Desert Abo-
manuscript. This chapter was supported by a grant from riginal Community. Current Anthropology 46, 655–93.
the Czech Science Foundation, GA15-06446S ‘The rela- Bocherens, H., D.G. Drucker, M. Germonpré, M. Lázničková-
tionships between humans and large canids – the dogs Galetová, Y.I. Naito, C. Wißing, J. Brůžek & M. Oliva,
and wolves – of the Gravettian Předmostí site (Moravia)’ 2015. Reconstruction of the Gravettian food-web at
and by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic Předmostí I using multi-isotopic tracking (13C, 15N,
by institutional financing of long-term conceptual
34
S) of bone collagen. Quaternary International 359–360,
development of the research institution (the Moravian 211–28.
Museum, MK000094862). The participation of ZIN RAS Borgia, V., 2019. The mammoth cycle. Hunting with ivory
spear-points in the Gravettian site of Pavlov I (Czech
(state assignment No АААА-А19-119032590102-7) to
Republic). Quaternary International 510, 52–64.
this research is acknowledged. Borgherhof Mulder, M., S. Bowles, T. Hertz, A. Bell, J. Beise,
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Social ecology of the Upper Palaeolithic:

exploring inequality through the art of Lascaux

Paul Pettitt

If it is true that inequalities among men follow from the ecosystem at large. After all, what is Palaeolithic
the very concept of societies as moral communities, art reflecting if not a social ecology? In this endeavour
then there cannot be, in the world of our experience, I am particularly inspired by the recent consideration
a society of absolute equals (Dahrendorf 1968: 176). of hunter-gatherer inequality by Wengrow & Graeber
(2015), the important implications of which I discuss
In this chapter I will argue a case for social inequality below. Overall, I conclude that it is inconceivable that
among a specific Late Upper Palaeolithic group – the the Lower Magdalenian complex hunter-gatherers were
Lower Magdalenian artists of Lascaux – by way of organizationally simple, or ‘egalitarian’.
exploring the thematic concerns of its art. In this sense I We must begin by considering exactly what we
try to add a thematic dimension to existing arguments mean by ‘inequality’. The influential political scien-
for social inequaity in the Palaeolithic. Beginning with tist Ralf Dahrendorf noted that we must distinguish
an examination of anthropological evidence for inequal- between inequalities of natural ability and those of
ity among recent hunter-gatherer groups in broadly social position; and also between inequalities that do
similar environments to those of the Magdalenian, I not involve any evaluative rank order, and those that
will argue that the social organization of their animal do. Although from today’s perspective Dahrendorf’s
contemporaries – a considerable knowledge of which arguments lacked consideration of age and gender,
is evident in Lascaux’s art – forms an appropriate and that modern perspectives have greater nuance of
analogy for the social organization of Magdalenian inequality, his recognition of four types of inequality
groups. As we will see, none of the prey animals that forms a useful heuristic. He identified natural differ-
Magdalenians were dependent upon for survival could ences of kind in features, character and interest; natural
be said to be socially egalitarian in any way. As this differences of rank in intelligence, talent and strength;
is the case, why, therefore, might we expect the sym- social differentiation of positions that are otherwise
patric Magdalenian hunter-gatherers to have been? I essentially equal in rank; and social stratification based
will argue that detailed observation of the behaviours on reputation and wealth, expressed in a rank order
of their herbivorous prey formed a natural model for of social stratification (Dahrendorf 1968: 154). As some
Magdalenian social organization, and that the result- of these are distributive in nature (e.g. encapsulated
ing social signalling and concern with competition and or expressed in/with material culture or ‘wealth’),
creation reflected in Lascaux’s art resulted not so much and others non-distributive (e.g. personal charisma),
from the ‘ritual mind’ of egalitarian groups, but from the question must be posed as to what currencies of
concerns relating to the maintenance of a social structure stratification were available in the Upper Palaeolithic.
in which competition and inequality were endemic. I I will argue that the skills necessary for the material
am not stating that such a model should not apply to provisioning and artistic creation of a major Palaeo-
other Upper Palaeolithic periods; I simply restrict my lithic art site form one such set of currencies. In order
discussion here to one useful case study by way of to nuance my argument I will assume that inequality
example. Given the propensity for hunter-gatherers can take many forms and need not be restricted to the
not to draw a strong distinction between ‘human’ and fixed, hierarchical ‘ranking’ and ‘stratification’ implied
‘animal’ or even between individuals, it seems appro- by political dominance; instead I view it as flexible,
priate to me, when discussing inequality, to deal with changing and under constant negotiation.
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I hope it is fair to state that most Palaeolithic ephemeral individual rankings but also of lasting
specialists agree that the diverse and complex skills structures of social positions’ (ibid.: 169). Hence,
represented in lithic and osseous tool manufacture, in any society where norms and sanctions exist as
art production in various media and forms, landscape expressions of moral correctness, one might expect
memory, rare and apparently restricted elaborate buri- the origins of inequality, as (‘bad’) transgressors can-
als, and the complex tasks of hunting and gathering not be held to be equal to (‘good’) conformists. As
of diverse animal and plant taxa in the Magdalenian Dahrendorf succinctly phrased it, ‘all men are equal
surely reflects a strong degree of individual spe- before the law but they are no longer equal after it’
cialization. How could a single individual be adept (ibid.: 169–70 emphases original). Hence, as soon as
at producing finely retouched and truncated lithic a society is structured by expected norms, ‘a rank
bladelets, osseous Lussac-Angle points or low relief order of social status is bound to emerge’ (ibid.: 170).
decorated baguettes demi ronde, trapping of arctic The resulting social inequality plays the critical role
hares and hunting reindeer, horse and bison, let of guaranteeing a society’s dynamism and ‘historical
alone planning, provisioning and producing the art of quality’ (through the constant negotiation of rank in
Lascaux? To assume a developed level of individual terms of social norms), hence to Dahrendorf, ‘the idea
specialization is, therefore, uncontroversial, although of a perfectly egalitarian society is not only unrealistic;
of course distinctions between individuals through it is terrible’ (ibid.: 178). Given that the regulation of
their occupational specializations (one might say, social groups by norms and sanctions appears to be
expertise) need not imply any distinctions of rank universal, however, one might simply conclude from
or value between individuals, however uniquely Dahrendorf’s argument that all societies must inevi-
or impressively skilled they may be (Dahrendorf table be non-egalitarian (Brian Hayden, pers. comm.).
1968: 162). There need be no intrinsic rank distinc- If nothing else, however, this should suggest that the
tion between individuals of different specialisms basis for inequality – however feint – is a universal.
(‘hunters’ versus ‘knappers’ for example); in order Assuming Dahrendorf is correct, the question
to ascribe such rank distinctions requires a second we must pose is, therefore, not so much when did
act of evaluation by which a social stratification of social inequality arise, but how Palaeolithic societies
activities is based upon a set of activities which in regulated themselves with social norms, how variably
functional terms are merely differentiated in kind strong or weak this regulation might have been, and
(ibid.: 163). It therefore does not necessarily follow how it may have been expressed in non-perishable
that social differentiation and social stratification must archaeology. The relative homogeneity over large
always explain each other or be inextricably linked; territories of material culture (e.g. Lower Magda-
instead, for stratification to arise requires some form lenian lithic and organic toolkits, and art) is, to my
of intermediate agency. While differences between mind, evidence of a strong conscious or subconscious
tasks, for example in terms of the knowledge and skills ‘corporate’ norm of quotidian life, but how do we
they require, their pleasantness or unpleasantness, explore the surviving archaeological record for any
ease or difficulty, may have connotations of functions expression of explicitly moral or social ‘norms’? My
and dysfunctions, it does not necessarily follow that assumption here is that the largest and most complex
these would explain the origins of inequality per se. examples of Palaeolithic cave art, whatever their
We can certainly assume that human society, ostensible function in the ‘ritual’ sphere, will, to an
in the Upper Palaeolithic as much as today, struc- extent, express the social norms that rituals exist to
tures social groups by removing individuals from reinforce and, therefore, function to regulate them.
random chance, and regulates itself in terms of To put it another way, art will, to some extent at least,
various expectations (norms). These are usually rein- express and repeat both social and cultural norms. I
forced by positive or negative sanctions (rewards and will argue, therefore, that Palaeolithic art –or at least
punishments) for conformist or deviant behaviour the more elaborate expressions of it – can be ‘read’
respectively (Dahrendorf 1968: 167). Because of this, as a statement of socially accepted conventions, and
as individuals are subject to the sanctions designed in exceptional cases, can be interrogated for details
to enforce social principles, a core of inequality must of the form that such conventions took. I undertake
be expected in such societies, as sanctions are a con- such an interrogation here, restricting my discussion
spicuous expression of a ranking process. As social to the art of the French Lower Magdalenian; notably
norms and sanctions are agreed upon by the social Lascaux, although by extension to Gabillou, Le Portel,
group, through a process of discrimination (value the Grotte du Sorcier (St. Cirq) and others, which are
decisions about what is morally right and wrong), considered to be broadly contemporary on the basis
it follows that such norms are ‘the basis not only of of thematic and stylistic similarities.
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Hunter-gatherers among several foraging groups documented over

the last two centuries, but, most importantly, that
Recently, two of the most pervasive beliefs about social organization could be particularly fluid over
hunter-gatherers have been seriously undermined. the course of the annual subsistence round. In some
Bird et al. (2019) demonstrate that we can no longer seasons, skilled individuals or high status families
assume that prehistoric hunter-gatherers lived in could control aggregations in an essentially strati-
small groups comprised of a few dozen closely related fied social context, whereas the same groups could
individuals who collaborated to appropriate resources fission into egalitarian organization at other times of
from unmodified landscapes. Instead, they suggest on the year. The result is essentially two distinct ways of
ethnographic grounds that local groups of foragers being within the same social group, neither of which
may be small (albeit fluid) yet are drawn from ‘expan- is thought to be incompatible with the other. Art often
sive, trans-generational networks of regional wealth, functioned to negotiate and express such fluidity, and
bound together in ties of social interaction that extend of particular note here is the centrality of art groups to
well beyond a small community of individuals’, and discourses on individuals, roles, names, families, and
hypothesize that ‘these large societies and anthropo- social organization among the Inuit, Kwakiutl and
genic landscapes are inherent features of the Pleistocene others (ibid.: 11), and the relatively high amplitude of
spread of modern humans’ (ibid.: 106). The long-held such discourses during seasonal aggregations (13). If
assumption that a fixed egalitarianism is the default it is correct to assume that Lascaux’s art was created
orientation of hunter-gatherers has been questioned largely during a nearby aggregation (see below) then
on a number of grounds. Testart (1988) noted that the one might expect it to have included such a discourse
process of sharing resources appropriated from nature about individuals, groups, and power, whether or not
is a never-ending phenomenon, constantly circulating this was its primary purpose.
resources from producers to non-producers as active Sharp (1991) noted how anthropologists tend to
roles in the social group changes. It is this constant characterize societies in terms of a presumed absence of
social flux that should form the basis of all subsequent particular features, which derives from the prevailing
discussion. Arguing that hunter-gatherers should not dogma about these groups. Hence, lacking any obvious
be treated as one homogeneous category, Shnirelman evidence of elaborately provisioned ‘chiefs’ Palaeolithic
(1992) noted how unequal distribution and redistribu- hunter-gatherers are defined as egalitarian as they can-
tion of appropriated products was well known at least not be associated with anything else. As Ingold (1999:
among complex hunter-gatherers. Recognizing that 403) noted, this negative characterization of hunter-
complex hunter-gatherers were frequently ignored gatherers as ‘egalitarian’ is an obvious outcome of the
in general theory building, Arnold (1993) identified ‘step-by-step’, simple to complex paradigm that has
chiefly complexity (hereditary inequality, hierarchical dominated narratives of social evolution, explaining
organization including political authority at a multi- the prevalent dogma that Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers
community scale, and partial control over labour by the must have been ‘egalitarian’, simply by virtue of their
elite) among several complex hunter-gatherer groups, being an early step on the social road, irrespective of
noting that labour may be manipulated by elites in a total lack of evidence for this notion whatsoever.
fields such as subsistence strategies, the acquisition and The notion that primitive societies were egalitar-
working of non-food resources, technology, transporta- ian could be said to begin with Rousseau; continue
tion (e.g. canoe building and use), and communication, through the ‘primitive communism’ of Marx and
to quote only a few. She stresses how inequality can Engels; and subsequently formed a major constituent
arise through processes of reorganization of ‘commoner of Morgan’s stage of ‘savagery’. During the twentieth
labor’, focused on labour investments and internal and century, the realization that not all hunter-gatherer
external stressors such as resource declines, population groups were egalitarian was occasionally recorded by
increase, and hostile interactions. Recently, Wengrow anthropologists, although largely ignored, notably by
& Graeber (2015) have added a new dimension to our Service (1962), who in his influential Primitive Social
understanding of complexity and inequality. Review- Organisation viewed the Palaeolithic as a period in
ing a century of discourse about social organization which there were ‘no forms of economy higher than
in the Palaeolithic, and the tendency among anthro- hunting-gathering bands’ in which ‘all the functions of
pologists to brush aside examples of hunter-gatherer culture are organised, practiced and partaken of by no
inequality, the authors demonstrate how deep rooted more than a few associated bands made up of related
the equation of hunter-gatherers with egalitarianism nuclear families’…with ‘no special economic groups or
has been. Revisiting ethnographic evidence, Wengrow special productive units…no specialised occupational
& Graeber show not only how inequalities did exist groups…no religious organisation standing apart
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from the family’ (1962: 46, my emphasis). Instead, the groups and to show that, while little or no social
economy was ‘not separately institutionalised…there stratification does seem to characterize some hunter-
is no formal economy at all’ (ibid.: 98).1 The notion gatherer societies, this can hardly be said to be some
was perpetuated at the Man the Hunter symposium of kind of primitive or ‘default’ condition. By contrast,
1965 (Burch & Ellanna 1994: 219), despite the fact that however, social inequality need not be predicated on
the resulting publication reveals several examples of relations of dominance and subservience (although
individual leadership. Among the Netsilik and Iglulik, it may be); with systems of complementarity based
for example, extended families were lead by their eld- on individual economic contributions differing, for
est males, and the band was lead by the head of the example, by gender or age, unequal distinctions
largest family (Damas 1968: 115). Several Australian between individuals could emerge. Highly variable
aboriginal groups were lead by ‘headmen’ with powers social complexity has been demonstrated across the
of ‘command’ (surely a word evocative of inequality if Canadian Arctic; Burch & Ellanna (1994: 220) recorded
there ever was one), even if it is contentious whether social ranking among most groups of the North pacific
such power passed from father to son prior to European Rim, incipient ranking among Alaskan Eskimos, and,
contact (Pilling 1968). By contrast, among the matrifocal more widely, a fully developed class system among
Hadza, although organization varied from group to the Calusa foragers of southern Florida (‘some of the
group and there were no institutionalized leaders, some most politically and socially complex communities
individuals stood out ‘influential persons’ (Woodburn ever known among hunter-gatherers’: Hayden 1994:
1968: 109). Woodburn (1982)… whose points serve, as 237). Mauss (1950; see also Wengrow & Graeber 2015:
Ingold (1999: 404) noted, to demonstrate that ‘power 10) noted how Eskimo societies assumed different
works by attraction rather than coercion’ and that social morphologies at different times of the year, cor-
relations between leaders and followers in bands ‘is responding in modern terminology to the ubiquitous
based not on domination but on trust.’ Inequality can, hunter-gatherer fission-fusion pattern. An opposition
therefore, be a positive thing. between summer and winter life profoundly affected
The Man the Hunter publication presented a num- Eskimo ‘ideas, collective representations and, in short,
ber of arguments for an essentially ‘fluid organisation’ the entire mentality of the group’ (Mauss 1950: 60).
of hunter-gatherers which paralleled the flux of their Summer settlement was highly dispersed, with a sin-
resource base (Lee & DeVore 1968: 7–8) although with gle family occupying their own tent, usually erected a
hindsight it did not explore the implications of this considerable distance from others. As summer turned
observation. Instead, its promotion of the egalitarian to winter, however, Mauss noted ‘a complete change
model of society and the over-emphasized equation in morphology of Eskimo society’ (ibid.: 38). Settle-
of males with hunting ‘gerrymandered women out ment became more nucleated, with close groupings of
of hunting by semantic manipulation of definitions’ winter longhouses, each holding some 8–12 families,
(Brumbach & Jarvenpa 2006). Despite this, Woodburn sometimes more, united by a central communal struc-
(1982) demonstrated that societies with delayed return ture. Following this, distinct laws existed for each of
subsistence systems did possess inequalities, and as these two seasons; in summer these were essentially
a result immediate return groups needed to stress patriarchal, with males holding the predominant role
(i.e. actively work to maintain) their egalitarianism as provider and by male children of hunting age, and
rather than take it for granted. Among the Pacific they essentially constitute the family group. During
Northwest Coast societies, Hayden (1994) showed the winter, this nuclear family became subsumed into
how competition over resources could lead to gain (i.e. a greater collective of ‘housemates’, linked by moral
accumulation) and hence inequality when the resource ties, several of which constituted the ‘clan’ settlement.
base was rich enough. Subsequent to this, Hayden In this collective context, there was considerable leni-
has developed our understanding of the role of social ency towards crimes, and all social groupings were
aggrandizers and strategies by which they promote subsumed into a collective epitomized by the sharing
their own self-interests, particularly in the sphere of of sexual partners. In the summer, individuals were
secret societies which emerge in transegalitarian soci- distinguished from each other as sharply as families,
eties, have intrinsic rank distinctions perpetuated by and strict rules of ownership were defined by male
the control of secret knowledge (notably connections and female properties to the extent that individuals
with supernatural beings), and can be a convenient were strictly associated with specific objects. In winter,
way to control (i.e. appropriate) the distribution of however, a ‘generous collectivism’ prevailed (ibid.: 72),
surplus (Hayden 2019). in which collectives had access rights to resources and
A few specific examples should suffice to draw longhouses as the joint property of all ‘housemates.’
out the nature of inequalities recorded among varied An opposition to individual/patriarchal summer rights
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was accentuated in communal law, particularly where subordination of women to men is, sadly, universal
rights over portable property held by individuals dis- – if highly variable – in expression (Moore 1994: 821).
solve in the face of communal rights of access. Most social theorists agree that inequality is probably
The ritual expression of religious belief is well inherent in any form of collective living, and as most
known to be critical to the maintenance of intra-group societies have systems for evaluating natural and
cooperation, as a visual and somatic means of repeat- humanly made objects and expressing preferences
ing social norms encoded in group-specific beliefs, within these, it would be odd if they did not have
and in the form of costly signalling (Irons 2001; Sosis systems for doing the same with human individu-
& Alcorta 2003; Rozen 2004; Murray & Moore 2009; als, e.g. good food/bad food = good cook/bad cook
Peoples & Marlowe 2012). Mauss noted how Eskimo (Béteille 1994). Such systems make statements about
religion varied according to the same rhythm as their a society’s aesthetic and moral categories, transform-
social life. During winter aggregations, groups ‘lived ing preferences in the material world into judgments
in a state of continuous religious agitation’; by con- about an individual’s qualities and performances. The
trast ‘all the myths that…fill the consciousness of the inequalities that result from this may not simply exist
Eskimo during the winter appear to be forgotten dur- in equilibrium, however; they will need resolving, and
ing the summer. This is the time when myths and legends the usual way to do this is by negotiation and force
are transmitted from generation to generation’ (ibid.: 57 (ibid.: 1020).
my emphasis). During the summer, therefore, any Individual negotiation can be subtle, however.
collective mishaps were seen as violations of ritual Among the Chipewyan – a society largely dependent
prohibitions, and were mitigated conspicuously dur- upon the hunting and trapping of meat – women have
ing this intensely collective season. Festivities were a subordinate role (Sharp 1976, 1994). They are not
accompanied by collective sexual licence, producing ‘a without influence, however; there are several ways
fusion of individual personalities’ (ibid.: 60, my emphasis). in which they exercise a ‘power of weakness’ in the
By contrast, the individualized and isolated summer context of male dominance (Sharp 1994).Taking into
practices were restricted to private rites of birth and account the pursuit and despatch of hunter prey, as
death as they occurred within families. well as the post-kill processing phases of hunting, that
It should be clear from these brief examples is taking ‘hunting’ to be a prolonged and complex
that Upper Palaeolithic social groups should not be system of travelling, observation, mobility, dispatch,
viewed as having been organizationally simple and transport, transformation and sharing among cir-
monolithically organized. It should also be clear that cumpolar groups (Brumbach & Jarvenpa 1997), the
art, and whatever wider activities it formed part of, material and economic contribution of women to ‘hunt-
functioned at least partially to repeat and emphasize ing’ among circumpolar societies is certainly ‘no less
culturally encoded social norms. Although the rela- compelling than mens’ (Jarvenpa & Brumbach 2009:
tively few studies that consider this issue typically 71). Casting aside misleading perspectives on ‘sexual
contain caveats that such examples are drawn from division of labour’ gender is one factor among several
relatively recent groups, may not exist in exact eco- (including group size and composition, age, season,
logical comparanda for Pleistocene groups, and often activity) that constitutes the complex interaction of
interact with neighbouring farmers and other drasti- specialized knowledge and experience that defines the
cally different human groups, they still make it implicit labour base (ibid.: 65–6). I will not explore gender here
that these comparanda have relevance. Why should per se, but simply note the complex arenas in which
complex hunter-gatherers of the Upper Palaeolithic knowledge and experience – forms of expertise as one
have been organizationally simpler that these recent might call them – constitute quotidian activities. Such
groups, just because they are chronologically earlier? arenas of negotiation engender differences in toolkits
We can at least draw on the anthropological exam- (there are men’s gear, women’s gear, and communal
ples, as Wengrow and Graeber comprehensively do, gear); jobs may be defined as female, male, or shared
to develop an agenda for examining the Palaeolithic (ibid.: 72), and ‘divisions of labour’ can be very flexible.
record for evidence of differing social organization, Most notably, expertise can enhance social status, for
rather than simply assume an egalitarianism that example with the Yup’ik female herring processing
probably never truly existed. masters. Female skills are often those that involve
Every human social group that has been observed transformation, notably of carcasses into meat, clothing
and recorded has a division of labour (Béteille 1994: and other equipment (Brumbach & Jarvenpa 1997).
1021). Gender, and the question of whether divisions Archaeologists and ethnographers have tended to
of labour based upon it may lead to social inequal- treat all societies for whom stratification is not evident
ity, forms a major concern of anthropology, as the as simply ‘egalitarian’, a simplification that ignores a
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richly nuanced and variable set of organizational dif- sites such as La Madeleine and Laugerie-Haute/Basse
ferences (Brian Hayden pers. comm.). Table 12.1 orders whether or not the ‘aggregations’ responsible for their
available information from recent hunter-gatherers rich stratigraphic and archaeological inventories were
operating in broadly similar environments to those seasonal or more prolonged (ibid.: 145; Fontana 2017).
of the Upper Palaeolithic, ordered according to the One would expect that aggregations of relatively
three pertinent categories of Dahrendorf’s four types numerous individuals would provide relatively strong
of inequality (his fourth type, a fixed order of social opportunities for social aggrandizement (Hayden
stratification, is absent from accessible ethnographic 2009). If it is correct, therefore, that Lascaux’s art was
accounts). It can be seen that there are numerous created in the context of a nearby aggregation, then it
examples of social differences between individuals is reasonable to expect that social negotiation between
in these groups which are not reflected by absolute individual aggrandizers and groups formed an integral
(i.e. clearly defined and fixed) distinctions of rank or part of the creation of its art and whatever other activi-
indeed do not inevitably lead to ranking, but which ties that accompanied. It would therefore be pregnant
are nevertheless described in terms such as ‘rich’, with social signalling (Gittins & Pettitt 2017).
‘strong’, ‘mature’, ‘senior’, ‘headmen’ and ‘ritual def- In addition to hunter-gatherer analogues, there is,
erence’; (for a specific example of a non-egalitarian however, another set of comparanda that have not been
group refer to the entry on the Khanty). In addition considered as potential models for Upper Palaeolithic
to these, several examples of social differences exist social organization. These are the gregarious herbivores
which do lead to a rank ordering, i.e. a degree of social that co-occupied the Upper Pleistocene tundras with
stratification, which are described in terms of ‘status’, Upper Palaeolithic groups, the hunting of which was
‘hierarchy’, gender, and ‘hereditary leadership’ (note critical to the survival of these groups. Magdalenians
that among the Caribou Inuit, shamans have overall were notably dependent on horse, reindeer, and bison,
authority). In this sense, then, by ‘social inequality’ I supplemented by aurochsen, red deer, Megaloceros,
refer to any active distinction made between individuals ibex, saiga antelope and chamois, depending on time
in the social arena – decision making and influence, and place (Delpeche 1983; Burke 1995; Boyle 1997; Cos-
visibility, accumulated wealth, costly signalling and tamagno 2000; Turner 2002; Weinstock 2002; Langlais
demonstrable dominance of others. I recognize these et al. 2012; Fontana 2017).2 In addition to this ecologi-
distinctions irrespective of their causal links, e.g. age, cal sympatry, the treatment of animal carcasses on a
gender and skills. spectrum from the alimentary (diet) and technological
Guy (2017: 39) has questioned the simple (artefact and clothing manufacture) to non-alimentary
assumption that Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers were (decorative and ritual) (Birouste et al. 2016), and the
egalitarian, drawing on Testart (1982), who noted that prominence of these prey animals in the canon of
the accumulation of surplus among delayed-return portable and parietal art (Lorblanchet 2007; Guthrie
hunter-gatherers is strongly correlated with social 2005; Bahn 2016), one can sensibly assume that Mag-
stratification. It follows that any form of storage of a dalenian hunters indulged in a constant and detailed
resource surplus should lead to a degree of inequal- observation, analysis, discussion and mythologizing of
ity (Guy 2017: 51–4). Of particular note is Guy’s the distribution and behaviour of these animals, and
consideration of how Palaeolithic art should function privileged activities that would preserve such informa-
in the context of inequality. Using the Pacific North- tion. Such knowledge would not be restricted to the
west Coast societies as an example, he notes how art monitoring, prediction, recognition and identification
objects and rituals are coveted specifically because of prey in the landscape, but would necessarily extend
they refer to hereditary privileges which are encoded to their behaviour as individuals within a social group,
in jealously guarded secrets. It would be easy here their habits as a social collective, and their mobility,
to underestimate ‘art’ and ‘ritual’ as being simply a fission and fusion in the landscape over the course
‘specialist’ activity; this would be to miss the point of of the annual subsistence round (Aujoulat 2005). It is
‘specialization’, the manufacturing secrets of which inconceivable that such observations were not inter-
mark artists of the Pacific Northwest Coast out as a preted, discussed, and compared to human behaviour
distinct cast, distinguished by artistic ‘blazons’ which and organization; as Lévi-Strauss (1962: 89) stressed,
refer to their descent group, particularly during the animals are good to think with. In short, the behaviour
competitive context of seasonal aggregations (ibid.: of animal prey must have been a major intellectual pre-
55–7). Guy sees this artistic expression of privileged occupation – essentially a life-structuring principle – to
groups as underpinning the regional thematic and Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers. Given the univer-
stylistic variation visible in Upper Palaeolithic art, sal nature of hunter-gatherer cosmologies (discussed
which one might expect would come together at major below), it seems highly likely that Palaeolithic groups
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 Social ecology of the Upper Palaeolithic: exploring inequality through the art of Lascaux

Table 12.1. Social inequalities among hunter-gatherer groups of the present and recent past with similar economies to Late Upper Palaeolithic
hunter-gatherers.
Group Natural difference: rank Social differentiation of Social stratification: rank References
position: equal rank order
Blackfoot & other North Leaders of ‘higher status’ Kehoe 1999
American Plains groups emerged
Slavey Dene Traditional leadership Asch &
provided by successful Smith 1999
hunters; often selected by
elders
Caribou Inuit Hierarchical family Burch &
organization based on Csonka 1999
differences in relative age,
generation and gender. Men
have authority over women
in a number of areas, and
shamans have authority in
general
Timbisha Shoshone ‘Headmen’ held authority Fowler 1999
relating to hunting within
local camps
Gitxsan and Witsuwit’en Hereditary leadership Daly 1999
Ainu ‘Headmen’ central to Svensson
decision making in most 1999
activities
Chukchi and Yupik Many settlements have Schweitzer
‘rich’ or ‘strong’ individuals, 1999
almost always men, with
limited decision making
powers
Evenki ‘Senior’ males make Anderson
decisions about camp 1999
location
Itenm’l Groups lead by a ‘mature, Shnirelman
respected, wealthy man’ 1999
Khanti ‘Significant wealth and Bartels &
power’ held by ‘rich male Bartels 1999
elders and shamans’ who,
despite kin obligations ‘used
poor people like slaves’
Nivkh ‘Ritual deference’ to male Grant 1999
clan elders

would identify with their intimate prey, and from such area of the landscape (e.g. Chaplin 1977: 52). Horse
identification, a social alignment would follow. How, society is essentially matriarchal, anchored around
then, were the other gregarious mammals organizing long-lasting relationships between mares and their
themselves on the Upper Pleistocene tundra? Certainly offspring (Goodwin 1999). Additionally, three distinct
not as egalitarians, as we will now see. social groupings are notable: harems dominated by
a stallion and containing his mares and offspring of
Ethological context: prey animal social both sexes, of sizes of between 5 and 35 varying from
organization group to group (Berger 1977); small, all-male bachelor
groups; and solitary males. In temperate zones horses
The term ‘herd’ is often used to describe the large-scale mate and give birth in spring; they leave their natal
social unit of gregarious herbivores, although these are groups at sexual maturity. At this point their social
actually highly fluid, informal phenomena, the term trajectories diverge; males enter a bachelor group for
really only implying a large number of individuals up to 5 years, before establishing their own harem.
largely acting in common, within a spatially defined Females go straight to an existing harem or a new
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one established by a promising male, and can breed Deer are polygamous animals, who do not main-
immediately upon joining. Harems have a far more tain mother-father-offspring social units, and while
restricted mobility than bachelor groups (Berger 1977). they are capable of recognizing individuals it is not
Aggression is common; Prewalskis horses, for example, clear whether they recognize their offspring when the
show frequent aggression, particularly among bach- latter are fully grown or after a period of separation
elor stallions (Feh 1988), although despite the popular (Chaplin 1977). For much of the year, red deer groups
conception that stallions are the most aggressive horse, are split into hind and stag (harem) groups, with those
this is often not the case, and it can be displayed by of the same sex occupying largely distinct but partly
males and females (Goodwin 1999). Subtle changes in overlapping ranges (ibid.: 58). Harem membership can
ear and tail positions, in addition to specific vocaliza- vary through the year, although related hinds tend
tions, convey information within and between horse to be found in the same harems, and harem stability
individuals and bands (McDonnell 2003), and through gradually increases during the early weeks of the rut.
this, an established order of dominance and submis- Changes in membership, however, can occur even
sion is generally maintained within and between the during stable periods for diverse reasons, the most
constituent groups of a herd. When this is maintained, important of which is competition between neighbour-
overt fighting is reduced and competition can generally ing stags (Clutton-Brock, Guinness & Albon 1982).
be settled by threats and retreats (ibid.: 91); dominant This aggression can cause family groups to fragment.
individuals can control the movement of their conspe- Harem-holding stags can threaten hinds and promote
cifics or access to a limited resource by simple head toss their mother’s departure, and young stags can aggres-
threats or threat gazes, many of which are recorded in sively infiltrate harems, chasing out hinds and fighting
Magdalenian art. For much of the year, reindeer – the the harem-holder for dominance. Unlike hinds, stags
dominant resource for the Lower Magdalenian north do not invest heavily in individual offspring; their
of the Pyrenees – are organized in mixed sex herds of reproductive success depends instead upon breeding
differing ages (Espmark 1964), within which a strong access to members of the opposite sex. Hinds aggregate
pattern of social dominance that involves all mem- in large groups, thus stags can monopolize access to a
bers of the herd, within which ranking is constantly considerable number of hinds, with intense competi-
in flux (Müller-Schwarze et al. 1979). Sparring and tion between stags for the harems during the autumn
fighting increase in frequency close to the autumn rut (ibid.: 105). Breeding success is highly dependent
rut, through which a rank order is established among upon a stag’s ability to control the behaviour of other
bulls (Espmark 1964). Calves have the social status of animals – hinds, young stags attempting to infiltrate
their mother; females typically outrank yearling males, or abduct hinds from the harems of older males, or
but otherwise rank order is effectively a matter of other mature stags. Consequently, fights over hinds
individual size, and hence male maturity. The harem are both frequent and dangerous.
size that a bull can maintain relates specifically to its Rutting stags will attempt to herd and defend a
capacity to congregate and keep it together, an activity group of hinds against competitors. Rank is established
which takes up much of its time, as it drives the group by intimidation and/or physical contest, and hence
from behind through a moving territory (ibid.: 160). mature individuals in their prime tend to dominate
Modern cattle, and American and European over the young and old, and the highest ranking stags
Bison, divide into cow/mixed and male (bull) groups, will impregnate the largest number of hinds. Within
with competition and fighting common in the latter, stag groups every individual knows its place, and social
particularly as they grow larger (Van Vuure 2002). order is maintained by slight gestures rather than threat
Their organization can be highly flexible; they may displays; ‘normally, dominance can be asserted by a
be migratory over several tens of kilometres, and can look or a flick of the head or merely by the approach
form particularly large herds during the rut and calv- of the dominant animal’ (Chaplin 1977: 64), although
ing (Peck 2004). Among the bovini in general, calving overt aggression will occur if a subordinate does not
occurs in spring, and the core of social organization is react appropriately to the warnings of a dominant
the cow and her calf; cow groups are formed of up to one. Such ‘disobedience’ is usually an indication of
10 of such dyads, i.e. a total of 10–20 individuals, and an impending physical contest to decide whether the
bulls typically form their own herds of 2–10 animals. rank order should change.
In some (not all) groups males may associate with It should be clear from this brief survey of the
cow herds in low numbers, while older animals of most common prey taxa sympatric with Magdalenian
both sexes tend to be solitary. A general trait of the hunter-gatherers that the constant maintenance of
bovini is the tendency towards increasing isolation as social order underpins all social behaviour. This can
individual bulls age (Van Vuure 2005: 266). often be achieved through subtle visual, audial and
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olfactory behaviours, but frequently needs reinforc- and seals, and dispersing to exploit the rich hunting
ing with aggression. Social organization is fluid, and and gathering opportunities opened up by the summer,
dominance relationships are ubiquitous but can always when snowshoes were not required and hence mobility
be overturned, usually in very public (i.e. visible) ways. was not restricted. Among the Pintupi of the Austral-
Notable common factors are the fluctuation between ian Western Dessert, social organization constitutes a
relative degrees of social stability or instability depend- transaction in shared identity, the practice of which is a
ing on the time of year; the prevalence of aggression continual negotiation about the relationship between
in larger aggregations; and the control of individuals’ individuals, animals, and objects (Myers 1991). Yet
behaviour by ‘leaders’. I note in particular the social sharing is a coercive interaction within a cultural con-
importance of female ‘anchors’ and male ‘drivers’, to text (Sharp 1994: 40). As Ingold (1986: 252) noted, the
which I shall return. It should be clear, however, that human hunter ‘confronts nature as a subject of social
among modern examples of all of the most commonly relations…every act of hunting is but a moment in a
encountered prey animals of Magdalenian groups, total process by which social life is carried on through
social organization is far from egalitarian. men’s collective encounter with nature’. Nature as a
subject of social relations; to hunter-gatherers there is no
Humans as animals, animals as humans distinction between a ‘human world’ and an ‘animal’
one. Rather, human hunter-gatherer relations with
The conceptual world of hunter-gatherers, in which a the non-human environment generally take the same
distinct separation of human and animal individuals form as the principles of sharing within human groups
is lacking, draws the social lives of the Magdalenian (Bird-David 1992). In this sense, everything is shared,
and their prey even closer. In contrast to modern belief everything is the social system, and ‘the rigid division
in the distinctiveness of individuals and the rigidity that western thought and science draws between the
of difference between species, the notion that animals worlds of society and nature, of persons and things,
are both human in part and animal in part is probably does not exist for hunter-gatherers’ (Ingold 1999: 409).
universal among hunter-gatherers (Guenther 2015 It should not be necessary to labour the point that to
and references therein). One should not assume that hunter-gatherers, in a social sense, prey animals are
this blurring is universal or absolute; if it were the lat- human.
ter – i.e. that humans were thought of as no different Human-animal interconnectedness goes much
to animals, the consumption of animal meat would deeper among hunter-gatherers than a sense of ecologi-
be thought of as cannibalism, which it is patently not cal sharing. Blurred boundaries between the animal
(Brian Hayden pers. comm.). Rather, varying degrees and the human are widespread; for the Ojibwa, for
of similarity and overlap are apparent, and common example, ‘there is nothing especially “human” about
enough to justify the caution that we should not think being a human’ (Ingold 1994: 24). Their belief systems
of Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gathers as completely are replete with references to the animal world, par-
conceptually distinct from their prey. The ways in ticularly of animals and humans exchanging roles and
which animals are thought to be human-like include teaching and providing for one another (e.g. Anawak
their basic behavioural repertoire, e.g. eating, sleep- 1989). These belief systems usually reinforce this notion
ing, attacking, and fleeing. Specialists agree that it is of connectedness. To the Chipewyan, for example,
fair to assume that Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer humans have their origins in sexual union between a
groups practised fission and fusion in similar ways woman and a dog which had the ability to transform
to their sympatric prey (Gamble 1999), and certainly into the shape of a human male. Humans and animals
the variability in size and nature of Magdalenian subsequently blurred over the course of reincarnations,
sites supports this notion (Conkey 1980; White 1985). notably connecting men and wolves (Sharp 1976: 31).
It goes without saying that as survival entailed posi- Among the Chipewyan, dogs are regarded as liminal
tioning themselves advantageously with respect to creatures, as they eat anything including human faeces
their mobile prey, the organization of Magdalenian and cannibalize their dead. Consequently, they are
life would have to a large extent been symbiotic with considered to be inedible, carrying strong associations
these animals, particularly horse, reindeer and bison. with illegitimate sexual behaviour and social disorder,
It should, therefore, be sensible to assume that animals and function as a metaphor for women and female
were central to how hunter-gatherers read their social sexuality (Sharpe 1976: 28). Men, on the other hand,
world. Mauss (1950: 55) noted that Eskimo social life are associated with wolves, due to a ‘striking number
was ‘a veritable phenomenon of symbiosis that forces of similarities between the behaviour and ecology of
the group to live like the animals they hunt’, e.g. aggre- the two species’ (ibid.: 30), a metaphorical expression
gating in winter to exploit aggregations of walruses of the social group, and social order. Thus, given the
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cosmological, ecological and social connectedness of I discuss below, Lascaux specifically satisfies several
‘humans’ and ‘animals’, the exchange of information of these, justifying its interrogation for social message.
between them, the very clear lack of any form of dis- The themes of hunter-gatherer art often reflect the
tinction between them, and their participation in the complex and entertaining ways that the ambiguous
maintenance of social order, it is surely parsimonious relationship between hunter and hunted is explored
to assume that prey animals had just as much social in visual culture. If it is fair to assume that similar
agency to Palaeolithic groups than the individuals ambiguities existed in the Upper Palaeolithic, then
that constituted those groups. To put it another way; we might reasonably expect similar content of its art,
it would be more anachronistic to assume that human whatever its direct functions may have been. Among
and animal societies were thought to be biologically small-scale societies, most symbolic systems are con-
or socially distinct in the Upper Palaeolithic. What, cerned in the main with ‘the relationships between
therefore, might an upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer eating, reproduction, and gender’, within which prey
have ‘seen’ when looking at the animals depicted on form the link between the natural and supernatural
the walls of Lascaux? Did they see animals, or part relations between the human and animal world (Sharp
animals/part humans; simply drawings or real things? 1991: 187, my emphasis). In the context of the blurred
relationship between ‘humans’ and ‘animals’, the latter
Palaeolithic art form a connection in the continuum of humans and the
supernatural. No wonder why they are the overwhelm-
Art is not essential to the negotiation of social life but ingly dominant theme of Palaeolithic figurative art.
it is often a considerably powerful tool in the process. We must, therefore, be mistaken viewing Palaeolithic
Like group singing, dancing and drumming – it demon- art as simply a representation of prey, whatever its
strably promotes prosocial behaviour (Kirschner & broader ‘functions’.
Tomasello 2009, 2010), and its floruit during the harsh Far from being simply a form of passive repre-
environments of the Upper Pleistocene is well known sentation, Gell (1998) demonstrated how the art of
(Gamble 1982, 1991). Not that ‘artistic’ and ‘ritual’ small-scale societies functions as an active process, with
activity is exclusively connected to social negotiation, a social agency that extends far beyond its physical
however; relationships of inequality are woven into medium. It is ‘a system of action, intended to change
quotidian life, and in many hunter-gatherer groups the world rather than encode symbolic propositions
hunting of prey and subsequent accounts of the hunt about it…art objects are social agents (ibid.: 6–7). In
are ritual acts in themselves (Sharp 1991: 188). Among this, the act of witnessing is agency, and looking and
the Athabaskan Chipewyan, hunting is an exclusively being seen are social acts. Art forms yet further part of
male domain – women are actively banned from killing the human-animal-supernatural continuum, and actors
game – and the resulting belief system consequently are distributed within it, identities blurring through
favours males symbolically, leading to a form of gen- the imitative propensity of humans. In many hunter-
der inequality that has been described as a ‘routinised gatherer groups it is socially important who makes art
terror’ model for half the population (Sharp 1991: 188 objects, and often one finds ‘male’ and ‘female’ designs;
and references therein). This particularization of male art, therefore, is often ‘entangled with the nature of…
hunting leads to ‘a subtle but competitive process of gender negotiations’ (Conkey 2001: 283–4). Individual
ranking that has implications for social and political identities need not be tied up with single objects or
relations beyond the household,’ (ibid.: 190). works of art, however; several individuals may have
Secret societies and their associated aggrandizer legitimate claim to associations with objects, places,
strategies have several key components that strongly and the events that occurred at them (Myers 1991),
suggest that art should be at the centre of social although individual works of art are not ‘owned’ by
negotiation: the centrality of public displays to their individuals, even their creators (Keen 1991).
maintenance, often associated with initiation; the From the appearance of figurative art in the
prominence of power animals in ideologies and dis- thirty-seventh millennium bp Upper Palaeolithic port-
plays related to them; the costly nature of membership; able and parietal art demonstrates significant regional
the circulation and use of exotic materials; the use of variation, e.g. the Aurignacian mammoth ivory carv-
locations in order to deprive the senses and to place ing in the round of the Swabian Alb or pecked and
participants in danger; and although not considered engraved animals of southwest French rockshelters; the
here, elaborate burials for members (Hayden 2018: Gravettian parietal art of the Lot, contrasting with the
24, 342). A number of Upper Palaeolithic ‘decorated widespread ‘venus’ figurines; and the Solutrean low-
caves’ satisfy the criteria for having been used for and high-relief carved panels in French rockshelters,
secret society rituals (Owens & Hayden 2007), and as to name examples which pre-date Lascaux (Conard &
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Bolus 2006; Delluc & Delluc 1978; Lorblanchet 2010; of ‘wounded/killed men’ in cave art, Rousseau (1996)
Cleyet-Merle 2016). Whatever its variable function, drew attention to the mixing of humanity and animality
from its inception, Palaeolithic figurative art must within single ‘zoo-anthropomorphic ‘ images such as
have carried cultural signal at the regional metagroup Lascaux’s ‘Shaft Scene’ (itself a confrontation), and the
level, and the archaeological record demonstrates an frequent association of such ‘hybrids’ with themes of
increasing scale of artistic signal over the course of wounding and death. Whether or not this represents
the Upper Palaeolithic. Whether this reflects growing the act of humans/animals giving themselves to each
scales of inter-group interaction, or, as Gilman (1984) other in death (ibid.: 207), it certainly reflects a con-
suggested from a Marxist perspective, an increasingly ceptual fusion of the two. Lorblanchet (1989) notably
problematical nature of such interaction, is unclear; drew attention to the blurring of categories of ‘human’,
whichever the case it is indicative of the increasing scale ‘animal’ and ‘sign’ in cave art, warning that modern
of signalling over time, which has certainly reached tendencies to strict categorization are powerless to
relatively high degrees by c. 20,000 bp. If, as Cattelain grasp the conceptual complexities of such connections
(2005) has convincingly argued, carved propulseur distal using arbitrary concepts, and, however fanciful the
parts served as regional cultural markers during the language, recognize that Palaeolithic art can represent
Magdalenian, there is no reason to believe why such ‘a kind of cosmic placenta, a primeval magma, where
social statements about group and individual identity all creatures, living and imaginary, merge into formal
were not also expressed in parietal art. In terms of effort games…[which] express in symbolic terms the eter-
we might view major compositions of parietal art such nal bonds which unite all creatures’ (ibid.: 140). It is
as Lascaux’s art as a form of primitive valuable (sensu interesting that, as Lorblanchet (ibid.: 137) has noted,
Dalton 1971); participation is as much an exchanged the ‘animalization’ of the human shape appears in the
phenomenon as physical objects; ‘’gifts’ are treated Magdalenian.
in Maussian exchange theory as persons…there is Noting the ubiquity of paired confrontations
scope for seeing art in the same way’ (Gell 1998: 9). in Palaeolithic art, Guy (2017: 195) suggested that
As human effort was the principle energy (and hence, large panels in parietal art arose as accumulations
economic) source of the Palaeolithic (Sahlins 1974: 5) of successive representations of paired confronting
it is surely justifiable to view the production of major animals, each adhering to an overall compositional
works of Palaeolithic art as a form of social exchange: narrative in which symmetry was an organizational
as Dalton (1975: 91–2, 97–8) noted, ‘all production pro- factor. Confrontations are a particularly common
cesses…require transactions of labor, natural resources theme in Late Upper Palaeolithic art. Welté (1989)
and produce…primitive valuables are the means of identified 51 Magdalenian examples of confrontation
acquiring superior political…roles in the form of big in cave art and 21 portable in the area between the
man status, prerogatives, power, and an entourage of Loire, Rhône, Pyrenees and Atlantic, representing the
followers’. Furthermore, we should view Palaeolithic common prey of the period, i.e. cervids (e.g. Gabillou,
art as the product of a shared act of appropriation; Lascaux), horse (e.g. Font-de-Gaume, Les Combarelles,
‘hunter-gatherers tend to appropriate what they see… Lascaux), bovids (e.g. Niaux, Le Portel, Gabillou, Font-
[the] metaphor of sharing is a clue to both their views de-Gaume, Trois- Frères, Rouffignac, Lascaux), caprids
of environment and to their action within it…as human (e.g. Niaux, Lascaux) and mammoths (e.g. Rouffignac)
agents appropriate their shares they secure further and occasionally rarer forms such as the owls of Trois-
sharing’ (Bird-David 1992). If competitive feasting Frères and birds of Teyjat. The overall frequency of
forms a mechanism for the conversion of surplus confrontations correlates with the frequency of depic-
into storable wealth, hence creates competition and tions of each taxon in specific caves; this suggests that
inequalities (Hayden 1994), why should the collabora- when multiple individuals are depicted within friezes
tive creation of major art panels have not functioned – which seem to be exclusive to the Magdalenian pari-
in the same way? Why should we not think of these etal art of the Dordogne – confrontation seems to be a
as forms of social technology in which individual and major artistic concern. To this list one might add the
group signals may be ‘stored’? confronted anthropoid head and horse in the Grotte
In the terminology of Wiessner (1983) the theme, du Sorcier at St. Cirq (Pigeaud et al. 2012; note also
style, medium and technique of Palaeolithic art can all that this cave contains a fusion of a human head and
carry cultural information of both emblemic (about the limbs with an otherwise horse body in the form of its
group) and assertive (about the individual) nature. In engraved ‘sorceror’ – pers. obs.), two bovids and two
this regard, the relative rarity of human depictions, and caprids in Pair-non-Pair (Delluc & Delluc 1997) and the
the almost ubiquitous animal-like characteristics of the Lascaux shaft confrontation between a human/animal
examples that do exist, is of interest. In a consideration hybrid and a bison (Aujoulat 2005). Several examples
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of confronting pairs of groups of animals are shown artefacts from its single archaeological level which are
in Figures 12.1, 12.3 and 12.4. exclusively compatible with the Early Magdalenian,
Considerable attention is also paid to the details and the absence of any artefacts characteristic of ear-
of confrontation in Magdalenian art. Postures indica- lier or later phases of the Upper Palaeolithic (Allain
tive of fighting behaviour are common to confronting 1979; Delluc & Delluc 2012) it is parsimonious to
scenes in both parietal and portable art, whether date the greater majority – if not all – of its art to the
it be the wolves of La Vache, bison of Trois-Frères, Early Magdalenian/Magdalenian II. This equates to
mammoths of Laugerie-Haute and Rouffignac, or Leroi-Gourhan’s Style III (Leroi-Gourhan 1968), and
horses, deer and aurochsen of Lascaux. The frequent displays in particular a number of strong thematic and
presence of submissive postures, however, suggests stylistic similarities with the smaller cave of Gabillou,
that these were not fights to the death, but rather the although the latter contains mainly engraved art in a
ritualized fighting that ends before mortal wounds much smaller scale than Lascaux (Gaussen 1988). More
can be inflicted (Welté 1989: 230), as one finds among widely, it forms part of a reasonably well dated group
the humans of small-scale societies. of Parietal art sites (including the caves of Le Placard,
If we acknowledge that art often functions as Villars, La Mouth, Sous-Grand-Lac) all of which dis-
an active, shared form of social negotiation, promot- play a strong stylistic inheritance from the preceding
ing social norms through repetitive acts and through Gravetto-Solutrean, e.g. long, uninterrupted dorsal,
which individual agencies can be expressed by skills chest and ventral curves, oval hoofs, a concern with
and provisioning, then its most interesting content is symmetry, and postures indicative of movement and,
the focus on confrontation and aggression, often in the in Villars, a humanoid/bovid confrontation (Delluc
context of creation (rutting), ‘storing’ these messages & Delluc 1971, 2012; Gaussen 1988, 1991a, b; Glory &
for further elaboration and viewing. It strongly sug- Pierret 1960; Guy 2017: 208).
gests that aggression and inequality are intrinsic to Lascaux’s seven galleries contain painted and
the creation of life and the perpetuation of the social engraved panels that constitute a highly organized
world. What could be more natural? depiction of several faunal biotopes (d’Huy 2011), five
of which contain the bi- and tri-chrome paintings the
Lascaux cave is justifiably famous for (Hall of the Bulls, Axial
Gallery, Passage, Nave and Shaft of the Dead Man).
It may be of note that Lascaux’s art seems to have Three galleries contain its abundance of engravings (the
been created at the beginning of a new technocom- Apse, Chamber of the Felines, and also in the Nave).
plex in Southwest France. The end of the Solutrean Some 70 per cent of the 915 animals still visible on its
came somewhat earlier in the region than in Iberia walls have been identified to taxon, and display an
(Straus et al. 2012), probably representing a population overwhelming iconographic concern with seasonality
break with the succeeding Badegoulian, out of which and rutting among the three dominant species – horse,
the Magdalenian subsequently arose locally around aurochs and deer (Aujoulat 2005; Pigeaud 2005: 818).
20,500 bp (Ducasse 2012). The few chronometric dates Aujoulat (ibid.) has noted several striking aspects of
that exist for Lascaux’s archaeology (Leroi-Gourhan Lascaux’s art in particular: the extensive markings
& Evin 1979; Cleyet-Merle et al. 1998; Delluc & Delluc throughout the cave system suggestive of deliberate
2012; see also Gittins & Pettitt 2017 note 1) suggests exploration and ‘owning’ of the cave in the process
that its art was perhaps created in at least two phases, of ‘sacralization’; complex and skilled means to inte-
between c.  17,000–21,000 cal. bp and 21,500–22,500 grate wall form and colour; image morphology and
cal. bp, although taking the paucity of dates measured its relationship to viewers; vast numbers of images in
in recent years and their errors into account these could uniform concentrations; the numerical dominance of
certainly be consistent with a broad age for the art horse where aurochsen visually seem to on the basis of
around 21,000 cal. bp. In comparison to the age range for size; and a strict order of depiction of horse – aurochs
the latest Badegoulian elsewhere (c. 20–21,000 cal. bp), – stags adhered to in all chambers, which follows the
activity in the cave could be entirely consistent with seasonal order in which these three species rut. Hayden
the appearance of the Early Magdalenian. Although (2018: 298–9) has noted how the physical nature of the
some have argued that its art accumulated over several cave, and in particular the differing size of decorated
phases perhaps even spaced millennia apart (Bahn areas, would be fully consistent with the use of the
1994), its overall thematic, stylistic, technological and cave as an arena for the activities of secret societies,
organizational homogeneity is overwhelming (Lam- e.g. with areas of group activity, and areas of seclusion.
ing 1959; Geneste et al. 2004; Aujoulat 2005; Delluc & A high degree of material provisioning of the cave
Delluc 2012), and on the basis of its >500 lithic osseous is attested archaeologically and artistically, notably the
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clusters of lamps, pigment ‘blocks/crayons’, stone ‘pal- animals at Lascaux (particularly predators), rather than
ettes’ stained with pigment and a fragment of plaited representing ‘hunting magic’, may reflect a tangible
rope conceivably for climbing (Delluc & Delluc 1979a, fear that the images may have become animated in a
b). The approximately 130 stone lamps from Lascaux is ‘real’ sense and hence, a concern to prevent it (d’Huy
impressive alone, and includes the carved and symbol & Le Quellec 2010). The bestiary of Lascaux, created
bearing red sandstone lamp and a fragment of a second with physical difficulty and through a complex, shared
from the Shaft, each deriving from distant sources material provisioning, becomes something tangible,
in the Charente (Glory 1961; Delluc & Delluc 1979a; alive, and dangerous; in short, replete with emotion, a
Pastoors & Weniger 2011).3 They are so numerous as to perfect arena for social and ritual discourse (sensu Sosis
suggest a serious investment in the physical presence & Alcorta 2003: 268). Many aspects of Lascaux’s art
in the cave. Distinct mineral pigments were derived are consistent with social signalling, if not specifically
from diverse sources, and demonstrate several differ- costly signalling theory sensu stricto (Gittins & Pettitt
ent production methods of these ‘paints’ (Chalmin et 2017). Numerous examples reveal that its production
al. 2004a, b, 2007; Chadefaud et al. 2008); surely we incurred personal cost; demonstrates personal fitness
should regard paint production as a form of expertise? or social qualities; demonstrates commitment to the
The combination of distinct ‘paints’ in single images social group through repeated themes and participation
is suggestive of a shared endeavour; two distinct in group compositions; and was constrained by social
manganese sources and production techniques were norms (ibid.: table 1). Its scenes are essentially a com-
used in the depiction of the Great Bull, for example, ment on social organization of prey animals (Guthrie
the rare form of one of which (Hausmannite) suggests 2005: 7) in which, notably, the human participant is
a source in the Pyrenees some 250 km distant (Chal- installed amidst the cave’s cacophonous action.
min et al. 2007). Considering that each of these two Given the social concerns of Lascaux’s art, it should
paints were essentially the same colour – black – this come as no surprise that it contains much evidence
can only reflect sharing in both the provisioning and of competition and inequality, as is found among
production of the image. Pigment analysis of the two the prey animals depicted on its walls and discussed
red and black ‘back-to-back bison’ in the shaft reveals above. Whether or not we argue that such content was
an even greater diversity of pigments from both local a deliberate signal or whether it was simply a ‘natural’
and distant sources, and a complex preparatory stage observation with no inherent meaning, it is justifiable
(Vignaud et al. 2006) and considerable diversity of pig- to note the prevalence of depictions of competition and
ment sources and techniques has also been identified aggression integral to the art of Lascaux in many other
for the polychrome ‘blazons’ of the Nave, and for the Upper Palaeolithic decorated caves (e.g. Raphael 1954;
haematite and manganese lumps excavated in the cave Laming 1959; Leroi-Gourhan 1968). Particular animals
by the Abbé Glory (Chalmin et al. 2004a). can dominate the mixed grazing scenes of each gallery
The act of composition and execution of the depic- in one of two ways; they are either numerically or visually
tion of animal groups demonstrates a sophisticated dominant, especially within the same panel. One’s eyes
understanding of their appearance, organization, are naturally drawn to the two huge confronting bulls
mobilization and activity (Aujoulat 2005). The panels that are usually seen as the main organizational principle
were accumulated in an ordered way. Bosses and cracks of the Chamber of the Bulls; they dominate in this sense,
on the cave’s walls that resemble parts of animals were but horses are nevertheless far more numerous in the
appropriated by the artists and incorporated into the gallery, and in fact it is horses which appear to drive the
depiction of the animal (e.g. the backs and bellies of dynamic scene forward. It is as if horses present a subtle
engraved horses in the Axial Gallery). The depiction or covert social message within one ostensibly domi-
of movement (‘dynamism’) becomes a characteristic of nated by bulls. Thus, while it is true that the aurochsen
Palaeolithic art from the early Magdalenian (Gaussen represent the culmination of the great, dynamic scene
1991a, b) and is particularly prevalent in Lascaux swirling around the upper walls of the gallery, the real
(Pigeaud 2000). Participants in its art become installed drive behind the movement are, instead, the horses
into the cave’s vibrant and multi-sensory landscape (including the ‘unicorn’4) to the rear of each column
in which the echoing noise of the large chambers driving the impressive groups forwards. Socially, this
reflects the stampeding animals depicted on their represents two initially incompatible principles; an
walls, and by contrast the silence of the Chamber of obvious leadership from the front (bulls), and a subtler
the Felines reflects the silent predators engraved on leadership from the rear. But if it is correct to take this
its walls (Aujoulat 2005). We should be careful not to as an expression of leadership, it divides into leadership
interpret this simply through modern eyes; barbed by confrontation and by driving, very reminiscent of the
and hooked signs within and without many depicted instigation of movement and rutting of horse as noted
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Figure 12.1. The Abbé Glory’s drawing of the engraved horses in the Axial Passage (his inventory numbers 76–87)
reproduced in Vialou 1979, Figure 186. The panel demonstrates the principles of line (horses 81, 83, 82), stacking
(horse 78 obscures a second) and tiers (horses 81 and 86; 77, 79 and 82). Note also how the dorsal lines of an ibex
and horse (which Glory referred to together as inventory number 86), which are opposed (if overlapped), parallel each
other. Similarly, the belly line of horse 79 is suggestive of the dorsal line of horse 82. The two front legs of Horse 83
demonstrate the mixing on one animal of two distinct styles; the left is a ‘Lascaux style’ hoof (round and seen from below
like a hoofprint), the right is a ‘Gabillou style’ (pointed, seen in profile).

