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Specialization, Exchange and Complex Societies
Paperback / softback
Main Details
Title |
Specialization, Exchange and Complex Societies
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Authors and Contributors |
Edited by Elizabeth M. Brumfiel
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Edited by Timothy K. Earle
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Series | New Directions in Archaeology |
Physical Properties |
Format:Paperback / softback | Pages:160 | Dimensions(mm): Height 279,Width 210 |
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Category/Genre | Archaeology |
ISBN/Barcode |
9780521090889
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Classifications | Dewey:305 |
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Audience | Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly | |
Illustrations |
Worked examples or Exercises
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Publishing Details |
Publisher |
Cambridge University Press
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Imprint |
Cambridge University Press
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Publication Date |
27 November 2008 |
Publication Country |
United Kingdom
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Description
This book, a comparative study of specialized production in prehistoric societies, examines both adaptionist and political approaches to specialization and exchange using a worldwide perspective. What forms of specialization and exchange promote social stratification, political integration and institutional specialization? Can increases in specialization always be linked to improved subsistence strategies or are they more closely related to the efforts of political elites to strengthen coalitions and establish institutions of control? Are valuables as important as subsistence goods in the developmental process? These and other questions are examined in the contexts of ten prehistoric societies, ranging from the incipient complexity of Mississippian chiefdoms through to the more complex systems of West Africa, Hawaii and Bronze Age Europe, to the agrarian states of Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, Peru and Yamato Japan. Each society is the subject of a separate study by a scholar whose own research has provided new insights into the interplay of specialization, exchange and social complexity in the region studied.
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