ABSTRACT
A simple society must therefore be understood as one which does not include others simpler than itself, which at present not only contains merely one segment, but which presents no trace of any previous segmentation. The horde … corresponds exactly to this definition. It is a social aggregate which does not include—and never has included—within it any more elementary aggregate, but which can be split up directly into individuals…. One realizes that there can be no more simple society; it is the protoplasm of the social domain and consequently the natural basis for any classification.