above. It is tempting to relate this to the anchorship of within (superimposed upon) one another (Which I
a social core (greater numbers: probably female) and term ‘stacks’: Figures 12.1 and 12.3) or placed one
leadership (larger size: probably male) organization above another yet ignoring perspective (which I term
discussed above. The process of driving is explicit here; ‘tiers’: Figures 12.1 and 12.4). The near or complete
in relatively flat terrain horses will generally follow obliteration of some individuals by stacking (shown
each other in single file – the simplest explanation for very clearly in the panel of the Great Black Bull in
the depiction of rows of horses in Lascaux – and in the Axial Gallery; Aujoulat 2005: 105) shows that this
single-stallion bands (i.e. harems) the stallion initiates was not an artistic technique, but instead was meant
movement by taking a ‘rearguard’ position, instigating to represent a social group, whether or not all animals
a forward movement before moving to lead from the comprising it remained visible to the viewer. While
front (Pacheco & Herrera 1997). There is much driving the superficial order of the compositions reflects a
evident in Lascaux, although as on its walls horse may great deal of social synchrony, however, a close read-
drive aurochsen, and stags drive horses, this aspect of ing of Lascaux’s panels reveals a striking number of
its art cannot simply be an observation from life on the examples of asymmetry (Figures 12.2, 12.3 and 12.4).
tundra. In ‘real’ life; horses do not drive aurochsen, Among groups, a single individual will often face in
and stags do not drive horses. Why then mix the taxa the opposite direction to the group; one loner who
enmeshed in these social activities unless it is for a state- is breaking from the order. Among opposed groups
ment about the nature of interaction and leadership in there is almost always a slight asymmetry in num-
a more imaginary social world? bers, e.g. between horses and aurochsen in the Axial
An overall order is expressed in Lascaux’s art in Gallery (Aujoulat 2005: 90). Viewed in the context of
several ways; by symmetry, synchrony, and repeti- the ubiquity of confronting animals, this must surely
tion. The symmetrical organization of the panels is reflect the fact that things in social negotiations were
clear, i.e. in which one line of animals is ‘reflected’ or not equal. Can one recognize here alliances between
repeated on the other side of the gallery (e.g. the Hall individuals? The sharing of a line between two animals,
of the Bulls, Axial Gallery, and Nave). Lines of animals which blurs the two (to the viewer, where does one
following each other – represented for all of the main end and another begin?) may by an artistic technique
depicted taxa – express social synchrony (Figures 12.1 to represent alliance, as with tiers and stacks. Why else
and 12.2), as does the repetition of individuals either would these techniques be employed?
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Figure 12.2. The Abbé Glory’s drawing of the painted Frieze of Ibex in the Nave (his inventory numbers 191
(possible head of a horse and ‘quadrangular sign’ in the centre of the frieze) and 192 (seven ibex), reproduced by Vialou
1979, Figure 218. The entire frieze shown spans about 115 cm. The principle of a line is clear, the horses head creating
a slight asymmetry between the front 4 and rear 3 ibex. A single engraved animal at the centre of the rear most three
painted ibex is the only one of the group to face to the right; Glory thought it to represent an antelope, otherwise absent
from the cave’s inventory. This is not the only panel in which confronting animals or a line is split by a quadrangular
sign (or blazon). Here, it, and the horse’s head with which it is associated, creates asymmetry out of a line of seven ibex
within which one could otherwise not identify it. The symbol creates an imbalance. Note also the pair of parallel lines
above this: see caption for Figure 12.3.

Figure 12.3. The Abbé Glory’s drawing of the engravings of the left side of the Nave’s Panel of the Black Cow,
reproduced in Leroi-Gourhan 1979b Figure 299. No scale has been provided: the whole panel is over 7 m in length; the
section depicted around 3 m. A total of six horses across the panel face right, seven face left; a slight asymmetry, and two
confronting pairs are shown. Heavy stacking is evident in the right cluster of horses, the dorsal lines of which parallel
each other despite their differing scales. Note that a pair of parallel lines runs perpendicular to the rear hoof of the largest
of one of these horses: such paired lines feature among the horses in other panels (see Figure 12.2). Are these paired lines
signing something about partnership and wider social organization?
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Figure 12.4. The Abbé Glory’s drawing of the engraved horses and ibex of the east wall of the Axial Passage
(his inventory numbers 179–87), reproduced in Vialou 1979, Figure 211. A good example of confrontation (horse 180
and 182), a tier (horses 187, 182, 183), slight asymmetry (two right facing horses in the main cluster, three left facing),
the panel shows a striking integration of X signs and paired lines on the flanks of Horse 180, and two ‘asteriform’
signs (Leroi-Gourhan 1979a) that partially complete the ventral/dorsal line of two horses included in Glory’s
inventory number 181. Note also the line of two ibex heads 183 and 184. Given the effort to engrave these images,
why were most incomplete in one way or another?

Another aspect of asymmetry which one can from the same social concepts about order. But there
plausibly link directly to the participation of two social is also a degree of subtle difference, again if one looks
groups is the comparison of Lascaux’s art with that in detail at an otherwise strong superficial similarity.
of Gabillou, some 40 km to the west and thought to Lascaux contains horses with a small number of ‘Gabil-
be contemporary. Gabillou’s relatively small canon of lou type’ (pointed) hoofs; by contrast Gabillou contains
engravings was probably the work of a small group of a small number of ‘Lascaux type’ (rounded) hoofs (see
artists only (Gaussen 1991b); one might sensibly expect Figure 12.1 for an example). In each cave these are well
this to be one social group. Like Lascaux it documents contextualized as a part of an otherwise homogeneous
a number of aggressive actions among several species, and ordered panel, and most strikingly, each type of
notably the Cheval qui boit (Gaussen 1991). In many hoof can appear on the same animal (Gaussen 1988,
respects the art of Gabillou and Lascaux are themati- 1991a, b; Petrognani & Sauvet 2012). This must surely
cally and stylistically very similar; they certainly drew indicate the contribution of two distinct social groups
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to the depiction of several examples of single animals scale of skill-sets demonstrable in the provisioning
in each cave? Additionally, whereas the engravings in and creation of Lascaux’s art alone cannot, I suggest,
each cave are well produced, with skilled and confident be taken to be indicative solely of an ephemeral set of
lines, numerous animals, while virtually complete and individual differences that made no contribution to a
often with great attention to detail, are nevertheless more pervasive social stratification. Why would that
left somewhat incomplete. Dorsal, chest or ventral result in a very restricted set of burials indicative of
lines, or legs, bear gaps. Why was this so, if in almost some kind of subset of society? I conclude that it is
all other respects considerable attention was paid to unlikely that such differences could exist in a gener-
completeness, naturalness and detail? Was this a fac- ally ‘egalitarian’ group, and while I would not want
tor of shared drawing of images, with breaks marking to exaggerate any inevitability that such would lead to
social distinctions? In this light, the replacement of a inequality, viewed in combination with the focus on
missing part of a horse’s back by an asteriform sign aggression and competition in art makes sense as an
(Leroi-Gourhan 1979a) is striking (Figure 12.4). indicator of considerable social negotiation between
individuals which was constantly in flux. This may
Conclusion not have been social inequality as we know it; but it
was inequality nevertheless.
Palaeolithic groups have left no unambiguous indica-
tion of their social relationships. We are required to Acknowledgements
speculate based on the assumption that some aspects
of their archaeological record will preserve at least I’m very grateful to Luc Moreau for inviting me to
general indications of gross social organization. Tak- participate in the Social inequality before farming
ing our clues from hunter-gatherer analogues from the workshop, and particularly for his heroic patience
last two centuries, it should be apparent that modern waiting for the manuscript. His pleasant organization
notions of distinct boundaries between individuals and editing have made this a pleasure. The delegates
and between categories of ‘human’ and ‘animal’ are of the Social Inequality before Farming workshop
not appropriate for understanding the Palaeolithic made it such an interesting and valuable experience.
mind. Instead, as I argue here, it seems more sensible David Wengrow and Mark White kindly read over a
to assume that such a distinction did not exist, and draft manuscript, offering much sage advice, and I am
that the mammalian prey that was so central to the particularly grateful to my reviewers, Brian Hayden
Palaeolithic mentality formed an appropriate model and one anonymous for engaging with my sugges-
for the organization of human social groups. Following tions seriously and having many useful comments on
the ubiquity of scenes of competition and aggression them. Needless to say, all mistakes remain my own.
in Palaeolithic art – particularly in the spectacular
‘supersites’ such as Lascaux, it seems likely that social Notes
messages about competition and the maintenance of
social order were inherent in many works of ‘art’ and, 1 But contrast his comment that ‘it may be supposed that
presumably, in the ‘ritual’ activities which accompa- there were instances of the [‘higher’] tribal level of society
nied their creation. Using Lascaux as an example, I in the Palaeolithic era’ in which ‘unusual’ high resource
have argued that its art is replete with examples of productivity made such exceptions permissible (ibid.,
99).
drivers, anchors, oppositions and confrontations,
2 I only ignore small furbearers and carnivores here as
asymmetries, and several forms of repetition of ani- they are rarely depicted in Palaeolithic art. I am not
mals within its dynamic scenes, which I interpret as suggesting that they played no role in Magdalenian
reflecting deep-rooted concerns with inequality and conceptions of social ecology.
the maintenance of social order. I have not discussed 3 We have perhaps ignored the social importance of lamps,
elaborate Magdalenian burials – often taken as indica- which often carry great symbolism. Mauss (1950) found
tive of some form of social rank distinctions (I don’t that among the Eskimo, one lamp was symbolic of one
think this inevitable, however) – although if nothing family, whether or not they were used one to a tent in
else the impressive array of distinct expertise witnessed the summer or in multiples by the several families using
one winter longhouse. Although one cannot of course
in Magdalenian archaeology and in Lascaux alone
ascertain whether a similar pattern pertained at Lascaux,
should make it obvious that considerable differences the large number of lamps recovered from the cave’s
existed between individuals. In Dahrendorf’s terms, floor in several galleries might suggest that they were
the question is whether social differentiation can be brought in by several individuals, and the circulation in
equated with social stratification at Lascaux or at any the landscape of well-made carved lamps of Charentaise
other place and time in the Upper Palaeolithic. The sandstone such as the examples found in the cave’s ‘shaft’

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suggests that these had some social agency, particularly Boyle, K., 1997. Late Magdalenian carcass management strate-
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 Chapter 13

Naturalism: a marker of
Upper Palaeolithic social inequalities?

Emmanuel Guy

It is usually considered that Upper Palaeolithic popu- level of virtuosity in craft and knowledge is far from
lations were devoid of any form of inequality or self-evident. It seems reasonable that the extremely
hierarchy. This assumption is based on two main masterful and complex figurative art in the caves of
arguments. First, the beginning of a socio-economic Chauvet, Lascaux or Niaux bear witness to the long-
divide among individuals is usually attributed to the term practice of drawing, with an artistic education
Neolithic period. The transition towards a sedentary probably started at an early age and necessitating some
lifestyle induced by agricultural practices and livestock form of daily practice (Fig. 13.1).
farming may have led to individual ownership of land In other words, the high technical level of Pal-
and excess wealth production. Furthermore, the pri- aeolithic figurative representation probably implies
vatization of those resources by a minority may have some degree of individual specialization. Even on
caused the gradual establishment of hierarchical socie- a part time basis, specialization necessarily means
ties dominated by casts of hereditary lineages. Traces inequalities of knowledge. However, differences in
of the first defensive systems around settlements and of ability and skill do not necessarily translate into dif-
increasingly numerous massacres implying territorial ferences in access to the critical resources for survival,
rivalries also date to the Neolithic. The second argu- which is key to non-egalitarian social structures (Kelly
ment in support of an egalitarian Palaeolithic society 2013). Just because one has spent time learning a craft,
relies on ethnological work on numerous Australian, be it flintknapping or drawing, this does not imply
Southern African or Arctic Circle hunter-gatherer non-egalitarianism in terms of a hierarchy of statuses
societies that show no structural hierarchy. If this within the group.
egalitarian model is widely agreed upon in the field, The issue of specialization has been raised pre-
it seems to us, on the contrary, that the Palaeolithic viously regarding some artefacts of extraordinary
artistic data decisively points towards strong social- expertise such as Solutrean laurel-leaf points or Magda-
economic inequalities during that period (Guy 2017). lenian blades. Jacques Pelegrin argues that the expertise
of flintknappers results from a life-long accumulation
An art made by specialists of knowledge and experience rather than individual
specialization (Pelegrin 2007); there is no need to be
The motivations behind the realism of Palaeolithic specialist in order to become an expert. This argument
representation, their ‘naturalism’ – according to art may be asserted for flintknapping, an activity directly
history terminology – are seldom questioned. Where linked to the daily quest for means of subsistence, but
does such a desire for fidelity in the depiction of the no economic necessity calls for the act of drawing for
visible come from? Even if this mimetic preoccupation which a high level of skill can only be explained by a
seems to concern animal representations exclusively dedicated training.
(human figures being both scarce and usually reduced A recent study about the manufacture of Aurig-
to a far more schematic expression), it is nonetheless nacian ivory or soapstone beads emphasizes the great
robust since it runs throughout the Upper Palaeo- standardization of these productions (Heckel 2017). The
lithic. This naturalism could be seen as a sign of the author suggests that the uniform aspect of personal
probable inequality of Palaeolithic societies for at ornaments can only be explained by a limited number
least two reasons (Guy 2017). The first is that such a of production centres and craftsmen. These criteria
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 Chapter 13

Figure 13.1. Drawing

of a bison, Salon noir,
Cave of Niaux (Ariège,
France), © N. Aujoulat /
CNP / MC.

can be used to define specialization of craftsmen in medicine production – in otherwise egalitarian com-
agricultural societies. munities (Woodburn 1982).
Works of art, stone items or adornments therefore The second reason indicating the presence of
may well have been made by specialists. This division inequality within at least some Palaeolithic societies is
of activities might indicate a form of hierarchy among tied to the nature of imitation itself: it is not a condition
individuals if we assume that societies needed to be for ritual. One could even say it is the other way around.
wealthy enough to economically support specialists In traditional societies, art usually presents forms that
during their training and their professional activity. Such are much more overtly symbolic than mimetic. This
a level of wealth is usually characteristic of hierarchi- tendency is linked to the fact that in such societies,
cal groups. These claims also speak to the recurring what is called ‘art’ is mainly used to communicate
observation that the production of the most imposing with supernatural forces. It has no particular voca-
Palaeolithic works (among them Lascaux) – which tion to imitate the real world. When art tends towards
probably required several months of labour – depended illusionism it is generally in order to better serve the
upon the economic and material support of the artist interests of an elite because, as Claude Lévi-Strauss
by the rest of the group (Bon 2009). wrote, to be able to imitate nature is to show that one
However, it remains speculative whether Lascaux can ‘compete’ with it (Charbonnier 1961). This ability
was completed in one effort and whether by being to imitate reality is a source of prestige for both the
very skilled at an activity, Upper Palaeolithic special- author and the potential audience of the artwork. Yet,
ists or experts were supported in the way that court prestige always has a political function. It allows elites
artisans were supported in much later time periods. to set themselves apart from others and thus contrib-
There are ethnographic instances of individuals who utes towards providing evidence of their entitlements.
specialized in an activity – flintknapping, basketry, Artistic imitation therefore represents added value which,
224
 Naturalism: a marker of Upper Palaeolithic social inequalities?

in addition to the ceremonial or religious function of According to Testart, the desire to store resources
images, corresponds to economic and political roles. is first and foremost a reaction to environmental con-
Artistic naturalism is not the only mode of represen- straints. Storage is enabled by seasonal resources; the
tation used by social elites to express their prestige. alternation between abundance and shortage is what
However, to my knowledge there are no illusionist pushes human groups to keep stocks. The geographical
artistic traditions in all of art history that are not the nature of this factor could explain why the majority
product of highly hierarchical societies.1 We do not see of hunter-gatherers known to store food are found
why the Upper Palaeolithic Era would be any different. at high latitudes that experience greater seasonality.

Unequal hunter-gatherers Limited signs of storage

In relation to these arguments, one can legitimately Curiously, hunter-gatherers from regions with limited
wonder whether distinct social inequalities may have resources are usually those used as a comparison to
already existed in Upper Palaeolithic societies. The evoke the Palaeolithic way of life. Davies (this volume)
hypothesis is all the more plausible given that the explicitly rejects the hypothesis that the environment
term ‘hunter-gatherer’ itself covers numerous differ- in which Eurasian Palaeolithic groups evolved is
ent economic and social realities. In his work, Alain comparable to that of complex hunter-gatherers of
Testart demonstrates strong socio-economic inequali- the American Northwest Coast.
ties among different groups of hunter-gatherers. His However, the richness of mid-latitude European
study shows that such a social hierarchy, far from ice age environments is incomparable to any analo-
being an exception, would instead tend to be the rule gous present-day region (Djindjian et al. 1999). Such
among hunter-gatherer groups (Testart 1982). Essen- a unique ecosystem would be closer to the African
tially, Testart believes that there are two categories savannah than to the tundra or the taiga. Some studies
of hunter-gatherers. The first category lives in desert show that the biomass of large mammals of the steppes
or marginal resource areas. These groups are usually was closer to the 31,000 kg per sq. km found in some
quite small and mobile, their migrations based on the savannahs than to the 300 kg per sq. km usually found
exhaustion of natural resources. There are no marked in the tundra (Drucker et al. 2014). The environment
inequalities among them and no specific social divi- would theoretically thus have been favourable to an
sion. Their organization is close to those of Southern intensive storing practice, but is there any material
African San, Australian Aboriginal peoples or other evidence of this?
groups of humans living in the Arctic Circle. There is some evidence but it is rare and difficult
In contrast, hunter-gatherers from regions with to interpret, the most convincing being pits dug in the
a high biomass show far lower levels of mobility. This frozen ground of Gravettian open-air sites located
semi-settled way of life is enabled by the ability to store in the plains of Central and Eastern Europe (Pavlov,
wild resources which produces wealth. Dolní Věstonice, Kostienki, Mezirich, etc.). These pits
Thus, according to Testart, it is not food produc- dug close to occupation sites were probably used as
tion itself that led to the emergence of inequalities pantries, suggested by bone remains of large mammals
but rather the storage and ownership of wild or found inside. Tangible signs of food preservation are
domesticated resources by a minority (Testart 1982). not as clear in Western Europe, either because people
The hunter-gatherer economy of the Northwest Coast did not store or because the structures built for that
Indians is one of the best-known cases. The abundance purpose were made of perishable materials that have
of seasonal resources, especially the profusion of not preserved (platforms mounted on stilts, baskets,
salmon in the rivers and estuaries during the spawning chests, etc.). Another factor is the difficulty in estimat-
season, enables the group to store such a great amount ing the role of fishing, and more generally marine
of food that they can live at the same site throughout resources in those economies. Complex hunter-gatherer
most of the year. These groups are under the domina- ethnology reveals that most of these groups are, in
tion of a hereditary elite who possess all of the land fact, fishermen and women. An explanation could
and resources. Under them are the commoners who be the limited number of steps necessary to preserve
possess nothing, or close to nothing; finally, at the fish (gutting, heading, filleting), especially given how
bottom end of the social ladder are the slaves who well it can be dried and smoked (Testart 1982). Was
belong to rich dignitaries. The degree of hierarchy the coastline intensively exploited by Palaeolithic
and inequality introduced by these stock-keeping groups? Were the well-known Mesolithic fisheries
hunter-gatherers is not unlike what can be observed first created at that time or had they been there since
in agricultural societies. Palaeolithic times? It is currently impossible to answer
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this question given the rise in sea level at the end of emphasizes the circulation of art objects and personal
the last glaciation that resulted in the submersion of ornaments over very large distances as a practice usually
the ancient coastline. Any Palaeolithic sites linked to specific to societies showing some form of hierarchy.
the exploitation of marine resources would now rest a The production of food surplus by hunter-gatherers
hundred metres below present-day sea level. However, does not only aim at building up a stock of food for
fishing should not be seen as an absolute condition winter, but it also creates wealth and reinforces the
for storage. Populations are known for emphasizing domination of the owners. From then on, part of the
storage of plant food, such as the acorn storing Indians surplus produce, be it food or artefacts, will sometimes
(Pomo, Miwok) from central California. Furthermore, circulate over large distances since it allows the elite to
we must consider the possibility of food freezing. For buy services and exchange precious goods in order to
populations living most of the year in temperatures maintain their prestige – in other words, their social
below 0°C it would be the easiest and cheapest way of position. Finally, there is a striking spatial overlap of
preserving food (Testart, 1982). It is thus impossible to graves and art objects with regions where the biomass
exclude the fact that storage of game meat could have was probably extremely rich (Hayden 2008; Guy 2017).
played an important role in Palaeolithic economies. All of these arguments tend to support the origins
Moreover, outdoor pits from Central and Eastern of a Palaeolithic elite who would have controlled land
Europe seem to suggest it was the case, at least locally. and resources, in a similar manner to the nobles of the
This brief overview points to the scarce evi- American Northwest Coast.
dence for storage during the Upper Palaeolithic, with
the additional issue that these signs do not indicate A heraldic function?
whether the sites were used to preserve extra food for
domestic use or as large-scale storing points that could Ethnological data indicate the power of the elite is
generate significant economic disparities. However, an based on sacredness. The mythic origin of the line-
increasing amount of data indicates the permanent or age is the root of any entitlement to land and other
semi-permanent occupation of certain large dwellings. people. This idea of heavenly superiority is the basis
In Central Europe, faunal remains found in Krems, of social hierarchy. The heroes of these origins stories
Pavlov, Předmostí and Moravany-Lopata II show that are usually ancestors who embody the lineage itself.
animals were hunted throughout the year. Similar situ- On the Northwest Coast, the myths involve
ations can be found in southwest Europe. The large animals that are sacred ancestors of families of the
Isturitz cave, in the French Pyrénées-Atlantiques region, elite. This animal typology is used to differentiate
seems to have been occupied throughout most of the each noble family and their privileges. The same ani-
year, with the same for Magdalenian sites in Gironde mals are represented, as on feudal coats of arms, to
(southwest France) including Saint-Germain-la-Rivière, indicate an identity affiliation. They are sculpted and
Moulin-Neuf and Roc de Marcamps. Such settlements painted on heraldic masts, on house facades and on
would have been difficult to occupy without food numerous ritual artefacts (Fig. 13.2). The use of such
storage, especially during the coldest time of the year. visual signs is a constant in this type of society. They
allow the ostentatious affirmation of the social rank
Ambiguous archeological data of dominant families.
If our hypothesis proves to be true, it is possible
Storage and its consequences for the social organization that Palaeolithic art was used as symbols of identity to
of prehistoric groups could explain certain unanswered communicate the power of elite, making them images
questions. Brian Hayden was the first to clearly defend of a heraldic nature.
the idea of the existence of inequalities during the General patterns seen in Palaeolithic art do not
Upper Palaeolithic. In his 2008 book, he points out the contradict this hypothesis, if one accepts their inter-
ambiguity of large amounts of data that could hint pretation as follows:
towards the emergence of hierarchy among members
of a group (Hayden 2008). Besides signs of storage and • Primacy is given to the representation of animal
sedentism, Hayden underlines the scarcity of burials species, which have historically been used as
(approximately 100) found for the whole period and, emblems.
simultaneously, the richness of some funerary artifacts • The selectiveness of the species represented,
– such as the spectacular offerings found in the famous approximately 20 throughout the period, prove
Sunghir burials. In elite societies, the burial of dignitaries their symbolic or emblematic function.
contributes towards giving a sacred status to the line- • The animals are represented without natural back-
age and underlining a family’s territory. Hayden also grounds and surroundings (plants, mountains,
226
 Naturalism: a marker of Upper Palaeolithic social inequalities?

sky, stars, etc.) and there is no explicit narrative that the most accomplished (thus, theoretically most
between subjects. This tends to prove, again, prestigious) representations are found in the largest
that these images are not a realistic or imaginary halls, therefore were susceptible to hosting a significant
description of a world but rather are symbols. number of visitors. On the other hand, the more sche-
• The extreme attention to detail in the depiction matic and rough works are usually located in recesses
of animal species, especially in comparison with or areas that are difficult to access (Villeneuve et al.
those of humans, contributes to the idea that they 2007). The presence of the works that demanded the
could have symbolized ancestors and, through most investment in the most accessible rooms can only
them, high-ranking families. be explained by a desire to flaunt. The partition of the
• The scarcity or absence of human representation works in the caves seems to express a desire to impress
is all the more understandable if men, or at least in line with prestige and distinction strategies that an
a certain category among them, were symbolized elite usually employ. One could think that, during
by animal species. the Palaeolithic, families would gather in those richly
decorated chambers to take part in ceremonies like
Others have mentioned the possible relation between the potlatch of the Northwest Coast. The concomitant
animal species and human identities (Max Raphaël, existence of hidden works is not in contradiction with
Annette Laming-Emperaire, Alain Testart) without the existence of an art supposedly dedicated to the elite.
linking this practice to any form of social hierarchy. Prestige expresses itself both through value attributed
The relatively hidden, and therefore secret, nature to a spectacular iconography and through the existence
of cave art could be seen as an argument against the of confidential works whose private nature produces,
ostentatious nature of an elite. Some drawings found in by its exclusivity, the desired effect of power. That
caves are purposefully placed out of sight in secluded, supernatural access needs to be controlled is precisely
sometimes barely accessible, areas. The reality is the key to the elite’s legitimacy.
probably more complex. We know that, in addition to Incidentally, portable art also displays rich deco-
cave art, representations could also be present in the ration, featuring the same animal species as those
open-air, potentially seen by all. One could mention represented in the caves. It is significant that the most
the thousands of engravings that decorate cliffs of likely sacred symbols one could see as belonging to
the Côa valley in Portugal. It is indeed interesting to the group as a whole can be found on personal objects.
notice that outdoor drawings are usually located on Personal ornaments can also be decorated with animal
river beaches close to areas of crossing and confluence, motifs similar to those found in the caves. This suggests
namely zones rich in resources. a personal use of ‘religious’ symbols (Bon 2009) thus,
The nature of parietal scenes in underground perhaps, an appropriation of sacredness by a minority
cave spaces itself is problematic. Studies seem to show which is, again, specific to elites.
Finally, the studies I lead on Palaeolithic modes
of representation lead us to recognize the existence
of schools, in the sense of the strict repetition of ways
in which things are represented from one site to
another, across distances that exclude the possibility
of their being produced by one individual (Guy 2011,
2017). In concrete terms, this means that the same
representational conventions were shared by different
artists (Fig. 13.3). This stylistic stability strengthens the
hypothesis of an active teaching of image creation at
the time. It is highly doubtful that this happened in a
totally spontaneous manner. The immersion of artists
in the same cultural environment would by no means
enable such a unity of styles on its own. It would thus
be interesting to question the nature of the thousands
of engraved stone plaques found in sites such as the
Spanish Parpalló cave, Enlene cave or La Marche in
France. The partial and rough nature of the represen-
Figure 13.2. Interior of a chief’s house, Chilkat, Alaska tations they bear could indicate their use as training
(photo credit: Library of Congress). http://www.loc.gov/ material for apprentices (Fig. 13.4). However, the ste-
pictures/item/2005684854/ reotypical nature of these representations reminds us
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 Chapter 13

La Croze-à-Gontran
Pair-Non-Pair
La Grèze
Pech-Merle

La Tête-du-Lion
El Castillo
La Pasiega

Foz Côa Domingo Garcia

Foz Sabor Siega Verde

Ocreza
El Reno
Escoural

Jorge

La Pileta Nerja Piedras Blancas

Figure 13.3. Same stylistic conventions shared in Western Europe around the twentieth millennium (drawing E. Guy).

Figure 13.4. Parpalló cave: apprentice exercises? (drawing E. Guy after Villaverde Bonilla).
228
 Naturalism: a marker of Upper Palaeolithic social inequalities?

of how important the message these symbols carried that could only come from external economic support,
must have been at that time. Indeed, we know that which in turn possibly comes from the existence of
the more the image answers a social necessity, the long-term food storage.
more conventional it needs to be in order to remain
understandable for those who receive it. It could thus Notes
be considered that such a level of codification could
be linked to the transmission of economic or political 1. One could oppose our reasoning with rock art from some
interests. We have mentioned earlier that long distance shelters in the south of Southern Africa. The naturalism
trade of objects or rare materials is often a sign of of those polychrome paintings is clearly very impressive
compared to some masterpieces of the Upper Palaeolithic
unequal societies in so far as its function is to increase
era. As mentioned before, the San are traditionally part
the wealth of owners. of groups of high mobility hunter-gatherers and their
This same logic based on economic interest social organization is described as largely egalitarian.
widely determines the rules of marriage. As Brian However, the reality is maybe more complex than this.
Hayden recalled in this conference, it means that The supposed Neolithic age of these paintings also
matrimonial network exchanges were sometimes corresponds to burials discovered in the same regions
built and spread over very large distances. Yet, if long which contain funerary artefacts (painted slabs, tools
distance marriages can also exist in simple hunter- made of rare materials, ochre, etc.) that were unusual in
gatherer societies, they were less common and were the context of egalitarian groups (Lewis-Williams 1983).
Furthermore, recent studies (Brian Hayden, comm. pers.)
not a particular cause of the circulation of goods and
suggest that hunters who lived in the region at that time
images. On the Northeast coast, marriages between displayed marked inequalities as they occasionally raised
sometimes very geographically distant noble fami- sheep and regularly organized banquets for strategic
lies were arranged in order to increase their tangible alliances against a backdrop of territorial competition
and intangible assets. (Suttles 1990). Alliances were and economic rivalry (Sadr 2005).
materialized by exchanges of crests between families
commissioned from famous artists (Berlo et al. 2006). References
These long-distance commissions are the first indica-
tion of the geographical dispersion of family emblems. Bon, F., 2009. Préhistoire, La fabrique de l’homme. Paris: Le
It seems to us that such alliance mechanisms which Seuil.
are specific to elite societies are the best hypothesis Berlo, J.-C., & R. Phillips, 2006. Amérique du Nord, arts pre-
for how, during the Upper Palaeolithic period, simi- miers. Albin Michel.
Charbonnier, G., 1961. Entretiens avec Cl. Lévi-Strauss. Plon.
lar style conventions may have sometimes travelled
Djindjian, F., J. Kozlowski & M. Otte, 1999. Le Paléolithique
considerable distances. supérieur en Europe. Armand Colin.
Drucker, D.G., H. Bocherens & S. Péan, 2014. Isotopes
Conclusion stables (13C, 15N) du collagène des mammouths de
Mezhyrich (Epigravettien, Ukraine): implications
In spite of earlier studies including those of Alain paléoécologiques. L’Anthropologie 118, 504–17.
Testart, it is surprising to see that prehistoric archaeol- Guy, E., 2011. Préhistoire du sentiment artistique, l’invention
ogy still considers economic egalitarianism as the only du style il y a 20 000 ans. Dijon: Les presses du réel.
possible form of social life in the Upper Palaeolothic. Guy, E., 2017. Ce que l’art préhistorique dit de nos origines.
Paris: Flammarion.
Yet, we undeniably know that socio-economic inequali-
Kelly, R.L., 2013. The Lifeways of Hunter-Gatherers: The Forag-
ties, at least as developed as the ones which appear in ing Spectrum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
agricultural societies, can exist in hunting-gathering Hayden, B., 2008. L’Homme et l’inégalité, l’origine de la hié-
contexts. It is difficult not to see the persistence of rarchie à la préhistoire. CNRS éditions.
a Rousseauist vision in this promotion of the ‘good Heckel, C., 2017. Reconsidering production organization
savage’. All of the numerous and troubling pieces of in the Early Upper Palaeolithic: The case for special-
evidence that we have noted above call for caution. ized production of Aurignacian beads. Quaternary
Among those mentioned earlier is the artistic natural- International 491, 1–10.
ism of Eurasian hunting populations, which without Lewis-Williams, D., 1983. The Rock Art of Southern Africa.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
doubt, should raise the most questions. First, because
Pelegrin, J., 2007. Réflexions sur la notion de ‘spécialiste’
their desire to imitate essentially symbolizes in itself the dans la taille de la pierre au Paléolithique, in Arts et
desire for the appropriation of nature which is specific cultures de la préhistoire. CTHS 24, 315–18.
to hierarchical societies. Second, because naturalism Sadr, K., 2005. From foraging to herding: The West Coast
inevitably requires at least part-time training and spe- of South Africa in the first millennium ad. Human
cialization. This is a heavy and constraining investment Evolution 20, 217–30.

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Suttles, W., 1990. Handbook of North American Indians, Villeneuve, S., & B. Hayden, 2007. Nouvelle approche de
volume 7, Northwest coast. Smithsonian Institution l’analyse du contexte des figurations pariétales, in
Scholarly Press. Chasseurs-cueilleurs. Comment vivaient nos ancêtres du
Testart, A., 1982. Les Chasseurs-cueilleurs ou l’origine des iné- Paléolithique supérieur. CNRS éditions, 151–60.
galités. Paris: Société d’Ethnographie. Woodburn, J., 1982. Egalitarian societies. Man 17, 431–51.

