ABSTRACT
Matthew Spriggs organized a second symposium concerned with Marxist perspectives in archaeology, and Carole Crumley commented critically on the use of central place theory to conceptualize and discuss processes of state formation. This chapter argues that states were, and still are, destructive of kin-ordered communities in their midst. Henry Wright was also concerned with the process of state formation. He indicated that state formation was not merely a consequence of an increase in scale, but rather that complex chiefdoms underwent a crisis which affected the patterns of competition within and between polities. The chapter is concerned with chief-doms, the transformation of intermediate societies into states, and the nature of the intermediate societies promoted some genuine dialogue in the 1980s. Postprocessual archaeology is an umbrella category used by its advocates to characterize the work of individuals with divergent views and commitments. It has roots both in the ferment of the period and in inspiration, teaching, and writings of David Clarke.
