ABSTRACT
The emergence of state societies radically and rapidly transformed the ancient world, because states exerted considerable political, economic, social, and ideological control over cities and surrounding hinterlands. Before we delve into the complexities of early states, we must clarify the term state (in some regions, it is synonymous with city). In 1950 Gordon Childe, one of the most influential archaeologists of the twentieth century, proposed a set of criteria he believed characterized state societies (Childe 1950). Childe’s criteria have since been modified and expanded but remain essentially valid, although they are not all necessarily true of every state:
States have areas of high population density: larger settlements that include both domestic and nondomestic structures. Settlement patterns often involve a hierarchy— large city surrounded by smaller villages and hamlets between which goods and services are interchanged (Trigger 1993).
Division of labor occurs, including the emergence of full-time specialists who do not produce their own food but receive food from state storehouses. Specialization is ar-chaeologically evident in the artifacts produced as well as in remains of workshop areas, in written records, and in communities’ architecture and workers’ living quarters. State
A political structure that is socially and economically stratified under the leadership of a strong central authority whose power is generally legitimized by an army and often strengthened by an ideology; key characteristics include high population density, hierarchical settlement pattern, monumental architecture, and full-time specialists.
The state receives taxes in the form of goods and labor. These tributes are documented in written records and are visible in evidence of city grain storage areas, state-controlled projects such as monument building, and conscription into military service.
Monumental architectural projects such as temples, palaces, or irrigation systems reinforce and symbolize the organization and controlling power of the state. Such labor-intensive construction requires the harnessing of large populations (Scarre and Fagan 2003).
State societies are socially and economically stratified. A ruling elite, not necessarily related through kinship, derives power from centralized control of surpluses. Evidence of social stratification includes elite burials accompanied by rich grave goods, differences in house structure, inscriptions on monuments, and written records.
Record keeping is essential to control the complexity of state activities and to increase output (Baines and Yoffee 1998). The earliest Old World states had writing and recording systems; the Inca of Peru did not have writing as we know it but kept records using a system of knotted cords called the quipu .
State development promotes advances in sciences such as mathematics and astronomy. Scientific principles are evident in the engineering and construction of monumental structures as well as in detailed accounting and recording systems.
Long-distance trade expands to meet the state’s increasing demand for nonlocal goods and materials. Archaeological evidence of trade consists of artifacts and/or materials originating from nonlocal sources. Records and letters discussing trade and exchange indicate the extent of trade as well as the existence of colonies beyond state frontiers. Trading relations may be peaceful or not; either way, states affect communities with which they are in contact, whether through material goods or through the transfer of ideas (Scarre and Fagan 2003).
People unite under a state ideology with a pantheon of gods, often including the state ruler. Temples, statuary, and ritual objects indicate the importance of the state ideology, and the promulgation of myth often reinforces the ideology.
A state army controls populations and undertakes military campaigns—a pattern clearly evident in most early states.
QuipuInca recording system consisting of cords knotted in various ways.
StelaeInscribed stone slabs or pillars that commemorate important events or serve as territorial markers, tomb markers, or votive markers; the singular form is stela.