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 Part III
Social inequality in prehistoric
Holocene hunter-gatherer-fisher societies
 Chapter 14

Reciprocity and asymmetry in social networks:

dependency and inequality in a North Pacific
comparative perspective

Ben Fitzhugh

The development or ‘evolution’ of institutional social (Boehm 1993). The study of institutional inequality is,
differentiation, inequality and complexity has capti- for many scholars, an effort to understand how and
vated the interest of anthropologists and archaeologists why those equalizing tendencies lose effectiveness in
for well over a century. In the last two decades of the middle-range and larger societies. It is probably also
twentieth century, recognition of hierarchical or ‘com- fair to say that an implicit goal of this kind of research
plex’ hunter-gatherer groups challenged conventional for many scholars is to understand how we might
wisdom about cultural evolution and the importance support greater equality in the present.
of agriculture in the emergence of social inequality. While limited structural inequality, beyond dif-
The purpose of this essay is to revisit behavioural eco- ferences by age and sex, likely developed from time
logical models of the emergence of institutional social to time in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene as
inequality within hunting and gathering (or ‘foraging’) described by Brian Hayden (this volume; see also
communities and to consider the implications of these Soffer 1985; Vanhaeren & d’Errico 2005; Wengrow &
models to understand broader (inter-community) social Graeber 2015), the majority of archaeological examples
dynamics and histories across regions. This examina- of persistent inequality are found in the middle and
tion is based on comparison of two archaeological late Holocene (Ames 2007; Richerson & Boyd 2001).
case studies from opposite sides of the North Pacific This observation may be coloured by limitations in the
Rim: one from the Kodiak Archipelago in the Gulf of preservation and identification of relevant correlates of
Alaska (supplemented with ethnographic details from inequality in earlier cases. Nevertheless, most known
the northern Northwest Coast) and the other from examples of ranked or hierarchical hunter-gatherer
the Kuril Islands on the border of the Sea of Okhotsk. societies appear to have emerged from more egalitarian
I define ‘institutional inequality’ as vertical differ- forms late in the Holocene and are quite rare overall
entiation of status roles and accompanying privileges (Price 2002: 418–19). The fishing, hunting and gathering
codified in cultural norms and sanctioned through the opera- societies of the North American Northwest Coast first
tion of institutions that reinforce them. The use of the term exhibit characteristics of structural inequality (large
‘institutional’ signifies a qualitative difference from houses, concentrations of wealth, exclusive control
inequality due to individually endowed or achieved of resources, and specialized craft production) about
variation in skill, charisma and accomplishments that 2600 years ago (Ames & Maschner 1999: 254). The
can set individuals apart from their cohorts and even Chumash of the Northern Channel Islands of California
allow them considerable, if temporary, accumulation begin to show similar signs of persistent inequali-
of power or wealth. Importantly, non-institutionalized ties and control over non-kin labour approximately
status differences do not become normalized in social 1300 years ago (Arnold 1996; Kennett 2005: 198). The
structures, are easily – even actively – reversed, and do Florida Calusa chiefdom appears approximately 1200
not persist inter-generationally. Many primate socie- years ago (Widmer & Widmer 1988; Marquardt 2004).
ties and all human societies exhibit non-institutional In the Calusa case, large shell mound constructions
inequalities and asymmetries to various degrees. One and extensive canal systems reveal large-scale labour
of the hallmarks of Homo sapiens sociality is the ability control. While more controversial, other candidates
to suppress and equalize many potential inequalities for inequality include the Late and Final Jōmon,
through collective action and ideological reinforcement c. 4300–2400 cal. bp (Habu 2004, 2014), Chaco Canyon,
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c. 1000 cal. bp (Plog & Heitman 2010), Poverty Point, perceived self-interest exercised in inherited social,
c. 3400 cal. bp (Gibson 2001; Ortmann & Kidder 2013) cultural, and environmental contexts (Fitzhugh 2000).
and its antecedents in the earlier ‘Shell Mound Archaic’ This is the framework in which I first explored the
back to 5600 cal. bp (Sassaman 2004). In these and other evolution of institutionalized inequality in the Kodiak
cases, inequality is inferred from material differences in Archipelago of south-central Alaska (Fitzhugh 2003). In
residential features, differential distribution of prestige/ this chapter, I revisit that research to elucidate a case
wealth objects, elite burial treatment, labour-intensive of the evolution of politically ranked hunter-gatherers
constructions such as monumental architecture. Insti- on the northern end of the North American Northwest
tutionalization of these differences is inferred where Coast. I then turn to the Kuril Islands of the Northwest
these differences persist over time scales of many Pacific and apply similar logic to understand a very
generations and sometimes where cultural practices, different trajectory of social change (Fig. 14.1). These
represented in art, ceremonial architecture and other cases are presented to explore key structural factors
means, reinforce and legitimize social differences. affecting more or less unequal social relations and how
Efforts to explain the existence of institutional those variables might lead to the institutionalization of
inequality and complexity in foraging societies con- status inequalities at different scales and with different
tributed to a major shift in late twentieth century consequences for those living within their systems.
anthropological thought. Previously, agriculture was
seen as the key ‘revolutionary’ development leading Modelling inequality
to persistent inequalities and structural complexities.
Reassessment of this view followed two contrasting In recent years, archaeologists exploring processes of
realizations. The first was that ranked and hierarchical social differentiation have recognized that inequalities
foraging societies operated in a number of locations can emerge under different circumstances and as a
around North America at the time of first European result of changes in different variables. From this we
contact and had already been ranked and hierarchical have come to question unilineal models and instead
for centuries or millennia. The second was that low- seek to better understand the multiple ‘pathways to
level food producing societies existed for thousands power’ (see Hayden 1995; Price & Feinman 2010). One
of years without significant rank or hierarchy. These commonality of all or most of the pathways explored is
realizations forced anthropologists to reevaluate long- asymmetrical access to resources of importance (food,
standing assumptions about social evolution and to raw materials, technology, trade routes, labour, defen-
think more systematically about how social, economic, sive ability, etc.). In those cases, some proportion of
and environmental variability could interact and the population lack (or can be denied) regular, secure
change social structures and the opportunities available access to those resources, while others can control that
to people within them (e.g., Ames 1995; Arnold 1996; access. Finally, at least some of the disempowered
Hayden 1994, 1997; Prentiss et al. 2003). The result individuals should be able to do better for themselves
was a dismantling of simple stage models of social by providing services to resource controllers compared
evolution and the shift towards models that recognized to some alternative strategy such as revolting, stealing,
multiple pathways to inequality and complexity that or moving away. As long as prospective subordinates
paid more attention to ecological processes, historical can repel or escape dependence on despots, self-
contingency, agency, and context (Feinman 1995; Fein- aggrandizing can be neutralized. This was, of course, a
man & Neitzel 1984; see also Pauketat 2001). key insight from classic ethnographic research among
One approach to the study of social inequality hunting and gathering societies in Africa, such as that
derives from a focus on socio-ecological dynamics reported by Richard Lee (1969; see also Wiessner 1996).
under the theoretical guidance of human behavioural In intermediate cases (so-called ‘transegalitarian’,
ecology or HBE (Winterhalder & Smith 2000). Like Owens & Hayden 1997), differential influence and
others considering social inequality from an HBE per- status are limited to the ability of would-be elites to
spective (Boone 1992; Kelly 1995, 2013; Kennett 2005), provide benefits to potential supporters.
I am interested in how socio-ecological configurations Where options diminish for escaping subordina-
can condition potentials for more or less egalitarian tion – perhaps because better alternatives have been
vs. non-egalitarian interactions and structures. Human claimed by others – the conditions for inequality
behavioural ecology applies the logic of Darwinian evo- increase. The degree of inequality should be deter-
lution to the explanation of human adaptive behaviour mined by the relative leverage of would-be elites and
in ecological contexts (Winterhalder & Smith 1992). supporters in negotiating patron-client relationships.
HBE, like Marxist and practice approaches, assumes If elites have total control over a resource of absolute
that social agency is, at least in part, motivated by necessity and are not dependent on others for different
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 Reciprocity and asymmetry in social networks

Alaska/Northw
ulf of est
G Co
as
t

a
a

k
Se

at
ch Kodiak
tsk

Bering Sea
m
ho

Ka
Ok

s
nd Ale
r il Isla u tia
n Isla n d s
Ku
Ho
kk
aid

40 N
o

Figure 14.1. Map of North Pacific showing the North American Northwest Coast, Kodiak, the Kuril Islands, Hokkaido
and Kamchatka. Figure 1

resources, subordinates have little negotiating power. by the time ethnographers arrived to make detailed
Their security lies in convincing the elites to support descriptions (see Pullar 1992, 2001). Active efforts of
them in return for service, usually labour. If supporters Kodiak Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) leaders and others in recent
have numerous options and many potential patrons to decades, with contributions from archaeology among
choose from, they should be able to negotiate beneficial other fields, have reclaimed knowledge about aspects
terms in return for their support of elites. The degree of that past (Crowell 2004; Crowell et al. 2001; Pullar
of inequality should be more modest. et al. 2013). From those efforts, we understand that
But on what economic basis do these negotiations pre-contact Alutiiq communities, while linguistically
turn? Below I will discuss an HBE model for the evolu- and culturally affiliated with the Yup’ik people to the
tion of inequality proposed by James Boone (1992). It north, shared many structural features of complexity
will help to conceptualize the nature of hunter-gatherer and inequality with those of Southeast Alaska and
inequality with reference to the ethnographic evidence British Columbia (the ‘northern Northwest Coast’). A
of the northern Northwest Coast. review of some of those features is useful as a starting
point to establish the range of inequalities present at
Inequality of ethnographic foragers on the northern the time of contact.
Northwest Coast of North America According to nineteenth and early twentieth
At the time of contact with Russian, Spanish, British century ethnographic documentation of northern
and U.S. explorers, hunting, fishing and gathering Northwest Coast, ranked societies were organized
societies from Oregon to the Aleutians were arrayed in into complex and nested institutions of inequality and
ranked and semi-hierarchical social structures. On the democratic governance. Detailed accounts of Tlingit
Kodiak Archipelago, ethnohistoric accounts from the society by George Emmons, annotated by Frederica
early contact era (late eighteenth and early nineteenth de Laguna (Emmons et al. 1991), provide a reasonable
centuries) document dense settlement, large villages, approximation of northern Northwest Coast socie-
endemic and organized warfare, resource ownership ties, though differences in detail existed from group
and intense status competition (Black & Pierce 1989; to group. Astonishing accumulations of wealth and
Davydov 1976; Merck 1980). Many details of the social power characterized Tlingit chiefs at the heads of
lives of pre-contact and contact era Native communi- large and resource-rich lineages. Chiefs presided with
ties around the Gulf of Alaska were lost or suppressed customary privileges over the productive labours of
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their households (kin and slaves). Lineages were incor- and elites could be demoted to commoner (or slave)
porated into multi-village clans, which were ‘led’ by a status by incompetence, loss of kin support and sub-
chief elected by the council of lineage chiefs, to manage jugation in war. Chiefs had to earn the position and
the affairs of the clan, which itself held no property. were often officially elected to the post by their elite
In this way, hereditary inequalities were expressed kin, creating rivalries between siblings and cousins.
within the confines of the lineage or ‘house’. Chiefly Among the nineteenth century Tlingit, successors were
lineages rarely incorporated more than the members often named by the ageing chief, but to take up the title,
of a single village. Indeed, some Northwest Coast vil- the new chief had to pass the judgement of the clan
lages included multiple, independent lineage houses, council after demonstrating their ability to finance an
each led by its own chief, and each with independent expensive feast or project (Emmons et al. 1991: 38–9).
territorial claims on resource extraction sites, slaves, Chiefs and other highly ranked individuals rarely
and surplus production. had claim over more than their slaves and the subor-
Within house-groups, members were ranked from dinates in their own extended families. With a few
chief and close kin (‘nobles’) to low ranking relations notable exceptions (Macquina of the Nuchanulthaht
(‘commoners’) and slaves (e.g., Emmons et al. 1991: on outer Vancouver island, for example; see Reid
21, 37–46). Slaves were derived from war captives 2013), chiefly influence over other communities was
and were sometimes traded between regions. They limited to the respect and fear they earned as success-
were unranked and technically outside of the lineage ful potlatch sponsors and war leaders. Most lacked the
system, though they could be incorporated by mar- power to command members of other villages to any
riage or adoption – impermanent statuses that could particular action.
revert at the death of a patron. The status of ‘slave’ was While we lack comparably detailed ethnographic
itself inherited by the children of slaves. The material data from Kodiak, ethnohistoric accounts from the
means of wealth and power – in the form of fishing, time of early Russian contact indicate that Alutiiq
hunting and gathering locations, slaves and the col- society was similarly organized. Their communi-
lective labour of lineage members – was owned and ties were structured around kin-based lineages with
inherited from chiefs to their close kin. Nevertheless, chiefs who owned valuable resource patches, threw
chiefly power and indeed the relative influence and celebratory feasts to honour ancestors and mark life
prestige of lineage houses themselves had to be earned events, and waged regular warfare on their rivals,
continuously through successful leadership, acts of including the Tlingit in Southeast Alaska and the
bravery, and displays of productive power. Unangan (Aleuts) of the Eastern Aleutians (Davydov
Feasting (potlatches) was at the centre of status 1976: 22–3; Townsend 1983). On Kodiak successful
competition between lineage houses, providing both whale hunters and warriors were revered, and chiefs
a mechanism to bring glory to the house (and unify its managed villages of several hundred people (Clark
members) and an opportunity to re-arrange relative 1984, 1987; Crowell 1994; Holmberg 1985). According
status of lineages in the larger social order. Actions at to ethnohistoric accounts, the Natives of Kodiak were
potlatch ceremonies could cement alliances or trig- among the most populous, militaristic, and wealthy
ger feuds that, in turn, altered political landscapes of the Gulf of Alaska, and the Russians both avoided
(Emmons et al. 1991: 46–8). These competitive social and coveted the archipelago for decades before they
performances also provided regular opportunities were able to overpower the islanders and compel the
for elites to size up the competition and to gauge the leaders to come under their control (Black 1977, 1992;
potential costs and benefits of alliances and conflicts Knecht, Haakanson & Dickson 2002).
with rival factions. While strategic alliances would
have been critical to securing peaceful relations and Theorizing human egalitarianism and hierarchy
dominance in trade, warfare provided an alternate Two significant archaeological or ‘deep historical’ ques-
form of status competition and another way to change tions arise from examples like those of the Northwest
the fortunes of lineage groups. Political leaders paid Coast and Kodiak. The first is how an elite class could
close attention to potential insults from rivals, as they have arisen over the objections of, or at least against the
could be used as levers for retribution claims and war interests of, the majority of members of their commu-
raids, themselves tools for accumulating wealth, labour nities. The reciprocal question is why powerful chiefs
power, and status. were rarely able to break out of the confines of lineal
While approximate rank was inherited in most rank-groups to control multi-community polities as
Northwest Coast societies, the boundaries between was seen in some other fishing, hunting and gathering
commoner and elite ‘class’ was permeable. Commoners groups (e.g., Florida Calusa) and countless agricul-
could earn elite status through remarkable prowess, tural ones. Scholars have taken a number of different
236
 Reciprocity and asymmetry in social networks

approaches to these questions over the years, exploring the achieved dominance of competitive individuals).
various combinations of environmental, social, and Where egalitarian relations predominate (always
cultural factors and differing in their commitments to imperfectly), members of society actively reinforce
comparative generalization versus historical specificity equality through persistent individual and collective
and contingency. action to diminish and discourage self-aggrandizing,
I will argue here that certain aspects of ecological wealth accumulation, and assertions of social power
structure facilitate and constrain socio-political competi- and prestige (Ames 2007; Boehm 1993; Woodburn
tion within foraging communities and provide at least 1982). The structural implications of such collective
partial answers to the two questions posed above, that action are the establishment of institutions – cultural
is how those with aggrandizing tendencies or aspira- norms, traditions, and practices that reinforce egalitar-
tions may become tolerated, and why their power may ian social structures (e.g., Endicott & Endicott 2008).
be held in check beyond certain degrees of influence. The question concerning the emergence of institutional
Drawing from the HBE perspective, I begin my social inequality among human communities then is in
examination with the working assumption that social explaining how such collective policing of egalitarian
inequality is conditioned by structural differences in norms might fall apart and new norms developed that
access to essential needs (in subsistence, raw materi- support asymmetric social relations.
als, shelter, marriage partners, etc.). Differences can Materialist explanations of such transitions often
emerge where some people can control access to these focus in coarse terms on the relationship between
resources and where the best alternatives for others is population and resource productivity. They imagine
through service to those controlling them. The corollary inequality to be the outcome of either abundance and
assumption is that egalitarian relations will persist (or relaxation of the toil of resource procurement or, alter-
develop) where there is a lack of structural asymmetry natively, a managerial response to hardship, providing
between actors because everyone has the potential to increased efficiencies through social coordination (see
acquire needed resources without unequal dependence Ames 1995; Hayden 1995). Both models fail to specify
on others or because everyone is exposed to similar the relevant, strategic relationships between actors
risks of failure. These basic, materialist expectations in the context of ecological landscapes that I argue is
leave open the possibility that inequality could develop needed to understand how some individuals might
in different kinds of social and economic settings (e.g., participate in their own subordination. In a now classic
foraging or farming) and over access to different kinds behavioural ecological analysis, James Boone (1992)
of resources (e.g., productive natural resource patches, combined HBE models into a mechanistic account
stored resources, labour, mates, or even symbolic of how structural inequality might come about. His
currencies and sacred knowledge where they can be approach has influenced a number of HBE archaeolo-
reliably converted into social and material benefits). gists (Kelly 1995; Kennett 2005; Kennett, Anderson &
While social inequality is, by definition, social – it Winterhalder 2006) and was used in my own exami-
relates to the status of a person or group in the eyes of nation of social change in the Kodiak Archipelago
the community – recent cross-cultural study by Smith (Fitzhugh 2003).
and colleagues (2010a,b; Bowles et al. 2010) shows that Boone’s model has two basic components. The
the major differences between more-or-less egalitarian first relates to the mechanics of social group forma-
societies and those with heritable inequality are most tion. The second focuses on ecological structure,
significantly tied to differences in material wealth. territoriality, and defence. The size of social groups is
Other axes of inequality – which they gloss as relational often conditioned by the benefits to group members
and embodied wealth – also structure social relations of collective action and the degree to which potential
in life, but are only weakly, if at all, transmitted. joiners expect to see a significant improvement in their
Presumably this is because only material wealth can own benefits by joining the group. In the absence of
be dissociated from the individual and exchanged, differences in status or power, group members will
hoarded, accumulated (potentially without limits) seek to participate in groups that maximize their
and inherited. own return rates relative to investments. This goal
Many scholars have argued that the key to ine- will create conflicts between members and prospec-
quality is the willingness of some members of a group tive joiners, for whom participation in a group of any
to accept and even promote the unequal status of others size is better than conducting the activity alone. The
above their own position. Furthermore, it is widely result is groups that are somewhat larger than optimal
recognized that egalitarianism is not a natural or primal (Smith 1981). Theoretically, such egalitarian groups
characteristic of humans (several of our closest primate are structured by individual calculations of the rela-
relatives sustain hierarchical social structures through tive costs and benefits of joining or allowing others
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to join a group larger than the optimal group size in The same is true for temporally unpredictable prey
which the returns of group membership are divided such as highly mobile, large bodied animals. On the
equally. Where interests are calculated strictly on part- other hand, resources that are predictable in place
ible shares, profit-maximizing members are expected and timing may be worth claiming and defending
to resist unequal claims by other members. Joiners, by where there is competition over access and when
contrast, might accept lower returns in exchange for territorial defence is practical (resource patches can
shares larger than they would get outside the group, be circumscribed and controlled). In such cases, the
but once members, their calculus would change and likelihood of competition increases when the environ-
they should push for more equal returns. ment becomes crowded or resources become scarcer.
The members-joiners conflict has implications Competition is also more likely when productive
relevant to emergent social inequality among foragers. resources are concentrated in widely separated ‘hot
First, without industrial technologies, few subsistence spots’ in an otherwise poor resource landscape (i.e., a
pursuits will yield improved per capita returns (econo- patchy resource environment). Where predictable and
mies of scale) in groups larger than a few families, productive resources are patchy, it can be possible
except in rare and short-lived cases such as communal and even beneficial to pay the extra costs of defending
herd drives and net hunting. Put simply, because most them from others. This is especially so if the controlled
tasks reach diminishing returns relatively quickly as resource can be traded for other resources or labour.
the number of participants increase, these groups will Even in a social context in which overt aggrandizing
normally be small. Second, sizes of task groups and and despotic behaviour is discouraged, the ability to
other social units, such as sharing networks and co- give more often than take will positively skew opinion,
residential communities, can be modelled in a similar influence, and status.
way based on the relative costs and benefits of com- Competition comes in two idealized forms that
munal engagement. Benefits of group membership may Boone (1992) refers to as scrambles and contests. Scram-
be estimated in terms of such variables as economic bles are unstructured races to capture a share of a
returns, risk minimization (food security), opportuni- resource. They occur when resources are distributed
ties for collective labour, and availability of marriage in ways that cannot be exclusively controlled (some-
partners. At the same time, members who benefit but times called Ideal Free Distributions or IFDs), and these
fail to invest their share of labour or resources erode kinds of competitions are won by those with the best
group benefits. It is hard to monitor the contributions ability and good fortune. An IFD is characterized by
of others in larger groups, creating social problems an unpredictable resource environment that renders
(who will pay the costs of enforcing participation?). previous actions – including position in the land-
As a result such conflicts are usually managed by scape – ineffective in ensuring benefits in subsequent
limiting group size (e.g., through fissioning). Third, competition. Musical chairs and candy toss games
these tendencies for small groups in foraging socie- are scrambles, in which the best strategy is to target
ties makes it easier for members to enforce equality resources themselves rather than challenging others.
through various levelling strategies. In IFD ecosystems where the success of individual
But there are circumstances in which small groups foraging groups is asynchronous with that of others,
could nevertheless tolerate unequal distributions of sharing is a common mechanism for ensuring mutual
benefits. In situations where subordinate members welfare (Winterhalder 1986).
perceive indirect gains from the material well-being of In situations in which one actor or set of actors
a dominant member, they may tolerate or even support has a historically derived advantage in claiming access
the differential wealth and status of that individual to resources, competitions shift to contests, which tend
(Vehrencamp 1983). To work, the indirect benefits to involve direct challenges to resource controllers.
would have to outweigh the loss in direct benefits. This Contests occur where the distribution of resources is
would be rare in an environment of equal opportunity patchy and where relatively high-yielding resources are
and risk, but more likely under other conditions. geographically predictable, and where those resource
Boone turns to the socio-ecology of resource com- patches or their extracted products (stores) can be
petition to complete his argument. Foraging entails the defended effectively. Contests supplant scrambles as
pursuit of subsistence resources that vary in predict- the best resource patches are claimed and defended.
ability and productivity in both space and time. More These characteristics define the Ideal Despotic Distribution
evenly distributed resources or those that are unpre- (IDD), and they are ripe for the emergence of resource
dictably located in space require flexible harvesting controllers who take advantage of first arrival or other
strategies, often by small groups moving frequently. unique circumstances to control resources and use them
There is little benefit to claiming or defending patches. to their own advantage. In these situations, controllers
238
 Reciprocity and asymmetry in social networks

often find it beneficial to provide resources to less secure defending those facilities or risk losing the investment
neighbours in return for labour or other services. of labour they required, making the landscape more
The structure of resource landscapes is partly a ‘despotic’. Social factors, also, such as the ability of
product of ‘natural’ ecological characteristics such as certain people to cooperate on labour-intensive tasks,
biogeographic history, climate, hydrology, etc. At the is also an important, if idiosyncratic, variable in how
same time, what matters to foragers seeking to make a people ‘map’ themselves onto the resource landscape.
living on that landscape is the socio-ecological structure, From behavioural ecological concepts of patchi-
which is a dynamic relationship between people and ness, productivity, predictability, group formation,
that landscape. In low-density populations, resources territoriality and competition, we expect that inequality
may be used in proportion to their availability, and will be more likely when population densities increase
competitions, when they occur, will be few and take and resource landscapes become more patchy and
the form of scrambles. Hostility comes with costs and defendable. These ideas have recently been formalized
in many cases, moving to another area is less expen- and supported by socio-ecological modellers (Puleston
sive than engaging in persistent conflict. By contrast, et al. 2014; Puleston & Tuljapurkar 2008; Winterhalder
densely packed populations are more likely to find et al. 2015). Prentiss, in particular, has applied this
worthwhile the costs of defending their claims or rights approach with great success to the interpretation of
to resources. The alternative is to move somewhere that emergent inequality among communities in the British
is already occupied by people with stronger claims or Columbia interior (Prentiss et al. 2014, 2018).
to occupy increasingly less secure resource areas. With
increased population density, as the highest value and The evolution of inequality in the Kodiak
most defendable resources are claimed, other patches Archipelago
may be taken up and defended as well. This will
ultimately lead different groups in the region to have Along the Northwest Coast and Gulf of Alaska, proxies
unequal resource security. Over time, those controlling for the transition to inequality include evidence for com-
the most stable resources tend to fare better than oth- petitive feasting, an expanding market in non-utilitarian
ers, and if they have particularly productive patches prestige trade, appearance of corporate residential units,
as well, they will more often be in the best positions and increases in high-risk behaviours, such as whale
to assist the less fortunate. Population infilling thus hunting and warfare – activities tied as much or more
can turn a previously Ideal Free landscape into an Ideal to status competition as actual resource provisioning
Despotic one, simply by increasing the proportion of or territorial claims. These characteristics all devel-
patches that are claimed, and therein increasing the oped more-or-less in tandem roughly between 950 to
cost of moving out of a competitive environment. A 450 years ago on Kodiak, and somewhat earlier in the
related characteristic is that higher population densities central Northwest Coast (Ames & Maschner 1999).
provide larger numbers of people to assist in resource Interestingly, semi-sedentary residence (indicated by
defence, making previously less defendable patches aggregated sod-house villages and use of non-portable
more defendable – though only if the larger group of site furniture) preceded evidence of incipient inequal-
defenders can be compelled to collective action. ity (prestige markings, defensive sites, differential
But population density is not the only variable mortuary treatment) on Kodiak by more than 2000
that can change the perceived structure of a landscape years. Technological changes that enabled mass pro-
in more (or less) despotic directions. Changes in duction, storage and potential accumulation of surplus
resource distribution, predictability and productivity produce – technologies that could have made some
due to climate change or over-use, for example, could resources more defendable and potentially triggered
shift a landscape one way or the other between the IFD more despotic social interactions – developed even
and IDD poles. Technological changes will also alter earlier, thousands of years before they were put to use
the key variables, for example by changing the rela- for surplus accumulation and wealth competition
tive costs and benefits of food alternatives, increasing (Fitzhugh 2003). These facts call into question some
defensive capabilities or improving the effectiveness models of inequality emphasizing storage as a primary
of attacks and raids. Where technologies make it cause of wealth accumulation and status competition
easier to procure less concentrated/ less defendable (cf. Testart 1982). At minimum, surplus production
resources (e.g., snow machines for moose hunting; and storage are supporting but insufficient conditions
Winterhalder 1981), the landscape may become less for the development of competitive inequality. In the
‘despotic’. By contrast, intensification of localized Kodiak and larger Northwest Coast case additional fac-
resource technologies (e.g., fishing weirs, nets, buf- tors were involved, factors that fell into place between
falo drive lines, etc.) may increase the imperative of 2500 and 500 years ago.
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 Chapter 14

A Inner Bays B
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smaller halibut,

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Exposed Coasts/ Ocean Outer Bay

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sea lions, seals, whales,

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Figure 14.2. A. Map of part of the Kodiak Archipelago depicting redundant ecological zones. In late Holocene times,
with high population packing, each bay hosted its own village each with roughly equivalent access to diverse resource
patches. B. Diagram showing seasonal patterns in resource availability and harvesting activities of late Holocene
Sugpiaq families (after Fitzhugh 2003, figure 2.10, and Steffian et al. 2015, figure 5.9).

Like much of the Northwest Coast, Kodiak is productive regions in times of local hardship or to
seasonally productive, with high habitat and species escape quarrels with neighbours or selfish individu-
diversity and patchiness within localized regions, but als who could not be managed with other levelling
with redundant habitats and resources diversity when strategies. For this reason and because no resource on
viewed at broader spatial scales (Fig. 14.2). Within Kodiak was so localized that anyone could benefit from
heterogeneous local regions, some resources are more its exclusive control, the conditions for inequality were
prone to failure than others for various reasons (e.g., absent as long as population density was relatively
volcanic eruptions, tectonic events, tsunamis, cooling low. Based on available, quantitative proxies (Brown
or warming, storms, ecological regime shifts, human 2015; Fitzhugh 2003), population density appears to
predation or habitat alteration). These impacts can have been relatively low before 2500 bp (Fig. 14.3C).
change the availability and reliability of subsistence At that point, we start to see changes in social life
resources at varying scales. Around the Northwest that include increased attention to social affiliation,
Coast, numerous strategies were developed to man- competition for status in life and death, and, eventu-
age environmental unpredictability. These included ally, defensive infrastructure, labour intensive habitat
residential flexibility and logistical mobility, subsist- engineering, private ownership of resource patches
ence diversification, technological specialization, and, and dense communities organized into households of
at least in some areas, substantial habitat engineering extended families, ranked by relative size and produc-
(e.g., clam and wapato gardens, herring nurseries, tive labour-power (Fitzhugh 2003). The archaeological
anthropogenic burning; Augustine & Dearden 2014; signatures of these changes are discussed below.
Hoffman et al. 2016; Lepofsky & Caldwell 2013; Turner
& Berkes 2006). Kodiak’s Archaeological History
According to the socio-ecological model pre- Kodiak was settled by at least 7500 cal. bp by people
sented above, Kodiak should not support marked of the Ocean Bay tradition (Clark and Workman 1979;
social differentiation as long as people had numerous Fitzhugh 2004). Compared to later occupations, the
subsistence options and could move away to other initial Ocean Bay I phase is characterized by relatively
240
 Reciprocity and asymmetry in social networks

portable tools and structures, and settlement patterns 2001; Steffian et al. 2016). In the Terminal Kachemak,
appropriate to flexible logistical forays. While some residents started placing houses in defensive posi-
sites are made up of deep deposits indicating reuse tions on small islets and promontories, close enough
over thousands of years, most Ocean Bay sites are small together to suggest competition between neighbour-
and thin with only one or a few small, round structures ing communities (Fitzhugh 2003: 186). The hunting
occupied for relatively short periods (Fitzhugh 2002, of large whales also became important in this phase
2003, 2004; Saltonstall 2014). Beginning about 6000 (Kopperl 2003; Steffian et al. 2016: 309), a high risk
years ago, in the Ocean Bay II phase, more specialized activity inherently involving status competition. The
hunting and fishing technologies came into use, includ- method was dangerous and difficult – hunting from
ing ground slate points and flensing knives, the first kayaks at close range with poison-tipped spears – and
tentative use of nets and of smoke processing features we know from ethnohistoric sources, that later whalers
followed sometime after 5000 cal. bp. were respected and feared for their access to powerful
In the Early Kachemak phase beginning 4000 and dark magic (Crowell 1994).
years ago, fishing intensified with more abundant use A second phase of social differentiation occurred
of nets and the adoption of ground slate lances and in the Koniag Period, beginning approximately 650
ulu knives to facilitate repetitive fish processing. Early years ago. Population continued to grow, winter
Kachemak sites (4000–2700 cal. bp) are often composed villages expanded, until at contact, some may have
of dense, greasy black, charcoal-stained sediment from included more than 1000 individuals (Clark 1987). At
large-scale smoke-processing activities (Steffian et al. the same time, seasonal fishing and hunting settle-
2006, 2016). These characteristics suggest a shift to ments were established throughout the coastal zone,
the production of stored fish and other resources for including the exposed outer coast and at the mouth
over-wintering communities. Settlements of the time of almost every stream and along the banks of every
include durable fishing camps and aggregated winter larger river in the archipelago (Steffian et al. 2015:
settlements composed of several semi-subterranean 49–50). Domestic organization changed as well. In
houses, indicating the aggregation of larger numbers the Early Koniag, after 650 cal. bp, many small dwell-
of families than were common previously. While new ings came to be arranged around central courtyards.
discoveries suggest that some Ocean Bay structures Then, in the later Koniag phases, courtyards were
were relatively durable, Early Kachemak houses were roofed over, uniting the encircling small structures
more heavily built, excavated deeper into the ground, to form large, multi-family domestic spaces (Steffian
having more substantial sod walls and roofs. This is et al. 2016: 309). The resulting multi-roomed houses
expected of residences constructed for more continu- often included separate rooms for related families, a
ous use. More intensive processing and food storage steam-bathing chamber and internally accessed storage
would have made it possible for the first time for rooms, pits, and large storage boxes. The large central
communities to form around aggregated ‘winter settle- room provided a covered space for food processing,
ments’ (Fitzhugh 2002). Dramatic ‘Neoglacial’ cooling craft production and feasting with neighbours or allies
after 5000 cal. bp may have triggered these changes as as described in contact era documents (e.g, Davydov
winter mobility became more hazardous. Interestingly, 1976; Holmberg 1985; Lisianski 1814).
our population proxy model (Fig. 14.3) does not show In an analysis of changes in Kachemak and
population expansion in the Early Kachemak interval Koniag houses from sites in southeast Kodiak, I found
despite the intensification of food harvesting, accu- a significant increase in the mean and variance in house
mulation of seasonal food storage, more permanent sizes through time (Fig. 14.3A). Kachemak houses were
settlements, and formation of aggregated communities universally small, averaging 18–20 sq. m, with a fairly
(Fitzhugh 2003: 210–17; but see Steffian et al. 2016: 307). normal distribution. This is expected where people
In the Late and Terminal Kachemak phases, 2700 live in nuclear family groups with relatively similar
to 950 and 950 to 650 cal. bp, respectively (Steffian et family sizes. No apparent clustering of houses was
al. 2016), we start to see evidence of rapid population observed that could suggest corporate organizations
growth (Fig. 14.3C), along with expansion of winter larger than the nuclear family. By contrast, Koniag
villages and more intensive use of salmon harvest- period house varied significantly in size (measured
ing sites. A range of changes suggest accentuation of in both numbers of side rooms and sizes of central
ethnicity marking (regionally unique labret styles), rooms) with a highly skewed distribution showing
prestige trade, ancestor veneration and ritual treat- many smaller houses and few larger ones (Fig. 14.3A).
ment of the dead, and perhaps the beginnings of If residential organization reflects social power – as
war-slavery (some burials interred without hands, feet one might expect when the number of people in one’s
or heads; Simon & Steffian 1994; Steffian & Saltonstall corporate kin-group plays a strong role in determining
241
 Chapter 14

A Total House Main Room B

160
140
120
100
Koniag
80 Koniag
60
40
20
Kachemak
0
Kachemak

60
40
20
02
m 10 meters

C
8000

7000

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
cal BP

Figure 14.3. A. Archaeological house area comparisons from Kachemak and Koniag period, measured from surface
exposures around the Sitkalidak region of Kodiak (redrawn from Fitzhugh 2003, figure 9.3). B. Plan maps showing
representative Late Kachemak and Developed Koniag pit dwellings from Sitkalidak Island, Kodiak (redrawn from Figure 3
Fitzhugh 2003, figure 9.1). C. Kodiak proxy human population model from the Kodiak Archipelago based on the
summed probability distribution (spd) of archaeological radiocarbon dates. The curve was constructed by William
Brown from an effective probability sample size (n) of 200 to 209.6 radiocarbon dates, cleaned and processed to avoid
duplicate counting of redundant samples (Brown 2015). The curve is not adjusted to account for taphonomic attrition
(Surovell et al. 2009) under the assumption that such global corrections are of uncertain applicability at regional scales,
given spatial and temporal asynchronicity in taphonomic biasing factors. This, and similar, curves (e.g., Figure 14.6B),
should be viewed with the assumption that dates are under-represented farther back in time. Deviations from the overall
accelerating trend represent the patterns of interest.

the labour power available for accumulating surplus, Donta 1992), and large scale settlement of Kodiak’s
hosting feasts, defending resources, and launching larger salmon rivers. At the Kal’unek (a.k.a. Karluk
raids on enemies – then the Kachemak to Koniag One) site, extensive excavations through the 1980s
transition appears to represent a significant change in and in 1995 revealed elaborate ceremonialism, games,
the organization of power. The skewed distribution of and gambling artifacts (Steffian et al. 2015), which may
Koniag house sizes can be interpreted as a change from or may not have been new in the Koniag phase (no
unranked (or inconsistently ranked) communities to pre-Koniag site has been discovered with equivalent
ranked ones, bringing residential organization in line organic preservation). All of these characteristics can
with contact era observations. be understood as social mechanisms to help integrate
Other changes in the Koniag period include an increasingly competitive social world. The scale
the adoption of thick, gravel-tempered pottery from of warfare increased at this time with the establish-
neighbours on the Alaska Peninsula (Clark 1966), prob- ment of larger defensive sites oriented, not to defend
ably for rendering oil (Admiraal et al. 2020; Knecht from neighbours, but for coordinated, multi-village
1995: 375); a short-lived, incised pebble tradition quite defence from more distant enemies (Fitzhugh 2003:
similar to sacred stone engravings in the Puget Sound 196; Knecht et al. 2002). Such was the prowess of
and British Columbia coastal traditions (Clark 1964; Kodiak military that Russian fur traders armed with
242
 Reciprocity and asymmetry in social networks

firearms and ships took 20 years to break into Kodiak is that the Late Kachemak social sphere widened in
and subjugate the warriors and chiefs – and only then the early second millennium and that interactions,
through brutal and inhumane tactics (Black 1992). intermarriage, and cultural exchanges were part of
Through the Koniag Period, the data suggest that the process of expanding social competition, alliance
neighbours held animosities in check and competed formation and warfare that characterizes the termi-
primarily through less violent means such as feast nal Kachemak and Koniag periods (Fitzhugh 2003;
competition and displays of wealth and generosity. Fitzhugh & Kennett 2010). However, the migration of
Gambling was a major winter activity, which could ‘Thule’ people from the Alaska Peninsula, even if it sig-
have served both as a marker of ‘honest signalling’ nificantly disrupted the cultural continuity of Kodiak
of wealth (Bliege Bird & Smith 2005) and at the same occupation, would complicate but not undermine the
time a minor form of wealth-levelling between those explanation of inequality presented here. More people,
who could afford to play. Gambling as a social activity more competition for resources on an environmental
in the ranked communities of the northeast Pacific is of fine-grained patchiness, and the opportunity for
a fascinating topic in its potential socio-political role, some people to gain social advantages by controlling
worthy of deeper investigation. the highest value resources patches would result in
Disagreement persists about the degree to which either scenario.
the Kachemak to Koniag transition on Kodiak was one We can reflect on some key aspects of Kodiak
of internal social change versus one of immigration inequality at the time of European contact and its
and influence of Thule-based culture from the north precedents, the outlines of which are shared, with
(Clark 1992; Dumond 2009; Jordan & Knecht 1988; variations, throughout the Northwest Coast, Alaska
Maschner et al. 2009; Mason & Friesen 2017: 110–11; Peninsula and eastern Aleutian Islands. First, inequality
Steffian et al. 2016). These differences are important to was limited to the right to control productive resource
the proximate mechanisms that may have driven the patches and the labour of subordinate kin and slaves.
development of social inequality in the archipelago. This inequality became apparent only in the last few
Everyone agrees that some of the material changes hundred years before contact (the Developed Koniag
noted in the Koniag period have precedents to the from 450 cal. bp), though it appears to have grown
north. Pottery, barbed ground-slate end-blades, and from changes that started two thousand or more years
sweat-baths are examples, while cold-trap house earlier, and may have been accentuated by immigra-
entrance tunnels, splitting mauls, ridged-slate lance tion. The establishment of intensive, delayed-return
points also could be imported (Dumond 2009: 64–6). economic strategies in the Early Kachemak did not
From these data and central Yup’ik and Sugpiaq directly lead to, but made possible, later population
linguistic similarities, Dumond (2009) argues for a growth (Fig. 14.3C) and incipient status competition
substantial incursion or at least influence of northern in the Late Kachemak, marked by internalized storage,
(Thule-culture) people onto the Alaska Peninsula changes in mortuary treatments, intensified ceremoni-
and into the Kodiak archipelago in the eleventh and alism, and local defensive fortifications (Fitzhugh 2003).
twelfth centuries ad. Maschner (2009: 38–41) extends The institutionalization of inequality followed and
the claim, based on an analysis of radiocarbon dated grew through the Koniag period as seen in the diversity
sites with Kachemak or Koniag attributes, suggesting in residential architecture, expanded trade in prestige
that Thule/Yup’ik people moved to western Kodiak commodities, militarism and defensive sites, inevitably
and then gradually assimilated or took over the rest of tied to changing ideologies about the legitimacy of
the archipelago. Kodiak archaeologists read the record differentiated power and privilege. Second, there is no
differently, emphasizing that northern elements appear evidence of coercive power beyond the enslavement
at different times and always in association with Late of war captives, and, as a result, power would have
Kachemak artifacts (Steffian et al. 2016: 311). Steffian been limited to the ability of a chief to convince fol-
and colleagues (2016: 311) note that the cultural attribu- lowers to support defensive tasks, participate in slave
tion of dates through the transition is itself fraught with raids, and work for the production of surpluses. Such
semantic inconsistencies, largely derived from the use demands became imperative only after competition,
of normative either/or attributions (what Dunnell [1986] defence and warfare became endemic in and following
called essentialist thinking). Along with the blending the terminal or Transitional Kachemak phase. Third,
of local (Late Kachemak) characteristics and imported chiefly status was as much about fulfilling obligations
ones, house forms appear to have evolved locally with to represent the household in status competitions as
multi-roomed houses appearing first on Kodiak before it was about the rights to disproportionate personal
spreading to the Alaska Peninsula. I believe that the benefits. This status appears or becomes prominent
most parsimonious explanation on present evidence only in the Developed Koniag with the emergence of
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 Chapter 14

unequal sized main rooms for potlatch-style feasts and at larger regional scales. Salmon streams, sea lion
gambling and the day-to-day activities of enlarged rookeries, clam beds and fishing holes can be claimed
families and slave-labourers. and defended by threat or deed, but if these kinds
While behavioural ecologists use terms like des- of patches are repeated from bay to bay and region
potism in theoretical discussions, it is likely that chiefs to region (Fig. 14.2A), no single community could
were, at most, petty despots, always vulnerable to establish a significant monopoly over communities
usurpation by junior members of their lineage or clan. located in other bays or regions. Thus, the relative
I expect that chiefs could be undercut in various ways: ‘grain’ of the ecological patchiness serves as a check on
by rebellion from kin, by the defection of supporters political centralization. Exceptions can be seen in some
to competing chiefs, loss to rivals in battle and raids, Northwest Coast cases, where access to particularly
and perhaps the collective decisions of leadership lucrative resources could be monopolized over larger
councils as was the case among the Tlingit. While some areas. When the Russian American Company chose to
elements of chiefly status would have been inherited, trade with particular chiefs (toions) to the exclusion of
much was achieved, and each chief had to establish others, access to imported goods and colonial influ-
their reputation through their decisions, leadership, ence served as just such a disproportionately powerful
and proper display of knowledge and skill. In short, resource (Crowell 1997, 28).
chiefs worked hard, and worked for their extended Thus the Kodiak case illustrates a dynamic of
families and villages. emergent social inequality in the last millennia, with
If asymmetrical political power was built on concentration of power held in check at a particular
factional politics in the context of high population scale by the socio-ecological redundancy of ‘resource-
densities and controllable resource patches, why did scapes’ and intra-/inter-community interactions (Fig.
chiefs and elite families not build multi-village poli- 14.4). Social competition for status among and between
ties typical of many agricultural chiefdoms? I argue kin groups in villages included the ability to accumulate
that the reason lies in the relative scale of ecological and display non-local prestige goods, acquired through
heterogeneity. While productive resources were patchy networks of trade (Fitzhugh & Kennett 2010; Knecht
and controllable at local scales, such was not the case 1995: 570). Feasting and trading with neighbouring

Figure 14.4. Plan view of surface features on a representative ‘Developed Koniag’ village site (KOD 110) from the
Sitkalidak region of southeast Kodiak (A) and map of approximate ‘Developed Koniag’ village territories around the
Sitkalidak region situated to take advantage of redundant ecological zones (B). Dashed lines represent approximate
catchment and presumed territorial boundaries.
244
 Reciprocity and asymmetry in social networks

elites created alliances that helped to maintain peace are more common in agricultural settings when food
and reciprocal support in conflicts with outsiders, security can be dissociated from particular landscapes
providing a deterrent against destabilizing internal and mobilized through storage, tribute, capture and
conflicts. Warfare, or the threat of warfare, served as accumulation. But there are also contexts in which
a check on potential expansionism. Free subordinates the socio-ecological circumstances dictate local or
could assess their best options of staying with a patron supra-local equality but regional and macro-regional
or moving to a rival group based on the relative secu- asymmetry. Applying the patron-client model to those
rity each might offer. Marriage may have served as a situations helps us understand a kind of socio-political
primary strategy for redistributing kin into better-off and economic asymmetry that has become more
communities without suffering the stigma and disad- common in our contemporary, globally networked
vantages of refugee status. society. To examine the implications of this alternative
It seems likely that Kodiak and the larger North- structure, we turn to consider the late prehistoric and
west Coast cultural pattern emerged through a kind protohistoric Kuril Archipelago.
of ‘peer polity’ relationship (Renfrew 1996) in which
population growth under broadly supportive ecologi- Case 2: Macro-regional asymmetries: The Kuril
cal conditions, and perhaps with arrival of people from Islands
outside, triggered increasingly asymmetrical food in/
security at local scales. Commoners would have sought In the case of the Northwest Pacific Kuril Islands,
the best situation for themselves and would have fled the scales of ecological variability imposed different
to less despotic communities, ironically increasing the structural constraints on vulnerability and security,
demographic conditions for similar inequalities to arise demography and inter-dependence. Late Holocene
in their adoptive homes. The autonomy of local com- residents of the Kuril Islands lived in a similar, sub-
munities with internal rank or hierarchy was maintained arctic, maritime environment as those on Kodiak. They
through competition and alliance at larger scales, gradu- hunted, fished and gathered many of the same foods
ally increasing the benefits of supporting the political with considerable skill, using modest watercraft. Like
patronage of local elites. Importantly, nothing about this Kodiak residents, they lived in semi-subterranean
system is predicted by the overall productivity or aver- houses, sometimes organized into small villages, and
age abundance of subsistence resources. The essential lived more-or-less permanently in central-places, trav-
variables are the differential security of members of the elling to procure food and other resources.
community and the ability of the more secure to sup- With Russian, Japanese, and American colleagues
port the less secure in return for other kinds of service and students, I have spent several seasons surveying,
(esp., labour). In this case, the scale of inequality is set mapping and testing archaeological sites throughout
by the scale at which different families or larger factions these islands (Fitzhugh et al. 2002, 2016). It bears not-
experience unequal security over extended periods (see ing that the archaeology of this region is much less
Prentiss et al. 2007, 2012, 2014). Importantly, while a well understood than that of Kodiak. Ethnohistoric
critical determinant of the experience of asymmetrical documentation suggests relatively egalitarian com-
resource security relative to existing economic and munities of the Kuril Ainu in the eighteenth and
ecological contexts, population density is not a fixed nineteenth centuries (Krasheninnikov 1972: 58–66),
variable with respect to inequality. Examples exist, in but the time-depth of that lifestyle is murky, and
the hinterlands of the Northwest Coast, of low-density discontinuities of occupation history belie any effort
communities with marked social inequality, where some to track the long-term, evolutionary history of social
individuals controlled access to valued resources in a organization as I have done for Kodiak. Even so, the
way completely consistent with the socio-ecological archaeological data available offer enough evidence
model proposed here (see Legros 1985) to rule out Koniag-like house size variations, and
This model works as well where economic secu- efforts to estimate contemporaneous settlement sizes
rity comes in the form of differential access to food, (Fitzhugh 2019) suggest few if any Kuril sites were
essential raw materials, trade routes, or vital informa- occupied by populations to rival the large, contact-era
tion flows. The scale of political dynamics is set by the Kodiak Alutiiq villages of the late eighteenth century.
unique socio-ecological and geographic configuration.
Larger political aggregations are possible only when Kuril Settlement History
the structural dynamics of advantage and disadvan- The Kurils were first settled in their entirety only
tage are such that larger groups and regions can be about 4000 years ago, with most settlers coming from
brought into patron-client relationships, integrated the Japanese island of Hokkaido bringing cultural
by networks of interdependence. These conditions characteristics of the Jōmon tradition. This group built
245
 Chapter 14

up a substantial archaeological presence throughout may help to explain the ultimate instability of Kuril
the archipelago that reached a peak 2000 years ago, occupations.
in what is known as the Epi-Jōmon phase. By this
time, obsidian was traded into the Kurils from both Kuril Ecological Structure
Hokkaido and Kamchatka perhaps in return for sea If Gulf of Alaska and Northwest Coast ecosystems
mammal oil (Gjesfjeld 2019; Phillips 2011). Presumably are comprised of densely packed resource patches of
other resources and marriage partnerships also passed high and variable productivity at a scale conducive
along these trade routes. Even so, the evidence we to competitive exclusion and patron-clientage, the
have from pottery sources and settlement durability Kurils are notable for lower overall resource produc-
suggests that Epi-Jōmon groups lived year-round in tivity and undefendable patches. Some patches are
the confines of neighbouring island clusters, maintain- highly productive (e.g., large sea lion rookeries and
ing broader connections through exchange networks. sea bird colonies) but are found in highly exposed
We have suggested that the obsidian exchange was a and sparsely distributed locations. We also don’t see
reflection of a trade maintained specifically to ensure any archaeological evidence of intensified harvesting
remote islanders were not socially isolated and cut or processing to suggest that subsistence resources
off in times of local ecological failure (Fitzhugh et al. were ever converted into substantial stores for the
2011; Gjesfjeld 2018). For as yet unknown reasons, off-season, though it is possible that the Okhotsk
Epi-Jōmon populations declined from 2000 cal.  bp produced marine mammal oil for trade (Gjesfjeld
until about 1300 cal. bp when remaining families were 2019). Bird colonies, by contrast, are common and
forced out or assimilated by a rapid expansion of the could have been defended, but they are sensitive to
unrelated Okhotsk culture. harvesting pressure and not worth harvesting most
Okhotsk expansion brought more intensive sea times of the year (nesting season being the exception).
mammal hunting technologies to the Kurils, and the Other foods would have been more evenly distributed
migration may have been motivated to capture marine through the islands, including harbour seals, Atka
products for a growing commodities trade fuelled mackerel, greenling, and sculpin, and these are among
by markets in Manchuria and Japan (Fitzhugh et al. the more common foods found in zooarchaeologi-
2016). After expanding rapidly for about 300 years, the cal assemblages (Fitzhugh et al. 2004; Gjesfjeld et al.
Okhotsk then declined precipitously between from 2020). In other words, there would be little on which
1000–750 cal. bp. Kuril Ainu, themselves descended to leverage patron-client relations because the most
from Jōmon/Epi-Jōmon probably with some inter- important resources for food security in most parts of
mixture of Okhotsk, recolonized the islands only after the chain were also the least controllable (Fig. 14.5).
a break of some hundred or more years. The Kuril Faunal remains from Kuril assemblages suggest
Ainu were ultimately forced to near extinction, demo- that many communities had access to only a small range
graphically and culturally, during the colonial period, of locally available resources, and those resources dif-
when they became pawns in the growing competition fered from site to site. Indeed, some of these resources
between Russia and Japan (Hudson 1999; Walker 2001). changed from the ends to the centre of the island chain.
Based on available archaeological evidence, Clams, salmon, and codfish, for example, could be
throughout much of this history, Kuril settlers main- found only in the northern and southern islands closest
tained relatively autonomous economies and domestic to Kamchatka and Hokkaido. Dolphins were ubiquitous
units of approximately equal power and status. Evi- at one site in Urup, birds were more dominant at the
dence to support this claim is mostly negative – the Rasshua 1 site in the Central Kurils (Gjesfjeld et al. 2020).
absence of unequal and ranked house size distri- While some prey may have been abundant most of the
butions, few if any defensive sites (until the Ainu time (e.g., sea lions at rookeries), none would have been
period), and a paucity of possible prestige items in immune to crisis, and communities would have had to
archaeological assemblages. Epi-Jōmon settlements move every few years or decades if not seasonally, and
may have included the largest number of contempo- they must have relied, occasionally, on the assistance
raneous dwellings, while Okhotsk had some of the of neighbours or distant friends.
largest houses (Fitzhugh 2019). Even so, Okhtosk peo- Within the Central Kurils, these relationships
ple appear to have moved more frequently (Gjesfjeld would have been balanced, as any helpers might
2018), undermining local resource defence. The same later find themselves needing assistance from those
lack of intra-community inequality likely character- they had previously supported (Fitzhugh et al. 2011).
ized those in the adjacent regions of Eastern Hokkaido Thus while the same marine resources are found in
and Kamchatka. Nevertheless, ecological differences the Kurils as on Kodiak, the greater distances between
between the remote Kurils and neighbouring territories productive patches, the lower predictability of those
246
 Reciprocity and asymmetry in social networks

