The causes and scope of political egalitarianism during the Last Glacial: a multi-disciplinary perspective

Authors: Shultziner, Doron¹; Stevens, Thomas²; Stevens, Martin³; Stewart, Brian⁴; Hannagan, Rebecca⁵; Saltini-Semerari, Giulia⁶

Source: Biology and Philosophy, Volume 25, Number 3, June 2010 , pp. 319-346(28)

Publisher: Springer

Abstract:

This paper reviews and synthesizes emerging multi-disciplinary evidence toward understanding the development of social and political organization in the Last Glacial. Evidence for the prevalence and scope of political egalitarianism is reviewed and the biological, social, and environmental influences on this mode of human organization are further explored. Viewing social and political organization in the Last Glacial in a much wider, multi-disciplinary context provides the footing for coherent theory building and hypothesis testing by which to further explore human political systems. We aim to overcome the claim that our ancestors' form of social organization is untestable, as well as counter a degree of exaggeration regarding possibilities for sedentism, population densities, and hierarchical structures prior to the Holocene with crucial advances from disparate disciplines.

Keywords: Climate change; Last glacial; Nomadic foragers; Political egalitarianism; Social organization

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10539-010-9196-4

Affiliations: 1: Political Science Department, Gilo Center for Citizenship, Democracy and Civic Education, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel, Email: doron.shultziner@mail.huji.ac.il 2: Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK 3: Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK 4: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK 5: Department of Political Science, Northern Illinois University, 415 Zulauf Hall, DeKalb, Illinois, 60115, USA, Email: rhannaga@niu.edu 6: Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Publication date: 2010-06-01

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