Kamchatka
A North Islands
bear, seal, sea otter, salmon, cod,
Sea of mackerel, sea birds, eggs, Paramushir Shumshu

Okhotsk waterfowl, bivalves, urchins, whelks

plants, roots, berries,
seaweeds
Onekotan
Central Islands
sea lion, fur seal, whale, mackerel, grayling,
flounder, sculpin, sea birds, eggs, Shiashkotan
waterfowl, periwinkles, urchins, whelks
roots, berries, seaweeds Rasshua
Matua

South Islands Ushishir

bear, deer, seal, whale, sea otter,

Simushir
salmon, cod, mackerel,
sea birds, eggs, waterfowl, Chirpoi
bivalves, urchins, Urup
trees, plants, roots, Pacific Ocean
berries, seaweeds
id
o Km
k ka Iturup
Ho 0 50 100 200
Figure 14.5. A. Map of the Kuril
Kunashir Archipelago, depicting different
ecological characteristics of the
Salix
North, Central, and Southern
Spiders Species Richness Island groups. Underlined
taxa are abundant and were
economically significant (high
ranked). Only taxa used in
traditional diets are listed. The
central islands, have the least
productive, stable, or diverse sets
of resources (other than birds),
On
Sim

Us

Ma

Ma

Pa
Br

Ra

Ra

Sh

Ek

Kh

Sh
Itu

Ur

Ke

but have had large populations of

Ku

at

ram hi
arm
h
up

ssh

iko

ias

um ir
ek
to

ari
ru

tu

ka
n

us

ish
as

Stellar sea lion, northern fur seal,

ot
p

m
hk

nr
ke
ua

sh
hir
hir

us
a
hir

ir

a
ko

B
us
ot

u
n

h
po

and birds.
tan
an
i

patches, and the lack of ecological redundancy from If the internal political dynamics in communities
region to region would have worked against any efforts across these regions was largely egalitarian, the differ-
to monopolize patches or attract subordinates from ences between the central and proximal island regions
neighbouring families or communities. could have created socio-economic imbalances that
Islands near Hokkaido and Kamchatka have may have influenced the serial collapses of Epi-Jōmon
anadromous fish streams, support a range of edible and Okhotsk populations. Compared to those living
shellfish, host terrestrial game like deer and bear, and closer to the ends of the chain, the central islanders
generally have a modestly higher diversity of habitat were more exposed to unpredictable drops in the
types than the central islands. Residents of the proxi- availability of local resources due to natural hazards,
mate islands would have had greater opportunity to climate fluctuations, or other factors. At the same time,
travel between the islands and adjacent ‘mainland’ they would have been most confined by storminess and
regions for trade or refuge when things got difficult the dangers of boating across inter-island passes. This
on the islands. More resource options supported more macro-scale asymmetry in resource security and mobil-
secure economies and residential stability; but even ity may have created imbalances in social interactions
there, ecological structures should not have been and dependencies between the more remote islanders
sufficiently unequal to support robust patron-client and those closer to, or on, the adjacent ‘mainland’
relations. regions of Hokkaido and Kamchatka.
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The archaeology of the Kurils, as we know it, vulnerable to subsistence failure compared to those
supports the idea that islanders lived in relative living in ecosystems with low ecological diversity. In
insecurity, facing occasionally severe hardships. The theory, this asymmetry could have created opportu-
long intervals of persistent settlement – through inter- nities for potential aggrandizers living in the more
vals of large and high frequency volcanic eruptions, ‘secure’ areas on or close to eastern Hokkaido and
periodic large earthquakes and tsunamis – suggests southern Kamchatka. These individuals might have
that most such hardships were overcome without sought to establish unequal patron-client relations
measurable impact (Fitzhugh 2012). On the other with more remote islanders, if only the islanders had
hand, significant depopulation did occur at the end something of value to offer in exchange.
of the Epi-Jōmon and Okhotsk periods, respectively In the case of the Epi-Jōmon decline, there may
(Fig. 14.6). Both declines occurred during cooler than have been little of value that remote islanders could
average periods when storminess and expanded sea bring to their less dependent neighbours, other than
ice may have increased subsistence volatility, reduced more distant items passed on from beyond the chain. It
the ease of boat-based movement, and undermined is telling that obsidian traded into the Kuril Epi-Jōmon
the ability to call on distant trade partners for help sites from both directions tails off before reaching the
in times of crisis. opposite ends of the chain, indicating limited ‘flow
If I am right that Kuril settlers were always through’ of goods and raw materials (Phillips 2011).
dependent on access to non-local social networks to On current evidence, it would appear that there was lit-
mitigate ecological risks at local scales, a proximate tle on which to leverage durable patron-client relations
mechanism for population decline could have been the in late Epi-Jōmon times. In the absence of a lucrative
emergence of asymmetries in risks and in dependence trading marketplace, remote Kuril islanders would
on each other’s trade relationships. With changing have been the most vulnerable to ecological crises that
climate, those living in areas with greater ecological affected them more severely than their neighbours. I
diversity and economic flexibility would have been less hypothesize that Kuril Epi-Jōmon populations simply

A 20 m

Late Epi- Ainu

Jomon Jomon Okotsk

B Kuril Islands
8000

7000

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

cal BP

Figure 14.6. A. House size variation from Late Jōmon, Epi-Jōmon, Okhotsk and Ainu structures (based on data from
the Drobnyye 2 site on Shiashkotan Island). Structures are attributed to archaeological phases by radiocarbon dates
Figure 6
on associated hearth/floor deposits sampled from soil probes. Structures were mapped at ground surface. B. Kuril
Archipelago proxy population curve (Radiocarbon model). See Caption for Figure 14.3C for discussion of assumptions
and derivation. Curve courtesy of W. Brown.
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 Reciprocity and asymmetry in social networks

declined gradually as climate deteriorated and island- military and other colonial settlement through the
ers experienced more periods of nutritional stress, twentieth century and the continued presence of three
reduced fertility, increased mortality and perhaps modest Russian towns, most Kuril islands are now,
episodic emigration back into Hokkaido. once again, largely depopulated and oddly detached
Then, after about three hundred years of rapid from the globally networked world we now inhabit.
colonization during a warming and drying climate,
the Okhotsk in the Kurils disappeared abruptly. This Conclusion
occurred between ad 1100 and 1250 in the early phases
of another cooling trend in the Kurils (Razzhigaeva In this paper, I presented two case studies to illustrate
et al. 2013, 2014). This was a time when neighbouring how differences in ecological structure can interact
communities in eastern Hokkaido and the southern- with demographic economic, and social factors to
most Kurils went through a range of changes that encourage or discourage institutional inequalities,
suggest economic hardships, declining populations, inequalities that persist for structural reasons and
and a shifting orientation away from marine pursuits are culturally normalized, socially sanctioned and
(Ōnishi 2003). In this context, they may have been embedded in multi-generational practices. Following
unable to help partners from an even less secure region. models from human behavioural ecology, I argued
Beginning in the eighth century ad, disinterest towards that social inequalities at local scales emerge through
their island cousins may have been amplified by the the confluence of ecological patchiness, defensible
simultaneous increase in access to trade for more inter- resources and social competition. In the Kodiak case,
esting Japanese goods through contacts with Satsumon we saw that a productive but locally patchy resource
neighbours to the south. One reason for the seemingly environment could, under sufficiently dense popula-
catastrophic collapse of Kuril Okhotsk populations may tions, lead to exclusive resource ownership, defence,
have been neglect on the part of Hokkaido Okhotsk as unequal relations of dependence and the emergence of
they re-oriented towards Hokkaido social networks. persistent inequalities. I also argued that the ecological
The Kuril Okhotsk seem to have done somewhat better redundancy of this kind of landscape at larger scales
in connections to Kamchatka, where they continued served to limit the centralization of multi-village com-
to receive obsidian in trade until their disappearance munities into larger polities. From bay to bay, river
about 700 cal. bp. to river, and cape to cape, neighbouring communities
The Kurils were re-settled again, by the Ainu, no had access to much the same mix of resources, both
later than the sixteenth century ad and maintained controllable and not. Before 950 cal. bp, and especially
trade routes between Hokkaido and Kamchatka. These prior to 2500 cal. bp, populations were too low to make
Ainu settled briefly in Kamchatka, intermarried with resource control viable or necessary, and, as a result,
indigenous Itel’men (Krasheninnikov 1972; Takase mutual access and inter-dependence prevailed in an
& Lebedintsev 2016), and established settlements or egalitarian social context.
villages on several of the larger Kurils Islands. Even The Kuril Island case, while less thoroughly docu-
so, they never settled in the higher densities of their mented archaeologically, shows how similar resources,
Epi-Jōmon or Okhotsk predecessors. At this point well- distributed differently, could inhibit the emergence of
immersed in the commodities trade, the Kuril Ainu fell inter-personal and community-based inequalities. The
victim to political forces and colonial technologies that critical variables of productivity, patchiness, and predict-
soon diminished their independence and compelled ability failed to line up at any time in the archaeological
them to support, alternately, Russian and Japanese history of the region. Productivity has always been
economic and territorial interests. Ainu residents of lower around the Kurils. This may have kept overall
Hokkaido, southern Sakhalin and the southernmost population densities low. Some resources appear dis-
Kurils did develop signs of political inequality, mili- tributed in predictable patches, but they are not easily
tary organization, and defensive fortification, if not controlled and are located far apart, in exposed and
slavery. These developments appear tied to control hazardous locations. Most staples, by contrast, are more
over commodity trade and efforts to repel Japanese evenly distributed and would have been impossible
encroachment. By the late nineteenth and early twen- to control. As with the earlier residents on Kodiak,
tieth centuries, Ainu in the Kurils, Hokkaido and Kuril Islanders would have always fared better by
Sakhalin were dramatically marginalized by the influx supporting each other and maintaining extensive trade
of colonial settlers and racist colonial policies (Hud- networks. Even so, macro-scale differences in resource
son 1999; Walker 2001). Disease, forced resettlement, distributions and exposure to ecological risk may have
and famine led to a final depopulation of indigenous created uneven dependencies between those living in
Kuril Islanders in these decades. Despite flurries of different regions. The resulting asymmetries in trade
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reliance could have rendered the remote communities been the case for the Kuril islanders, not just once but
unsustainable in deteriorating climates and/or when twice in the last two millennia, making the islands a
more secure partners lost interest. If these conditions good place to study these dynamics.
arose in combination with the expansion of the Japa- Of course, some people face greater neglect and
nese and mainland East Asian commodities market insecurity than others in all complex societies, but my
into eastern Hokkaido, the combination could have point is that these social ills arise as a product of the
been catastrophic for those trying to persist in remote same structural conditions that, in different contexts,
island settlements. promote the emergence of ranking and hierarchy in
Put simply, if the model and supporting evi- ‘transegalitarian’ societies. There is an abundance
dence presented through these case studies are of opulence and poverty in the twenty-first century,
correct, intra-community inequality (interpersonal supported by unequal abilities to control and benefit
rank and stratification) is more likely when resource from highly patchy, monopolizable, and alienable
competition is high between factions (e.g., families) resources. This control is coupled with unprecedented
within those groups and where the patchiness of dependence on access to critical goods available only
defendable resources creates unequal opportunities through complex networks, themselves influenced
to leverage those resources for food security and by events both invisible and largely unpredictable
social support. The scale of unequal resource dis- to most participants in network interactions.
tributions makes a difference in the nature of social The comparison of late Holocene developments
inequalities developed. Where asymmetrically dis- on Kodiak and in the Kurils provides the opportunity
tributed resources support inequality at local scales, to think broadly about the interplay of food security,
redundancy can prevent centralization and inequality population, and social structure. It may even inspire
across larger scales. Alliances and raiding between us to find ways to reduce the inequalities and vulner-
autonomous communities can reinforce local status abilities in our world today just as it gives us insight
inequalities and inhibit the emergence of supra-local into the emergence of complex social systems in the
hierarchies. By contrast, where local resources are past.
insufficiently defendable, as in the central Kurils,
egalitarian relations persist. But where asymmetries Acknowledgements
in security emerge at regional or larger scales, even
where local relations are largely egalitarian, those in I thank Luc Moreau for the invitation to partici-
the less secure regions can suffer significant impact pate in the McDonald Institute symposium and for
as the result of the dissolution of support networks his patience as this manuscript came together. The
engaging more secure partners. I think it is fair to community of Old Harbor in Alaska permitted and
suggest that these kinds of dynamics are less stable supported the Kodiak research. Special thank to Sven
than those of local inequality but regional security, Haakanson, Jr., the late Sven Haakanson Sr., Mary
and I would predict that culture histories should be Haakanson, their family and the rest of the Old Har-
punctuated by greater instability where inequities in bor community for their many years of friendship,
security occur at regional compared to local scales. guidance, and help. Financial support for the Kodiak
This kind of diffused and impersonal, supra- research came from the National Science Founda-
regional asymmetry in social dependence is broadly tion (OPP-9311676), the Wenner Gren Foundation
prevalent in our modern, interconnected world, a and the Old Harbor Native Corporation. The Kuril
world in which nominally democratic, ideologically Biocomplexity Project was made possible in part by
egalitarian communities exploit or imperil other a grant from the US National Science Foundation
communities, often with indifference or, indeed, (ARC-0508109) and various logistical and financial
ignorance. It is the nature of complex socioeconomic support from: the University of Washington, Seattle;
networks, too complex to monitor in their totality, the Hokkaido University Museum (Sapporo, Japan);
that whole communities can be marginalized or lost the Historical Museum of Hokkaido (Sapporo, Japan);
with little warning or notice. Marginal communities the Sakhalin Regional Museum (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk,
today are those who live with limited access to food Russia); and the Far East Branch of the Russian Acad-
security, medical support, legal services, or shelter. emy of Sciences (IMGG: Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, IVGG:
Some of these communities are found in remote Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, NEISRI:Magadan). UW
locations like the Kurils and others live in the midst CSDE provided administration support made possible
of thriving urban cores. What they share is a lack of by NICHD grant R24 HD042828. Thanks to numer-
access to the resources and support of people with ous colleagues and students for their contributions
the interest and ability to help them. Such may have to both projects. Anna Prentiss, Hollis Miller, and
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 Reciprocity and asymmetry in social networks

Robert Attenborough provided valuable suggestions Clark, D.W., 1984. Pacific Eskimo: historical ethnography, in
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William Brown and are part of a larger North Pacific Clark, D.W., 1987. On a misty day you can see back to 1805:
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Exploring fisher-forager complexity in an African context

Joe L. Jeffery & Marta Mirazón Lahr

Contemporary studies of foraging populations1 (usually on aquatic or otherwise plant resources) with
emphasize diversity and variability (Kelly 2013). They associated organizational changes in labour (e.g.,
recognize the spectrum of behavioural, cultural and occupational specialization), more complex techno-
social adaptations shown by foragers in response to logical innovations, ownership over resources and
ecological conditions, as opposed to past typological territories, expanded networks of inter-group trade,
classifications that over-simplified them (e.g. Binford greater levels of inter-group conflict, and perhaps
1980; Testart 1981; Woodburn 1982). Fisher-foragers – most notably, the emergence of social inequality,
those foragers for whom aquatic resources form the with hierarchical status differentiation as opposed to
predominant food source and focus of economic activ- archetypal forager egalitarianism (Price 1981; Price &
ity – also exhibit a diversity of adaptive strategies, but Brown 1985). Storage has also been purported as an
surprisingly this new framework has only rarely been important component of complexity (Testart 1982; cf.
extended to them (e.g., Plew 1996), and they are often Morgan 2012), as have factors such as warfare (Fry
regarded as outliers with a relatively homogenous set 2006), slavery (Donald 1997), feasting (Hayden 1994,
of characteristics (Roscoe 2006; Yesner 1980, 1987). This 1995), monumental architecture (Sassaman 2004),
is partly attributable to chronological trends. With the specialized ritual activities and symbolic art (Carlson
exception of some early and probably opportunistic 1983; Zvelebil 1998). Ethnographic analogues for such
instances (Braun et al. 2010; Joordens et al. 2009; Stewart complex foragers, however, are relatively scarce, and
1994), systematic aquatic resource exploitation (ARE) the indigenous populations of the North American
was a relatively late economic strategy in human evolu- Northwest Coast and the Ainu of Japan are generally
tion when compared to terrestrial foraging; incipient considered the best examples (Price & Brown 1985).
forms are associated with the origin of our species Of these, Northwest Coast fisher-foragers, whom
(Marean et al. 2007) and late Neanderthal populations were particularly well-studied and notable for the
(Cortés-Sanchez et al. 2011; Hardy & Moncel 2011), but degree of complex behaviours and social strategies
evidence of intensive, specialized use, and reliance upon they exhibited (O’Neill 2014), have come to form the
aquatic resources is limited before the late Pleistocene basis of much of the theoretical framework concern-
(Erlandson 2001). However, fisher-foragers also gain ing forager complexity (Ames & Maschner 1999: 29).
outlier status for their association with traits more typi- This has, in turn, resulted in an underlying association
cal of early agriculturalists than the archetypal forager, between specialized ARE and complexity.
encompassed by the term ‘complexity’. There is, of course, marked variability across
Indeed, as a concept, forager complexity was Northwest Coast foragers, and complex foragers
conceived to help understand those prehistoric pop- in general, and the aforementioned traits typical of
ulations for whom the ‘small and mobile’ forager complexity are not necessarily universal to all. Zvel-
described at the Man the Hunter symposium (Lee & ebil (1998) identifies four components of complexity
DeVore 1968) did not seem an appropriate model (technological, economic, social and symbolic), each
(Price 1981; Price & Brown 1985). Behavioural, social theoretically independently variable. It is the social
and cultural complexity refers to a suite of interrelated aspect (i.e., social inequality), however, that is fun-
traits that include reduced residential mobility, greater damental to many scholars’ concepts of complexity
population size and density, economic intensification (Arnold 1996; cf. Paynter 1989), spurring a range of
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terminology to describe complex societies with regards (Ames 1981, 1985, 1994), and the accumulation of sur-
to degrees of social inequality (e.g., tribes, chiefdoms plus (Morgan 2012; Testart 1982), which can be used in
and states, or transegalitarian, ranked and stratified; trade and feasting (Hayden 1994, 1995). However, these
see Ames 2008: 490). Others eschew the term ‘complex’ well-established associations between ARE and forager
as an outdated, dichotomous classification, carrying complexity need not be universal. As a strategy, ARE
tenuous implications of comparative advancement or has multiple ecological, demographic and economic
superiority to ‘simple’ egalitarian societies, as well as potential alternatives, each of which could have dif-
drawing attention away from social inequality through ferent consequences towards behavioural, social and
its corollary implications of economic, technological cultural complexity. Such alternatives have been little
and perhaps symbolic complexity (e.g., Kelly 2013: 242, studied, largely because the ethnographic record is
who prefers ‘non-egalitarian’). Despite these caveats, biased towards certain fisher-foraging societies.
‘complexity’ is used here nonetheless, precisely for Figure 15.1 illustrates this geographic bias in three
its more inclusive implications of the whole suite of major cross-cultural datasets of ethnographically docu-
aforementioned interrelated traits, as a useful tool for mented foragers (Binford 2001; Kelly 2013; Marlowe
assessing the extent to which these traits have been 2005)2 – as is indeed recognized by their curators. North
accurately associated with a fisher-forager subsistence American populations are vastly better represented
(e.g., Ames 1994; Yesner 1980, 1987). than other continents (Fig. 15.1a). Only the Australa-
We argue that this common association stems from sian sample comes close to that of North America for
a biased ethnographic and archaeological record, domi- relative landmass area (Fig. 15.1b), while Asia, South
nated by fisher-foragers from exceptionally productive America and Africa are comparatively poorly repre-
and predominantly higher latitude (≥40°) marine coast- sented. This distribution reflects only that of foraging
lines. This bias disregards one of the most geographically groups recorded upon European colonial expansion
and temporally widespread prehistoric fisher-forager who were not already assimilated by (typically eco-
traditions – the African Aqualithic, which flourished nomically dominant) agricultural societies – and so
during the African Humid Period (AHP; 11,500–5,500 often occupied, or had been forced into, marginal or
years ago; deMenocal & Tierney 2012; Yellen 1998). This unarable habitats – and who were recorded in suffi-
tradition is distinct in that it is found along fresh, inland cient detail for meaningful cross-cultural analyses. This
waterways rather than marine coastlines, and entirely bias is even more pronounced among fisher-foragers.
below 40° latitude, and thus sets a unique comparison Figure 15.2 plots only those 117 populations classi-
with the sociocultural attributes of the well-known fied as fisher-foragers in Binford’s (2001) dataset, as
higher latitude fisher-foragers. The following sections well as crudely distinguishing the presence of social
discuss the evidence and theory behind the association inequality – whether each population is egalitarian or
of fisher-foragers with complexity, before quantitatively non-egalitarian – based on Binford’s variable ‘system
testing this association using a cross-cultural ethno- state’.3 Three features of Figure 15.2 are notable: (1)
graphic sample that includes both low (<40°) and high both egalitarian and non-egalitarian fisher-foragers
(≥40°) latitude populations. We conclude the paper with are found across all continents, except Africa where
a discussion of the African Aqualithic tradition, with a they are unrepresented, while (2) the vast majority of
focus on chronological and geographical trends that documented fisher-foragers come from western and
throw light on the question of fisher-forager complexity, especially northwestern North America, which (3)
particularly in terms of social inequalities. is also the only area with a clear absence of egalitar-
ian fisher-foragers (the adjacent high latitude coasts
The fisher-forager complexity paradigm: a high of eastern Asia and southern North America/central
latitude bias? America show similar indications, but with relatively
small samples).
There is substantial evidence to support an association These exceptionally well-represented Northwest
between ARE and forager complexity. Ethnographi- Coast populations that dominate fisher-forager datasets
cally documented fisher-foragers tend to have low have shaped our interpretation of adaptations towards
residential mobility and high population densities, often ARE. Indeed, established relationships between ARE
attributed to the exceptionally concentrated, rich and and low mobility are based on a small sample, heavily
diverse resources of certain coastlines (Day et al. 2012; biased towards Northwest Coast populations (Kelly
Roscoe 2006; Yesner 1980, 1987; cf. Osborn 1977). This, 1983: 292; 2013: 90; but see Roscoe 2006). They also
alongside the geographic and temporal variability of underlie ecogeographic patterns in forager diets, which
resources, promotes labour reorganization for efficient show the increasing importance of aquatic resources
economic intensification, territoriality, and ownership away from the equator, especially above 40° North
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Figure 15.1. A comparison of forager representation across six continents by number of populations (a) and number
of populations per landmass area (b), in three large cross-cultural forager datasets (Binford 2001; Kelly 2013;
Marlowe 2005). Summary statistics reflect primary subsistence type (hunted, gathered or aquatic resources).
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Figure 15.2. Fisher-foragers from Binford’s (2001) dataset, distinguished as egalitarian (white circles) or non-
egalitarian (grey crosses) based on the variable ‘system state’ ([systate3recod], see Table 15.1 and Note 3), plotted
over ocean chlorophyll a concentrations (4 July 2002–30 November 2018 composite data; NASA Goddard Space Flight
Centre, Ocean Biology Processing Group 2014) as a proxy for marine productivity.

(Cordain et al. 2000; Lee 1968; Marlowe 2005). It is to lower latitudes where the strong density differences
also from Northwest Coast fisher-foragers that much between warm surface waters and cooler deep waters
of the theoretical basis concerning forager complexity restrict mixing (Barnes & Hughes 1999; Jennings et
is derived (Ames & Maschner 1999: 29), building an al. 2001; Sigman & Hain 2012). Seasonal variation in
inherent association between social inequality and ARE. productivity also varies with latitude. In the tropics,
The underlying factors shaping ARE among Northwest productivity fluctuates but is fairly constant throughout
Coast groups, revolving around local topography and the year. At temperate climes there is a spring bloom in
salmon diversity/productivity, have been extensively phytoplankton, which coincides with spawning among
discussed (Ames 1994; Ames & Maschner 1999; Augerot many fish species, as well as smaller autumn blooms,
2005; Fitzhugh 2003; Hayden 1994, 1995; O’Leary 1996). while summer productivity is lower due to low wind
The uniqueness of these conditions raises the question stress and higher solar radiation. In contrast, polar
of whether the chain of causal relations from ARE to marine productivity peaks with light availability in the
complexity observed there can be applied to fisher- summer months (Barnes & Hughes 1999; Jennings et
foragers more generally. al. 2001; Sigman & Hain 2012).
Over this pattern sit additional areas of high ocean
Productivity of marine coastlines, estuaries and productivity, often from deep water upwelling. Coastal
freshwater systems upwelling and enhanced productivity occur where
wind moving along the coast drives surface waters
Figure 15.2 depicts global marine productivity based away from the shores, and where obstacles deflect
on chlorophyll a concentrations – a proxy for phyto- deep ocean current upwards. Coastal upwelling is
plankton abundance, and thus primary productivity primarily seen along the western coasts of continents
(Behrenfeld & Falkowski 1997). Ocean productivity is (e.g., California, Peru, Chile, Northwest and Southwest
greater at mid to high latitudes, with a notable increase Africa in Fig. 15.2), but coastal waters are typically of
at around 40° North and South. This latitudinal pattern higher productivity than the open ocean regardless:
is primarily a result of cooler water surface tempera- in shallow coastal waters, rather than sinking into the
tures towards the poles, which allow for greater vertical depths, organic matter and light feed a productive ocean
mixing with nutrient-rich deep waters, in comparison floor, which alongside additional nutrient run-off from
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 Exploring fisher-forager complexity in an African context

the land feed rich ecosystems (Barnes & Hughes 1999; coastline productivity show that higher latitudes could
Jennings et al. 2001; Knauss & Garfield 2017). There is best support intensive ARE and corollary aspects of
also much variation in coastal productivity (Perlman complexity. In this section, we explore the extent to
1980). Estuaries are characterized by particular high which complexity is restricted to high latitude fisher-
productivity (Cloern et al. 2014; Day et al. 2012), as foragers through Binford’s (2001) dataset of 339 foraging
are gentle, rather than steep, and low relief coastal populations (updated online version, Johnson 2006).
bathymetry and wide, shallow continental shelves. Binford’s (2001) dataset includes an exceptional
Notably, while these conditions occur at a range of range of relevant ecological, economic, social and
latitudes across all continents, they are most widespread cultural variables, here coded in a manner appropri-
and consistently found along the previously glaciated ate for the following analyses (Table 15.1). Where
wide coastal shelves of higher latitudes (Perlman 1980). referred to in-text, Binford’s (2001) variable names are
Coupled with the broader oceanic productivity patterns, italicized and square-bracketed (e.g., total population
this reinforces the high productivity of higher latitude size = [tlpop]). Concerning technological complexity,
marine coastlines (Davis et al. 2014). Binford (2001: 387–99) uses Oswalt’s (1973, 1976) data
Patterns of freshwater productivity are complex, on forager food-procurement technologies (‘sub-
as they depend on multiple independent factors. The sistants’). Oswalt (1973, 1976) defined the complexity
character and rate of primary productivity along a of a subsistant based on its number of ‘technounits’
river’s drainage network have been described as a gra- (individual components), and toolkit complexity as
dient from a river’s headwaters to its mouth, shaped by the average number of technounits per subsistant.
both biotic and abiotic factors that determine organic While still relatively limited, many studies have since
source matter, its potential storage and upwelling supplemented and analysed these data (see Read &
(Vannote et al. 1980). Furthermore, the downstream Andersson 2020: 345–52, and references therein), so
association with maximum terrestrial-aquatic fauna toolkit complexity data were gathered from the lit-
and upstream association with molluscs/crustacean erature (primarily Osborn 1999; Shott 1986; Torrence
fauna result in maximum micro- and macro-inverte- 1983) and matched to populations in Binford’s (2001)
brate species diversity in a river’s midreach (Vannote dataset following Collard et al. (2005).
et al. 1980). Mid-sized rivers, which have the widest The relationship between dependence upon
range of temperatures and hydraulic conditions along aquatic resources and factors associated with aspects of
the gradient, tend to have the highest biological diver- complexity were assessed through regression analyses,
sity, while large rivers tend to have lower productivity with complexity as the dependent variables, using the
overall – differences that are magnified by resource- entire non-equestrian forager sample.4 Continuous
spiralling (Johnson et al. 1995). Lakes and floodplains dependent variables (total population size, mean
are associated with different aspects of this complex aggregated group size, population density, number of
productivity gradient, shaped by their own biotic and residential moves per year, residential distance moved
abiotic features (Kimmel & Groeger 1984), as well per year, niche breadth and technological complexity)
as their point of intersection in the drainage (Bayley were analysed through hierarchical multiple linear
1995; Sedell et al. 1989). River areas with the greatest regression models in order to control for the effects of
interaction with floodplains are the most productive, local ecological conditions and the statistical non-inde-
and this productivity is strongly determined by the pendence of cultural traits due to phylogenetic history
annual flood-pulses that shape them (Junk et al. 1989). (Galton’s problem). To do so, effective temperature
At a spatial scale, freshwater fish communities are ([et]) and dummy variables for Binford’s (2001) ‘world
more diverse and more productive at lower latitudes, sector’ variable [secno]5 (see Table 15.1) were included
although the less diverse high latitude fish communities as independent variables in the first block, followed
can be extremely productive (Rypel & David 2017). by percentage aquatic resource-dependence (PARD:
The pronounced variation in the foraging carry- [fishing]) in the second (last) block. The effect of the
ing capacity offered across aquatic environments are last block on the model thus indicates the relationship
critical for interpreting the range of ethnographic and between PARD and the respective dependent variable
prehistoric fisher-forager adaptations, and the levels after controlling for ecological influences and Gal-
of complexity they expressed. ton’s problem. Relevant categorical variables (storage
dependence, occupational specialization, ownership
Latitudinal bias in fisher-forager complexity over resource locations, formal leadership, social class
distinction, inter-group conflict) were recoded into
Although the distribution of ethnographically docu- dichotomous categories (Table 15.1) expressing the
mented fisher-foragers may be biased, patterns in absence or presence of a trait, and analysed through
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Table 15.1. Variables from Binford’s (2001) dataset that are discussed in-text and used in statistical analyses (indicated by *). For categorical variables,
descriptions are provided for each coded value, and, where relevant, how they were recoded for binary logistic regressions. Note that categorical value
descriptions are in places simplified from those provided by Binford (2001) and Johnson (2006).
Variable Coding Variable description Continuous/ Categorical value/description Recoding
variable categorical for binomial
logistical
regression
Predominant [subsp] ‘indicates what food type Categorical 1 = terrestrial animal
food source supplies the majority of a group’s 2 = terrestrial plant
nutritional intake’ (Binford 2001: 3 = aquatic
117)
Percentage [fishing] ‘estimates (calculated as a Continuous
subsistence percentage) of a group’s
from aquatic dependence upon…aquatic
resources* organisms’ (Binford 2001: 117)
World sector* [secno] Divides foragers primarily by Categorical a = Asia
continent with the exception of b = South America (plus the Calusa
the large North American sample, of Florida)
which is further subdivided by c = Sub-Saharan Africa
region (see Binford 2001: Table d = Australia
8.01) f = California and Northern Mexico
g = North American desert and
desert scrub (Great Basin and
Mexico)
h = North American steppic
mounted hunters (Great Plains)
i = North American Northwest
Pacific coast
j = North American subarctic and
midlatitude forests
k = North American Arctic
Effective [et] ‘This measure simultaneously Continuous
temperature* describes both the total amount
and yearly distribution of solar
radiation characteristic of a given
place’ and so ‘is a measure of both
the length…and the intensity of
solar energy available during the
growing season’ (Binford 1980: 13;
also see Binford 2001: 58–9)
Effective [clim] A seven-point ordination of [et], Categorical 1 = <10.00 (polar)
temperature ranging from coolest to warmest 2 = 10–12.49 (boreal)
(ordination)* (Binford 2001: 70) 3 = 12.50–14.55 (cool temperate)
4 = 14.56–16.61 (warm temperate)
5 = 16.62–18.15 (subtropical)
6 = 18.16–22.57 (tropical)
7 = ≥22.58 (equatorial)
Total [tlpop] ‘total number of persons to whom Continuous
population the ethnographic description
size* applied’ (Binford 2001: 117)
Mean [group2] ‘the mean size of the consumer Continuous
aggregated group that regularly camps
group size* together during the most
aggregated phase of the yearly
economic cycle’ (Binford 2001:
117)
Population [density] Total population size divided Continuous
density* by ‘ethnographers’ estimates of
the total land area occupied by
the group in units of 100 square
kilometres’ (Binford 2001: 117)
Number [nomov] ‘average number of residential Continuous
of annual moves made by household units
residential within the group on an annual
moves* basis’ (Binford 2001: 117)

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 Exploring fisher-forager complexity in an African context

Table 15.1 (cont.).

Variable Coding Variable description Continuous/ Categorical value/description Recoding
variable categorical for binomial
logistical
regression
Total [dismov] ‘estimated total distance that these Continuous
residential residential moves represent each
distance year’ in miles (Binford 2001: 117)
moved
annually*
Niche [subdiv2] ‘the standard deviation of the Continuous
breadth quantity of terrestrial plants,
(subsistence animals and aquatic resources
diversity)* estimated for each hunter-gatherer
case’ (Binford 2001: 403)
System state [systate3recod] An updated recoding (Johnson Categorical 2 = ‘horticulturally augmented
2006) of Binford’s (2001: 345) cases’
variable describing ‘system state’ 3 = ‘mutualists and forest product
[systate3], referring ‘to formal specialists’
properties of organization, which 4 = ‘generic hunter-gatherers’
include leadership, internal 5 = ‘generic hunter-gatherers with
differentiation of leadership instituted leadership’
status, associated roles relative to 6 = ‘wealth-differentiated
participation in decision making hunter-gatherers’
and the exercise of power with 7 = ‘mounted hunters’
society’ 8 = ‘stratified or characterized by
elite and privileged leaders’
Storage [store] ‘dependence upon storage’ Categorical 1 = no storage beyond a day or two Absent (0) = 1
dependence* (Binford 2001: 388) 2 = storage only for special events Present (1) = 3
3 = storage for seasonal/other low- (values of ‘2’
productivity phases were excluded
as ambiguous)
Occupational [occspe] ‘Occupational specialities Categorical 1 = absent Absent (0) = 1
specialization* reported which are not tied to 2 = few (1–3) Present (1) =
the sexual division of labour or 3 = moderate (4–7) 2–4
tendencies for role differences’ 4 = many (≥8)
(Johnson 2006; see Binford 2001:
Table 9.01)
Ownership [owners] ‘ownership of resource locations’ Categorical 1 = absent Absent (0) = 1
over resource (Binford 2001: 426) 2 = group claims exclusive rights Present (1) =
locations* over resource locations/residential 2–4
sites/ home range
3 = group claims hunting areas/
dominant animals/fishing sites/
animal drive locations
4 = elite ownership of land and
resources
Formal [polyscal] An ordinal scale of political Categorical 1 = ‘performance based leadership’ Absent (0) =
leadership* development (Binford 2001: 334; 2 = ‘Senior males provide an 1&2
Johnson 2006) advisory type of leadership’ Present (1) =
3 = ‘Formal or informal council of 3&4
advisors with recognized leader’
4 = ‘Instituted leader who presides
over a council of near “peers”’
Social class [class] ‘Type of social class distinction’ Categorical 1 = absent Absent (0) = 1
distinction* (Johnson 2006; see Binford 2001: 2 = ‘wealth distinctions only’ Present (1) =
Table 9.01) 3 = ‘dual stratification into a 2&3
hereditary aristocracy and a class of
ordinary people’
Inter-group [gpgpcon] An ordinal scale of inter-group Categorical 1 = ‘none reported’ Absent (0) = 1
conflict* violence (Johnson 2006) 2 = ‘revenge raiding’ Present (1) =
3 = ‘accelerative raiding’ 2–4
4 = ‘accelerative conflicts of
annihilation’

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hierarchical binary logistic regressions, again control- to assess whether these relationships remain once
ling for effective temperature and world sector using productive high latitude coastlines are removed; (3)
the first block, followed by the inclusion of PARD in excluding populations at less than 40° latitude, North
the second (last) block. The relationship between the and South, to confirm that the relationships between
continuous variable for effective temperature ([et]) and ARE and aspects of complexity remain among the
the logit transformation of some binomial dependent high latitude populations alone (Tables 15.2 and 15.3).
variables was not linear (a necessary assumption of Analyses of the entire sample support almost
binary logistic regressions), so Binford’s (2001) ordina- all the expected relationships. Controlling for eco-
tion of effective temperature ([clim]) was used instead logical influences and Galton’s problem, greater
– treated as a nominal variable as required by binary PARD significantly predicts greater total populations
logistic regression models. For consistency, [clim] was size, aggregated group size and population density,
used instead of [et] in all logistic models. For logistic reduced residential mobility (both number and dis-
regressions, world sector ([secno]) was also included tance of moves), and the presence of occupational
as a nominal variable. specialization, ownership over resource locations,
In order to assess the implications of a high lati- formalized leadership, class distinctions, and inter-
tude bias on the fisher-forager complexity paradigm, group conflict. In all these cases (and all those below
three regressions were carried out for each dependent unless otherwise specified), the dependent variable
variable: (1) including the entire sample in order to was also significantly predicted by the whole regres-
confirm whether the expected relationships between sion model (including [secno] and [et]/[clim]). For niche
PARD and aspects of complexity hold true; (2) exclud- breadth, however, while the whole regression model
ing populations at ≥40° latitude, North and South, was significant, PARD alone showed no significant

Table 15.2. Hierarchical linear regression models using percentage aquatic resource-dependence (PARD) to predict aspects of complexity, after
controlling for effective temperature and world sector, using the total forager sample, a low latitude-only sample (<40°) and high latitude-only sample
(≥40°). Significance: *<0.05, **<0.01; ***<0.001.
Effect of PARD PARD relationship with DV
Whole model (IV: effective (last block) on (controlling for effective
temperature, world sector, PARD) model temperature and world sector)
Populations in Partial
DV regression N R R2 (SE) ANOVA R2change Fchange correlation Standardized β
Population size All populations 310 0.485 0.235 (1.109) 9.191*** 0.025 9.852** 0.179 0.235**
<40° only 163 0.369 0.136 (1.198) 3.493** 0.004 0.649 0.065 0.071
≥40° only 147 0.541 0.293 (0.987) 6.303*** 0.043 8.234** 0.238 0.333**
Aggregated All populations 269 0.619 0.384 (0.223) 16.050*** 0.014 5.982* 0.151 0.190*
group size
<40° only 135 0.503 0.253 (0.201) 6.134*** 0.009 1.446 0.106 0.111
≥40° only 134 0.628 0.394 (0.239) 8.957*** 0.041 8.417** 0.252 0.326**
Population All populations 311 0.787 0.619 (0.442) 48.656*** 0.105 82.480*** 0.464 0.481***
density
<40° only 163 0.765 0.585 (0.403) 31.186*** 0.190 71.104*** 0.561 0.515***
≥40° only 148 0.878 0.772 (0.383) 51.792*** 0.082 49.830*** 0.515 0.466***
Niche breadth All populations 311 0.600 0.359 (8.627) 16.835*** 0.000 0.114 0.020 0.023
<40° only 163 0.501 0.251 (8.623) 7.412*** 0.047 9.676** 0.242 0.255**
≥40° only 148 0.825 0.681 (6.675) 32.707*** 0.046 19.909*** -0.355 -0.348***
Number All populations 249 0.542 0.294 (0.562) 9.914*** 0.076 25.779*** -0.313 -0.422***
of annual
<40° only 129 0.517 0.267 (0.560) 6.293*** 0.081 13.353*** -0.315 -0.344***
residential
moves ≥40° only 120 0.630 0.397 (0.534) 8.052*** 0.166 30.319*** -0.465 -0.636***
Total All populations 224 0.690 0.476 (0.341) 19.370*** 0.120 48.821*** -0.432 -0.524***
residential
<40° only 118 0.626 0.392 (0.347) 10.137*** 0.154 27.789*** -0.449 -0.483***
distance moved
annually ≥40° only 106 0.793 0.629 (0.313) 18.059*** 0.146 37.819*** -0.532 -0.594***
Technological All populations 30 0.821 0.674 (1.071) 3.922** 0.000 0.003 -0.013 -0.017
complexity
<40° only 14 0.739 0.546 (1.047) 1.033 0.094 1.241 -0.414 -0.709
≥40° only 16 0.890 0.793 (1.189) 3.346 0.021 0.704 0.302 0.266

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 Exploring fisher-forager complexity in an African context

Table 15.3. Hierarchical binary logistic regression models using percentage aquatic resource-dependence (PARD) to predict aspects of complexity,
after controlling for effective temperature and world sector, using the total forager sample, a low latitude-only sample (<40°) and high latitude-only
sample (≥40°). The regression predicting storage dependence using the high latitude-only sample could not be run as the model experienced separation
(world sector perfectly predicted the likelihood of storage dependence in the basal model). Significance: *<0.05, **<0.01; ***<0.001.
PARD relationship with DV
Whole model (IV: effective temperature, Effect of PARD (last (controlling for effective
world sector, PARD) block) on model temperature and world sector
Populations in -2 Log Nagelkerke Pseudo-
DV regression N likelihood R2 X2 R2change X2change Odds ratio Wald X2
Storage All populations 309 61.849 0.921 350.056*** 0.001 0.139 1.008 0.137
dependence
<40° only 161 45.544 0.863 150.643*** 0.000 0.001 0.999 0.001
≥40° only 148 - - - - - - -
Occupational All populations 311 139.126 0.727 208.989*** 0.052 20.397*** 1.064 14.964***
specialization
<40° only 163 45.600 0.678 67.656*** 0.035 4.307* 1.040 3.774
≥40° only 148 79.153 0.751 119.895*** 0.065 15.251*** 1.094 11.858**
Ownership All populations 311 245.786 0.598 185.091*** 0.032 13.431*** 1.013 12.286***
over resource
<40° only 163 140.410 0.508 76.134*** 0.025 4.588* 1.022 4.452*
locations
≥40° only 148 83.866 0.706 105.453*** 0.020 4.221* 1.038 3.668
Formal All populations 311 256.634 0.450 117.564*** 0.046 14.208*** 1.035 13.244***
leadership
<40° only 163 92.308 0.584 77.261*** 0.020 3.361 1.026 3.274
≥40° only 148 140.631 0.422 54.673*** 0.093 13.886*** 1.060 11.733**
Social class All populations 311 176.492 0.698 215.620*** 0.034 14.661*** 1.045 12.421***
distinction
<40° only 163 58.053 0.613 63.307*** 0.037 4.627* 1.043 4.108*
≥40° only 148 106.426 0.645 97.419*** 0.027 5.655* 1.041 4.902*
Inter-group All populations 305 138.016 0.711 195.351*** 0.048 18.268*** 1.071 11.927**
conflict
<40° only 157 80.675 0.727 114.247*** 0.061 13.473*** 1.100 7.942**
≥40° only 148 42.284 0.759 85.579 *** 0.009 1.409 1.034 1.099

relationship and did not significantly improve the for effective temperature and world sector, greater
model. The same was true for technological complex- PARD continued to significantly predict reduced
ity and storage dependence. residential mobility (number and distance of moves)
One might have expected PARD to be associated and greater population density; however, it no longer
with reduced niche breadth, implying a greater spe- predicted total population size or aggregated group
cialization towards aquatic, over terrestrially hunted size. Moreover, the exclusion of high latitude popu-
or gathered, resources, but the results obtained suggest lations reveals a positive correlation between PARD
this is not the case. Regarding technological complexity, and niche breadth, implying that at lower latitudes,
Oswalt (1973, 1976) and Osborn (1999) have argued increasing the amount of aquatic resources in the diet
for the importance of aquatic resource-dependence is associated with a more generalist strategy, incor-
in determining forager toolkit complexity, but more porating them alongside terrestrial plant and animal
recent analyses have identified environmental risk as resources rather than specializing towards aquatic
the primary determinant (Collard et al. 2005, 2011, 2013; resources. This contrasts with results from only higher
Read 2008; Read & Andersson 2020; Torrence 2001). latitude populations (≥40°), among whom, when added
Our results, showing no relationship between toolkit to the basal model, PARD not only significantly pre-
complexity and ARE, after controlling for effective dicts greater population size, aggregated group size,
temperature, are consistent with this. Indeed, the same population density, and reduced residential mobil-
might be said for storage dependence, which has been ity, but also significantly reduced niche breadth (i.e.,
attributed primarily to seasonality and the unpredict- greater specialization towards aquatic resources). The
ability of resources rather than being associated with non-significant relationship between ARE and niche
complexity (Morgan 2012). breadth using the total sample would thus appear to
The exclusion of high latitude populations result from opposing strategies above and below 40°
from the regressions shows that, after controlling latitude. We might expect these opposing latitudinal
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strategies to be reflected in similarly opposing correla- aquatic resource-dependence; and (2) their depiction
tions between technological complexity and PARD in as warring societies may be inaccurate as argued by
the higher and lower latitude samples. While trends Daly (2014), who stresses that accounts of Northwest
to this effect are observed, no significant relationships Coast conflict date from a limited, exceptional, and thus
were found, although this may result from the small unrepresentative, period of time (European contact),
sample sizes (<40°, n = 14; ≥40°, n = 16). when long-term cultural mechanisms to avoid con-
Results concerning ownership over resource flict (competitive feasting, gift-exchange or marriage
locations and inter-group conflict, on the other hand, alliances) failed. If the warring conditions recorded
might reflect these divergent low/high latitude strate- among Northwest Coast fisher-foragers were atypical,
gies. Using only the <40° sample, the addition of PARD the associations between complexity and violence may
to the basal model significantly increased its power be inaccurate, as observed by Allen et al. (2016). This,
to predict ownership over resource locations, but the in turn, weakens the expectation that less complex
relationship is notably weaker than when both low and groups, more common at low latitudes, should have
high latitude groups are included. This is consistent reduced rates of conflict, and is instead consistent with
with more generalist strategies, whereby control of more widespread conflict among foraging populations
a specific resource may be of lesser importance than (Ember 1978; Keeley 1996). This decoupling of complex-
access to a wide range of them. However, perhaps ity and conflict is consistent with a deep chronology for
unexpectedly, the significance of this relationship is inter-group violence (Allen & Jones 2014; Bowles 2009;
weakened even further when only the high latitude Keeley 1996; Wrangham & Peterson 1996), as recently
sample is considered, to the extent of insignificance supported by early evidence among prehistoric tropical
when applying the Wald test. Indeed, inter-group African fisher-foragers (Lahr et al. 2016).
conflict is only significantly predicted by greater Recent studies have emphasized population
PARD among <40° groups, which, given that the pressure and resource scarcity as determinants of
typical benefits of warfare are control over/access to inter-group conflict (Allen et al. 2016; Kelly 2013:
resources (e.g., territory, stored foods, slaves, females 207–8; Nolan 2003). At lower latitudes where aquatic
as brides), would be consistent with a weaker likeli- productivity is typically lower, ARE might be limited to
hood of ownership over resource locations at higher localized areas of exceptional productivity over which
latitudes. Adding PARD to the basal model does not there is intense competition, or involve high levels of
increase the likelihood of storage dependence among resource competition overall, thus also accounting
lower latitude societies, suggesting that stored foods for the positive correlation between PARD and niche
are unlikely to be the cause of inter-group conflict. breadth at lower latitudes. Keeley (1996) has posited
Unfortunately, this relationship could not be tested that when conditions enhance the risk of inter-group
on the ≥40° sample, as the model experienced separa- violence, societies develop mechanisms to overcome it.
tion (world sector perfectly predicted the likelihood We would argue that this applies only when conditions
of storage dependence in the basal model). are predictable, such as on the Northwest Coast, where
Interpreting these results concerning the relation- the risk of ARE-related inter-group conflict could be
ship between ARE and the likelihood of inter-group large, seasonal and patterned, but consequently sup-
conflict – positive at lower latitudes, but insignificant pressed by cultural avoidance mechanisms, while at
at higher latitudes – is compounded by the multifac- lower latitudes, risk of conflict is comparatively lower,
eted relations involved. Current perspectives on the but conditioned by unpredictable events, and so more
association between warfare and complexity would commonly ensues.
predict opposite results: the higher latitude groups, Results concerning the relationships between
dominated by non-egalitarian Northwest Coast fisher- PARD and markers of social inequality may lend further
forager populations that are often described as warring support to a decoupling of the latter with the incidence
societies, should show a positive relationship between of inter-group conflict. In the <40° latitude sample, many
ARE and conflict, consistent with the view that the of these relationships were weak: (a) when controlling
emergence of complexity was a turning point in the for world sector and effective temperature, PARD only
origins of warfare (Fry 2006), while at low latitudes, predicts the odds of formal leadership among higher
where complex foragers are less common, the relation- latitude populations; (b) PARD was a weak predictor of
ship should be weaker. However, these expectations occupational specialization in the <40° latitude sample
may be countered by two lines of argument: (1) conflict and strongly significant in the high latitude-only sam-
among Northwest Coast fisher-foragers may have ple; and (c) PARD shows a weaker, albeit significant,
been internal to their society, rather than external, correlation with class distinction in the low latitude
as Ember (1975) argues is more common with high sample than in the high latitude-only one. These results
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 Exploring fisher-forager complexity in an African context

certainly question a relationship between ARE and 1977; Richardson 1981), southern Brazilian (DeBlasis et
social inequality at lower latitudes, where it would al. 1998; Fish & Fish 2010) and Paraná-Plata (Loponte et
appear to be much diminished. al. 2006) coasts. Unsurprisingly, these complex fisher-
The range of potential explanatory mechanisms forager societies tend to be found along the most highly
for the emergence of social inequality (or lack thereof) productive coastlines, particularly at more productive
is vast – each positing different aspects of complexity higher latitudes (Bailey & Milner 2002). Whether forag-
as causes, conditions, or consequences of the others ers are pushed or pulled into ARE, they are more likely
(Arnold 1996; Price & Brown 1985). We might expect, to do so where waters are most productive. Indeed,
however, that any differences in the relationship these more productive aquatic environments are
between ARE and social inequality between high more likely to be able to support large, sedentary and
and low latitude groups relate to those other aspects population dense societies (Perlman 1980). There are,
in which they most clearly differ with regards to of course, exceptions. The Yamana (Yahgan) of Tierra
PARD: niche breadth and aggregated group/population del Fuego – the highest latitude Southern Hemisphere
size. For example, in comparison to the <40° latitude fisher-foragers – practiced a nomadic lifestyle with
generalist strategy, the ≥40° latitude specialization relatively small group sizes, no permanent structures,
on aquatic resources might be expected to promote little or no storage, and no formalized social inequal-
inequality through mechanisms such as the efficient ity (Lothrop 1928; Yesner 1987; Zangrando 2009). In
coordination of labour and the emergence of leaders fact, the Yamana intensified resource exploitation in
to control it (Ames 1981, 1985, 1994). This could also the past 1000 years, but through diversification as
be enhanced by larger group/population sizes that opposed to the specialization seen on the Northwest
detriment efficient decision-making and social cohe- Coast; a difference argued to be the key to their lack
sion (Hamilton et al. 2007; Johnson 1982), and require of complexity (Zangrando 2009).
greater food quantities, thus driving specialization and Putting exceptions aside, complex fisher-forag-
complexity through enhanced population pressure ers, both ethnographic and archaeological, are most
(Cohen 1977; Keeley 1988). Alternatively, we might commonly found along the most productive, often
expect population growth to be driven by abundant higher latitude, coastlines (Bailey & Milner 2002). The
aquatic resources, and social inequality to emerge preceding discussions concerning trends in aquatic
with control over surplus (Hayden 1994, 1995, 2001). productivity show there is reasoned logic behind this
Either way, it is reasonable to infer that indications pattern, but it is clear from Figure 15.2 that it does
of a weaker relationship between aquatic resource- not account for low latitude fisher-foragers, many of
dependence and social inequality at lower latitudes whom are egalitarian. Equally apparent is the glar-
might be attributable to a more generalist subsistence ing absence of African fisher-foragers, most of whom
strategy, lack of consistently larger group/population exploited freshwater resources, and who are only rarely
sizes, unequal ecological distribution of productive considered in discussions concerning forager ARE or
areas and/or ecological unpredictability (monsoons, complexity (Plug 2006).
droughts, lack of seasonality, etc.). As the birthplace of not only our species, but
The above findings challenge a universal associa- the earliest intensive ARE, Africa is paramount to our
tion of a fisher-forager subsistence with complexity. understanding of fisher-forager adaptations. Archaeo-
The following section takes this further by exploring logical evidence for the earliest systematic ARE is
the paradigm of fisher-forager complexity, not just associated with Middle Stone Age (MSA) assemblages
in an ethnographically unrepresented region, but a along the South African coast, focused on intensive
period in time marked by distinct climatic patterns to mollusc and some marine mammal exploitation (Jacobs
the present day: the African Aqualithic. 2010; Marean 2014; Marean et al. 2007) but with no clear
evidence of technological specializations towards ARE,
Prehistoric fisher-foragers and the African record as might be expected were these populations primarily
dependent on aquatic resources. However, Africa is
Archaeologically documented foragers help to fill gaps also home to one of the earliest ARE-associated tech-
in the ethnographic record. Several complex prehistoric nological specializations: the barbed bone harpoon.
fisher-forager societies are known from areas that are Dates for the earliest African bone harpoons are
ethnographically less well-documented – e.g., the late roughly contemporaneous with the South African
Mesolithic Ertebølle culture of Scandinavia (Layton & coastal adaptation (Brooks et al. 1995; Feathers & Miglio-
Rowley-Conwy 2013; Price & Brown 1981), the Jōmon rini 2001; Yellen et al. 1995; but see Klein 2008, 2009:
of Japan (Pearson 2008; Takeshi 2014), or the preceramic 527), but their isolated occurrence at this time limits the
cultures of the Peruvian (Moseley 1975, 1992; Osborne inferences that may be drawn. Similar artefacts from
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Ishango are dated to ≤25 ka (Crevecoeur et al. 2016), construction of large permanent storage facilities,
but the majority date to the African Humid Period dwellings, monumental social structures, and sea-faring
(AHP, 11.5–5 ka; deMenocal & Tierney 2012; Yellen canoes, and 3) novel bone technology, providing a
1998). The AHP is a period of greatly increased pre- malleable resource for specialized fishing gear (from
cipitation associated with precessional changes in the c.  1.5 ka). The Aqualithic is associated with barbed
Earths’ axis that, in turn, influenced the North African points, an innovation in bone (and sometimes horn,
summer monsoon, leading to the dramatic expansion ivory or even wood) that seems to have facilitated this
of inland lakes and rivers across East Africa, the Sahel specialized ARE-based economy. Novel raw material
and a vegetated Green Sahara (deMenocal & Tierney availability, comparable to Northwest Coast red cedar
2012; Gasse 2000; Kuper & Kröpelin 2006; deMenocal stands, could have also played an important role in the
& Tierney 2012; Tierney & deMenocal 2013). During Aqualithic adaptation. Palynological studies show that
this time, a major economic and cultural expansion of the Sahara was colonized by a diverse vegetation with
fisher-foragers using bone harpoons extended from East no modern analogue during the AHP, ranging from
Africa to the Atlantic Coast – a cultural phenomenon moist tropical woodland to xeric-adapted grasses, and
that Sutton (1974, 1977) coined the ‘African Aqualithic’ particularly gallery forests along freshwater rivers and
(herein ‘Aqualithic’). lakes (Hély et al. 2014; Watrin et al., 2009; Hély et al.
The Aqualithic represents one of the most geo- 2014), which could have provided comparable materi-
graphically widespread and longest-lived specialized als for wood-working. Indeed, in exceptional cases, the
fisher-forager adaptations. Yet, its relationships with use of wood in construction is attested at Aqualithic
complexity have not been explored. There are multiple sites (Davies 1966; Hassan 1988; Phillipson 1982), and
differences in the distribution of resources between polished stone axes and adzes, considered to be associ-
freshwater inland littoral environments and marine ated with wood-working activities (Binneman & Deacon
coastlines. While the midreach of the Niger River, the 1986; Clark 1958; Gould 1971), are also frequent.
Nubian Nile, deltas, the floodplains of large lakes such Besides structures, wood may have been used in
as Chad and Turkana, and marshes such as the Sudd constructing rafts or dug-out canoes, as seen among
might have offered extremely rich habitats, much of the contemporary African subsistence fishermen (Scherrer
remaining fast-flowing portions of rivers, small streams 1978; Sobania 1980), and attested by the exceptionally
and topographically bounded lakes and shallow Saha- well-preserved dug-out canoe from Dufuna, near the
ran water bodies would have had lower carrying palaeoshores of ‘Lake Mega-Chad’ in Nigeria and
capacities, even if waterfowl dispersal of invertebrates dated to 7670 ± 110 bp (Breuning et al. 1996). Equally,
such as Artemia sp. (Green et al. 2005; Sánchez et al. wood-working may have been important for making
2007) created localized conditions for specialized ARE, bone harpoons themselves (Mbow 1998; Ravisé 1970).
as seen with the traditional Dawwādah population in It is also possible that wood was worked into storage
Fezzan (Thomas 1968). Therefore, whether abundant containers comparable to the Northwest Coast (O’Neill
and predictable resources enabled specialized ARE with 2014), but supportive evidence is lacking. Direct evi-
economic and sociocultural adaptations paralleling the dence of Aqualithic storage is limited to the granaries
Northwest Coast, or aquatic intensification through found at Fayum (Caton-Thompson & Gardner 1934)
diversification saw low complexity fisher-foragers and Merimda Beni Salam (Hassan 1988), and potentially
more similar to the Yamana, or conditions drove an conical pits filled with Pila shells from Shabona, Sudan
entirely unique Aqualithic fisher-forager adaptation, (Clark 1989). We might, instead, posit that pottery,
remains unknown. which is commonly found at Aqualithic sites, offered
a comparable innovation in storage technology, as
Fisher-forager complexity in the African inferred from large vessels at sites like Kobadi (Jousse
Aqualithic et al. 2008) and the Atbara region of the Middle Nile
(Haaland 1995).
O’Neill (2014) highlights three underlying causal factors Assessing any resource ‘superabundance’ com-
that enabled the emergence of complexity along the parable to Northwest Coast salmon at Aqualithic
Northwest Coast to which we might attempt to draw sites is difficult as many lack well-documented faunal
parallels with the Aqualithic: 1) ‘superabundance’ of assemblages. However, where reported, certain spe-
a virtually inexhaustible, predictable resource (on the cies are recurrently, although not universally, found
Northwest Coast, salmon since c. 5 ka), 2) availability across a range of sites – catfish (especially Clarias and
of a new raw material (increased red cedar stands after Synodontis spp.), Nile perch (Lates niloticus), cichlids
4 ka) and associated technological innovations (wood- (often Tilapia spp.), hippopotamus, crocodile and a
working), which allowed for the storage of surplus, range of freshwater molluscs. At some sites, one or
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 Exploring fisher-forager complexity in an African context

more of these species clearly dominates the faunal complexity could emerge. To address this, a database of
assemblage, possibly reflecting their abundance (e.g. AHP sites with barbed bone harpoons was constructed
Petit-Maire 1983; Robbins et al. 1994; Sereno et al. 2008; from data in the literature and from recent excavations
Stewart 1989; Wendt 1996; Yellen et al. 1995). However, in Turkana (unpublished, IN-AFRICA project) with
despite noted associations between particular species the intent of identifying indicators of complexity (see
and the geography of Aqualithic sites during the AHP Ames 2008; Hayden 2001, 2014). Ten potential indicators
that may indicate economic specializations (Drake et of complexity were recorded for each site – middens,
al. 2011), none of the recorded taxa are universal to all pottery, grinding tools, settlement permanence, domes-
Aqualithic sites to the extent that we might propose ticates, ornaments, other prestige objects (excluding
a superabundance and comparable specialization to elaborate pottery and ornaments), grave goods, inequal-
Northwest Coast salmon exploitation. Indeed, some ity in burials, and specialized funerary monuments or
sites show a mix of both floodplain and open-water locations (see Table 15.4), as well as the site’s location,
species (Haaland 1995), suggesting serial seasonal type of archaeological investigation, dating (where avail-
specializations rather than intensive seasonal invest- able), primary water-source at the time of occupation,
ment, while at others the similarities in species-specific potential taxon-dominance in the faunal assemblage,
prevalence in both cultural and non-cultural layers sug- and the number of harpoons found (where available).
gest no preference or specialization in fishing activities All identified sites are plotted in Figure 15.3.
(Phillipson 1977). Therefore, although the AHP is clearly Sites were attributed to one of four broad ‘periods’
associated with a proliferation of aquatic resources in separated by major climatological events on the basis of
general, it seems unlikely that it reflects a widespread available radiometric dates or presence of domesticates:
adaptation to the superabundance of particular taxa. >11.8 ka (preceding the end of the Younger Dryas cold
Although it is clear that the Aqualithic does not phase); 11.8–8.2 ka (between the Younger Dryas and 8.2
parallel the specialized fisher-forager adaptations of the event), 8.2–5.5 ka (between the 8.2 event and the end
Northwest Coast, the evidence suggests that the AHP of the AHP), and <5.5 ka (post-AHP). Sites were also
may have sustained comparable conditions under which divided into seven regions (East Africa, Nile Valley,

Figure 15.3. Harpoon-bearing sites of northern Africa, divided by region. Circles mark excavated sites and crosses
mark unexcavated sites.
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Table 15.4. Indications of complexity identified at Aqualithic sites that are used in the analyses, and their association with complexity.
Indicator of complexity Association with complexity
Middens Suggest prolonged occupation of site and reduced mobility
Pottery Practical constraints of transporting reduces mobility (Haaland 1995), possibly used for
storage, implying reduced mobility (Keeley 1988; Morgan 2012; Soffer 1989), and where
elaborate/decorated, can be considered a prestige object (Hayden 1998; see below)
Grindstones Practical constraints of transporting reduces mobility (Haaland 1995), and if used to
grind pigment, associated with personal ornamentation, art, decorating prestige objects
or ritual
Settlement permanence (e.g., permanent Reduced mobility
structures or exceptional evidence of
prolonged settlement)
Domestic fauna and/or plants Indicates ownership and control over resources, and possibly territories to support them,
and associated with enhanced inequalities compared to foraging economies (Kohler et al.
2017; Smith et al. 2010 and references therein; cf. Gurven et al. 2010)
Ornaments Implies potential for, and a marker of, inequality in material wealth and social status
(Hayden 1998; Plourde 2009; Smith et al. 2010), and also associated with enhanced
population size/density and relating differential social and group identities (Kuhn &
Stiner 2007)
Prestige goods (beyond elaborate pottery Implies potential for, and a marker of, inequality in wealth and social status (Hayden
and ornaments, e.g., decorated bone or 1998; Plourde 2009; Smith et al. 2010), as well as potential links to the more developed
shell, figurines, cosmetic pallets) ritual/religiosity associated with greater complexity (Peoples & Marlowe 2012; Peoples et
al. 2016)
Grave goods Potentially indicative of ownership, material wealth and/or social status (e.g., Fochesato
& Bowles 2017; Hayden 1998; Smith et al. 2010), of economic surplus, where subsistence-
related (e.g., Fuller & Grandjean 2001), and of developed ritual/religiosity associated
with greater complexity (Peoples & Marlowe 2012; Peoples et al. 2016)
Inequality in burials Indicative of social inequalities in wealth and/or status
Specialized funerary monuments/ Indicates a degree of sedentism (ties to area), suggests group ownership over location,
locations (e.g., cemeteries, necropolises, and suggests developed ritual/religiosity associated with greater complexity (Peoples &
burial mounds and structures) Marlowe 2012; Peoples et al. 2016)

Chad basin, western-Central Sahara [Niger, Mali, The average complexity score of 3.21 (n=71, SD
southern Algeria], coastal West Africa, Maghreb, and = 2.35) is relatively low. Pottery was by far the most
sub-Saharan West African [forest/forest edge]). The common indicator of complexity (n= 55), followed
presence of each indicator of complexity was given a by grindstones (n=35) and personal ornaments (n=
score of ‘1’, and their sum was used as an overall crude 31), while the remaining indicators were found in
‘complexity score’ for each site. Important aspects of no more than one-third of cases, with evidence of
these sites are not captured in either the database or settlement permanence being the least common (n =
the complexity score – details for each site vary hugely, 9). Several sites lacked any indicators of complexity
ranging from dedicated tomes (e.g., the Khartoum Hos- (Catfish Cave [Wendt 1966], FxJj12 [Barthelme 1985],
pital site [Arkell 1949]), to brief footnotes (e.g., Edjeleh the middle levels of the Koobi Fora Spit [Nelson 1991],
[Hugot 1963: 127 fn 11]), while different site functions lower levels at Lowasera [Phillipson 1977], Kokito 01
mean they are not directly comparable (for example, and 02 [Beyin 2011], and Tagra [Adamson et al. 1974),
Catfish Cave is described as a seasonally accessible and no sites have the maximum complexity score of
fishing location [Wendt 1966], Minshat Abou Omar a 10. However, this might, in some cases, be attributed
cemetery site [Debowska-Ludwin 2014], and remains of to the chosen indicators. A cemetery site, for example,
wattle-and-daub structures at Ntereso suggest a semi- might not be expected to have evidence of middens,
permanent settlement [Davies 1966]). Nevertheless, while the absence of burials at settlement sites does not
although the derived complexity scores are inap- mean they did not exist elsewhere, and discounts the
propriate for a site-by-site comparison, by excluding possibility of finding several indicators (grave goods,
non-excavated sites with potentially unrepresentative burial inequalities, specialized funerary monuments
complexity scores from the statistical analyses (unless or locations). Indeed, the top scoring sites (Kadero 1
stated otherwise), the data provide useful insights into with ‘9’ [Chlodnicki et al. 2011], Dia-Shoma with ‘8’
broader trends and patterns in the Aqualithic record. [Bedaux et al. 2005], Daima with ‘8’ [Connah 1976,
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 Exploring fisher-forager complexity in an African context

1981]) are all settlement sites with burials, although Heinzelin de Braucourt 1957]) skew the mean values. If
they still fall short of the maximum complexity score. the lower Ishango 11 levels are excluded, mean number
Table 15.5 summarizes the total number of har- of harpoons/site would also follow the expected pattern.
poons, the total number of sites from which these Similar patterns can be seen at regional scales where
originate, and the mean number of harpoons per site records transcend several periods. The Nile Valley peaks
by region and date period, as proxies for the relative in all three variables at 11.8–8.2 ka, as does East Africa
importance of ARE to subsistence economies in late in total number of sites and harpoons, but at 8.2–5.5 ka
Pleistocene/Holocene tropical Africa. Climatic proxies for mean number of harpoons (excepting the effect of
indicate that the AHP reached its height around 9 ka Ishango 11), although the western-Central Sahara and
(Claussen et al. 2017; deMenocal & Tierney 2012), and Atlantic coastal region show a more complex pattern
we might expect the importance of ARE to follow this depending on which variable is considered.
same trend. Using the total sample (excavated and non- Number of harpoons shows no association with
excavated sites), both the number of harpoon-bearing complexity score, as might be expected were com-
sites and total number of harpoons peak at 11.8–8.2 ka, plexity associated with aquatic resource-dependence.
although a few sites with anomalously high numbers of Complexity itself does shows a small but significant
harpoons (such as the lower levels of Ishango 11, where chronological trend of increasing complexity over
>300 harpoons were found [Brooks & Smith 1987; de time, whether the Ishango temporal outliers with low

Table 15.5. Proxies for the importance of aquatic resources at Aqualithic sites by region and date period: total number of harpoons (Σ), number of sites
from which they come (n), and mean number of harpoons per site (x̄). The data originate from both excavated and non-excavated sites.
>11.8 ka 11.8–8.2 ka 8.2–5.5 ka <5.5 ka All
n Σ x̄ SD n Σ x̄ SD n Σ x̄ SD n Σ x̄ SD n Σ x̄ SD
East 3 427 142.33 131.69 21 625 29.76 58.07 3 507 169.00 142.53 3 79 26.33 36.09 30 1638 54.60 87.71
Africa
Nile 1 8 8.00 - 9 288 32.00 89.26 6 89 14.83 19.16 - - - - 16 385 24.06 66.79
Valley
Chad - - - - - - - - 4 5 14.83 19.16 7 55 7.86 13.50 11 60 5.55 10.98
basin
Western- - - - - 2 217 108.50 129.40 13 54 4.15 8.66 9 76 8.44 10.88 24 347 14.46 40.64
Central
Sahara
Coastal - - - - 1 1 1.00 - 4 17 4.25 1.50 2 6 3 2.83 7 24 3.43 1.99
West
Africa
Maghreb 1.00 1 1 - - - - - 1 1 1.00 - - - - - 2 2 1.00 0.00
Sub- - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 5 5.00 - 1 5 5.00 -
Saharan
West
Africa
All 5 436 87.20 119.90 33 1131 34.27 70.83 31 673 21.71 62.20 22 221 10.05 16.38 91 2461 27.04 63.84

Table 15.6. Mean complexity scores (x̄) for Aqualithic sites by region and date period. Complexity scores were only calculated for excavated sites.
>11.8 ka 11.8–8.2 ka 8.2–5.5 ka <5.5 ka All
n x̄ SD n x̄ SD n x̄ SD n x̄ SD n x̄ SD
East Africa 3 1.00 1.00 16 1.19 1.05 2 3.50 2.12 4 2.50 1.29 25 1.56 1.33
Nile Valley - - - 8 3.13 2.53 11 4.73 2.57 - - - 19 4.05 2.61
Chad basin - - - - - - - - - 4 6.00 1.83 4 6.00 1.83
Western-Central Sahara - - - 2 3.50 0.71 6 4.33 2.42 4 5.00 2.58 12 4.42 2.19
Coastal West Africa - - - 1 3.00 - 5 3.00 1.41 2 3.00 1.41 8 3.00 1.20
Maghreb 1 1.00 - - - - 1 3.00 - - - - 2 2.00 1.41
Sub-Saharan West Africa - - - - - - - - - 1 7.00 - 1 7.00 -
All 4 1.00 0.816 27 2.00 1.84 25 4.12 2.24 15 4.47 2.30 71 3.21 2.35

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 Chapter 15

Figure 15.4. Plot of complexity scores for Aqualithic sites over time (measured as cal. bp dates – midpoint of range,
using only those sites for which radiocarbon dates were available), with the best-fitting regression curves when including
(black) and excluding (grey) the lower levels at Ishango 11 (far right temporal outliers).

complexity scores (24,994–23,660 cal. bp) are included ARE in this new mixed economy is, however, unclear.
(best fitted linear regression; n = 57, r2 = 0.152, F = 9.867, While the large number of harpoons at some of these
p = 0.003) or not (best fitted linear regression; n = 55, r2 domesticate-bearing sites suggests that ARE was still
= 0.171, F = 10.960, p = 0.002; Fig. 15.4). Mean complex- an important economic activity (e.g., Shaheinab [Arkell
ity scores by ‘date period’ in Table 15.6 (based on a 1953], Daima [Connah 1976, 1981), most sites have less
broader dataset that includes undated sites) show the than 10 harpoons, and some only single fragments (e.g.,
same pattern, and this relationship is also best fitted Aguendemen [Gaussen & Gaussen 1988], Arlit [Bernus
with a linear regression when treating ‘date period’ & Lhote 1989]), suggesting that ARE played a minor
as an ordinal independent variable against complexity role. Thus, it is likely that the greater complexity in more
score, is again best fitted with a linear regression (n = recent North African harpoon-bearing sites is associated
71, r2 = 0.236, F = 21.309, p = <0.001). with a transition towards food-producing economies
The fewer number of sites after 5.5 ka (Tables 15.5 (Kohler et al. 2017; Smith et al. 2010; cf. Gurven et al.
and 15.6) might indicate that Aqualithic populations 2010). Indeed, many of the higher complexity scores
persisted where supported by productive refugia, such are found at domesticate-bearing sites (n = 16, x̄ = 5.44,
as the Chad basin, sub-Saharan West Africa and East SD = 2.19) and especially those where domesticate-
Africa, which continue to support subsistence fishermen dominated faunal assemblages are reported (n = 5,
to this day, but the increase in complexity over time x̄ =7.20, SD = 1.92). Sites with fish-dominated faunal
does not necessarily reflect ARE intensification/spe- assemblages, on the other hand, show similar low
cialization. Domestic cattle are present in the Sudanese levels of complexity (n = 40, x̄ =2.80, SD = 2.00) to the
Nile Valley from c. 8 ka, spreading westwards through few wild mammal-dominated sites (n = 5, x̄ =3.00, SD
the Sahara after 7 ka, reaching the Central Sahara by = 2.77), suggesting that relative ARE-dependence has
c. 6 ka and West Africa by c. 4 ka (Dunne et al. 2012; little effect on complexity. This is further supported
Garcea 2016; Gifford-Gonzalez & Hanotte 2011; Kuper by the fact that sites in East Africa, the only region to
& Kröpellin 2006; Linseele et al. 2014; Marshall & Weiss- be represented across all time periods, often with the
brod 2011). The faunal and archaeological evidence highest number of sites and harpoons (Table 15.6) and
from North African sites also shows that domesticates where domesticates are introduced after the end of the
were added to a fisher-forager economy (Gatto 2011; AHP (Hildebrand & Grillo 2012; Wilshaw et al. 2016),
Kuper & Riemer 2013). The relative importance of have consistently low complexity scores (Table 15.6).
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 Exploring fisher-forager complexity in an African context

Broad estimates suggest that the AHP was charac- F = 6.452, p = 0.001) or excluded (n = 56, r2 = 0.213, F =
terized by a northerly shift of vegetative biomes, with 4.702, p = 0.006; Fig. 15.6), driven primarily by lower
the tropical rainbelt – the zone of maximum precipita- complexity scores to the east, where most harpoon
tion – peaking between 15–20° N, with drier and more sites lack domesticates, and to the west. Nevertheless,
seasonal environments below, and desertic environ- the inflection of the regression curve towards higher
ments dramatically reduced and limited to regions complexity in the Atlantic coastal region might reflect
above 25–30° N (Hély et al. 2014; Larrasoaña et al. 2013; the localized marine upwelling in this area (Fig. 15.2),
Watrin et al. 2009; Wright 2017). Less productive aquatic although many of these sites are inland with fresh
environments in these drier conditions might explain water-sources, and those that are on the Atlantic coast
the low complexity scores of East Africa, as well as the range in complexity from 1 (Kayar [Thiam 2012]) to
Maghreb (Table 15.6). Indeed, the relationship between 5 (Cansado [Vernet 2016]). The potential effect of the
latitude and complexity score is best fitted with a quad- northward migration of the intertropical convergence
ratic regression (n = 71, r2 = 0.241, F = 10.805, p = <0.001; zone on coastal productivity during the AHP is also
Fig. 15.5), peaking at around 20° N with a complexity unknown (Chavez 2012; Junginger et al. 2014; Wright
score between 4 and 5, and gradually decreasing below 2017). Moreover, comparing complexity scores by
15° and above 25° N, primarily as a result of low East crude water-source distinctions (lake, river or ocean)
African and Maghrebian scores, respectively. Excluding shows that river sites have the greatest mean score, but
post-AHP sites (<5.5 ka) produces similar results, with also the greatest variance (lake: n = 41, x̄ = 2.80, SD =
a slight northerly shift (n = 56, r2 = 0.271, F = 9.860, p = 2.17; river: n = 26, x̄ = 3.85, SD = 2.63; ocean: n = 4, x̄ =
<0.001; Fig. 15.5). In both cases, however, there is much 3.25, SD = 1.71), perhaps reflecting relative positioning
regional variation between 10 and 25° N: coastal West along the rivers drainage network.
African sites exhibit consistently low complexity scores, Returning to our opening questions to this section:
western-Central Sahara and Nile Valley sites vary can we understand Aqualithic fisher-forager adapta-
widely, and post-AHP Chad basin and sub-Saharan tions, and in particular Aqualithic complexity, based
West African sites score highly (all ≥4). on models derived from recent, predominantly high
On a broad scale, regional variation is reflected latitude and maritime-dependent fisher-foragers? It is,
in a relationship between longitude and complex- first of all, clear that while the climate, available raw
ity score that is best fitted with a cubic regression, materials and technological innovations of the AHP may
whether post-AHP sites are included (n = 71, r2 = 0.224, have provided conditions under which fisher-forager

Figure 15.5. Plot of complexity scores for Aqualithic sites by latitude, with the best-fitting regression curves when
including (black) and excluding (grey) post-AHP (<5.5 ka) sites.
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 Chapter 15

Figure 15.6. Plot of complexity scores for Aqualithic sites by longitude, with the best-fitting regression curves when
including (black) and excluding (grey) post-AHP (<5.5 ka) sites.

complexity could emerge, the outcome is not compara- marine coastlines, which are unrepresentative of the
ble to the Northwest Coast. An argument could be made fuller spectrum of fisher-forager adaptations. Our
that, like the Yamana, most African AHP fisher-foragers results show that, when considered separately, low
diversified their economic base through time, but by (<40°) and high (≥40°) latitude ethnographic foragers
the addition of domesticates rather than additional show a series of interesting differences with respect to
aquatic species, and that this development is associated aquatic resource-dependence: (1) in contrast to high
with the trend towards increased complexity. Most latitude groups, aquatic resource-dependence among
important, however, is the variation in the adaptations lower latitude foragers shows no relationship with
shown in these harpoon-bearing sites across both large aggregated group/populations sizes; (2) intensification
and small temporal and geographic scales. Altogether, upon aquatic resources is associated with increased
the data suggest that multiple ecological, historical and niche breadth at lower latitudes, but aquatic resource-
demographic constraints among AHP tropical African specialization at higher latitudes; (3) increased aquatic
fisher-foragers created a different set of relationships resource-dependence predicts a greater likelihood of
between dependence on aquatic resources and the inter-group conflict only in the low latitude sample;
various attributes of complexity from what is observed (4) aquatic resource-dependence is positively corre-
among high latitude ethnographic populations. lated with the likelihood of social inequalities among
higher latitude foragers, but these relationships are
Fisher-forager complexity, past and present much weaker, and in some cases absent, in the low
latitude sample.
First and foremost, the preceding sections show that These differences might be best explained by the
fisher-foragers are too often portrayed as representing a lower productivity of lower latitude aquatic environ-
homogenous adaptation, and one that is characterized ments, which are unable to support large group sizes,
by those traits typical of Northwest Coast popula- require a more generalist strategy, and impose com-
tions. Consequently, there has been a long-standing paratively higher resource stress leading to increase
association between intensive ARE and complexity competition and rates of conflict. It may be that the more
(Roscoe 2006; Yesner 1980, 1987). We argue that support productive, as well as geographically and temporally
for this viewpoint has come from ethnographic and predictable aquatic environments of higher latitudes,
archaeologically documented fisher-foragers occupying which support larger, more-specialized fisher-forager
exceptionally productive, and typically high latitude populations, impose a greater risk of inter-group conflict,
272
 Exploring fisher-forager complexity in an African context

but that this is consequently suppressed by cultural elite and privileged leaders’ deemed non-egalitarian.
avoidance mechanisms (Daly 2014; Keeley 1996). Either Four of the 117 fisher-foragers societies were coded as
way, it would appear that the lower latitude adaptations ‘horticulturally augmented cases’ (the Ket of Siberia,
to ARE impinge on the complex web of causes, condi- Yaruro [Pumé] of Venezuela, Guato of Brasil and Kau-
rareg of Australia) and one as ‘mutualists and forest
tions and consequences that produce social inequalities
product specialists’ (the Isabela Agta of the Philippines).
(Arnold 1996; Price & Brown 1985). These societies were instead classified as egalitarian or
These observations among ethnographic groups non-egalitarian based on the variable [polyscal] (an ordi-
are corroborated by an analysis of prehistoric tropi- nal scale of political development, see Table 15.1), with
cal fisher-foragers of late Pleistocene/early Holocene four (Yaruro, Guato, Isabela Agta, Kaurareg) classed as
Africa, who represent one of the most geographically egalitarian as they exhibited only ‘performance based
widespread and longest-lived fisher-forager tradi- leadership’ or ‘senior males provide[d] an advisory type
tions. By occupying low latitude, and primarily inland leadership’, while the Ket were classed as non-egalitarian
freshwater habitats, the African Aqualithic presents having ‘formal or informal council of advisors with
recognized leader’ (Johnson 2006).
a unique juxtaposition to groups of the Northwest
4. The analyses exclude mounted hunters ([systat3recod]
Coast. These prehistoric fisher-foragers were shown to =7) for whom the use of horses was considered to bypass
exhibit some, but not all of the economic, demographic, typical constraints on traditional (non-equestrian) for-
and sociocultural attributes of complexity, as well as ager behaviour (especially mobility).
geographic and temporal variation in these traits, 5. This is a relatively crude geographic categorization
suggesting a diversity of fisher-forager adaptations. of foragers (see Table 15.1) in accounting for Galton’s
Much like ethnographic populations, their depend- problem. For example, the category ‘Asia’ incudes
ence on aquatic resources (proxied by the number populations from India to Southeast Asia, Japan and
Siberia. However, this system does produce groupings
of harpoons and harpoon-bearing sites by which
of relatively similar, and not overly small sizes, ranging
they are represented) also appears to reflect aquatic
from 19 (North American Steppic mounted hunters) to
productivity throughout the AHP. However, while 56 (Australian) populations.
broad geographic variation in the degree of complex-
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Unequal in death and in life?

Linking burial rites with individual life histories

Rick J. Schulting, Rowena Henderson, Andrea Czermak,

Gunita Zarina, Ilga Zagorska & Julia Lee-Thorp

The origins of social inequality have been identified as at the Mesolithic/‘Neolithic’ site of Zvejnieki, Latvia,
one of the key ‘grand challenges’ facing archaeology to link treatment in death with long-term dietary dif-
and indeed the social sciences more generally (Kintigh ferences in life. While presenting a strong new line of
et al. 2014). The question is one to which archaeology evidence, this is also open to ambiguity in interpreta-
should be very well-placed to make an important tion: the simple identification of difference need not
contribution, given the discipline’s unique access to equate with socioeconomic inequality. We explore this
long-term sociocultural trajectories, long prior to the connection further through high-resolution sequential
impact of the colonial enterprise that problematizes stable isotope measurements on tooth dentine, enabling
many ethnographic accounts of small-scale societies a shift from long-term averaged adult diet to short-
(cf. Ferguson & Whitehead 1992). To realize this poten- term diets through infancy and childhood. While not
tial, however, it is essential to have a set of tools with completely resolving the matter, the results do seem
which to measure social inequality in a robust way. to point to a persistent element of vertical social dif-
This is far from straightforward, particularly in earlier ferentiation, but one that was stable and did not lead
prehistory, which is of course precisely one of the key to increasing inequality over time.
contexts within which the origins of inequality are
to be sought (Bowles et al. 2010; Hayden 1994, 1995, Mortuary archaeology and the post-processual
1996; Smith et al. 2010). The search has often focused challenge
on early farming societies, with their supposed inher-
ent capacity for surplus production (see discussion in One of the foundational tenants of the ‘New Archaeol-
Bowles et al. 2010), yet, given the right conditions, it is ogy’ that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s was
clear that a considerable degree of inequality can and that aspects of past social organization were retriev-
does emerge among what have been termed ‘complex’ able from the archaeological record, and especially the
hunter-gatherers, epitomized by the Northwest Coast funerary record. Treatment in death reflected – albeit
of North America (Ames 1994; Hayden 1995; Schulting through ‘a glass darkly’ – aspects of the deceased’s
2014). A further challenge to this enterprise is the post- position in life. The more elaborate this treatment, the
processual critique that emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, greater importance the individual was held to have had
calling into question the interpretation of the mortuary in life, such that their death was a more momentous
record – one of the most common means of address- occasion for the community or wider region than that of
ing inequality in prehistoric small-scale societies – as other individuals (Binford 1971; Tainter 1978). Thus, the
directly reflecting the position of the deceased in life greater the differentiation found in the funerary record
(Hodder 1982). In this paper, we briefly review pro- – beyond that based entirely on age and sex, seen as
cessual and post-processual approaches to mortuary universal dimensions of difference in human societies
analysis, before turning to attempts to trace socioeco- – the greater the social inequality present in the living
nomic inequality in the funerary record of Mesolithic social system. While this tenet was widely accepted,
Europe, noting the difficulties encountered by this the details of exactly how to operationalize it were
endeavour, leading to ambiguous conclusions often another matter, one widely debated even within early
open to alternative interpretations. We then explore processual archaeology. For example, Tainter (1978)
the use of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis called into question the widespread use of grave goods
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as a marker of wealth and/or status, noting that other deceased, or, in the case of a child, mark a position
forms of what he termed ‘energy expenditure’ were or role that the deceased would have been expected
much more strongly correlated with social standing in to attain had they survived. This does not make the
a cross-cultural study of ethnographically documented associations any less ‘real’.
societies. The problem with this is that many aspects A more nuanced position was taken by Dereven-
of energy expenditure, such as the number of guests ski (2000), who documented the complex interplay
attending the funerary rites and the length of time between grave offerings, age and sex (gender) in the
they are supported by the hosts, would be difficult if Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic cemetery at Tiszapol-
not impossible to recognize archaeologically in most gar-Basatanya in Hungary. Focusing on metalwork,
circumstances. One response is that redundancy built she noted that this and other classes of grave goods
into the system, which essentially can be seen as social came and went as individuals progressed through
signalling, would to a degree circumvent such issues their life course, arguing that they were being used
(O’Shea 1984). in the performance of changing age/gender identities.
A more fundamental challenge to the processual At the same time, Derevenski acknowledged that
mortuary programme emerged with post-processual- status considerations could very well be involved
ism, which called into question the idea that material in how these identities were materialized. Although
culture, including grave goods, reflected real social not addressed in her study, the advent of first copper
relationships in any straightforward way (Hodder and then bronze metallurgy in prehistoric Europe
1982; Pader 1982; Parker Pearson 1982). Instead, it was raises another important issue, that of changes in
proposed that material culture was used by the living the availability and hence ‘cost’ of items of material
to make ideological statements about the dead, which culture, particularly those, such as metals, well suited
may or may not be related to their ‘real’ position in life. to making social distinctions in the vertical dimen-
Supposedly well-defined social roles were contrasted sion. In some circumstances the availability of exotic
with more fluid notions of social practice creating and materials can fluctuate sharply even over short time
manipulating those roles (Parker Pearson 1999). But scales, potentially creating a misleading impression
it is easy to exaggerate this difference: social practice of the degree of inequality represented in a cemetery
does not operate within a vacuum, and social roles are or region unless there is very tight chronological con-
always in a process of being enacted, so that the two trol. Instead, variations in the presence and quantity
approaches are perhaps better seen as mutually con- of such objects may relate to fluctuations in their
stitutive. If, as both approaches would accept, material availability.
culture plays a central role, then the implication is that
those with access to certain kinds and/or quantities of Linking burials rites and individual life histories
material culture will be in a privileged position, no
matter whether reflecting, creating, undermining or One powerful response to the legitimate questions
otherwise manipulating ‘reality’. raised regarding the ‘truth’ of the funerary rite in a
Following along these lines, and of particular rel- given context is to link the life history of the interred
evance to the case study presented below, the attempt individual with their mortuary treatment (e.g., Knud-
to identify ascribed status from ‘rich’ child burials – a son & Stojanowski 2008; Robb et al. 2001). There are
cornerstone of the processual mortuary programme two approaches to this, employing osteological and
for some – has also been called into question, with biomolecular methods. Osteological investigations
alternative interpretations focusing on the need of in this context have often focused on a comparison of
the mourners to mark the emotional bereavement social status (e.g., as marked by grave goods) and skel-
felt particularly strongly at the untimely death of a etal health indicators, such as linear enamel hypoplasia
child (cf. Brück 2004; Pader 1982). The problem with and adult stature (Larsen 1997, 2002). Body modifica-
this view is that it fails to take into account the fact tions affecting the skeleton (e.g., cranial modification;
that while it may be felt by all families, the ability to dental ablation, filing or inlays) are especially difficult
mark out grief with exotic and high-value objects (as to ‘fake’ and often refer to horizontal and/or verti-
determined by the labour and/or distant social connec- cal social identities (e.g., Sharapova & Razhev 2011;
tions required to acquire and/or manufacture them) Temple et al. 2011). Skeletal activity markers can also
would not be available to everyone in the community. be used to infer particular behaviours. A particularly
The objects in a grave can mark the social position interesting example is the demonstration that higher
of an individual without necessarily being their per- status graves, many weapon-bearing, in the Iron Age
sonal belongings. They may, for example, symbolize of Central Italy exhibit greater humeral asymmetry
the bonds of allegiance that the living held with the than lower status graves, suggesting the restriction
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 Unequal in death and in life? Linking burial rites with individual life histories

of martial training with swords from a young age to good classes (e.g., shell beads, tooth pendants, boar/red
the elite (Sparacello et al. 2015). deer mandibles microliths, flint blades, red ochre, etc.)
The potential of biomolecular approaches to than those without such structures. Similarly, graves
investigate status differences has long been recognized. with bone pins and flint blades were also ‘richer’ in
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis has fea- other artefact categories than those lacking these items,
tured strongly in this approach, linking the long-term independent of age or sex (Schulting 1996). But how
diets (10+ years in adults) reflected in bone collagen is this to be interpreted? None of the objects are made
and bioapatite to differential mortuary treatment. The of materials that would be very difficult to acquire,
most successful case studies have usually derived from nor would they be laborious to make. The abundant
chiefdom or state-level societies with distinct social shell beads are dominated by simply perforated, but
classes (e.g., Ambrose et al. 2003; Knipper et al. 2015; otherwise unmodified and locally available cowries
Privat et al. 2002; Ubelaker et al. 1995), wherein dietary (Trivia sp.) and whelks (Littorina sp.), and the lithic
distinctions might be expected to play a greater role and bone tools appear to be mostly functional. Of
than in less hierarchical societies (cf. Goody 1982). But course it is possible that these artefacts still do reflect
there are also a number of examples from the European differences in social standing. The placement of antler
Neolithic. Using strontium isotope analysis, Bentley structures in graves would be very visible to onlookers
and colleagues (2002, 2012) found that males interred at the time of the interment, and the bone pins appear
with shoe-last adzes in the Linearbandkeramik of to have served to fasten garments (David 2016), and
Central Europe were more likely to have been born so may have signalled that these individuals were
locally than males without such adzes, suggesting that somehow more important than others. But this could
these marked a privileged status relating to residential be open to other interpretations, and so it is difficult
priority. A number of recent stable carbon and nitrogen to infer meaningful differences in life from their treat-
isotope studies have identified differences in the Neo- ment at death.
lithic based on burial location or type within restricted
regions of the Iberian Peninsula (Fernández-Crespo & Tooth pendants and diet at Zvejnieki
Schulting 2017; Le Bras-Goude et al. 2013; Waterman Social signalling is more likely to be found in non-
et al. 2016). Among these is a study in the Middle functional items, or in elaborated versions of ostensibly
Ebro valley of north-central Spain, in which small but functional items. In the former case, items of dress and
statistically significant differences in δ13C were identi- ‘ornamentation’ are prime candidates for creating a
fied between contemporaneous Late Neolithic/Early visual impression of distinction that would be easily
Chalcolithic burials in dolmens in the valley and those recognized both within and beyond the community (cf.
in caves and rockshelters in the nearby foothills, with Hansen 2004; Stig Sørensen 1997). A number of large
the sites often being intervisible (Fernández-Crespo Mesolithic cemeteries in northeast Europe contain
& Schulting 2017). The interpretation of these results, burials with numerous animal tooth pendants that
however, is again ambiguous. They could refer to a appear to have been attached to clothing as well as
territorial division of the landscape by adjacent commu- worn as necklaces and bracelets, etc. One such site is
nities with different subsistence practices, rather than Zvejnieki on the shores of Lake Burtnieks in northern
to socioeconomic inequality within a single society. Latvia, where over 330 burials were recovered, span-
ning the Middle Mesolithic to Late Neolithic, c. 7000
Social inequality in Mesolithic Europe to 2500 cal. bc (Larsson & Zagorska 2006; Zagorskis
Much of the above discussion has referred to later 2004) (Fig. 16.1). It should be emphasized that ‘Neo-
prehistory or to the proto/historical period. Identify- lithic’ in this context refers to the presence of pottery
ing social inequality in earlier periods presents even rather than to the presence of domesticated plants or
greater challenges in terms of operationalization and animals, other than the dog (Loze 1993; Piličiauskas
interpretation. Summarizing the burial data available et al. 2017). Thus, the Early Neolithic Narva culture
at the time, Clark & Neeley (1987) argued that there (from c. 5300 cal. bc) at Zvejnieki can be thought of as
was evidence for both horizontal and vertical social comparable to the Late Mesolithic Ertebølle culture of
differentiation in the European Mesolithic. But the pat- southern Scandinavia. The few Late Neolithic Corded
terns identified were ambiguous, and this has remained Ware graves (from c. 3200 cal. bc), on the other hand,
the case in more recent studies. For example, there is are contemporary with the introduction of domestic
a statistically significant tendency at the Breton Late crops and animals in the eastern Baltic (Kriiska 2003)
Mesolithic cemeteries of Téviec and Hoëdic for those and are isotopically distinct from the earlier periods,
individuals interred with red deer antler structures showing markedly less evidence for the use of aquatic
to have a higher than average number of other grave resources (Eriksson et al. 2003; Meadows et al. 2018;
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 Chapter 16

Mesolithic
Early Neolithic
Middle Neolithic
Late Neolithic
Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age
undated prehistoric
190 with pendants gravel pit
261 without pendants

1 10 m
62
92
N 83

121 123

153
154
162
164
170

173

190 Olenii ostrov

189

Zvejnieki
Skateholm

Téviec & Hoëdic

178-82

261

201 226
206-8

Figure 16.1. Zvejnieki site plan (after Zagorska 2006, fig. 11).
282
Unequal in death and in life? Linking burial rites with individual life histories

Figure 16.2. a) Zvejnieki burial 170, Mesolithic

adult male (photo F. Zagorskis); b) Zvejnieki burial
226, Middle Neolithic child aged 2–4 (photo
F. Zagorskis).

Henderson et al. in prep.). These are omitted from the

analysis presented below, which hence refers entirely
to the fisher-hunter-gatherer communities making use
of Zvejnieki for burial over a period extending over
two-and-a-half millennia (c. 7000–3500 cal. bc). Also
omitted are Early Neolithic burials 178–182, interred in
a single contemporaneous mass grave with evidence
for a violent death on at least one individual, with
the inference being that all may have died violently
in a single episode (Meadows et al. 2016). Thus, these
individuals may have been accorded a different burial
treatment reflecting their manner of death (cf. Binford
1971).
Many of the graves at Zvejnieki were richly pro-
visioned with animal tooth pendants, predominantly
of boar, red deer, elk, bear, wild horse and wolf/dog,
totalling over 2400 teeth (Fig. 16.2). Other grave goods
include various bone and flint implements, carved
figurines, copper rings, and amber discs placed over
the eyes (Larsson & Zagorska 2006; Zagorskis 2004).
Importantly, there is abundant evidence for the wear-
ing of the tooth pendants in life, as seen in the redrilling
of suspension holes and reworking of grooves worn
through by use (Larsson 2006). Thus, they formed
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 Chapter 16

Table 16.1. Summary of bone/bulk tooth dentine and sequential collagen results from Zvejnieki (data from Eriksson 2006; Eriksson et al. 2003;
Henderson 2015; Henderson et al. in prep.; Meadows et al. 2018). Calibration of the radiocarbon dates is complicated by a freshwater reservoir effect
(Meadows et al. 2018), taken into account in the broad ranges considered here. Note that the Mesolithic results exclude the M1 from Grave 170 as an
outlier, and that the Early Neolithic results exclude individuals from a mass grave.
Bone/bulk dentine M1 dentine
δ C‰
13
δ N‰
15
δ C‰
13
δ15N ‰
Period x̄ SD x̄ SD n x̄ SD x̄ SD n
Mesolithic (7000–5200 cal. bc)
with pendants -22.7 1.0 11.8 0.6 10 -22.3 1.0 10.8 0.1 2
without pendants -23.4 1.4 13.2 1.3 6 -23.8 0.1 13.6 0.9 2
Early–Middle Neolithic (5200–3500 cal. bc)
with pendants -22.6 1.4 11.6 1.0 10 -22.8 0.4 11.7 0.3 5
without pendants -23.0 1.0 12.6 0.6 6 -23.3 1.1 13.1 1.5 3
Mesolithic–Neolithic (7000–3500 cal. bc)
with pendants -22.7 1.3 11.7 0.9 20 -22.6 0.6 11.3 0.5 7
without pendants -23.2 1.2 12.9 1.0 12 -23.5 0.8 13.3 1.2 5
large herbivores -23.0 1.0 5.4 0.9 18
wild boar -23.5 0.6 6.3 1.3 9
brown bear -21.2 1.4 7.3 1.2 4
fish -24.7 3.4 9.3 3.0 5

part of an individual’s attire, which is crucial to the in graves, which could otherwise confound the analysis
notion that they were used for social signalling. The (i.e., informing on diet change over time rather than
pendants, then, in addition to being ornaments in variability at any given time) (Fig. 16.3). In absolute
themselves, also serve as a proxy for a wider range numbers, the graves with tooth pendants that have
of associated dress in organic materials that have not been analysed isotopically contained between 1 and
survived. Moreover, O’Shea & Zvelebil (1984) argued 339 pendants, with a mean of 69 per grave (median
that animal tooth pendants in graves marked the = 27). The Mesolithic graves with pendants average
greater prestige and ‘wealth’ accorded to hunters at the 11.8 ± 0.6‰ in δ15N (n = 10), whereas those without
large Mesolithic cemetery of Olenii ostrov in Karelia, pendants average 13.2 ± 1.3‰ (n = 6). For the Early and
northwest Russia, a site in many ways comparable to Middle ‘Neolithic’, these figures are 11.6 ± 1.0‰ (n =
Zvejnieki (Fig. 16.1). Again emphasizing difficulties in 10) and 12.6 ± 0.6‰ (n = 6), respectively. The combined
interpretation, the link between hunting and prestige Mesolithic-Neolithic samples average 11.7 ± 0.9‰ for
was subsequently challenged by Jacobs (1995), who the burials with pendants (n = 20), and 12.9 ± 1.0‰
found no pattern linking treatment in death with life (n = 12) for those without (Table 16.1). The data are
histories, as indicated by long-bone robusticity and normally distributed (Shapiro-Wilks, p > 0.05) and the
trace element analysis. difference is statistically significant (Student’s t-test,
Previous studies have reported δ13C and δ15N t = 3.58, p = 0.001) (Fig. 16.4). Thus, it can be inferred
results for bone and bulk tooth collagen at Zvejnieki that those interred with pendants, irrespective of their
(Eriksson 2006; Eriksson et al. 2003; Meadows et al. absolute number, had long-term diets that made greater
2018). These have been considered in terms of age use of lower-trophic-level sources of protein. In the
and sex, but not status or identity as indicated by context of the Lake Burtnieks, this is most plausibly
grave goods. The graves analysed include those both interpreted as a greater reliance on terrestrial rather
with and without tooth pendants. As these form by than aquatic fauna (plant foods are unlikely to have
far the most ubiquitous artefact class, they can be contributed significantly in terms of protein at this
used to explore the possibility of long-term dietary latitude, and it is only the protein component of the
differences related to their presence or absence. While diet that is measured by δ15N). This is supported by
the preferred species from which the pendants were isotopic measurements on fauna from the site itself
made changed over time (Larsson 2006), the avail- (Eriksson 2006; Eriksson et al. 2003).
able radiocarbon dates do not otherwise suggest any No comparable trend can be supported statistically
chronological trend in the practice of placing pendants for δ13C, although values are in the expected direction,
284
 Unequal in death and in life? Linking burial rites with individual life histories

OxCal v4.3.2 Bronk Ramsey (2017); r:5 IntCal13 atmospheric curve (Reimer et al 2013)

no pendants (n = 12)

pendants (n = 17)

8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000

Modelled date (BC)

Figure 16.3. Summed probability distributions of radiocarbon dates for those buried with and without tooth pendants,
taking into account estimated freshwater reservoir corrections (data from Meadows et al. 2018).

i.e., lower in the group lacking pendants, given that the either vertical or horizontal social differentiation.
few lake fish that have been measured from the lake are It may be, for example, that individuals within the
slightly 13C-depleted compared to terrestrial herbivores community chose to specialize either on fishing or on
(Table 16.1). That the difference is not more marked is hunting, with the hunters consequently having greater
likely due to the high variability in δ13C values of aquatic access to animal tooth pendants for themselves and
species from Lake Burtnieks, which in addition could their kin. Alternatively, the cemetery may have been
include migratory waterfowl and anadromous salmon, used by distinct communities practicing complemen-
both of which were recovered at the site. The δ13C value tary subsistence strategies, with one focused more on
for a single mallard duck, for example, is much higher the lake and its resources, and the other more on the
at -17.6‰ than most fish from the lake (although a surrounding terrestrial habitat. Their use of a shared
fish bone not identified to species measured -18.6‰). burial ground (while there is a shift in the location
Salmon would be expected to have values at least as of burials within the cemetery over time – see Fig.
high, even given the 13C-depleted waters of the eastern 16.1 – there is no discernible chronological difference
Baltic compared to those of the North Sea. in the radiocarbon dates for those with and without
While the identified pattern appears robust, its pendants – see Fig. 16.3) could imply that the two
interpretation is another matter, as it may be reflecting economies were integrated at some level, suggesting

15

14

13
δ15N ‰ (AIR)

12

11

10

9
Mesolithic Mesolithic ‘Neolithic’ ‘Neolithic’ Meso-Neo Meso-Neo
w+ pendants w- pendants w+ pendants w- pendants w+ pendants w- pendants

Figure 16.4. Human bone collagen δ15N values for Mesolithic and Early/Middle Neolithic graves at Zvejnieki with and
without animal tooth pendants.
285
 Chapter 16

that food exchanges likely took place, but not to the (n = 5). Given the smaller numbers involved, we have
extent that obscured overall dietary differences. The not analysed the Mesolithic and ‘Neolithic’ individu-
distinct identities of the two communities would be als separately, but the two periods are represented in
marked by the use of tooth pendants and associated both groups (Table 16.1). The δ15N dentine results are
dress by the more terrestrially oriented group. Both statistically indistinguishable from those on bone col-
scenarios might be seen as rather surprising in a lagen so that again those with and without pendants
hunter-gatherer context, since even when a degree of differ significantly (heteroscedastic Student’s t-test, t
economic specialization exists, based on individual = 3.35, p = 0.020) (as with the bulk collagen, there is
skills and propensities, the high degree of food shar- no significant difference in δ13C values) (Fig. 16.5). The
ing that is often seen as a hallmark of hunter-gatherers same pattern persists if we consider only the dentine
(Bird-David 1990; Cashdan 1985; Gurven 2004; Kelly samples referring to ages 3–4. Since children of this age
2013; Woodburn 1982, 1998) would be expected to cannot have been engaged in subsistence pursuits in
obviate dietary differences over the long term. On any serious way, the implication is that they were being
the other hand, this characterization applies mainly provisioned by their parents, and hence that economic
to hunter-gatherers at the ‘simple’ forager end of the specialization was held and passed down either within
spectrum. Sharing may be rather less ubiquitous among families, or within communities if, following the above
‘complex’ hunter-gatherers, who are often more reliant discussion, the site served as the burial place for dif-
on aquatic resources and exhibit greater sedentism, ferent communities. Either way, it is striking that this
reliance on storage, and higher population densities pattern appears to have persisted over two-and-a-half
(Binford 2001; Hayden 1994, 1995, 1996; Kelly 2013; millennia (Fig. 16.3). It should be emphasized that we
Schulting 2014). are not suggesting on the basis of the isotopic data that
One means of taking the analysis at Zvejnieki either group lacked sufficient food for adequate health,
further is through sequential sampling of tooth dentine, though whether they experienced differences in the
which allows a relatively high-resolution examination levels or timing of physiological stress is certainly an
of diet through infancy and childhood (Beaumont et avenue worth exploring.
al. 2012). This addresses the question of when during
the life course of an individual isotopic/dietary differ- Social inequality at Zvejnieki?
ences first appeared. The method has predominantly The association between the presence of tooth pendants
been used to investigate weaning age (e.g., Eerkens and significantly lower δ15N values from early child-
et al. 2011; Henderson et al. 2014; Fernández-Crespo hood continuing into adulthood at Mesolithic-Neolithic
et al. 2018), and indeed a comparison of weaning age Zvejnieki presents an unexpected relationship, one
in hunter-gatherers and later societies was one of the not previously observed for Mesolithic Europe as far
original aims of the sequential sampling study con- as we are aware (interestingly, Scharlotta et al. (2016)
ducted on first permanent molars from a subset of the noted a relationship between the presence of animal
same skeletons from Zvejnieki for which bulk stable tooth pendants and higher δ15N values at the large Early
isotope results were already available (Henderson Neolithic hunter-fisher gatherer cemetery of Shamanka
2015). The roots of first molars develop from approxi- II on the shores of Lake Baikal, i.e., the opposite trend
mately ages 0 to 8 years (AlQahtani et al. 2010). Here, to that seen at Zvejnieki). But is this social inequality?
we compare the average post-weaning isotopic values We have identified difference, and demonstrated that
for ages 3 (by which age weaning appears to have been treatment in death can be related systematically to a
complete) to 8. For most individuals measurements on meaningful divergence in the foodways and hence life
4–5 sequential samples have been combined; for one experiences of individuals interred with and without
(Grave 123) only two measurements are available as tooth pendants. This is an important finding, but to
the tooth roots were not yet complete. Full details of suggest that it can be equated with social inequality
the analysis are presented in Henderson (2015) and requires additional support. As noted above, the pat-
Henderson et al. (in prep.). tern could just as easily be explained by horizontal
Excluding one outlier (Middle Mesolithic Grave social differentiation as by vertical status distinctions
170, with an anomalously high δ15N value of 15.7‰, – which is not to intimate that the former is inher-
nearly five standard deviations above the mean value ently less interesting or less worthy of study. Tracing
for other individuals with pendants, and with a much its existence back into early childhood, while adding
lower adult bone collagen value of 11.8‰), there is significantly to our understanding, does not resolve
again a clear difference in the isotopic results for those this fundamental issue.
with pendants, averaging 11.3 ± 0.5‰ (n = 7), compared While over half the graves at Zvejnieki contained
to those without pendants, averaging 13.3 ± 1.2‰ no grave goods (or at least none made of non-perishable
286
 Unequal in death and in life? Linking burial rites with individual life histories

15

14

13
δ15N ‰ (AIR)

12

11

10

9
Mesolithic-Neolithic Mesolithic-Neolithic Mesolithic-Neolithic Mesolithic-Neolithic
w+ pendants w- pendants M1, w+ pendants M1, w- pendants

Figure 16.5. Human (left) bone collagen and (right) post-weaning M1 dentine δ15N values for Mesolithic and Early/
Middle Neolithic graves at Zvejnieki with and without animal tooth pendants.

materials) (Zagorskis 2004: 51), very few of these have or on which they would have been worn. As noted
been included in the individuals selected for stable above, clothing and its associated ornamentation can
isotope analysis, so that at present it is not possible act as a highly visible marker of social distinction,
to compare results for those with and without grave and this extends to ethnographically documented
goods. Obviously this would be of great interest for hunter-gatherers. Among the Thompson Indians of
a future study. Three of the analysed graves lacking the Interior Plateau of British Columbia, for example,
tooth pendants included amber, as did a number with tailored deerskin clothing was limited to the wealthier
pendants. Whether amber should be understood as a members of society, and served to distinguish them
high value item is perhaps debatable in the context from those of lower socioeconomic standing (Hayden
of the Baltic, where it is relatively common, though & Schulting 1997; Teit 1900). A series of late nineteenth
certainly its placement over the eyes of the deceased and early twentieth century photographs show Plateau
in some cases suggests that it was perceived as special. individuals wearing such clothing, often elaborated
Mesolithic graves 86, 93 and 122 with tooth pendants with other materials including shell beads, animal teeth
also had stone settings but little else (e.g., a bird bone and feathers (Tepper 1987). Hunting was a source of
in one case), whereas graves 39 and 154 had stone prestige among those Plateau groups, including the
settings but no non-perishable grave goods. Overall, Thompson, that were heavily reliant on anadromous
then, there is little sense that those graves with tooth salmon. Salmon served as a staple food, especially
pendants are ‘richer’ in terms of other objects. Indeed, during the winter, when people depended on stored
more recent excavations at Zvejnieki recovered one of fish taken in the large autumn runs. While hunting was
the richest graves at the site, dating to the Middle Neo- considered a skilled activity, it was if anything even
lithic and containing an adult female and an adult male more important to have the aid of spirit helpers. Not
skeleton, with the former accompanied by two large everyone had such spirit helpers, while some individu-
amber rings, 113 perforated amber beads, as well as a als had many. This conferred a spiritual and moral
number of beads made from mammal and bird bone, superiority that became the explanation for greater
but lacking tooth pendants (Nilsson Stutz et al. 2013). hunting success, as well as success in other activities,
This brings us back to the pendants themselves, whether overtly economic or otherwise (Schulting
and, perhaps more importantly, to the clothing with 1995: 50–2; see also Watanabe 1983). Thus, in Plateau
287
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culture as well as elsewhere, there was often no clear collagen δ15N values average 11.7 ± 0.5‰, much closer
division between the economic sphere and those of to the Neolithic group with pendants than to those
ritual and power. without pendants. If these individuals were indeed
Obviously this is a distant comparison in both killed violently, it may be that they were a group of
space and time, but nevertheless the parallels are worth hunters who trespassed in some way, whether physi-
considering. In both cases we see a considerable reli- cally or socially.
ance on fishing as a staple part of the diet, as well as
the importance of hunting, both for subsistence and Conclusions
possibly also for prestige. The common link between
hunting and prestige (cf. Gurven & von Rueden 2006) One of the main tasks of archaeologists is pattern recog-
is one that receives further support from a considera- nition. In this paper we have focused on one particular
tion of the ecology of terrestrial and aquatic resources. case study, the prehistoric hunter-gatherer cemetery
Where they occur and the technology exists to capture of Zvejnieki in northeastern Europe (Henderson et
them, large mammals are invariably the highest ranked al. in prep.). A very striking and persistent pattern
resource (cf. Hawkes et al. 1982). Thus, the implication was highlighted, linking the presence or absence
is that, even if marking a primarily horizontal divi- of animal tooth pendants in graves with long-term
sion into families (and clans?) specializing on aquatic dietary histories, over millennia of use of the site. But
resources and those focusing more on large game, this recognizing a pattern is relatively straightforward;
distinction would likely lead to their differential rank- the real challenge lies in its interpretation, including
ing, one recognized in the society itself. This is often a full and honest consideration of the possible alterna-
the case with horizontal differentiation into groups of tive explanations. We have presented a plausible case
ostensibly equal standing (Blau 1977). But against this for early socioeconomic inequality before farming in
interpretation of two distinct communities is the fact prehistoric Europe. It is not definitive, but the implica-
that there is no clear spatial clustering of graves with tions are nevertheless worth pursuing. One of these
and without tooth pendants at Zvejnieki, such as might is that we are likely seeing only the proverbial tip of
be expected with a clan-based social organization (cf. the iceberg. This is partly because isotopic studies of
Binford 1971; Kingsley 1985; O’Shea 1984; O’Shea & prehistoric hunter-gatherers have generally been con-
Zvelebil 1984). This suggests that an element of vertical cerned with characterizing a group’s overall diet, or at
status differentiation may indeed be involved. most with comparing age and sex (for an exception see
The observed link between diet and tooth pen- Scharlotta et al. 2016). But probably a more important
dants seems to have been maintained in a similar way issue is that, even if they exist, many dietary distinc-
over more than two millennia, without leading to more tions will not be visible isotopically, since they involve
overt status differences. To some extent the system foods with similar isotopic signatures (e.g., different
may have been self-regulating, since large mammals cuts of meat). This makes cases like Zvejnieki all the
do not respond well to increased hunting pressure. more important, as it is unlikely that this was a unique
At the same time, internal checks on overhunting situation. There are a number of large cemeteries in
would have maintained the activity’s prestige value. the European Mesolithic, with a strong tendency to
A not unrelated means of achieving this end would be situated on the coast, lakes, and major rivers with
be through levelling mechanisms, by which those access to aquatic resources.
individuals making what are seen as excessive claims Finally, it is worth commenting on the apparent
over economic and/or social resources are kept in resilience of the social-ecological system at Zvejnieki
check by the rest of the community (Wiessner 1996). (cf. Folke 2006). This was maintained (e.g., there is little
This may take the form of public ridicule, refusal to evidence for high hunting pressure on large game) in
share, or ‘voting with one’s feet’. The latter option, a way that suggests that it was very stable, and appar-
however, becomes less viable with more spatially ently did not lead to attempts by those of putatively
restricted resources such as those obtained from Lake higher status to expand their control, or, if it did, then
Burtnieks. More extreme cases may see a resort to they were unsuccessful. Exploring the reasons for this
violence. This recalls the Early Neolithic mass grave falls outside the scope of this paper, but are likely to
at Zvejnieki containing four adult males and one inde- relate to the ecological restrictions on intensifying
terminate adult. One of the males has an arrowhead hunting, as well as to social levelling mechanisms.
embedded in a thoracic vertebra, and it is possible Social inequality always implies a tension between
that the others were also killed and interred in a single competing interests, one that in the case of Zvejnieki
event (Meadows et al. 2016). While this group lacks seems to have reached a long-lasting, stable balance
grave offerings, it is interesting to note that their bone that did not lead to escalating inequality.
288
 Unequal in death and in life? Linking burial rites with individual life histories

Acknowledgements David, É., 2016. The bone pins from Téviec (Morbhian, France)
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Many thanks to Luc Moreau and the other organizers Burials – Rites, Symbols and Social Organisation of Early
Postglacial Communities, eds. J.M. Grünberg, B. Gramsch,
for the invitation to speak at the conference at which
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Did prehistoric people consider themselves as

equals or unequals? A testimony from the
last hunter-gatherers of the Eastern Sahara

Emmanuelle Honoré

The aim of this edited volume is to present the views of called ‘individualizing’ markers. Such markers, their
archaeologists and anthropologists on the existence of absence or presence, context and association with other
inequalities before farming. In this regard, this chapter elements in rock art are explored here, not with the
differs slightly, trying to explore inequalities not as aim of determining whether the painters themselves
we ourselves perceive them, but as we understand were living in egalitarian or inegalitarian systems,
prehistoric people’s own perceptions and expression of but instead to understand, (1) how they conceived of
difference through rock art. Even though it is tempting equality or inequality in their social lives, (2) to what
to see the direct transcription of scenes of everyday life extent they represented themselves with signs of same-
in the ‘domestic’ representations that abound in Saharan ness or difference, and (3) how we can understand the
rock art, rock art is not a collection of snapshot pictures emphasis placed on either equality or inequality in
of past societies. Any reality is the result of an individual group depictions.
and collective perception of the world (Schrödinger
1967: 93; Watzlawick 1976). In attempting to present a Studying social inequality through the
‘phenomenology of the perception of inequalities’ in archaeological lens
this paper, the founding principle is that rock art is not
to be considered as the exact depiction of past reality, In their introduction to the volume Pathways to Power,
but rather as the depiction of a reality as it has been Douglas Price and Gary Feinman have emphasized the
conceived in the mind of the painters. There is noth- particular contribution that archaeology can bring to
ing new in saying that our worldviews, in the sense of the study of the emergence of social inequality because
‘human decryptions of reality’, have been deeply modi- of ‘the time depth available’ (Price & Feinman 2010: 1).
fied since the onset of farming (Dilthey 1883: 216, 460; At the same time, we are forced to acknowledge that
Ingold 1994: 11; Descola 2005: 10; Barker 2006: 57–60). archaeology is, by and large, a myopic discipline: the
This chapter therefore addresses the difficulty of study- further we go back in time, the less clear our view is. In
ing social inequality through the archaeological lens Palaeolithic archaeology, there is a still an irreconcil-
and tentatively explores new ways of studying social able coexistence of the relatively good insight that can
differentiation through a case study which applies a be reached at the level of a site, and the fragmentary
sociological approach to group depictions. A corpus of nature of our understanding of prehistoric societies
70 painting units with human representations has been and cultures. Perishable materials are often lacking in
studied, all made by hunter-gatherer groups around the archaeological record and we have to reconstruct
6000 bc on the same rock surface. This site, the Wadi practices and activities from only a small portion of
Sūra II shelter in southwestern Egypt (Fig. 17.1), is one what we call ‘material culture’. More challenging
of – if not the – most important rock art sites in Africa, still is that the majority of human activities do not
due to the number of superimposed paintings: 8000 create positive evidence. Yet, having been built as
counted by the Cologne project (Leisen et al. 2013: an evidence-based discipline, archaeology still puts
45). In interpretations of these paintings of human forward the idea that archaeological cultures can be
groupings, emphasis has sometimes been placed on defined as material cultures (for a discussion on the
equality, with figures depicted in a strictly similar way, relevance of the concept of ‘archaeological cultures’,
and sometimes on differentiation, with what can be see Roberts & Vander Linden 2011).
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 Chapter 17

Gilf el-Kebir
Abu Ras Plateau

•
Wadi Sūra
Kemal el-Din Plateau

Rock art
site
Dune

0 50 km
Palaeolake

Figure 17.1. Location (a, b) and setting (c) of the rock art site of Wadi Sūra II. Satellite imagery from Google Earth
Pro 7.3.

Archaeology aims for a holistic understanding of a more-or-less explicit consensus in the anthropologi-
past human societies and cultures lato sensu based on cal and archaeological research community that every
their material remnants, and scientific integrity forces hunter-gatherer society would have existed primarily
us to state that a large portion of these material remains in a state of equality and that social inequality would
are non-existent. Social organizations are by definition have emerged progressively. As a matter of fact, the
complex bundles – even when they are described as debate focuses more on ‘when and where’ inequali-
simple – involving sets of relationships and entangle- ties emerged, with each scholar seeing the signs of
ment. Exploring them with archaeology is a difficult decisive steps towards inequality in their own period
undertaking, for which we have to accept many inher- of interest (Jeunesse 1996; Van de Velde 1990). In the
ent limitations. As underlined by Boris Valentin and Palaeolithic record, grave goods and personal orna-
François Bon, ‘it is still a serious challenge to pretend ments in funerary contexts have been seen as evidence
that we can reconstruct social organizations in more of inherited social ranking, from Sunghir (White 1999;
than just very general terms’ (Valentin & Bon 2012: Flannery & Marcus 2014: 13) to La Madeleine (Van-
176). It is not surprising that all classification systems haeren & d’Errico 2001) and Saint-Germain-la-Rivière
of societies formulated by anthropologists are based (Vanhaeren & d’Errico 2003). The detection of social
on their observations of a set of criteria in the social inequality through material differences is based on a
life within current and well-documented groups. In positivist tendency, assuming that social life can be
archaeology, we never have direct access to what have described by ‘laws’ based on hard scientific evidence
been called social ‘systems’ by structuralists and their (Inglis & Thorpe 2012: 29). Such interpretation of the
followers (Lévi-Strauss 1958): we only access partial Palaeolithic record relies on the double premise that:
– and often distorted – residual evidence of it. Any (1) wealth inequalities translate proportionally to
attempt at classifying past societies implies the use of social inequalities (and, a fortiori, social stratification),
metonymical reasoning: one element from the material which anthropologists have demonstrated as being
evidence has to represent the whole system. not a rule in every society; and that (2) inequalities in
An essential question lies at the heart of the study death equate to inequalities in life. The degree to which
of social inequality through archaeology: what are inequalities are materialized does not necessarily nor
the archaeological traces of social equality or inequal- directly reflect the degree of inequalities in a given
ity? How can material evidence demonstrate social society: there is often simplification or distortion, and
inequality? Are differences in wealth the best proxy wealth differences may not have a solely social mean-
indicator? Behind the evolutionist paradigm, there is ing. More widely, in the reconstruction of prehistoric
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 Did prehistoric people consider themselves as equals or unequals?

social systems, we generally assume that material from about 9000–8500 bc to 3500 bc. During this inter-
evidence reflects social functioning, even though the val, favourable ecosystems flourished at the edge of
material culture left by a society should not be viewed the plateau in the micro-valleys called wadis, their
simply as the direct and exact transcription of social geomorphological setting naturally retaining water.
structures – the conclusions of this chapter partially Archaeological evidence testifies to the re-peopling of
explain why. the region during this limited period of the Holocene.
During this period there was a major transition: from
Classifying past societies as egalitarian or purely hunting and gathering economies to mixed pas-
inegalitarian toralist and hunting and gathering ways of life. Partly
due to the intense wind erosion, archaeological research
Perhaps as a consequence of the necessary shortcuts in the area has not yet found any funerary evidence.1
mentioned above, most archaeological literature However, the prehistoric groups who evolved in the
implicitly seeks to identify a single point on an arti- region have left a large amount of rock art: 402 sites
ficial line that ranges from complete egalitarianism with engravings and 456 sites with paintings have
to the highest degree of inequality, presupposing been recorded so far in the Gilf el-Kebir and Jebel
that societies can be classified according to a defined el-‘Uweināt region (Zboray 2013: 18).
complexity level. Is this opposition between egalitarian There is a remarkably high density of these sites
and inegalitarian societies always valid in archaeol- in a specific part of the northern plateau of the Gilf
ogy? Of course in general, we can debate whether el-Kebir, which contains the two major sites of Wadi
social models elaborated from ethnographic data can Sūra I and Wadi Sūra II. It is no exaggeration to say
be directly applied to archaeological cases. The ques- that Wadi Sūra II is one of the most – if not the most
tion has been posed more specifically during the last – important rock art site of Africa, with nearly 8000
twenty years and some authors have given different paintings. The site is at the top of a dune overlooking
answers. Brian Hayden has proposed an adaptation of a playa, a dried up former temporary lake (Fig. 17.1). It
this rather dualist model with the addition of another is a naturally curved rock wall of 20 m long. Although
category, a kind of trans-category, the ‘transegalitarian it was called the ‘cave of beasts’ by the University of
society’ that could be placed between the egalitarian Cologne team who excavated the site and completed
society and the inegalitarian society, exhibiting traits the photographic record and publication of the rock
of each (Hayden 2013). Other authors such as Gary art (Kuper 2013), it is a proper rock shelter (Figs. 17.1
Feinman, with Kent Lightfoot and Steadman Upham, & 17.2). Regarding chronology, since direct dates
contributed strongly to this question in demonstrat- are lacking, a number of lines of evidence2 mean this
ing that hierarchy and equality have the potential shelter can be considered as having been painted by
to coexist simultaneously in many human societies hunter-gatherers around 6000 bc. This is not the case
(Feinman et al. 2000). For example, in prehistoric for most sites in the region which can be assigned
Pueblo political organization of the American South- with no doubt to the pastoral period. In actual fact, the
west, the entanglement of so many forms of hierarchy age of the Wadi Sūra II paintings is better viewed as a
creates a kind of equilibrium in the respective power chronological range than a precise moment, as the rock
of the different social groups, with the result that no surface is a palimpsest of many superimposed layers
single group dominates the others. Equality versus of paintings (Watrin et al. 2008). This paper is based
inequality thus seems to be neither a systematic nor on direct observation of the rock art of Wadi Sūra II,
a universally valid dichotomy. The rock art of the last personal records and published records.
hunter-gatherers brings an additional contribution to The variety of motifs at Wadi Sūra II is extensive
this question, displaying the apparent coexistence of and one specific feature of this rock art is the very high
expressions of equality and inequality. number of human representations, strikingly differ-
ent from the repertoire of the European Palaeolithic
Case study: rock paintings of the Eastern Sahara cave art (Fig. 17.2). So far, this potential has remained
untapped as the majority of studies focus instead on
The material for this archaeological case study is the the mythological content of paintings such as the
rock art of the Eastern Sahara, in the Egyptian part of ‘beasts’ or the so-called swimmers (Le Quellec 2008,
the Libyan Desert, now one of the hottest and most inter alia). In contrast to previous work, this chapter
arid points of the globe. The Gilf el-Kebir plateau is a aims to study social differentiation and interaction by
rocky massif overlooking large flat sandy plains. Like applying a sociological approach to group depictions.
other Saharan massifs, this place has been attractive for The large number of scenes depicting human figures
prehistoric people during the last climatic optimum, in group interactions tells us something about how the
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Figure 17.2. Main panel of rock art depictions on the left of Wadi Sūra II walls. The picture has been taken before two
metres of sand filling was removed by the excavation team from the University of Köln. Colour balance has been modified
for the purpose of visibility.

painters perceived social interactions between people. potential patterns. The objective is to explore this
For this case study, 70 painting units depicting at least corpus of collective scenes as a sociologist would do
one individual have been identified on the main central for a panel of human groups.
panel of the shelter, among which 66 painting units
have at least two individuals and can therefore be called Conception and depiction of equality and
‘group scenes’. The coexistence of such a quantity of inequality among the last hunter-gatherer groups
group scenes on one rock art panel is extremely rare,
if not unique, at a global scale. Not all depictions are The activities performed are very diverse, some of them
of the same style and were probably been done at dif- not being precisely identifiable. They can be classified
ferent moments, but they all can likely be attributed to into nine types: hunting, fighting, running, standing
the last hunter-gatherers of the Eastern Sahara. with no possibility of determining the activity more
It appears that the painters have depicted human specifically, standing side by side, domestic activities,
groups sometimes with signs of equality (or absence dancing and music-playing, ritual performance and
of signs of inequality) and sometimes with signs of scenes involving the fantastic figure of the composite
difference (or absence of signs of equality). In some beast (Fig. 17.3). The number of group scenes is very
scenes, all individuals are depicted in a strictly simi- high: on 70 painting units with at least one human
lar way, with the same size, colour, body shape, etc., figure, only four display a single individual. It could
whereas in other scenes, markers of individuality can therefore be said that more than 94 per cent of the
be detected. No blind correspondence is to be estab- painting units involving at least one human figure
lished with the degree of equality or inequality of the show group scenes. This echoes the fact that human
painter’s group. All factors potentially explaining the figures represent a high proportion in the overall range
emphasis on equality in some scenes and inequality of motifs on the Wadi Sūra II wall (Fig. 17.5).
in others have to be explored. For this study, a cata- The average number of individuals per group is
logue of the 70 scenes involving at least one human between eight and nine. Scenes in which human figures
figure has been made detailing for each: the number are individualized show an average of seven figures,
of individuals, the presence or absence of means of whereas scenes in which figures are not individual-
individualization, the nature of the means of indi- ized display an average of more than nine figures. We
vidualization (size, colour, physical attributes, body could expect that the greater the number of human
ornaments, equipment), the difference or similarity figures is in a scene, the less individualized they are,
of the postures of individuals in each scene, and the as if individuality would dissolve in the crowd or as if
activity performed by the group. Both statistics and painting individuality would be done with greater care
qualitative research methods are employed to detect when a scene takes less time to be represented. One
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 Did prehistoric people consider themselves as equals or unequals?

striking example for such a process of simplification is individualization of figures by physical means. Thus,
the scene where a composite beast is superimposed on it seems that the emphasis on individuality is not com-
a crowd of 60 oversimplified human figures resembling pletely incidental. On the base of this correlation, it
arrows or crosses rather than normally constituted can be hypothesized that there are some scenes where
people (Fig. 17.3). However, at the scale of the whole individuality does not matter much since everyone has
corpus there is no established correlation between the a similar role in the performance, but there are other
number of figures and the presence or absence of signs scenes where specific roles are given to specific indi-
of individualization on the figures. Of the 66 scenes viduals in the performance. As differing postures are
with 2 to 104 figures involved, point-biserial correla- often found with differing bodies (different size, col-
tion between the two variables is r = -0,131 and biserial our, physical attributes, body ornaments, equipment),
correlation is r = 0,164. Essentially this means that, from there is an expressed intention, in the depiction of such
a statistical point of view, no link can be established scenes, to specify what each specific person is doing.
between the number of figures and an increasing or This correlation can be visually observed on the
decreasing tendency to individualize them. So why graph showing the score of scenes involving individu-
do some figures show signs of individualization and alization markers and the score of scenes involving
why do others not? differing body postures, both weighted according to
A further statistical test allows us to demon- the number of people involved in each scene3 (Fig.
strate a correlation between the presence or absence 17.4B). Patterns can be observed in the expression of
of individual markers and the presence or absence of individuality, which varies according to the activity
differences in the posture of the human figures com- performed by the group. Individualization markers
posing each scene. Based on the corpus of 66 group are least often expressed in scenes depicting dance
scenes, a Pearson’s chi-square test between these two and music performance, rituals and in ‘mythological’
series allows us to reject the null hypothesis. With an scenes involving the figure of the composite beast. In
error-margin of one per cent, it can be concluded that the life of prehistoric groups, these activities could be
differences in individual postures are linked with the the moment when cohesion is expressed the most. The

Figure 17.3. A scene on Wadi Sūra II walls showing a composite beast in the centre superimposed on a crowd of
simplified human figures. The two grey tones correspond to two red ochres. Oblique lines show areas where later motifs
obliterate the composition.
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Hunting

Composite beast Standing

Ritual Standing side by side

Running Domestic context

a) Dancing and music Fighting

Domestic activities

Standing

Standing side by side

Running

Fighting

Hunting

Dancing and music

Ritual

Composite beast

b) Differing body postures Markers of individualization

Figure 17.4. Graphs of the average number of individuals per scene (A) and of the score of individualization (B)
according to the activity depicted.

importance of group membership in such activities II found so far. The rock art surveys conducted in the
would explain why individuals are being depicted Gilf el-Kebir show that pastoralist groups did paint a
as ‘all equals’ in these specific performances. Dancing larger number of sites that are more widely dispersed,
and playing music diverge from the general correlation but all of them are, by contrast, very small. What can
between individualization markers and body postures, be said about this apparent contrast between a very
showing a striking difference between the two. In small number of big sites for hunter-gatherers and a
dance, individuals are all similar and yet, by contrast, very big number of small sites for pastoralists? How do
all in different positions, which is easily justified by we interpret this apparent change in the way paintings
the very nature of dancing. were done? A direct interpretation in terms of social
organization could be that pastoralists were more
Understanding social and symbolic life: numerous, but lived in smaller and more scattered
transitions from hunter-gatherers to pastoralist groups. It could also be that, for the pastoralists, the
groups act of painting would have been practiced by family
units in the context of everyday life whereas for hunter-
The rock art of the last hunter-gatherers differs une- gatherers the practice would have been more ‘codified’
quivocally from pastoralist rock art in the region. There and done only in specific contexts at defined sites. In
is no pastoralist equivalent to Wadi Sūra I or Wadi Sūra other words, not every surface could be considered as
298
 Did prehistoric people consider themselves as equals or unequals?

suitable for rock art expressions by the hunter-gatherer reasoning. Human interactions are extremely complex
groups, explaining why there is such a high number and varied in Wadi Sūra II paintings. The number
of superimpositions. This idea would be in line with of people involved in each scene varies significantly
the notion of the transmission of technical gestures with the activity depicted. It is interesting to see that
formulated for European Palaeolithic art by André activities involving a small number of people (hunt-
Leroi Gourhan (1964, 1965), according to which paint- ing, standing, standing side by side, domestic context,
ing required skills transmitted only to a few people, a fighting) are more-or-less related to the everyday life,
hypothesis further developed by Emmanuel Guy who whereas activities involving a large number of people
argues for the existence of a ‘noblesse Paléolithique’ (dancing and music, running, ritual, composite beasts)
(Guy this volume; 2017: 115–41, 292). seem to be typically connected with feasts and what
Yet, the significance of the above-mentioned we might term, from our point of view, the ‘super-
contrasts might be even more complex as these are natural’ (Fig. 17.4A). Evidence of beliefs like the ones
not the only differences that can be observed in rock expressed in the complex scenes involving a composite
art expressions. The average number of human figures beast at Wadi Sūra I and Wadi Sūra II are not found in
per painting unit (containing at least one) is smaller at pastoralist rock art. In the latter, the symbolic role is
pastoralist sites. Additionally, the variety of activities instead devoted to cattle. Did a domestic cult replace
depicted is also much less important. At pastoralist the large gatherings that are depicted in hunter-gatherer
sites, most scenes show herd-keeping. The importance rock art? Changes in the representations related to the
of the human figure seems to decrease while animal ‘supernatural’ could indicate a radical difference not
depictions (especially of cattle) increase. When fighting only in beliefs4 and ‘cultural’ practices, but also in the
is shown, the purpose of fight is obviously the herd. symbolic world in general.
Most – if not all – social and symbolic life seems to
revolve around cattle, whereas hunter-gatherer social Conclusion
and symbolic life is very different. Symbolic content
might be expressed in the paintings of potentially The hunter-gatherer groups who made the Wadi Sūra
headless cattle (Honoré 2012). The archaeology of the II rock paintings adopted a differential expression of
Holocene Sahara provides a picture which is consistent equality or inequality between individuals in group
with these observations, with many examples of the scenes. The correlation between the type of activity
development of a cattle cult with the onset of pastoral- and the degree of individualization seems to show
ism (di Lernia 2006) and more widely of ‘cattle-centred that the expression of equality depends on the social
behaviour’ (Sauvet et al. 2009: 327–9). agenda more directly than on the size of the group.
Human figures occupy an important role in the Individuality is expressed more often in daily activities
Wadi Sūra II shelter, a fortiori if we consider that the and in those related to subsistence, where specific roles
earlier layers of stencil hands (about 900 stencil hands are given to specific persons. Activities like dancing,
according to Honoré et al. 2016) do represent a human playing music, running and cultural/mythological
presence, according to the aforementioned metonymical scenes are depicted with the least degree of individual

Figure 17.5. View of rock art depictions on the right of Wadi Sūra II walls showing the dominance of human figures in
the repertoire. Colour balance has been modified for the purpose of visibility.
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differentiation. In contrast to the former set of scenes, of social organizations explains the apparent con-
the sameness of individuals involved stands out in tradictions within a unique group: according to the
the latter. The social function of such activities might activities performed or the moment of life of a group,
have been to contribute to cohesion and to the feeling the relations between individuals and the relation to
of group membership. Thus, it can be said that the these relations vary. Rather than characterizing pre-
hunter-gatherer groups of Wadi Sūra II did depict the farming societies as inegalitarian as soon as signs of
existence of inequalities and that they showed their inequality can be detected, we should investigate the
social dimension through the differential expression different expressions of inequality, their context and
of inequalities according to different social contexts. their significance, as this paper has attempted to do,
However, the existence and depiction of hierarchy bearing in mind that different kinds of archaeological
cannot be deduced from this. Anthropologists have evidence can also be in contradiction.
demonstrated that social inequality does not equate
hierarchy, and vice versa. Acknowledgements
Another striking pattern lies in the difference
between the small number of large sites attributed to The author is grateful for the support of the McDonald
hunter-gatherers and the large number of small sites Institute for Archaeological Research at Cambridge
attributed to pastoralist groups in the Gilf el-Kebir. and to Luc Moreau, John Robb, Sylvie Amblard-Pison,
Does this reflect a demographic change, a change Luc Watrin, Robert Layton and Joaquim Soler for their
in the social organization of groups, or a change in support, advice and careful reading of the manu-
the practice of rock painting? Were ‘artistic’ skills script. This research has been funded by the European
more widely shared at the time of pastoralism? Were Commission under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Indi-
figurative representations done in other contexts and/ vidual Fellowship Programme (EC Grant Agreement
or for other purposes? The repertoire of the rock art Number: 700778-CRESO-H2020-MSCA-IF-2015). The
also radically changes. Large human groupings of the author is pursuing research in the framework of the
hunter-gatherer repertoire tend to disappear, as well as IF@ULB program H2020-MSCA-COFUND-IF@ULB-
‘ritual’ and mythological scenes, while cattle is the new 2019-NARA.PalSoc, funded by ULB and the European
motif dominating most of the scenes depicted. In this Community (Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions) under
regard, rock art might express a decisive change in the the grant agreement number 801505 and is grateful to
concept of social life by the late prehistoric groups, a her supervisor Olivier Gosselain and co-supervisor
change which is clearly concomitant with the adoption A. Livingstone-Smith. The content of this publication
of pastoralism. So far, it is not possible to determine reflects only the author’s views.
whether this change is explained by the colonization
of the region by new groups with completely different Notes
social organization, or by the new organization of tasks
and different worldviews that accompany farming, but 1. Roland Keller has mentioned the finding of a grave in the
these explanations are not mutually exclusive. Gilf el-Kebir, but the information previously published
Beyond the understanding of some of the social on his personal website is inaccessible at the date of this
dynamics in the Holocene northeastern Sahara, this publication and consequently unverified by the author
case study highlights the current need to profoundly of the present paper.
2. There is no depiction of pastoral activities on the Wadi
reconsider the dualistic model of egalitarian socie-
Sūra II walls. One ‘village scene’ seems to show a mam-
ties versus inegalitarian societies, since the set of mal within the village and in close proximity to people.
ideas conveyed by it eludes a great part of the actual One could view the significance of this scene in relation
complexity of many forms of social organization. to research in other regions which has shown that experi-
This binary opposition still in place in classification mentation with ‘cultural control’ over wild mammals
systems used in archaeology is not only an overly was done before ‘proper domestication’ (di Lernia 1998).
simple analytical framework, but it also implies that More strikingly, the style of Wadi Sūra II rock art firmly
societies are monolithic systems and does not take differs from the styles of the well-identified pastoralist
into account the fact that social organizations also sites in the region. Unfortunately, as long as no direct
dating is available, we rely on these types of arguments.
evolve according to the social agenda of the group.
3. The score of individualization is calculated as the sum of
This has been described by E. Evans-Pritchard as presence (+1) or absence (-1) of differing body postures
the ‘relativity of the structure’, meaning that ‘[the] or individualization markers weighted by the number
position [of an individual] in a system is relative to of individuals per scene.
the functioning of the system in changing situations’ 4. In the literature, a surviving belief in such a composite
(Evans-Pritchard 1940: 266). The malleable nature beast has been hypothesized, with the goddess Ammut

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being a sudden and much later resurgence in the Nile Cave of Beasts: A rock art site in the Gilf Kebir (SW-Egypt),
Valley during the New Kingdom (Le Quellec et al. 2005: ed. R. Kuper. Köln: Heinrich-Barth-Institut, 42–9.
72), in spite of the lack of any evidence linking the two. Le Quellec, J.-L., P. de Flers & Ph. de Flers, 2005. Du Sahara
au Nil. Peintures et gravures d’avant les Pharaons. Paris:
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Social complexity, inequality and war before farming:

congruence of comparative forager and archaeological data

Douglas P. Fry, Charles A. Keith & Patrik Söderberg

This chapter examines the origins of warfare as a (e.g., Bicchieri 1972; Kelly 1995, 2013a; Lee & Daly
correlate with social inequality and other features 1999; Reyna 1994). Two paths toward social inequality
of social complexity. It addresses two interrelated entail the advent of farming and the development of
questions. How old is war? And what are the driv- complexity among foragers. Appearing within the last
ers of the origins of war? The chapter draws upon 12,000 years in most cases, complex foragers began to
both comparative forager and archaeological data to settle and undergo transitions away from a nomadic
explore these questions. foraging way of life (Fitzhugh 2003a, b; Knauft 1991;
Allen (2014; see also Gat 2015) frames the ‘how Maschner 1997; Maschner & Reedy-Maschner 1998;
old is war?’ question in terms of oppositional long Price & Brown 1985; Swanton 1946). One feature of
chronology and short chronology perspectives, where complexification is the loss of egalitarianism. On the
the former goes back hundreds of thousands, if not basis of data from a large sample of foragers, Binford
millions, of years and the latter is conceptualized as (2001) concludes that foragers remain mobile until
within the Holocene. Long chronologists tend to make population growth initiates settling down, usually
three arguments for war being very ancient. The first in resource-rich aquatic environments, and the more
is to infer a behavioural homology for the intergroup intensive use of resources.
raiding of chimpanzees and humans that stretches Fry (2006) found that all of the complex, non-
back to a common ancestor that lived some five mil- egalitarian societies in an ethnographic sample of
lion years ago, a position argued by Wrangham (1999; foragers engaged in war, whereas a majority of the
Wrangham & Peterson 1996; Wrangham & Glowacki mobile foragers in the sample did not. This finding
2012) and endorsed by others such as Jones and Allen suggests that changes associated with the development
(2014). A second long chronology argument points of social complexity – such as settling down, develop-
to archaeologically recent warfare and ethnographi- ment of social inequalities, population increase, rise
cally documented warring to assert that humans in a of ambitious leaders, accumulation of stored food and
state of nature are inclined to make war (see Bowles other items to plunder – greatly increase the likelihood
2009; Jones & Allen 2014; Pinker 2011; Wrangham & of warfare over that encountered in mobile forager
Glowacki 2012). The third long chronology argument social organization.
holds that because traces of war in the very deep past Taking a long chronology view, Bowles (2009)
are hard to find, the absence of evidence does not mean the and Pinker (2011) have asserted that mobile foragers
evidence of absence (Alexander 1979; for discussion see from the Pleistocene were subject to high rates of war
Ferguson 1997, 2013a, b). This paper considers why mortality, proposing that war deaths averaged about
neither comparative forager nor archaeological data 14 per cent. Projecting warfare into the deep past on
support the long chronology view. the basis of self-selecting ethnographic cases and
Until a couple of millennia before the agricultural archaeological examples represents a questionable
revolution began about 10,000 years ago, humankind methodology for a variety of reasons. First, there is
practiced a mobile forager lifeway (Bicchieri 1972; the problem of sampling bias. Second, ethnohistory
Henry 1985; Fry 2006, 2013; Lee & Daly 1999; Marlowe and ethnography document time-and-again that colo-
2010). There is widespread agreement that mobile nialism and then national policies impact foragers in
forager band social organization is largely egalitarian various parts of the globe, displacing them from their
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land, constricting their habitats, reducing the game 1990, 1997, 2013a, b; Fitzhugh 2003a, 2003b; Flannery
upon which they depend, fomenting conflict within & Marcus 2012; Fry 2006; Johnson & Earle 1987; Kelly
and among neighbouring societies, making available 2000; Malinowski 1941; Reyna 1994). The chapter also
alcohol and guns, practicing genocide against them, will offer some philosophy of science reflections as
and so forth (Bodley 1999; Ferguson & Whitehead 1992; to why the long chronology view of war continues to
Fry 2006, 2013; Fry & Söderberg 2014; Guenther 2014; be asserted despite a paucity of theory and evidence
Headland 1989; Hill & Hurtado 1996; Hill, Hurtado in its favour.
& Walker 2007; Lee 2014). Third, conflicts in mobile Archaeology provides examples of how complex-
forager social organization tend to be interpersonal ity developed over time and ethnography shows the
stemming from sexual jealousy, insults, and revenge variations among societies in the forager spectrum.
for a misdeed rather than intergroup grievances (Grif- Consequently, in agreement with Fitzhugh (2003a),
fin 2000; Headland 1989; Hill et al. 2007; Fry 2006; Fry complexity is better conceptualized as scalar or as
& Söderberg 2013a, b, 2014; Service 1966). a continuum of increasing features rather than as a
Fry & Söderberg (2013a, b) found low levels of threshold that is crossed. Complexity also is multifac-
group-to-group lethal aggression in mobile foragers torial. In the quest to understand the origins of war,
and that a majority of lethal events involved only one isolating causal factors becomes critical. What are the
person killing only one other person. At the minimum, demographic, subsistence-ecological, and sociopoliti-
36 per cent of all lethal events took place within local cal conditions that drive the origin of war? Fitzhugh
bands between husband and wife, other relatives, (2003a: 23) not only provides a listing of elements
neighbours, and had nothing to do with intergroup thought to be important in the complexification process
hostilities. Five cases of obvious war involved the but also presents a model that orders key features into
mobile Hadza foragers of East Africa attacking and a chronological sequence.
being attacked by cattle-herding neighbours. These These include 1) colonization and expansion, 2)
group-to-group lethal exchanges involving the Hadza reduced foraging ranges and territoriality, 3) tech-
show that, although unusual, nomadic foragers are nological changes to overcome seasonal variation,
capable of inter-societal group-to-group fighting increased population density and village aggregation,
(Guenther 2014). However, this violent conflict sce- 4) increased structuring of residential populations into
nario of foragers versus herders cannot logically be corporate groups, localized competition, emergence
projected back into the deep evolutionary past since of inequality and ranking, 5) expansion of political
cattle-herding is a relatively recent development. alliances, trade, and warfare, and the emergence of a
The pattern of disputes being individual rather system of symbolic value capable of discriminating
than corporate in nomadic forager societies raises the individuals on the basis of their access to resources,
question as to whether some cases referred to as ‘war’ labour, and networks of power.
in the mobile forager literature are in reality interper- Population growth has been noted to precede the
sonal disputes. There are examples that show the ‘war’ origin of war in places such as the Northwest Coast
label has been misapplied to individual conflicts in of North America (Maschner 1997), Kodiak Island
the mobile forager context (Fry 2006; Fry & Söderberg (Fitzhugh 2003a, b), and eastern North America (Dye
2014). For example, the term ‘a declaration of war’ 2009, 2013). Darwent & Darwent (2014) point out that
was used to describe how an Alacaluf man, aided by the warring Inuit populations of Northwest Alaska had
his brother, placed objects around his adversary’s hut a much higher population density than the non-war-
as a warning that he was going to try to kill him for ring Inuit groups to the east in Canada and Greenland
eloping with his wife: ‘The husband tried to get her (Darwent & Darwent 2014). Similarly, Roscoe (2014)
back by force, but was beaten off by his competitor. notes an association between raiding and population
…The two brothers subsequently ambushed the rival density for New Guinea. Robert Kelly (2013a, b) argues
and killed him with a spear’ (Bird 1946: 71). that since net above ground productivity (NAGP) var-
To address questions about the antiquity and ies across ecosystems, population pressure defined as
origins of war, this chapter will draw upon archaeo- productivity divided by population density is a better
logical and ethnographic data across the foraging measure than population density per se, and he reports
spectrum, from egalitarian to ranked societies. We a correlation of population pressure with conflict for
will suggest that a short chronology view not only a sample of foragers.
has the weight of the archaeological and compara- Another factor that may contribute to the origin of
tive forager data behind it, but also springs from a war is degree of mobility. Binford (2001) concludes on
corpus of knowledge on the relationship of war and the basis of his comparative study that mobile foragers
sociopolitical complexity (see for example Ferguson move in response to conflict but once groups become
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packed with no place to move, they compete. Kelly Research questions

(2013a: 205) reaches a similar conclusion that foragers
settle down ‘because population density is so high rela- The foregoing introduction leads to several topics that
tive to habitable places on the landscape that residential will be investigated here. First, do the features regu-
movement is not possible without displacing another larly noted to occur during complexification, whether
group. War appears when mobility is not an option.’ called precursors, drivers, or causes of war, correlate
And Haas (1999: 13) concurs when he says, ‘warfare with one another? Should the focus be on population
tends to go hand in hand with increasing political density or population pressure? Does the reliance on
complexity and rising levels of population density.’ aquatic resources correlate with the development of
Turning to sociopolitical variables, Raymond complexity, as Binford (2001) proposes?
Kelly (2000) suggests that another contributor to war- Second, does warfare correlate with increased
fare, or at least feuding, is when a society develops complexity? Anthropologists have long seen war and
social segments. Dye (2013: 146) concurs and comments social complexity going hand-in-hand (e.g., see Hob-
on the pattern in eastern North America: ‘As popula- house, Wheeler & Ginsberg 1915; Malinowski 1941;
tion increases, reliable storage facilities and surplus Reyna 1994; Kelly 2000), although a recent archaeologi-
come into being, bringing about the emergence of seg- cal study challenges this association (Allen et al. 2016).
mentary organization and the increased likelihood of Do other forms of lethal aggression (e.g., homicide)
feuding.’ Reyna (1994) points out that once hierarchical correlate with increased complexity?
chiefdoms arise, leaders develop the capacity to order Third, how does a combined consideration of
others to fight on their behalf. And Fitzhugh (2003a) both comparative forager and archaeological data
proposes that political competition among leaders, not enhance our understanding of war, violence, and
population pressure per se, drives warfare. complexity? What do the data suggest about the
In sum, the anthropological literature presents soundness of adopting long versus short chronologies
various hypothesized contributors to the origins of for the origins of war? How can we move beyond such
war, some of which may synergistically interact with dichotomized views?
one another, such as population growth, intensification This chapter will present a quantitative analysis
of resource use, sedentism, development of social seg- of lethal aggression across the forager complexity
ments, food storage, leader prerogative and rivalries, spectrum using a systematically derived ethnographic
social inequality, and quest for wealth accumulation, sample. In the discussion section, data from archae-
and so on. Ferguson (2013b: 192) lists preconditions ology on population, war, and complexity will be
of war: integrated with comparative forager findings. The
chapter concludes with some broader reflections on
Geographic concentration of critical resources, the scientific study of the origins of war.
sedentism, high population density, food stor-
age and/or livestock, social divisions creating Methods
separate collective identities, social and political
hierarchy or ranking, monopolizable long-dis- Sample
tance trade in valuable prestige goods, and major A widely used ethnographic sample of 186 societies
ecological reversals affecting food production. compiled by Murdock & White (1969), called the
Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (SCCS), takes into
On the other hand, Allen, Bettinger, Codding, Jones & consideration the lack of independence among ethno-
Schwitalla (2016: 12, 120) question whether ‘violence graphic cases within the same culture area (Galton’s
should be more common among groups with greater problem). The resulting sample represents worldwide
sociopolitical complexity, with leaders able to enforce cultural provinces including forager societies from
participation through sanctioned punishment.’ Based around the world.1 Separately, Murdock (1967, 1981)
on an analysis of a large database from California on compiled an Ethnographic Atlas, which contains codes
nearly 17,000 prehistoric burials, Allen et al. (2016: for key cultural features for numerous societies.
12, 122) conclude that ‘violence has little or noth- Murdock’s cultural codes related to subsistence
ing to do with sociopolitical complexity.’ Whereas economy (column 7) can be used to separate the non-
the complexity hypothesis stems from the literature foragers from the foragers in the SCCS. Foragers are
about the origins of warfare, Allen et al. (2016: 12, operationally defined in this study as non-equestrian
121) acknowledge that they have not distinguished societies having no more than five per cent subsistence
between ‘interpersonal vs. coalitional lethal aggres- dependence on agriculture and animal husbandry
sion, or intra- vs. intergroup violence.’ (Fry 2006; Fry & Söderberg 2013a, b). Thirty societies
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in the SCCS meet this stringent operational definition provinces’ and ‘the earliest date of high-quality
of foragers and represent forager societies from all description for each’ (White 1989: 1). A bibliography
habitable continents except Europe (Table 18.1). of principal authority sources lists the relevant ethno-
graphic literature for each society used in this study
Procedure (White 1989).
Each society in the forager sample has ethnographic The methodology used by Fry & Söderberg
sources ranked by White (1989) as principal authority (2013a, b) to investigate lethal aggression among mobile
sources, meaning that they are primary good qual- forager band societies (n = 21) was employed in this
ity sources related to particular times and locations. study to expand the sample to include non-mobile
The principal authority sources represent ‘the best- forager societies (n = 9) in the SCCS. All specific cases
described societies in each of 186 world cultural of lethal aggression were extracted from the principal

Table 18.1. The forager societies represented in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample, excluding equestrian hunters.
Society Continent Population density Class distinctions Settlement
Mobile egalitarian sub-sample
Kung Africa 6.60 No B
Hadza Africa 24.00 No B
Mbuti Africa 44.00 No B
Semang Asia 17.57 No B
Andamanese Asia 33.38 No S
Vedda Asia 18.50 No S
Tiwi Australia 37.50 No B
Aranda Australia 2.66 No B
Copper Eskimo North America .43 No S
Northern Salteaux North America 1.20 No S
Slave North America 1.00 No S
Paiute (Harner Valley) North America 1.24 No S
Ingalik North America 2.71 No S
Naskapi North America .41 No B
Micmac North America 4.32 No S
Kaska North America .90 No S
Bodocuda South America 9.80 No B
Aweikoma South America 4.10 No B
Yahgan South America 28.42 No B
Gilyak Asia 19.31 No S
Yukaghir Asia .61 No S
Settled non-egalitarian sub-sample
Aleut North America 54.65 No V
Eyak North America 5.86 Yes, wealth-based V
Haida North America 97.09 Yes, hereditary V
Bella Coola North America 13.00 Yes, hereditary V
Twana North America 32.40 Yes, wealth-based T
Yurok North America 131.00 Yes, wealth-based V
Eastern Pomo North America 127.00 Yes, wealth-based T
Lake Yokuts North America 38.10 Yes, wealth-based S
Klamath North America 13.36 Yes, wealth-based S
Note: The society names/spellings are retained from the SCCS. Population densities are from Binford (2001). Class presence/absence
ratings are from Murdock (1967, column 67) and Settlement ratings are from Murdock (1967, column 30, see also Murdock 1981: 99),
where B = fully nomadic band, S = semi-nomadic, T = semi-sedentary settlements, and V = fairly permanent villages and towns.

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 Social complexity, inequality, and war before farming

authority ethnographic material. Data on the specifics situation in which more-than-one killer dispatched a
of each event were recorded, e.g., sex of killer(s), sex of single victim occurred less often. The scenario wherein
victim(s), number of perpetrators, number of fatalities, one person killed more-than-one person was compara-
reasons for the lethal encounter, relationship between tively rare (Table 18.2).
perpetrator(s) and victims(s), and so forth. Fry and Following Fry (2006), when the sample is sub-
Söderberg (2013a, b) did not classify on an a priori basis divided based on settlement and class structure to
lethal events as manslaughter, homicide, feud, or war, operationally distinguish mobile egalitarian foragers
and the current study followed the same methodologi- from settled non-egalitarian foragers, some significant
cal procedures related to the nine additional forager differences emerge. Mobile egalitarian foragers change
societies in the SCCS. residence in the course of a year significantly more
After an initial collection of events involving often than complex foragers (Mann-Whitney U test,
lethal aggression, several types of cases were excluded p < .001), average about one-fourth the population
from the analysis. Excluded cases consisted of dupli- density as complex foragers (Mann-Whitney U test,
cate mentions of the same event, cases mentioned p = .003), and face less population pressure than their
in principal authority sources that did not actually complex forager counterparts (Mann Whitney U test,
involve any members of the sample society, and cases p < .001), as reflected in a substantially higher value for
that involved only supernatural means of killing (e.g., this variable, meaning that more food is available per
sorcery). Aside from such exceptions, all lethal events person than in complex forager societies. Settled, non-
reported in the literature were included in the analysis. egalitarian complex foragers also where significantly
Additionally, data on a variety of demographic, more reliant upon fishing than their mobile egalitar-
subsistence, and social features were added to the ian counterparts (Mann-Whitney U test, p = .003). No
database for the 30 forager societies listed in Table 18.1 significant difference was found for either band/village
from published codes and values by Binford (2001) and group size or maximum group aggregation size for
Murdock (1967). From Binford (2001), data on popula- the two sub-samples.
tion density (DENSITY), population pressure (NAGP/ In terms of types of lethal aggression, the only
DENSITY) percentage of aquatic resources in the diet significant difference between mobile and complex
(FISHING), ranking (SYSTATE3), political develop- foragers involved events wherein more-than-one
ment (POLYSCAL), class structure (CLASS), leadership perpetrator took the life of more-than-one victim, a
(PEROGAT), maximal local group size (GROUP2), size category of group aggression that could constitute
of regional aggregations of local groups (GROUP3), and war. This type of group-on-group lethal violence
number of residential moves per year (NOMOV) were was significantly higher among the complex forager
included (Binford’s variable names appear in all caps sub-group (Mann-Whitney U test, p = .012). Although
in parentheses). From Murdock (1967; see also 1981) not significant, it is worth noting the average for one-
the database was expanded to include data on class on-one lethal aggression for settled non-egalitarian
stratification (column 67), settlement pattern (column foragers was half the average for mobile egalitarian
30), and slavery (column 71). SPSS, version 25, was foragers, or in other words, a non-significant trend in
used to investigate relationships among demographic, the opposite direction as the significant difference for
subsistence, and socio-political variables in relation to group-on-group lethal aggression.
types of lethal aggression.
A complexity complex
Results Table 18.3 shows correlations for the entire forager
sample for various demographic and social features.
Sub-groups of foragers compared Population density is positively correlated with sed-
Means and standard deviations for the entire sample (n entism, hierarchical class structure, and social ranking
= 30) and for sub-samples defined by a dual considera- and negatively correlated with the number of resi-
tion of settlement pattern (mobile versus sedentary) dential moves per year, maximal size of temporary
and class structure (egalitarian versus hierarchical) aggregations of local groups, and population pressure
are presented in Table 18.2. For the whole sample of (where the higher the value for the population pressure
foragers, both the number of lethal aggression events variable conversely reflects lower population pres-
per society that involved one person killing one other sure). Sedentary residence correlated positively with
person, that is, homicide or manslaughter, and those a variety of attributes that reflect hierarchical social
that involved more-than-one perpetrator killing more- structure such as social class, social ranking, preroga-
than-one other victim, that is, possible acts of war, tives of leaders, authoritativeness of leadership, and
averaged to about three such events per society. The slavery (Table 18.3). The percentage of food that fishing
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Table 18.2. Means and standard deviations for the whole sample and sub-samples defined by settlement and class.
Whole sample (n = 30) Mobile egalitarian (n = 21) Settled non-egalitarian (n = 9)
Variables Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
Population density 25.7 35.1 12.3 13.9 56.9 49.3
Population pressure 145.1 202.8 196.4 223.6 25.3 32.5
Settlement 2.1 1.0 1.5 .5 3.3 .9
Settlement (dichotomized) 1.2 .4 1.0 0.0 1.8 .4
Group size (band/village) 76.6 107.0 55.9 36.1 125.7 187.8
Number of moves/year 9.2 8.5 12.3 8.4 2.0 2.0
Group size (aggregation) 110.4 100.1 128.5 101.3 68.0 88.3
Social class (B) 1.5 .7 1.1 .3 2.3 .5
Social class (M) 1.3 .6 1.0 0.0 2.1 .6
Ranking 5.1 1.1 4.6 .7 6.3 .5
Leadership 1.9 1.2 1.4 .7 3.1 1.3
Political development 2.1 1.0 1.8 .7 2.9 1.1
Slavery 1.4 .7 1.1 .2 2.2 .8
Reliance on fishing 38.8 31.0 27.4 26.2 65.3 25.4
Lethal aggression, 1 to 1 2.9 5.3 3.5 6.2 1.4 1.6
Lethal aggression, >1 to 1 1.7 3.9 1.5 4.3 2.2 2.9
Lethal aggression, >1 to >1 3.3 6.7 1.4 3.5 7.8 10.1
Lethal aggression, 1 to >1 .1 .3 .05 .2 .2 .4
Lethal aggression, total 8.6 14.1 7.0 14.6 12.1 12.7
Sources: Data are derived from Binford (2001) and Murdock (1967).
Description of the variables: 1. Population Density is in persons per 100 sq. km (Binford 2001, variable DENSITY). Population Pressure is
calculated by dividing Net Above Ground Productivity by Population Density; data for both variables are from Binford (2001, variables
NAGP/DENSITY). Note that the higher the value for this Population Pressure variable means that there is more food per capita, and hence
relatively higher values conversely mean that there is lower population pressure. Settlement has four values, 1 to 4, on an ordinal scale
of increasing sedentism, where 1 = nomadic bands, 2 = seminomadic with mobility for at the minimum of at least half of the year, 3 =
transhumance with the switching between either fixed settlements or between a fixed settlement and seasonal camps, and 4 = permanent
towns and villages (Murdock 1967: settlement codes, column 30). Settlement (dichotomized) converts Settlement codes 1 and 2 and
separately codes 3 and 4 into two new values (mobile versus settled). Group size is the maximum size of the local group, whether a band
or a settled village/town (Binford 2001, variable GROUP2; missing cases reduced the n to 27 for this variable). Number of Moves/Year is the
number of times that a local group moves in a year’s time (Binford 2001, variable NOMOV). Group Size (aggregation) is the maximum size
of temporary aggregations of smaller units (Binford 2001, variable GROUP3). Social Class (B) has three values, 1 to 3, on an ordinal scale
of increasing hierarchy, where 1 = absence of any significant class distinctions, 2 = wealth distinctions only, and 3 = dual stratification
into inherited nobles and ordinary people (Binford 2001: variable CLASS). Social Class (M) has three values, 1 to 3, on an ordinal scale
of increasing hierarchy, where 1 = ‘absence of significant class distinctions among freemen…ignoring variations in individual repute
achieved through skill, valor, piety, or wisdom,’ 2 = ‘wealth distinctions, based on the possession or distribution of property, present and
socially important but not crystallized into distinct and hereditary social classes,’ and 3 = ‘dual stratification into a hereditary aristocracy
and a lower class of ordinary commoners or freemen, where traditionally ascribed noble status is at least as decisive as control over
scarce resources,’ (Murdock 1967: class stratification codes, column 67; see Murdock 1981: 101–2). Ranking is an ordinal scale of social
hierarchy with four values, 4 to 7, where 4 = generic (mobile) foragers, 5 = generic (mobile) foragers with instituted leadership, 6 =
wealth-differentiated foragers, and 7 = internally ranked foragers, and is based on Binford’s (2001) composite social system variable
called SYSTATE3 (n = 28 for Ranking since three cases with a value of 3 were removed for analysis). Leadership has four relevant values,
1 to 4, on an ordinal scale of increasing authoritative leadership, where 1 = leaders have no special prerogatives, 2 = leaders are not
free of subsistence tasks but have assistants, 3 = leaders are not free of subsistence tasks, have minimal specialized emblems, but may
have messengers and speakers, and 4 = leaders do have relief from subsistence activities, have various types of assistants, and leader’s
wives have status also (Binford 2001: 338, variable PEROGAT). Political Development has four values, 1 to 4, on an ordinal scale on the
importance of leaders, where 1 = autonomous local groups have only advisory, informal leadership, 2 = autonomous local groups have
performance-based leadership, 3 = autonomous local groups have advisors convened by a leader who has corporate duties, and 4 = local
groups are subordinate to overarching leadership (Binford 2001: 252, 338, variable POLYSCAL). Slavery has three values, 1 to 3, on an
ordinal scale of increasing degree of socially sanctioned servitude, where 1 = absence of slavery, 2 = incipient slavery, and 3 = hereditary
slavery (Murdock 1967: slavery codes, column 71). Reliance on Fishing is the percentage of reliance on aquatic resources in the diet
(Binford 2001: variable FISHING). Lethal Aggression 1 to 1 involves one person killing one person; Lethal Aggression >1 to 1 involves more
than one person killing one person; Lethal Aggression >1 to >1 involves more than one person killing more than one person; and Lethal
Aggression 1 to >1 involves one person killing more than one person (Fry & Söderberg 2013a, b). Lethal Aggression, Total is a summation
of all lethal aggression instances.

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 Social complexity, inequality, and war before farming

contributed to the diet also correlated positively with is that there is a complexity complex wherein a host of
settled residence, local group size, social class, social variables (e.g., population density, population pres-
ranking, leadership, and slavery. sure, settlement, social class, slavery) correlate with
each other. Given the relatively small sample size
Social organization and types of lethal aggression and the consequent reduction in statistical power, the
Table 18.4 presents correlation coefficients for the four large number of correlations that reached significance
types of lethal aggression and a variety of demographic is noteworthy.
and social variables. The one-on-one type of lethal The finding that reliance on aquatic resources
violence (homicide and manslaughter) does not cor- also is part of the complexity complex corresponds
relate with any of the variables. Likewise, there are no with ethnographic and archaeological knowledge on
significant correlations for the demographic and social complex foragers from such cases as Northwest Alaska,
variables with either more-than-one killer assaulting Kodiak Island, the Northwest Coast of North America,
a single victim or for a single killer attacking more- New Guinea, and the Calusa of Florida (Binford 2001;
than-one victim. However, the type of group-to-group Roscoe 2006). The reliance on aquatic resources is
lethal aggression wherein more-than-one perpetrator consistent with Binford’s (2001) interpretation that
killed more-than-one victim shows multiple significant fishing and related resources make the development
correlations. This group-on-group type of lethality cor- of complexity possible. It is interesting that two early
related positively with population density, sedentism, sites showing evidence of violent conflict, Nataruk
size of local groups, two measures of social class, and on the ancient shores of Lake Turkana, dated to about
slavery and correlated negatively with the maximum 10,000  bp, and Jebel Sahaba near the banks of then
size of aggregations of local groups. marshy inlets on the Nile River, dated at 11,600 bp, may
have exhibited semi-settled, larger populations due to
Discussion the abundant aquatic resources than were typical at
these times (Haas & Piscitelli 2013; Lahr et al. 2016a).
Political complexity and war In the Nataruk case, the presence of pottery suggests
The discussion will focus on three main areas that food storage. According to Robert Foley (quoted in
consider the comparative forager findings and loop-in Ghose 2016), ‘hunter-gatherers who tend to stay in
what is known from archaeology. One clear conclusion one place for longer periods often live near lakes,
from the comparative forager findings reported here where food is plentiful and unlikely to be depleted by

Table 18.3. Correlations among demographic and social features.

Variables 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
1. Population density -.623*** .185 .412** .029 -.414** -.338* .411*** .364* .324* .119 .209 .221 .047
2. Population pressure -.296* -.435** -.063 -.480*** .148 -.525*** -.462** -.305* -.068 -.182 -.339* -.235
3. Settlement .731***
.270 -.526 ***
-.269 .721 ***
.631 ***
.641 ***
.482 **
.451 **
.645*** .551***
4. Settlement (dichotomized) .263 -.536*** -.304 .749*** .736*** .650*** .571*** .410* .751*** .468**
5. Group size (band/village) -.145 -.057 .225 .263 .362 *
.297 .389 *
.227 .299*
6. Number of moves/year .392** -.646*** -.545*** -.504*** -.314* -.342* -.421** -.340*
7. Group size (aggregation) -.299 -.196 -.288 -.138 -.201 -.340 *
-.152
8. Social class (B) .774*** .877*** .579*** .612*** .695*** .540***
9. Social class (M) .668 ***
.467 **
.383 *
.663 ***
.372*
10. Ranking .738*** .704*** .669*** .523***
11. Leadership .647 ***
.347 *
.326*
12. Political development .363* .370*
13. Slavery .538***
14. Reliance on fishing
***
= Correlation is significant at the 0.001 level (2-tailed).
**
= Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*
= Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
Note: See Table 18.2 for a description of the variables and values. All correlations are based on an n = 30, except for those
involving the variables Ranking and Group Size (n = 27). Since most correlations involve one or more ordinal variables,
the correlation statistics reported are Kendall’s Tau.

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Table 18.4. Correlations of demographic, settlement, social variables settlement, local group size, social class, and slavery).
with types of lethal aggression. Whereas not all cases of group-on-group lethal violence
Types of lethal aggression could be considered war (for example if the lethal
1 to 1 >1 to 1 >1 to >1 1 to >1 event took place within the same band/village), many
Population density p
.004 .207 .528 **
-.079 instances did take place between members of different
communities or societies, and could be considered war,
Population pressurep -.023 -.138 -.224 -.127
defined here as ‘relatively impersonal lethal aggression
Settlement -.119 -.010 .195 .199
between communities’ (Fry 2006: 91).
Settlement (dichotomized) -.230 -.023 .441** .079 Interestingly, none of the other three types of
Group size (band/village)p .022 -.042 .726*** -.111 lethal aggression correlate with social complexity
Number of moves/year P
.016 -.060 -.251 -.102 variables. This suggests that complexification does not
Group size (aggregation) p
-.187 -.202 -.395 *
-.027 necessarily go along with an increase in one-on-one
Social class (B) -.205 .118 .374* .153
killings (e.g., homicide or manslaughter). As a cau-
tion, it is important to keep in mind that the sample
Social class (M) -.043 .234 .420* .259
size is relatively small (n = 30). It will be interesting to
Ranking -.239 .078 .291 .066 see if this finding holds up in future studies. It might
Leadership -.176 -.066 .176 -.026 be that the presence of war can contribute to a lower
Political development -.210 -.042 .111 -.019 rate of intra-societal killings as socialization and social
Slavery -.145 -.025 .403* .225 pressures are exerted against such deeds in the light
Reliance on fishingp .041 .065 .332 .104 of external threats (e.g., see Roscoe 2014; Wallace &
Hoebel 1952). Regarding events wherein one person
***
= Correlation is significant at the 0.001 level (2-tailed).
**
= Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). kills more-than-one victim, the relative rarity of such
*
= Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). instances may reflect the risks of attacking more than
Note: See Table 18.2 for a description of the variables and values. one adversary at the same time. This risk minimiza-
Kendall’s Tau correlations are reported when ordinal variables
tion interpretation is consistent with the observation
are involved; Pearson correlations (P) are reported for interval
variables. that at least in some cases, the multiple victims were
relatively harmless children killed by an adult (Fry &
long stays. …That fits into the idea of a slightly more Szala 2013; Wrangham 1999).
densely packed population where intergroup conflict The current finding that socio-political complex-
is likely to arise.’ ity correlates significantly with lethal incidences of
Haas & Piscitelli (2013: 181) point out that Jebel more-than-one killer engaging more-than-one victim
Sahaba ‘is clearly not anything like a typical, nomadic contradicts the conclusion reached by Allen et al. (2016)
hunting and gathering site characteristic of the Upper that there is no relationship between socio-political
Palaeolithic in other parts of the world. …The pres- complexity and lethal aggression, based on their study
ence of an actual graveyard with 58 excavated burials of skeletal trauma in burials representing 19 prehistoric
indicates intensive and long-term use.’ They next quote Californian societies in the late Holocene. There are at
the excavator of the ancient cemetery, Fred Wendorf least two possible reasons why Allen et al. (2016) did
(1968 quoted in Haas & Piscitelli 2013: 181): not find a relationship between complexity and lethal
aggression. First, their sample is highly homogeneous
Population pressures may have become too great regarding complexity, which minimized the chance of
with the deterioration of the Late Pleistocene statistically demonstrating a true association between
climate and the effects which this had on the variables. These Californian societies tended to show
herds of large savanna-type animals which were some but not maximal features of sociopolitical com-
the primary source of food at this time. With plexity, having for instance class distinctions based
this situation, the few localities which were on wealth. For one measure of complexity involving
particularly favorable for fishing would have leadership, 16 out of 19 societies had the same value;
been repeatedly fought over as other sources of for their other complexity variable dealing with politi-
food became increasingly scarce. cal organization, 15 out of 19 cases had the identical
value. Hence, these two complexity variables are highly
Turning to the relationship between types of lethal homogeneous and, coupled with a relatively small
aggression and the complexity features, only lethal sample, a distribution of this nature poses an obstacle to
aggression committed by more-than-one person toward discovering an existing relationship between complex-
more-than-one victim positively correlates with com- ity and violence. By contrast, the current worldwide
plexity variables (specifically, population density, sample of foragers addresses Galton’s problem related
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to oversampling from a cultural area and reflects greater most of the genus Homo’s time on Earth. Only dur-
cross cultural variation in forager socio-political com- ing the Holocene did humans undergo exponential
plexity variables than does the regionally homogeneous population grow. Just prior to the Holocene (19,000
sample from central California. to 13,000 bp), the Late Pleistocene populations of Aus-
Another possible non-mutually exclusive reason tralia, Asia, Europe, and Africa combined have been
that Allen et al. (2016) find no association between estimated at about 500,000 people, or .3 persons per 100
complexity and lethal violence, viewed in light of the sq. km (Haas & Piscitelli 2013). By way of comparison,
finding reported here on one-to-one killings not cor- for an extant sample of Holocene foragers from Africa,
relating with complexity, would be if the Californian Asia, Australia, North America, and South America
prehistoric cases of lethal trauma proportionately derived by Kelly (2013b: Table 9.1), the average popu-
reflect one-on-one killings relative to cases with lation density is 34.12 persons per 100 sq. km, which
more-than-one killers and victims. In other words, if amounts to 113 times the estimated population density
one-to-one killings were heavily represented in their for the world-wide forager population near the end
burial cases relative to group-on-group violence, we of the Pleistocene.
would not necessary expect to find an association of In the current study, the average population
lethal violence with complexity. As Allen et al. (2016) densities in persons per 100 sq. km for the total forager
acknowledge, they do not attempt to distinguish sample, mobile sub-sample, and complex sub-sample
interpersonal from intergroup violence so the types of are, respectively, 25.7, 12.3, and 56.9 (Table 18.2), in
lethal violence under consideration remains uncertain. all cases many times higher than the late Pleistocene
In contrast to the dismissal of complexity by estimate of .3. Specifically, the average population
Allen et al. (2016), the findings of the current study density for the SCCS mobile foragers, the majority of
correspond with theoretical predictions and previous which are non-warring, is 41 times higher than this
empirical observations that war and socio-political late Pleistocene estimate.
complexity are in fact associated (e.g., Ferguson 2013a, To consider one more population density com-
b; Fitzhugh 2003a, b; Fry 2006; Hobhouse et al. 1915; parison, Roscoe (2014: 229) reports a population density
Johnson & Earle 1987; Malinowski 1941; Reyna 1994) equivalent to 80.0 persons per 100 sq. km for 10 contact-
and conversely that war and mobile, egalitarian band era, mostly semi-sedentary sago palm harvesting
social organization tend not to go together (e.g., Dar- foragers from freshwater wetlands in New Guinea
went & Darwent 2014; Fry & Söderberg 2013a, b; with relatively high rates of lethal aggression. These
Guenther 2014; R.C. Kelly 2000; R.L. Kelly 1995, 2013a; New Guinea foragers have an average population
Lee 2014; Lee & Daly 1999; Service 1966). In sum, both density 267 times that of the estimated worldwide Late
comparative ethnography and archaeology support a Pleistocene population. An implication is that using
congruent overall picture of the association of warfare high density New Guinea foragers to draw insights
and social complexity. about lethal conflict in the evolutionary past is prob-
lematic. Complex fisher-foragers from New Guinea,
Archaeology and the origins of war which resemble the North American North West Coast
Three types of archaeological evidence pertain directly societies in terms of war-making and sociopolitical
to the timing and nature of the origins of war. The first complexity, have even higher population densities than
line of evidence pertains to population changes, the the New Guinea semi-sedentary freshwater wetlands
second to the earliest worldwide evidence of war, and group (Roscoe 2014).
the third to regional archaeological sequences demon- Even if the .3 world population density estimate
strating the relatively recent origins of war from prior for the late Pleistocene were an order of magnitude
conditions of warlessness. too low and thus were 3.0, an unlikely possibility, the
recent Holocene forager population densities shown
Population. In the current study, population density was in Table 18.2 still average several-to-many times the
strongly correlated with actual population pressure as late Pleistocene estimate, that is, even if divided by
experienced by forager societies in the sample. Both 3.0 instead of .3. An implication of these demographic
population density and population pressure correlated observations is that there may have been too few
strongly with social class and other social inequality people, living in small bands, spread out over huge
variables as well. Interestingly, whereas population land areas to have any reason for making war over
density strongly correlated with group-on-group lethal resources. Haas (1996: 1360) proposes that ‘it was only
violence, population pressure did not. about 10,000 years ago that the niches of the world
Haas & Piscitelli (2013; Haas 1996) point out that were filled in through gradual population growth, and
the total human population was extremely low over people had to develop new settlement and subsistence
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strategies to extract adequate resources from decreased al. 2016; Fry 2006; Fry, Schober & Björkqvist 2010;
territory.’ And Haas & Piscitelli (2013: 176; see also Roper 1969).
Keely 2000) add: ‘for 190,000 years of human existence The one possible exception to the existence of
on the planet, low population densities obviated all war prior to the Holocene is Jebel Sahaba, recently re-
the proposed biological or cultural reasons for warfare dated to at least 11,600 bp (Antoine, Zazzo & Friedman
and intraspecific conflict.’ 2013; Zazzo 2014). Jebel Sahaba may or may not reflect
Aside from the consideration of worldwide war, but certainly shows violence. Initially, 24 out of
population growth over the Pleistocene and into the 59 individuals were seen as having suffered violent
Holocene, support for Haas & Piscitelli’s (2013) infer- deaths due not only to embedded projectile points
ence comes, first, from the observation that extant in their bones but also due to lithic points and barbs
mobile foragers, despite typically higher population found in the burials. This is a very high percentage
densities than Pleistocene estimates and despite a of violent death in a skeletal population, and some
variety of recent conflict-inducing factors, nonethe- scholars attribute the killings to warfare or feuding,
less tend not to engage in much warfare (Fry 2006; while others caution that an accumulation of homicides
Fry & Söderberg 2013a, b; Guenther 2014). Fry & and executions over time may have occurred. Ferguson
Söderberg (2013a, b) review nine factors that militate (2013b) points out another problem: the quantity and
against warfare under mobile forager conditions, of diversity of lithic material found in the burials – lith-
which low population densities is only one. Second, ics inside skulls with no entry wounds for instance
in both the findings of the current study and in the – provides tenuous support for violent death in some
literature, group-on-group fighting is associated with cases. Ferguson (2013b: 117) cautions that ‘classifying
increases in population densities, as one factor in all those [remains] with associated lithics as war casu-
the complexity complex (Darwent & Darwent 2014; alties is going too far. Jurmain (2001: 20), a judicious
Kelly 2000; Roscoe 2014), and/or increases in popula- specialist in palaeo-osteology, concludes the number
tion pressure (Kelly 2013a, b). Third, whereas mobile of violent deaths actually should be counted as 4 out
forager groups subsisting at low population densities of 41 relatively complete skeletons, or 9.8 percent.’
and pressures simply move rather than attempt to An apparent massacre on the ancient shores of
displace another group, competition among foragers Lake Turkana in Africa at a then marshy place called
for territory or resources begins once the population Nataruk, dated to between 10,500 and 9,500 bp, may
in an area becomes packed, to use Binford’s term, be the earliest evidence of warfare. Lahr et al. (2016a)
and resource-rich areas become worth fighting over report that for 10 of 12 articulated skeletons there
(Binford 2001; Maschner & Reedy-Maschner 1998; is evidence of cranial and postcranial trauma. The
Fitzhugh & Kennett 2010; Kelly 2013a). authors also note the presence of pottery, a feature
not typical of mobile foragers, and propose that some
Lack of pre-Holocene evidence of war. The assertion that degree of sedentism and food storage are suggested
war is hundreds of thousands if not millions of years by this evidence.
old simply lacks archaeological evidence to support However, Stojanowski, Seidel, Fulginiti, Johnson,
it. With one possible exception, the earliest evidence & Buikstra (2016) challenge the massacre interpretation,
of warfare anywhere in the world is within the Holo- first pointing out that the cranial and skeletal damage
cene. After reviewing the archaeological evidence corresponds with known taphonomic effects of soil
on prehistoric homicides and warfare, Keeley (1996: compression, weathering cycles of wetness and dry-
39) reaches the conclusion ‘that homicide has been ness, and activities of insects, animals, and roots. While
practiced since the appearance of modern humankind Stojanowski et al. (2016) do not dispute the evidence
and that warfare is documented in the archaeological of violence in the case of an embedded obsidian lithic,
record of the past 10,000 years in every well-studied they question whether all the deaths occurred at the
region.’ Homicide predates by far the evidence for war same time and draw upon forensic anthropological
and has parallels in the low percentage of intraspecific knowledge to point out that much osteological dam-
killing in the mammalian world, averaging 0.3 per age at Nataruk is inconsistent with perimortum cranial
cent across more than one thousand species (Gómez, trauma. Stojanowski et al. (2016: 539) conclude that
Verdú, González-Megías & Méndez 2016; see also Fry ‘interpersonal violence was surely present in early
& Szala 2013; Roper 1969; Sala et al. 2015). The central Holocene African hunter-gatherers, however, the case
focus here is on the origins of war, not on the homicides for a massacre at Nataruk is not supported by the data
that the palaeontological evidence and phylogenetic Mirazón Lahr et al. report.’ In a brief reply, Lahr et al.
context suggest have occurred infrequently for a very (2016b: E10) dismiss the points raised by Stojanowski
long time in the human evolutionary line (Gómez et et al. (2016), maintaining that ‘A case of intergroup
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 Social complexity, inequality, and war before farming

conflict remains the best explanation of the events at Table 18.5. The origin of war on Kodiak Island in the North Pacific.
Nataruk.’ Perhaps further analyses will resolve some Approximate Housing Prestige Warfare
of these differences of interpretation. dates/period trade
Wishing to systematically assess the evidence for 7500–5100 bp Portable Low Minimal if at all
warfare older than 10,000 bp, Haas & Piscitelli (2013) Ocean Bay 1 importance
made an extensive review of catalogues and site reports 5100–3800 bp Portable Low Minimal if at all
that contain information on skeletal material. Their sur- Ocean Bay 2 then importance
vey resulted in data on nearly 3000 Homo sapiens skeletal permanent
remains from over 400 archaeological sites around the 3800–2600 bp Permanent Low Minimal if at all
Early importance
world. Out of these 400 sites older than 10,000 bp, Haas
Kachemak
& Piscitelli (2013) discovered only four additional sites
2600–700 bp Permanent Moderate First use of
besides Jebel Sahaba where one or more individuals Late importance defendable
had projectile points embedded in their bones and Kachemak landforms; minimal
one site with a multiple burial of three individuals. then sporadic
The remains in the multiple burial showed no sign 700–200 bp Permanent High Defensive villages;
of violence and the deceased could have succumbed Early & Late importance endemic fighting
to disease or some other calamity. Haas & Piscitelli Koniag
(2013) note that none of the cases provide a basis for Note: The extent of warfare is estimated from number of
concluding the deaths resulted from war as opposed defensive sites. Sources are Fitzhugh & Kennett (2010: see Table
6.1) and Fitzhugh (2003a, b).
to accidents or homicide. Hass & Piscitelli (2013: 182–3)
succinctly conclude, ‘rather than demonstrating the
commonness of ancient warfare amongst humans, current study, do these archaeological sequences follow
consideration of the entire archaeological data set similar developmental narratives that involve increas-
shows the opposite.’ Out of nearly 3000 skeletal remains ing complexity, including rising population densities?
worldwide reviewed by Haas & Piscitelli (2013), only On Kodiak Island the archaeological record
Jebel Sahaba and a handful of other sites showed any goes back at least 7500 years. For the first 5000 years,
evidence of violence prior to 10,000 bp. An implica- evidence of war is non-existent (Table 18.5). Fitzhugh
tion of these findings is that the assertion that absence (2003) reports the first use of small defendable land-
of evidence is not evidence of absence of war simply does forms such as placing camps on steep slopes and
not ring true; with Jebel Sahaba remaining a puzzle of promontories at about 1100 bp. A few centuries later,
interpretation, there is evidence of occasional killing large defensible villages appear in the archaeological
but no evidence of war across the 400 sites with nearly record. Fitzhugh & Kennett (2010: 73) explain that
3000 individuals worldwide. Similarly, Chatters (2014) inequality arose along with the development of whale
reviewed all the Palaeo-Indian skeletal remains in North hunting ‘and eventually expands to embrace large-
America pre-dating 9000 bp. His forensic conclusion is scale, endemic warfare mobilized by large boats and
that the pattern ‘is almost exclusively one of nonlethal long-distance raids.’
fights between males within their own community Dye (2009, 2013) outlines the grand sequence
and abuse of women and children by the same males’ that took place in eastern North America, beginning
(Chatters 2014: 91). about 13,000 bp with a nomadic forager phase and
concluding with settled agricultural societies at the
Archaeological sequences demonstrating the origins of time of European contact (Table 18.6). While cognizant
war in the Holocene. Importantly, the long chronology of local variations, Dye (2009, 2013) highlights three
view that war originated hundreds of thousands, if broad phases in lethal aggression and social complex-
not millions, of years ago also is contradicted by the ity in eastern North America: nomadic foraging and
numerous Holocene prehistoric sequences that docu- interpersonal homicides for about 6 millennia, then the
ment the origins of war before farming in some cases rise of villages and feuding beginning about 7000 bp,
and in others reveal the recent origins of war along and finally the appearance of larger polities, alliances,
with plant domestication. A question that seems never long-distance trade, and war about 3000 bp (Table 18.6).
to have been seriously addressed by those who argue The next sequence showing the birth of war
that war has been ever-present as a natural feature of along with social complexity comes from the Val-
proto-human and human social life is: Why do mul- ley of Oaxaca in Mexico (Flannery & Marcus 2003,
tiple prehistoric time sequences show the birth of war 2012). The archaeological record begins at 10,000 bp
in different places across the Holocene? And why, as with over 6000 years of mobile forager camps and no
illustrated in the comparative forager findings of the evidence of warfare. Subsequently, the arrival of war
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Table 18.6. The origins of war in eastern North America. Table 18.7. The origin of war in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Dates Types of violence Social organization and Dates Types of violence Social organization and
features features
13,000–7000 bp Homicide Non-segmented, mobile, 10,000–4000 bp ‘Warless societies’ Nomadic camps
family-level foragers
3600+ –2800 bp Village life begins; social
7000–3000 bp Feuding, raiding Segmented non- segments arise
egalitarian tribal-like
2800–2450 bp Raiding and Three chiefly centres
foragers; settlements
‘chiefly warfare’ with buffer zones
appear; trade develops
between them
3000–300 bp Warfare appears Villages and towns, some
2450–2000 bp Full-scale warfare Development of the
palisaded for defence;
ancient Zapotec state
chiefly societies based
on farming; alliance 2000–1700 bp Military State expands into
systems, long- distance expansion and neighbouring areas
trade, domination and conquest
tribute Source: Table based on information in Flannery & Marcus (2003,
Source: Table is based on information in Dye (2009, 2013). 2012).

is unmistakably visible in the archaeological record, Yayoi agricultural period, 2800 to 1250 bp (Table 18.8).
as is the rise of the Zapotec state and its concomitant During the forager period, there was evidence of lethal
militarism (Table 18.7). Again a regional archaeologi- violence but no fortifications or weapons of war; during
cal sequence shows war to arise from an absence of the farming period, there were fortifications, weapons,
warfare congruently with other major social changes. and significantly more cases of violent death.
Turning to Europe and the Near East, Fergu- Worldwide archaeological findings show that
son (2013a) reviewed all the available archaeological war originated multiple times in the Holocene and, in
evidence for each region to evaluate the presence or correspondence with both a corpus of ethnographic
absence of war and interpersonal aggression across data and the comparative forager findings reported
time. Ferguson (2013b: 116) summarizes: here, also show that war develops along with socio-
political complexity. Archaeology shows transitions
By considering the total archaeological record of from warlessness to warfare occurring at different
prehistoric populations of Europe and the Near places at different times: 800–750 bp among the Anasazi
East up to the Bronze Age, evidence clearly of the North America; 2000 bp in Northwest Alaska;
demonstrates that war began sporadically out of by 2800 bp in the Valley of Oaxaca; 9500 bp in parts of
warless condition, and can be seen, in varying the Near East; and perhaps earlier than 11,600 bp at
trajectories in different areas, to develop over Jebel Sahaba (Antoine et al. 2013; Darwent & Darwent
time as societies become larger, more sedentary, 2014; Ferguson 2013a; Flannery & Marcus 2003, 2012;
more complex, more bounded, more hierarchical, Fry 2006; Haas 1999, 2001). The big picture views from
and in one critically important region [the Near worldwide archaeology and comparative forager stud-
East], impacted by an expanding state. ies on the origins and development of war correspond
with and complement one another.
It is important to highlight the methodology employed
by Ferguson (2013a) consisted of assessing in a region Table 18.8. Skeletal evidence for lethal violence and the origin of war
all available archaeological evidence for the presence in Japan.
or absence of war and violence as contrasted with Dates/ Skeletal Per cent Social organization
the practice of merely presenting a limited subset of period population deaths due and features
examples of violence as if they were representative of to violence
the archaeological record (e.g., see Bowles 2009; Keeley 15,000– 1051 1.81 Forager period of
1996; Pinker 2011). 2800 bp Japanese prehistory; no
Jōmon evidence of weapons
Taking a methodological leaf from Ferguson’s
Period or fortifications
book, Nakagawa, Nakao, Tamura, Arimatsu, Matsu-
2800– 1936 3.62 Agricultural period;
moto & Matsugi (2017) and Nakao, Tamura, Arimatsu, 1250 bp first evidence
Nakagawa, Matsumoto & Matsugi (2016a, b) reviewed Yayoi of weapons and
all of the available skeletal evidence for Japan looking Period fortifications
for any signs of perimortum trauma across the Jōmon Source: Table is based on information in Nakao et al. (2016a, b)
forager period, beginning 15,000 bp, and then for the and Nakagawa et al. (2017).

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Conclusions and philosophy of science reflections frames of reference related to the origins and antiq-
uity of war, data appropriate for theory development
The findings from comparative forager ethnography and hypothesis generation could include areas of
and data from archaeology are mutually reinforcing. knowledge such as non-human primates, especially
Neither comparative forager studies nor archaeology humankind’s closest ape relatives, patterns of fight-
show mobile forager band social organization to be ing and lethality in mammals more generally, human
conducive to warfare. Archaeological sequences from palaeontology and deep-past archaeology, data on
various regions demonstrate that the origins of war the progression of complexification in the Holocene
correlate with complexification, including increases in prehistoric record, comparative ethnography and
population density, among both foragers and the first ethno­history with special attention to mobile and set-
farmers. Thus, in considering the antiquity and origins tled forager societies, and so on. The anthropological
of war, the data clearly favour the interpretation that study of war seems to have suffered from the unnec-
war arrives along with complexification. essary narrowing of focus, for example, as models
Weaknesses of the long chronology of war about war in human deep prehistory are derived
include, first, the absence of a theoretical model for from limited spheres of information. For example, the
predicting war under Pleistocene forager demographic development of a war model based on observations
and social conditions, second, the lack of actual evidence of coalitional intergroup killings in chimpanzees but
of warfare in the deep past (saying absence of evidence without information on non-raiding bonobos and
is not evidence of absence is no substitution for actually more broadly without knowledge from other relevant
providing evidence of war), and, third, unfamiliarity realms (e.g., mammalian aggression, archaeology, and
with the well-documented and geographically diverse social organization) is unlikely to provide a compre-
sequences showing that war originates as part of hensive explanation (Wrangham & Glowacki 2012).
complexification. Similarly, propositions about prehistoric war based
Several suggestions can be offered for making the on the assumption that forager bands were self-con-
study of the origin and development of warfare more tained independent units subject to group selection (cf.
scientifically grounded. We can start by questioning Bowles 2009) can be called into question by copious
whether the dichotomization of researcher views is data on mobile forager band social organization and
useful for framing the problem and moving science demographic conditions (cf. Fry 2006; Marlowe 2010).
forward. Categorizing researchers as long versus short Furthermore, we suggest that citing cases of
chronologists, hawks versus doves, or Rousseauan violence and/or war in the archaeological records is
versus Hobbesian (Allen 2014; Gat 2015; Jones & Allen not enough to prove that war is ancient and hence an
2014; Pinker 2011) puts the focus on researchers rather evolved human proclivity. Instead, a wider framing
than on theory, methods, and data and emphasizes of the topic that takes into account, first, evolutionary
competition between ‘camps’ rather than on collabora- theory explicitly (Fry 2018) and, second, additional
tion in the scientific quest for knowledge. We therefore demographic, subsistence, social, and ecological factors
advocate a closer adherence to the ideals and cannons – including temporal sequences in the archaeological
of the scientific approach, as a collaborative venture, record that show change, as considered here – could
aimed at understanding the origins and antiquity help produce new insights and move science forward.
of warfare. A reconceptualization could return the As we have considered in this chapter, archaeologi-
central scientific focus to (1) theory development and cal sequences that include shifts toward complexity
theory-driven hypothesis testing, (2) greater attention tell us much about the origins of war. The approach
to sampling and other methodological elements, and (3) we are advocating includes applying a more holistic,
self-reflection and self-awareness about how cultural comprehensive frame of reference to this topic of
and personal biases and implicit assumptions impact study (Fry 2018).
our work. We will now explore why we see philoso-
phy of science reflections on the scientific enterprise Giving more attention to sampling, methodology and
as especially necessary concerning the origins and definitions
antiquity of warfare. Studies of prehistoric war seem to reflect more than
their share of methodological problems, such as lack
Theory development and hypothesis testing of systematic sampling when using archaeological
We advocate expanding the frame of reference and and ethnographic data, or reliance on secondary
taking a more holistic view of the data in order to rather than primary sources (see critiques in Ferguson
formulate knowledge-based hypotheses and to thus 2013a, b; Fry 2006, 2013, 2018; Fry & Söderberg 2014).
enhance the quality of research. To expand the relevant For example, the estimate that 14 per cent of deaths
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in prehistory were due to warfare (Bowles 2009; to encompass knowledge of forager ethnography
Pinker 2011) can be called into question, not only could aid with interpretation in some, but not all,
due to being based on self-selected archaeological archaeological circumstances. For example, the find-
and ethnographic samples, but also because a cherry- ings of Fry & Söderberg (2013a, b; see also Hill et al.
picking approach to sampling yields a value that is 2007; Griffin 2000) on lethal aggression at the mobile
contradicted by various other sources (Chatters 2014; forager band level of social organization form a basis
Fry 2013; Gómez et al. 2016; Haas & Piscitelli 2013; for predicting that when the archaeological context
Ferguson 2013a, b). consists of mobile foragers, cases of lethal violence
Similarly, interpretations become problematic would typically involve personal motives and reflect
when illustrations of forager violence and warfare homicide and manslaughter rather than war.
are selected without a rigorous sampling scheme Turning to definitional issues, we suggest that
and without considering the societal features and researchers in this area pay attention to how they
context of the selected cases. A case in point, one of operationalize concepts and also be aware of ‘concept
the six ethnographic examples selected by Wrangham drift’. A recurring scenario involving concept drift
& Glowacki (2012) to illustrate forager violence and occurs when the topic under consideration begins as
warfare was the Iñupiat of Northwest Alaska, an war, but then implicitly shifts to encapsulate other types
Inuit society that engaged in war and showed more of lethal aggression. A variation of this problem occurs
political complexity than the other Inuit societies of when various types of lethal aggression are simply
the Canadian and Greenland Arctic (Buela, this vol- assumed to be war although the evidence does not pre-
ume). Darwent & Darwent (2014: 182) explain that clude homicide, accidents, or executions of deviants as
‘violent conflict was frequent, large-scale, pervasive, viable alternative interpretations to war. Pinker (2011:
and brutal’ among the Iñupiat of Northwest Alaska, 48–50), for instance, ostensibly focuses on warfare, but
but for 12 other Inuit groups to the east ‘the opposite then shifts his discussion to ‘percentage of all deaths
was the case: larger-scale conflicts, which some would that are caused by violence’, and later to ‘rate of violent
characterize as warfare, were almost unheard of death’, and then back to ‘rates of death by warfare’,
among Inuit peoples.’ In other words, the Inuit society causing uncertainty as to whether he means all types
selected by Wrangham & Glowacki (2012) to illustrate of violent death or only war deaths.
the occurrence of war was undergoing complexifica- Another issue is when a definition of war diverges
tion in comparison to numerous more peaceful Inuit from the general understanding of the concept. Bowles
groups to the east. Unlike the other 12 Inuit societies (2009: 1294) removes the seemingly fundamental condi-
of the North American Arctic – and nearly all mobile tion of lethality and substitutes ‘bodily harm’ when he
foragers societies in general – the Alaskan Iñupiat defines war as ‘events in which coalitions of members
were ‘hunter-gatherers of intermediate complexity’ of a group seek to inflict bodily harm on one or more
and socially segmented into ‘nations’ (Burch 2005: 5). members of another group’. Wrangham & Glowacki
Darwent & Darwent (2014: 187) expand on the contrast (2012: 8) adopt Bowles’ (2009) definition but add the
between the Iñupiat of the northwest and the other phrase at the end, ‘“groups” are independent politi-
Inuit societies, noting: cal units’. Fry & Söderberg (2013a, b) took a different
approach and, rather than attempting to distinguish
The cultural emphasis on war in the west: young war from other types of lethal aggression at the onset
men were specifically trained to be warriors, and of their research, focused instead on documenting and
there was admiration for those who participated analysing the salient characteristics of killing events.
in larger-scale violence and were good killers. In presenting both the specifics of 148 cases of mobile
This was in contrast to the east, where there forager lethal aggression (Fry & Söderberg 2013b)
was no preparation or training for war among and an overall analysis of the lethal aggression (Fry &
the young men; rather, skill as a hunter was Söderberg 2013a), the researchers provide the raw data
revered about all and there was no exaltation of upon which the conclusion rests that war – relatively
men who killed others. impersonal lethal aggression between communities – is
uncommon among nomadic foragers.
Various researchers have pointed out that it is not
always possible to tell whether archaeological evidence Assumptions versus self-reflection
of lethal trauma reflects war, feud, a hunting accident, If any discipline of scholars would be expected to
homicide, a socially sanctioned execution, or something appreciate the powerful sway of cultural beliefs on
else (Allan et al. 2016; Ferguson 1997, 2013a, b). This human perception, thought, and action, it would be
is a situation where expanding the frame of reference anthropologists. The Western view of human nature
316
 Social complexity, inequality, and war before farming

as selfish and violent long predated philosopher focusing on the origins and antiquity of war could
Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) and continues to this day. learn from Darwin’s mindful approach and work more
Sahlins (2008) traces a Western perception of a selfish, collaboratively with less bias toward the shared goals
violent nature back to the Greeks two millennia ago, of scientifically investigating war and peace.
through Saint Augustine’s emphasis on Original Sin,
Machiavelli’s view of men as ‘ungrateful, fickle, liars Acknowledgements
and deceivers, fearful of danger and greedy for gain’
(Machiavelli quoted in Sahlins 2008: 64–5), and onward The authors thank Sarah B. Hrdy, Richard Lee, Paul
through history to Alexander Hamilton’s characteriza- ‘Jim’ Roscoe, and a reviewer who remains anonymous
tion in 1788 that ‘fiery and destructive passions of war for providing useful comments on an earlier draft of
reign in the human breast with much more powerful this manuscript. We also thank Luc Moreau for the
sway than the mild and beneficent sentiments of peace’ invitation to participate in this project and for his
(Hamilton, n.d.). Freud’s (1961: 59) assertion that kind efficiency throughout the editorial process. The
history shows a litany of people behaving as ‘savage support of the National Science Foundation (Grant
beasts’ also fits this tradition. number 03-13670 to DPF) is gratefully acknowledged.
The conceptions of a greedy, warlike human
nature akin to those of Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hob- Note
bes, Hamilton, and Freud continue to arise regularly
in the media and in academic fields from biology and 1. Roscoe (2014: 226) among others has proposed that recent
foragers ‘inhabited extremely marginal environments’.
psychology to primatology and archaeology (Fry 2006;
However, drawing on large world-wide samples of
Sponsel 2016; Sussman 2013). In the 1950s anatomist foragers, Binford (2001) and Marlowe (2010) show that
Raymond Dart drew upon Australopithecine fossils this is not the case. Marlowe (2010: 258) notes a bias in
to argue that humankind is not really so kind (Fry viewing habitats in agricultural terms, pointing out that
2006). This classic Western assumption of a violent ‘some areas unsuitable for planting can be quite good for
human nature also manifests itself in popularized sci- foraging’. Based on his sample of nearly four hundred
ence writings such as The Dark Side of Man (Ghiglieri foragers, which includes the current SCCS sample of
1999), Demonic Males (Wrangham & Peterson 1996), 30 forager societies, Binford (2001: 137, 158) concludes
the Murderer Next Door (Buss 2005), and Nobel Savages that foragers rarely live in deserts, semi-desert scrub,
and high altitudes. ‘In spite of numerous generalizations
(Chagnon 2013). ‘If one traces these theories into the
in the anthropological literature asserting that hunter-
history of modern biology, we can see that the Hob- gatherers could be found in the recent era only in the
besian view has predominated,’ concludes Sussman most marginal or nonproductive habitats, I discovered
(2013: 99). that truly nonproductive habitats were occupied exclu-
Fry (2006) has argued using many examples from sively by pastoralists and agriculturalists’ (Binford 2001:
anthropology and related fields that cultural beliefs 158, emphasis in original).
about war affect the work of scientists and scholars.
It seems unlikely that scientists and scholars born and References
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 Appendices to Chapter 9

Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans

to spatio-temporal variations in resources:
inequality, storage and mobility

William Davies

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 Chapter 9

APPENDIX A.

Table 9.A1. Immediate- and delayed-return systems (Woodburn (1982, 2005)). These are not binary opposites, but extremes of a continuum of
variation; many hunter-gatherer groups contain elements of both systems (though Woodburn (1982: 433) argues that immediate-return strategies
practised by delayed-return societies are limited and have a low social value placed upon them).
Immediate-return Delayed-return
People obtain a direct and immediate return from their labour: eat People hold rights over valued assets, which represent a yield, a
the food foraged on the same day, or soon after. Social groupings return for labour and time, or are effectively managed as ‘delayed
are flexible, and fluid in composition. People free to move from yields on labour’ (1982: 433). Four main types of asset (generally
one camp to another (temporarily or permanently) without found in combination):
penalty or loss of vital interests.
• 
Relatively simple, portable, utilitarian, easily acquired, • 
Valuable (owing to manufacturing time, effort and expertise)
replaceable tools and weapons, made with real skill but not technical production facilities that yield food gradually over
involving a great deal of labour (cf. Bleed’s (1986) Maintainable months or years, e.g. boats, nets, fish weirs, stockades, traps
technology). No dependence on sharing/ pooling of resources or (cf. Bleed’s (1986) Reliable technology).
equipment (e.g. weapons, nets). Valued assets are temporary,
e.g. carcass of a large animal, and are not accumulated.
• 
Food is neither elaborately processed nor stored (cf. Binford’s • 
Processed and stored food or materials, usually in fixed
(1980) Foragers and Bettinger’s (1991) Travellers), though dwellings (cf. Binford’s (1980) Collectors and Bettinger’s
portable storage is possible in small quantities. Nomadism is (1991) Processors).
fundamental, with no fixed locations (dwellings, base-camps,
hunting/fishing apparatus, ritual sites), resources or assets to
constrain movement.
• 
No management or control of resources: all individuals have • 
Wild products that have been improved or increased by
direct access, though limited by sexual division of labour, to human labour (cf. Resource Management (Williams & Hunn
the uncollected resources of their territories/ranges. Potential 1982)).
defence of some fixed resources, e.g. patches of predictable
plant foods.
• 
Systematically eliminate distinctions (except those between • 
Female kin bestowed by their male relatives in marriage
sexes and initiated/uninitiated) of wealth, power and status. alliances.
More autonomy for women than in delayed-return systems.
People not dependent on specific others for access to basic
•  • 
Binding commitments and dependencies between people
requirements. All interpersonal relationships (not just (based on kinship or contract), to secure yields and
kinship) emphasize sharing and mutuality, though not manage assets. People are bound to close kin and affines in
necessarily long-term or binding. relationships that commonly involve the constant exchange
• 
Weaponry provides direct and immediate access to social of goods and services in fulfilment of obligations; bound to
control; not mediated through formal institutions or through each other through material obligations and interpersonal
interpersonal relationships. No formal heads of household, responsibilities.
though some individuals may have influence on certain • 
Acephalous delayed-return societies show competition
group decisions. between heads of household (egalitarianism is horizontal,
• 
Children generally have freedom to make choices: learning within social classes, and maintained by equal exchange
self-reliance. of things of the same type – cf. Zubrow 2010) for wealth,
• 
Unrestricted access to food, water, other resources (shelters, prestige and status.
tools/weapons, trading items) and ornaments. Equality of • 
Intergenerational inequality; heirs controlled by their fathers
opportunity for individuals in access to resources (limited by (heads of household).
sexual division of labour) is not always matched by equality • 
Relationships and access to resources are not equal between
of yield (those vary by skill, luck, persistence, capacity to household heads, their wives, female kin and junior male
work, etc.) (cf. Zubrow 2010). Flexible rules for acquisition kinsmen.
of possessions: no-one depends on inheritance or formal
transmission by preceding-generation close kin.
Individuals can choose their associates during residence, foraging, Vertical control of food and other resources (including assets),
trade and exchange, and in ritual contexts. This right is constantly and access to them, helping to differentiate group members.
exercised, limiting enduring bonds and inhibiting development Food often consumed in communal meals (allocations can be
of authority and intragroup dependency. Fission-fusion used to controlled, even for the heirs of household heads). Restricted
resolve intragroup tensions. Group members often eat when they ability to move between groups without penalty.
wish (if food available); allocated resources from sharing will be
consumed by whoever happens to be around.
Religion and ritual: consecrated sharing in the context of joint Cults and restricted knowledge; using secret material and
participation of the whole community, even if select individuals intellectual property of initiates; sacred objects often concealed in
might act as channels for numinous forces. Ability to become the landscape, and protected by secrecy, deception and threats of
healers or to learn and practise religious beliefs and rituals not violence against non-initiates. Male cults often more powerful and
restricted or controlled. elaborated than female ones, even in societies that are egalitarian
in secular contexts. Within initiates, sacred knowledge can be
shared in a less-restricted fashion.

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 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

APPENDIX B.

Table 9.B1. Effective Temperature and Net Primary Productivity values for ethnographic foraging groupings and estimates for 42 ka, 30 ka and 21 ka.
‘Q1’ = first quartile; ‘Q3’ = third quartile. Ethnographic data from Binford (2001) and Kelly (2013).
Effective Temperature (ET): °C Net Primary Productivity (NPP):
grammes carbon per sq. m per year
Ethnographic Mean &
N SD Min Q1 Median Q3 Max N Mean & SD Min Q1 Median Q3 Max
Polar 17 9.7 ± 0.8 8.5 9.0 9.5 10.3 11.6 13 158.4 ± 101.3 45 89 115 209 333
Sub-polar/cold 35 11.0 ± 0.8 9.0 10.5 10.9 11.25 12.7 21 402.9 ± 180.9 144 245 354 533 772
forests
Pacific 18 11.6 ± 0.8 10.5 11.1 11.7 12.3 12.7 14 795.7 ± 95.1 633 729.25 825 855.75 943
Northwest
Coast
Plateau (forests) 11 12.7 ± 0.5 12.1 12.4 12.6 13.3 13.3 8 343.5 ± 77.4 259 284.5 319 389.25 464
Plains 10 12.9 ± 1.3 11.3 11.6 13.1 14.1 14.6 9 534.9 ± 242 283 397 432 706 1045
Great Basin 19 13.0 ± 0.9 11.7 12.4 12.9 13.6 15.0 14 250.7 ± 150.2 45 163.75 210.5 306 583
California 32 13.8 ± 0.7 12.7 13.3 13.8 14.4 15.0 14 564.9 ± 202.2 26 478.75 567 697.25 812
42 ka:
Europe 2424 11.8 ± 1.2 7.7 11.1 11.9 12.6 14.7 2424 245.2 ± 97.1 2 179 248 307 624
Cantabria 7 10.6 ± 0.6 9.8 10.1 10.8 11.0 11.2 7 63.3 ± 84.8 0 0 0 118 207
Southwest 6 12.3 ± 0.2 11.9 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.5 6 311.8 ± 30.5 273 290.5 310.5 335 350
France
Moravia 2 12.1 ± 0.2 12.0 12.0 12.1 12.1 12.2 2 283.5 ± 10.6 276 279.75 283.5 287.25 291
30 ka:
Europe 2293 11.8 ± 1.1 7.6 11.1 11.7 12.6 14.5 2293 231.5 ± 92.2 1 169 237 290 595
Cantabria 6 10.3 ± 0.6 9.6 9.7 10.1 10.7 11.1 6 65.0 ± 52.8 0 20.25 84 93 127
Paviland 1 N/A 10.2 N/A N/A N/A 10.2 1 N/A 134 N/A N/A N/A 134
Southwest 7 12.2 ± 0.2 11.8 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 7 292.9 ± 19.4 260 282.5 298 304.5 318
France
Moravia 4 11.8 ± 0.1 11.6 11.7 11.8 11.8 11.9 4 266.0 ± 13 257 257.75 261 269.25 285
Sunghir 1 N/A 11.4 N/A N/A N/A 11.4 1 N/A 272 N/A N/A N/A 272
21 ka
Europe 1792 11.2 ± 1.1 7.6 10.4 11.1 12.1 14.1 1792 215.7 ± 99.9 1 153 216.5 271 731
Cantabria 4 10.0 ± 0.2 9.7 9.9 10.1 10.1 10.1 4 122.3 ± 198.8 0 0 36.5 158.75 416
Southwest 4 11.0 ± 0.05 11.0 11.0 11.0 11.1 11.1 4 288.3 ± 3.5 284 286.25 288.5 290.5 292
France
Moravia 1 N/A 10.9 N/A N/A N/A 10.9 1 N/A 194 N/A N/A 194 194

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APPENDIX C: DEMOGRAPHY.

Table 9.C1. Modelled/Estimated Upper Palaeolithic regional populations and densities (see below table for notes).
Metapopulation Density (persons per 100 sq. km)

Interquartile

Interquartile
Median

Median
Occupation

Range

Range
Mean

Mean
range

range
area Site Regional
Details (sq. km) N group N
Hahn (1977):
Central & Eastern
[5,000,000– 500,000– 10.0–
Europe N/A
10,000,000] 1,000,000 20.0
Aurignacian
Straus (1986):
Eastern Asturias 200–250
(Magdalenian) 1250 N/A (scaled up to 16–20
2000–25,000)
Biraben (1988):
France:
c. 550,000– 209 1.14–
Châtel.-Aurig-Gravettian 700,000 (410) c. 8000–10,000 1.82
c. 550,000– 1.29–
Aurignacian-Gravettian 700,000 ? c. 9000 1.64
66 2.14–
Solutrean c. 700,000 (520) 15,000–20,000 2.86
c. 550,000– 301 2.14–
Magdalenian 700,000 (480) 15,000–20,000 3.64
Delpech (1999: 36):
c. 21–22 ka (c. 18,000
100,000 N/A 750 0.75
uncal. bp)
c. 17–19 ka (14,000–
600,000 N/A 49,500 8.25
16,000 uncal. bp)
c. 15.4–17 ka (14,000–
1,500,000 N/A 258,750 17.25
13,000 uncal. bp)
Rozoy (2001; 1996):
Final Magdalenian:
Perigord – Vienne + 6000 17.14
35,000
Quercy c. 154 (6500) (18.57)
N/A N/A
Pyrenees 35,000 87 (2500) (7.14)
N/A N/A
Massif central 25,000 63 (1500) (6.0)
>25 2500 16.67
Provence-Languedoc 15,000 (23) (1000) (6.67)
N/A N/A
Saone-Alpes 20,000 39 (1500) (7.5)
1200– 8.0–
1500 10.0
Pincevent-Ardenne 15,000 36 (1000) (6.67)
Bocquet-Appel & Demars
(2000):

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Table 9.C1 (cont.).

Metapopulation Density (persons per 100 sq. km)

Interquartile

Interquartile
Median

Median
Occupation

Range

Range
Mean

Mean
range

range
area Site Regional
Details (sq. km) N group N
Aurignacian: 65,700 5.21
southwest France (57,800) 159 3421 (5.92)
545,800 0.24
Rest of France (486,400) 60 1303 (0.27)
Britain, Low Countries, 831,200 0.08
Germany (585,300) 32 706 (0.12)
Gravettian: 65,900 6.72
southwest France (57,800) 119 4429 (7.66)
561,600 0.4
Rest of France (486,400) 61 2254 (0.46)
Britain, Low Countries, 950,400 0.11
Germany (585,300) 29 1088 (0.19)
Solutrean/Badegoulian
(LGM): 75,300 7.36
southwest France (57,800) 136 5541 (9.59)
579,400 0.59
Rest of France (486,400) 83 3396 (0.7)
Britain, Low Countries, 296,100
Germany (245,000) 0 0 0 (0)
Magdalenian: 65,900 15.24
southwest France (57,800) 194 10,046 (17.38)
561,600 2.72
Rest of France (486,400) 294 15,271 (3.14)
Britain, Low Countries, 950,400 1.56
Germany (585,300) 284 14,860 (2.54)
Kretschmer (2015); Maier Median
et al. (2016); Maier & (Q1–Q3):
Zimmermann (2017);
Schmidt & Zimmermann
(2019):

Portugal: 179– 1.43– 3.6

earlier Gravettian 12,493 156 131 1.25 1.05 (4.2–3.0)
194– 1.03– 3.7
Later Gravettian 18,798 159 102 0.85 0.54 (4.5–2.4)
2.7– 5.1
LGM 15,883 221 429–88 1.39 0.55 (10.0–2.1)
2.7– 5.6
Southern Spain: LGM 17,395 242 469–97 1.39 0.56 (10.9–2.3)
2.69– 2.6
Southeast Spain: LGM 8128 113 219–45 1.39 0.55 (5.1–1.1)
2.7– 2.3
Eastern Spain: LGM 7183 100 194–40 1.39 0.56 (4.5–0.9)
2.7– 1.7
Northeast Spain: LGM 53,63 75 145–30 1.4 0.56 (3.4–0.7)
Northern Spain: 134– 4.31– 6.2
Aurignacian 18,973 264 818 1.39 0.71 (19.3–3.1)
305– 1.43– 6.2
Earlier Gravettian 21,270 265 223 1.25 1.05 (7.1–5.2)

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 Chapter 9

Table 9.C1 (cont.).

Metapopulation Density (persons per 100 sq. km)

Interquartile

Interquartile
Median

Median
Occupation

Range

Range
Mean

Mean
range

range
area Site Regional
Details (sq. km) N group N
1.03– 3.1
Later Gravettian 15,900 135 164–86 0.85 0.54 (3.8–2.0)
69.5
Iberia: 1750– (40.7–
Upper-Final Magd. 57,000 2990 3550 5.3 6.2–3.1 82.6)
Pyrenees: 4.31– 0.9
Aurignacian 2809 39 20–121 1.39 0.71 (0.5–2.9)
1.8
Upper-Final Magd. 18,900 80 70–160 0.4 0.8–0.4 (1.7–3.6)
Southwest France: 221– 4.31– 10.3
Aurignacian 31,430 437 1356 1.39 0.71 (31.9–5.2)
1010– 1.68– 18.4
Earlier Gravettian 60,201 793 313 1.32 0.52 (23.5–7.3)
340– 1.03– 6.5
lLater Gravettian 32,920 279 178 0.85 0.54 (7.9–4.1)
43.9
3659– 2.7– (85.1–
Franco-Cantabria: LGM 135,574 1887 755 1.39 0.56 17.6)
0.004–
Early Magd. 0.16 0.31
0.11–
Middle Magd. 0.18 0.32
0.3–
Upper Magd. 0.48 0.56
0.3–
Final Magd. 0.48 0.55
42.9
(Southwest France:) 1180– (27.4–
Upper-Final Magd. 26,600 1850 2080 7.0 4.4–7.8 48.4)
Narbonne/Aude: 4.31– 1.5
Aurignacian 4600 64 32–198 1.39 0.71 (4.7–0.8)
West Central France: 4.31– 1.0
Aurignacian 3080 43 22–133 1.39 0.71 (3.1–0.5)
Central-southwest
France: 130– 4.8
Upper-Final Magd. 33,200 210 390 0.6 0.4–1.2 (3.1–9.1)
Burgundy: 425– 1.68– 7.8
Earlier Gravettian 25,308 333 132 1.32 0.52 (9.9–3.1)
1.04– 2.9
Later Gravettian 14,951 127 155–81 0.85 0.54 (3.6–1.9)
Jura/W. Alps: Upper- 150– 6.0
Final Magd. 28,900 260 410 0.9 0.5–1.4 (3.4–9.6)
Paris Basin: 2.7– 5.2
Upper Seine valley: LGM 16,205 226 437–90 1.39 0.56 (10.2–2.1)
(Paris Basin:) Upper- 170– 5.5
Final Magd. 10,700 240 380 2.2 1.6–3.6 (4.0–8.9)
South Rhône: 1.39– 1.9
Aurignacian 5792 81 41–250 1.39 0.71 (5.9–1.0)

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 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

Table 9.C1 (cont.).

Metapopulation Density (persons per 100 sq. km)

Interquartile

Interquartile
Median

Median
Occupation

Range

Range
Mean

Mean
range

range
area Site Regional
Details (sq. km) N group N
139– 1.43– 2.8
Earlier Gravettian 9693 121 101 1.25 1.04 (3.2–2.4)
1.04– 2.3
Later Gravettian 11,853 100 123–64 0.84 0.54 (2.9–1.5)
516– 2.7– 6.2
Southern France: LGM 19,114 266 106 1.39 0.55 (12.0–2.5)
Provence: 1.43– 1.9
earlier Gravettian 6507 81 93–68 1.24 1.05 (2.2–1.6)
Later Gravettian 0 0 0 0 0
2.69– 1.9
Provence/Liguria: LGM 6017 84 162–33 1.4 0.55 (3.8–0.8)
Britain: 120– 3.7
Upper-Final Magd. 12,700 160 260 1.3 0.9–2.0 (2.8–6.1)
Belgium: 153– 4.23– 5.1
Aurignacian 7276 218 308 3.0 2.1 (7.2–3.6)
489– 2.48– 7.6
Earlier Gravettian 19,731 328 194 1.66 0.98 (11.4–4.5)
Rhine-Meuse: Upper- 130– 5.3
Final Magd. 19,800 230 440 1.2 0.7–2.2 (2.9–10.3)
Upper Danube: 4.23– 3.3
Aurignacian 4654 140 98–197 3.0 2.1 (4.6–2.3)
313– 1.54– 4.4
Earlier Gravettian 20,361 187 174 0.92 0.85 (7.3–4.1)
Later Gravettian 0 0 0 0 0 0
Swabian-Franconian Alb: 140– 10.6
Upper-Final Magd. 21,700 460 310 2.1 1.4–5.3 (7.1–26.5)
Northwest Czech
republic: 1.24– 0.2
Aurignacian 1216 10 7–15 0.84 0.59 (0.4–0.2)
Middle Danube:
Danubian/Moravian 117– 1.24– 3.9
Aurignacian 19,720 166 244 0.84 0.59 (5.7–2.8)
421– 0.74– 6.8
Earlier Gravettian 56,723 292 152 0.51 0.27 (9.8–3.5)
459– 1.94– 4.0
Later Gravettian 23,692 172 128 0.73 0.54 (10.7–3.0)
0.24– 0.8
Central Europe: LGM 22,159 32 53–30 0.14 0.14 (1.2–0.7)
Southern Poland
(Kraków): 1.24– 0.6
Aurignacian 2865 24 17–35 0.84 0.59 (0.8–0.4)
Upper Tisza: 2.71– 0.8
Aurignacian 2678 33 11–72 1.23 0.39 (1.7–0.2)
Middle Tisza: 2.71– 0.6
Aurignacian 2095 26 8–57 1.23 0.39 (1.3–0.2)
Prut: 290– 2.7– 5.2
earlier Gravettian 10,753 224 182 2.08 1.69 (6.8–4.2)

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Table 9.C1 (cont.).

Metapopulation Density (persons per 100 sq. km)

Interquartile

Interquartile
Median

Median
Occupation

Range

Range
Mean

Mean
range

range
area Site Regional
Details (sq. km) N group N
1.93– 1.0
Later Gravettian 5696 41 110–31 0.72 0.54 (2.6–0.7)
0.21– 3.7
LGM 22,392 33 46–31 0.15 0.14 (4.5–2.4)
Eastern Central Europe:
Upper-Final Magd./ 110– 4.0
Epigravettian 18,200 170 270 0.9 0.6–1.5 (2.6–6.2)

Notes:
Hahn (1977): Based on site and intra-site structure sizes, artefact/faunal remains densities, and ethnographic
comparisons. ≥2500 people assumed to have lived in western Germany (based on Lone & Ach valleys,
Wildscheuer and Lommersum); if missing evidence is considered, the same area did not have more than
25,000 people. Local group sizes of 20–30 people.
Straus (1986): For southernmost (warmer) part of eastern Asturias (10,000–15,000 sq. km): 200–250 people in an
autonomous regional group within a fraction of that territory (1250 sq. km today: slightly larger in
Lateglacial?). Calculation is based on 80–100 red deer herds of 100 individuals each, supporting 8–10
specialist 25-person bands.
Biraben (1988): Dupaquier found it hard to distinguish Châtelperronian, Aurignacian and Gravettian, owing to temporal
overlap. Demic increases attributed to the Solutrean & Magdalenian, in part owing to technological
developments. Estimate (a) was derived from site numbers in the Atlas Archéologique Universel (1978)
(numbers multiplied by factor of 10); that in (b) was derived from site numbers in La Préhistoire Française
(1976). Number of sites over duration of technocomplex is scaled by a Restitution Coefficient (logarithmic
logistic curve): weighting of earlier technocomplexes was increased to avoid over-dominance of most
recent Palaeolithic.
Delpech (1999): Estimating LGM-Lateglacial ungulate productivities (and resultant human population densities) for the
region stretching from north of the Pyrenees and across to the east of Poland (mostly the North European
Plain).
Rozoy (1996 & 2001): Site N, mean meta-population & population density values taken from 2001 paper, with 1996 ones in
parentheses. 1996: Based on prey productivity (boar & red deer) and energy requirements. Cantabrian
estimate taken from Straus (1986) for an autonomous regional group from southernmost areas in eastern
Asturias, plus 1500–2500 people from the second Iberian group. Estimates for sites on plains to north of
the Ardennes have been merged, as it is unclear what their distributions mean demographically. Rozoy
identified six distinct population groups in Middle-Upper Magdalenian, separated geographically; each
regional group could comprise 1500–2000 people, spread over 30–50 bands of 50–60 people; territories
of 50,000 to 200,000 sq. km. 2001: rescaled earlier calculations to account for Delpech’s (1999) population
density estimates. Only three French regions specifically mentioned, and re-scaled using Delpech’s (1999)
density of c. 17 persons per 100 sq. km.
Bocquet-Appel & Demars Based on archaeological site data (numbers/densities, sizes, occupation duration, etc.). Division between
(2000): Viable areas (including now-submerged land) and Coinciding Surfaces (i.e. above modern sea-level:
perhaps more useful in obtaining population densities, given that very few submerged archaeological
sites have been found?). Demographic modelling incorporates ethnographic studies of climatically
similar hunter-gatherers.
Maier & Zimmermann Integration of climatic, ethnographic and archaeological data for four main phases (earlier and later
(2017); Maier (2017); Maier Gravettian, Solutrean/Badegoulian (LGM) and Magdalenian). Archaeological sites are plotted on maps,
et al. (2016); Schmidt & analysed with Thiessen polygons and largest empty circles (to measure site densities), and combined
Zimmermann (2019): with other data (e.g. raw material provenancing patterns (exchange assumed to reflect aggregation
phases in fission-fusion cycles) and ethnographic group size data from selected foraging groups (direct
counts of numbers per group). Focus on median and interquartile range values. Median aggregation
group size from extant hunter-gatherers taken to be 43 people.

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 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

Table 9.C2. Characterizing two colonizing strategies (Beaton 1991: 216).

Transient explorers Estate settlers
Demography:
Budding threshold Low High
Group composition Stable Slightly fluid
Inbreeding High Low
Fecundity Low High
Extinction probability High Low
Economy:
Different ecological zone tolerance High High
Estate Unconstrained Bounded
Archaeology:
Site forms Very similar Varied
Tool inventory Generalized, conservative Specialized, inventive
Range of activity/site Repetitive Varied
Strategy Forager/pursuer Collector/searcher
Colonizing logic:
Diet breadth Narrow Wide
Geometry Lineal Bow-wave/radial
Ecology Patch-similar Cross-patch

These modelled pioneer/transient explorer (highly generate contests rather than scrambles (Boone 1992),
mobile) groups (Table 9.C2) share many characteristics and underpinning any value attached to them would
with Bettinger’s (1991) ‘Travellers’: briefly occupied be knowledge exchange and network structure.
and widely spaced settlements, low population den- Upper Palaeolithic refugia (Table 9.C3) would
sities and high sensitivity to demographic change, represent the opposite process to dispersal, whereby
and the major subsistence costs being travel, search preferred resources and conditions contracted and/
and scouting. Such groups would live well below or shifted spatially, forcing demographic reorganiza-
the environmental carrying capacity, ensuring their tion and possible local extirpation of groups. Whether
competitive fitness was low. Bettinger’s ‘Processors’ populations were expanding/dispersing or contract-
exist closer to the environmental carrying capacity ing, it is not self-evident that resource selectivity was
(thus competitive fitness is high), and exploit a broad narrow or broad spectrum, respectively (contra Beaton
spectrum of resources (the major subsistence costs are 1991; Bettinger 1991). There might have been situations
procurement and processing of resources), have groups where relatively unspecialized diets (tracking familiar
rich in females, and live at high population densities resources in selected patches/biomes) would have
for extended periods in closely spaced settlements. provided more reliable food for dispersing popula-
Such economies might reflect more intensive, post- tions, and refugial conditions might have arisen among
dispersal residential occupations seen in all phases Processor groups specializing in a restricted number
of the Upper Palaeolithic, with lower motility (sensu of food taxa.
Weig 2015) and restricted (e.g. circulating/tethered) Evidence for highly predictable and defensible/
mobility. The durability and nature of any resource divisible resources that would sustain ‘Political net-
‘hot-spots’ would determine whether they would works’ (see Fig. 9.5: G) is at best ambiguous for the

Table 9.C3. Population Events for MOIS-2 Western Europe (after Gamble et al. 2005). Similar events cannot yet be identified in MOIS-3, owing
to restricted numbers of reliable dates, sigma values spanning climatic fluctuations, and uncertainties about the specific hominin authors of some
technocomplexes. Solutrean assemblages would fall within Population event 1, while sites such as Maszycka cave (Population event 2) and Pincevent
(Population event 3) would have fallen within expansionary phases. The Ahrensburgian of Stellmoor fell within Population event 5. [See main text for
more discussion.]
Population event Settlement pattern Phylogeography GRIP stratotype GRIP ice-core years (ka) bp
1: Refugium Dispersed LGM – GS-2c 25 – 19.5
Low population size
2: Initial expansion Pioneer GS-2b – GS-2a 19.5 – 16
3: Main expansion Residential Founder effect and GS-2a – GI-1e 16 – 14
4: Stasis Nucleation expansion GI-1d – GI-1a 14 – 12.9
5: Contraction GS1 12.9 – 11.5

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 Chapter 9

Upper Palaeolithic. The remaining three networking networks; such situations would have rendered these
options (see Fig. 9.5: E, F, H) seem likelier, but are groups particularly vulnerable to major environmental
difficult to map directly onto technocomplexes. This deteriorations. As more residential ‘infill’ occupation
is because the networking criteria used by Fitzhugh of landscapes occurred after initial dispersal (Table
et al. test our expectations for Upper Palaeolithic 9.C3), one might expect interaction costs to decline
demographies: were dispersing/colonizing groups as populations became more stable, allowing more
more likely to have had open, exogamous, networks intensive use of environmental resources (derived from
(Fig. 9.5: E), or ones intermediate between open and greater adaptive depth and detailed local knowledge)
closed (Fig. 9.5: F)? Such strategies would have enabled and a wider range of marriage systems.
reduction of the risks of dispersing into unfamiliar An individual would have had different motility
landscapes, e.g. evidence of early modern humans potentials across their lifespan or between seasons/
interbreeding with Neanderthals in Eurasia (Fu et years, which may or may not have spatio-temporally
al. 2014, 2015). Dispersing groups that moved as dis- coincided with those of other group members. Various
crete, closed, networks, where endogamy and lack of activities (resource processing and storage, ceramic
information exchange with other groups were normal, technology, funerary practices, etc.) might also serve
would encounter problems of demographic sustain- to restrict mobility, at least temporally, for some
ability (cf. Prüfer et al. 2014; Sikora et al. 2017). It is individuals. ‘Scouting’ or ‘walkabouts’ by individuals
conceivable that such groups might have been forced with fewer ties to a location (e.g. unmarried, no chil-
into endogamy/inbreeding and closed interactive dren) might have served to track preferred resources
networks by the lack of other groups in the areas they in unoccupied landscapes, rather than population
were dispersing through (i.e. ‘empty’ landscapes), or pressure pushing whole bands gradually forward in
through encountering groups with closed, territorial a wave-of-advance (Beaton 1991; Davies 2001).

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 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

APPENDIX D: SUNGHIR CASE STUDY

Table 9.D1. Summary information for the Sunghir remains (56.176°N, 40.502°E). Data from Trinkaus et al. 2014; Trinkaus & Buzhilova 2012,
2018; Alexeeva et al. 2000; White 1993; Bosinski 2015. Dates from Marom et al. 2012; Dobrovolskaya et al. 2012; Nalawade-Chavan et al. 2014;
Trinkaus et al. 2014, 11. Date corrections (CalPal2007_HULU) given at 2σ (95 per cent) (www.calpal.de). aDNA from Sikora et al. 2017.
Specimen 14C date Estimated aDNA Grave goods Notes
age at death
Sunghir 1 OxA-X-2464-12: 35–45 years Male Variable staining with ochre Clear burial pit. Adult male buried in a
(grave 1) 28,890 ± 430 (Trinkaus et (Y-DNA on the body; especially full set of inner and outer garments, as
(hydroxyproline) al. 2014) haplogroup rich on the cranium. ≥2936 well as headgear. Perimortem wound
[CalPal: 32,290– [cf. late 40s/ C1a2); subrectangular, rounded (10 mm long, 1.1–2.2 mm wide and
34,362 cal. bp]; early 50s mtDNA and subrectangular/oval 6.5 mm deep) to first thoracic vertebra,
KIA-27006 according to haplogroup beads/pendants; ‘tens’ caused by a sharp, thin object entering
(femur): Trinkaus & U8c. (Trinkaus et al. 2014: 17) of the body adjoining the left clavicle: no
27,050 ± 210 Buzhilova perforated arctic fox canines, evidence of healed bone.
(ultrafiltration) (2012: 655)] twelve on the forehead. A Very worn teeth, especially on upper
[CalPal: 31,462– small pear-shaped schist molars (less on the lower molars): the
32,118 cal. bp]. pendant (painted red, with cause of this non-masticatory specific
a small black dot on one wear is not known. Calculus present on
side) on chest and 25 ivory teeth. Microwear on molars suggests a
rings/’bracelets’. A few lithic significant plant (starch) consumption, as
tools, some of which were well as meat. High concentrations of zinc
located between the femora. suggest a diet rich in vertebrate protein.
Osteoarthritis in thumbs, midcarpals
and wrists: in part related to activity
levels and joint overloading (not simply
age-related). Faint Harris lines on distal
radii and partial ones on tibiae: remnant
adolescent stress?
Sunghir 2 OxX-2395-6: c. 12 years Male Few bones show ochre- Grave 2: two immature individuals
(grave 2) 30,100 ± 550 (Y-DNA staining; concentrated on the buried head-to-head in an elongated
(hydroxyproline) haplogroup skull, shoulders and left ilium. burial pit. Left forearm and hand bones
[CalPal: 33,308– C1a2); 1 massive ivory lance (2.47 m of Sunghir 2 appear to be missing (no
35,280 cal. bp]; mtDNA long and several kg) along adornments in that area of the body
OxA- haplogroup his right side (and continuing either). Possible perimortem trauma in
15753 (tibia U2. along the left-hand upper middle of left ilium: angular edges to the
fragments): body of Sunghir 3). An ivory hole (fatal, if a wound from the front?).
25,020 ± 120 disc, with latticework carving, Very little tooth-wear (little more than
(ultrafiltration) standing upright on its edge polish): weak chewing and/or soft food?
[CalPal: 29,475– in the soil: perhaps mounted Weakly developed muscle insertions on
30,503 cal. bp]. over the tip of a now-decayed head and body. Flat upper face and nasal
(wooden?) lance. 4903 ivory bones slope sharply downwards: unlike
beads, of the same forms (but faces of other Sunghir individuals.
roughly 2/3 smaller) as seen in Calculus present on teeth. Microwear on
grave 1), plus a string of very a premolar and molar implies significant
small and thin beads (c. 1 mm plant (starch) consumption, with lower
thick) beneath the pelvis; ≥40 meat consumption than seen Sunghir 1
perforated arctic fox teeth on and 3. Concentrations of zinc are also
top of the head, mixed in with lower than Sunghir 1, 3 and 4, implying
ivory beads; the remains of a a lower consumption of vertebrate
decorated belt (>250 pierced protein.
arctic fox canines). An ivory At least one stress event documented in
pin at his throat (fastening the teeth (linear enamel hypoplasias): at
for a cloak?), and an ivory least two months in duration between
indeterminate animal figurine age of about 2.5 and 3 years (subsequent
on his chest. A large ivory stress periods between age of 3 and 5,
mammoth sculpture was but little sign of stress after that age).
under his left shoulder, and Weak evidence of stress-related growth
Sunghir 4 was laid beside his disruption in long bones: one faint
left arm. ≥8 ivory ‘bracelets’ Harris line in proximal end of right
on his arms. A small tubular fibula. Bone remodelling occurred after
bead (from a bird bone?) was the age of five? A void in one thoracic
found in his upper left torso. vertebra: possibly a localized benign cyst
or a parasitic infection.

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Table 9.D1 (cont.).

Specimen 14C date Estimated aDNA Grave goods Notes
age at death
Sunghir 3 OxX-2395-7: c. 10 years Male More extensive ochre-staining Relatively short femora (in comparison
(grave 2) 30,000 ± 400 (Y-DNA than seen for Sunghir 2: to the humeri and tibiae), which have
(hydroxyproline) haplogroup concentrated on the skull, very pronounced anterior curvature/
[CalPal: 33,190– C1a2); shoulders, left ilium (with a bowing. Unlikely to derive from
35,142 cal. bp]; mtDNA thick layer of ivory beads) rickets, as symmetrical, so thought to
KIA-27007 haplogroup and right leg. 5274 ivory be congenital. Sunghir 3 is more robust
(humerus): U2. beads, plus another c. 115 than Sunghir 2, even though younger at
26,000 ± 410 preserved in the ochre on the time of death, and his muscle insertions
(ultrafiltration) ilia and 6–12 mixed with the are also more robust. Seems to have
[CalPal: 30,071– hand bones; roughly 2/3 size been an active member of the group,
31,831 cal. bp]; of those from grave 1. No with indications in the skeleton that his
OxA- pierced arctic fox canines, nor mobility was not constrained.
15751 (tibia a pendant on the chest. ≥13 More tooth wear than seen in Sunghir 2.
fragments): ivory ‘bracelets’ on his arms. Microwear studies of his molars suggest
25,430 ± 160 2 pierced antler batons, one high carnivory (higher than seen in
(ultrafiltration) decorated with rows of drilled Sunghir 1 and 2), and this is supported
[CalPal: 29,640– dots (White)*, at his side. by high concentrations of zinc: a diet rich
30,912 cal. bp]; Smaller ivory lances than seen in vertebrate protein.
OxA- alongside Sunghir 2 (scaled There is evidence in the teeth for at least
15754 (tibia down?). 3 ivory discs (one three separate stress events between the
fragments): small and two much larger) age of 1.5 and 5.6 years. Stress seems to
24,830 ± 110 with a central hole and carved have been generally persistent for his
(ultrafiltration) latticework, like that adjacent first five years of life, varying in intensity
[CalPal: 29,255– to Sunghir 2. The small disc not presence. Harris lines in the femora
30,463 cal. bp]. was to the left of his head, (7 lines in each) and tibiae (2 lines in
while the other two were at each) likewise suggest that Sunghir
his sides, accompanying the 3’s systemic stress continued until his
pointed ivory shafts (one of death (reflecting either serious resource
whose points was inserted fluctuations, or his general frailty).
into the central perforation High levels of calcium in the bones
of one of the larger discs; a might reflect this individual’s systemic
c. 15 cm long linear array of abnormalities.
microflakes from the disc to
the lance tip might indicate
armatures.
Sunghir 4 OxX-2462-52: 20s/30s Male Bone surface is highly Very robust human femoral diaphysis,
(grave 2) 29,820 ± 280 (Y-DNA polished (intentionally, or with missing proximal and distal ends
(hydroxyproline) haplogroup from repeated handling?), (from lesser trochanter to mid-distal
[CalPal: 33,518–- C1a2); and medullary cavity filled diaphysis). A smaller individual than
34,646 cal. bp]. mtDNA with ochre. Broken proximal Sunghir 1, and isotopic signature (e.g.
haplogroup and distal ends are irregular very low levels of calcium) in the bone
U2. (resemble dry bone breaks), implies a different geographic origin
though also appear burnished for him, and/or a different postmortem
(from handling?). Spatially history. Otherwise, the bone appears
associated with Sunghir 2. healthy.
Sunghir 5 OxA-X-2666-52: 30s/40s Poor Associated with a large flat Isolated cranium: disturbed burial
26,042 ± 182 (similar to endogenous stone, abundant ochre, an (ice-wedge and solifluction evidence
(amino acids) Sunghir 1?) aDNA arctic fox canine and an ivory immediately adjacent)? Found in
[CalPal: 30,288– yield. rough-out/blank for a bead cultural layer above grave 1 (sq. P-157).
31,692 cal. bp]. (latter two might derive from Healed minor traumatic lesion over right
the cultural layer, rather orbit. Some (age-related) periodontal
than have been specifically degeneration.
deposited with the skull).

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 Responses of Upper Palaeolithic humans to spatio-temporal variations in resources

Table 9.D1 (cont.).

Specimen 14C date Estimated aDNA Grave goods Notes
age at death
Sunghir 6 OxA-31755: Younger Male Partial mandible from cultural layer
(cultural 884 ± 23 adult (in (Y-DNA above grave 2; date indicates historical
layer) (ultrafiltration) 20s)? haplogroup age. No lesions: healthy bone.
[CalPal: 703–943 I2a1b2);
cal. bp]; mtDNA
OxA-X2653- haplogroup
36: 925 ± 29 W3a1.
(hydroxyproline)
[CalPal: 761–945
cal. bp].
Sunghir 7 Adolescent/ Now lost. Partial femur from between
young graves 1 and 2, in the cultural layer.
adult? Possibly female?
Sunghir 8 16–17 years Unclear if grave goods were Very fragmentary, and now lost: cranial
(mid to late incorporated in the burial fragments and a crushed femur were
adolescent)? (no artefacts were found). recovered c. 200 m south of grave 2.
Probably from a grave dug into
sediments below cultural layer.
Possibly female.
Sunghir 9 Skeleton; now lost. Found in a quarry
southeast of Graves 1 and 2, in 1972.
Sunghir Adult Partially covered in ochre. Buried in an extended position; very
10 (grave 3 perforated schist pendants; deteriorated remains. Found within
2bis) ivory beads; perforated arctic the cultural layer (hence its poor
fox canines, small bone tubes, preservation?). Immediately overlies
a bone awl; a finely worked grave 2 (Sunghir 2 and 3).
biface; 18 cm-long worked
mammoth tusk, a small ivory
ring; a worked fossil mollusc
shell; 2 reindeer antler ‘clubs’.

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Social inequality before farming?
Archaeological investigations over the past 50 years have challenged the importance of domestication and
food production in the emergence of institutionalized social inequality. Social inequality in the prehistoric human
past developed through multiple historical processes that operate on a number of different scales of variability
(e.g. social, economic, demographic, and environmental). However, in the theoretical and linguistic landscape
of social inequality, there is no clear definition of what social inequality is. The lifeways of hunter-gatherer-
fisher societies open a crucial intellectual space and challenge to find meaningful ways of using archaeological
and ethnographic data to understand what social inequality exactly is with regard to variously negotiated or
enforced cultural norms or ethoses of individual autonomy. This interdisciplinary edited volume gathers together
researchers working in the fields of prehistoric archaeology and cultural and evolutionary anthropology. Spanning
terminal Pleistocene to Holocene archaeological and ethnographic contexts from across the globe, the nineteen
chapters in this volume cover a variety of topics organized around three major themes, which structure the book:
1) social inequality and egalitarianism in extant hunter-gatherer societies; 2) social inequality in Upper Palaeolithic
Europe (c. 45,000–11,500 years ago); 3) social inequality in prehistoric Holocene hunter-gatherer-fisher societies
globally. Most chapters in this volume provide empirical content with considerations of subsistence ecology,
demography, mobility, social networks, technology, children’s enculturation, ritual practice, rock art, dogs,
warfare, lethal weaponry, and mortuary behaviour. In addition to providing new data from multiple contexts
through space and time, and exploring social diversity and evolution from novel perspectives, the collection of
essays in this volume will have a considerable impact on how archaeologists define and theorize pathways both
towards and away from inequality within diverse social contexts.

Editor:
Luc Moreau is a research affiliate and immediate-past Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow of the McDonald Institute
for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. His research focuses on the study
of Upper Palaeolithic behavioural variability and adaptations towards the Last Glacial Maximum. His publications
deal with various aspects including stone tool technology and human mobility based on sites from Northwestern,
Central and Eastern Europe. He is an affiliate member of the French Unité Mixte de Recherches (UMR) 7041
‘Archéologies et Sciences de l’Antiquité’ based in Paris/Nanterre, and Secretary of the International Society for
Hunter Gatherer Research (ISHGR).

Published by the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research,

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The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research exists to further research by

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ISBN 978-1-913344-00-9
ISBN: 978-1-913344-00-9

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