THE CHARACTER OF CIVILIZATION

The most obvious material symbols of state societies are monumental works.
The ruins of huge public buildings, tombs, temples, palaces, pyramids, and
such are all the spoor of ancient civilizations. Works such as the Egyptian
Sphinx, the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacn in Mexico, the Citadel at
Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the great ziggurat at Ur in Iraq are the
tures by which we recognize ancient civilizations.
Food Surplus
But monumental works, though they may characterize civilizations, are just
the by-product of other factors that demarcate a complex society. For exam.
pie, there can be no monumental works without an available labor force. and
there can be no available labor force without a food surplus. Like the chief.
doms and rank societies discussed in Chapter I l, but on a far larger scale
state societies engage in monumental construction projects; and Such pro
jects require a large number of workers. A large workforce can be made available only where a sizable proportion of the populace is freed from the
day-to-day necessities of subsistence. As mentioned previously, the modern
American farmer is said to produce enough food to feed 130 people, most of
whose labor is therefore freed to engage in nonsubsistence pursuits.
Look around any of your classrooms and conduct a silent census of the
distribution of the declared majors of your classmates. I'm sure there are some
who are aiming for a degree in business, or perhaps in education. in one of the
sciences, in computers, engineering, psychology, social work, maybe even an.
thropology. How many of your cohorts, do you think, are majoring in agriculture, how many hope to be farmers? I'll bet that, at least at most universities
or
colleges, the number will be very small. That fact is indicative of complex soci
eties, ancient ones as well as our modern one. Civilizations rely absolutely on
an agricultural base in which the few are able to feed the many, where only a
relatively small proportion of the population needs to be engaged in full-time
agricultural pursuits. Their production of a food surplus that then is distributed by a coordinating, overseeing authority allows for other members of the
society to engage in other activities: to be soldiers, craftspeople, astronomers
,
traders, teachers, engineers, doctors, and even archaeologists.
Large, Dense Populations
Because without a sizable labor pool great monuments could never be built, a
large population is a requirement of such societies, again supported by the
evolving ability Of farmers to produce increasing amounts of food. Increasingly
efficient agricultural Systems, along with the capacity to distribute food to no
nproducers. allow for increasingly large and dense communities, sometimes culminating in the development of urban centers in Other words, the city.
As a local population increases in size and density in other words
growing population becomes packed into a relatively restricted area in
process of urbanization a host of challenges are presented: How is order to
be maintained among the many people now living virtually next door to each
Other? HOW are disputes among neighbors to be resolved? HOW are necessities-including food produced outside of the urban-area to be distribute
among the populace? Issues of property ownership, transportation and even
tactical concerns such as the disposal of human waste become greatly magalfied when a large number of people are living in close proximity to one another leading to a spiral of change amplifying the social and economic
complexity of a group of people. Social and political structures need to be developed to deal with these and other problems. These structures fundamen-

tally change the social and political lives of people living in urban centers by
restricting behaviors that might be detrimental to the larger group.
Social Stratification
Monumental works and the fine art of ancient civilizations do not define
those civilizations; they merely reflect their more fundamental features. Great
pyramids, walls, palaces, irrigation networks, temples, and roads. as well as
beautiful paintings, exquisite ceramics, gold statues, and fine linen the
wonderful things" that Howard Carter saw in Tut's tomb are the result of
an increasingly complex, layered socioeconomic system. Social stratification
in a complex civilization is a division of society into levels, or Strata, that
one
dose not achieve but into which one is born. One's social level defines one's
in life, one's Status, one's material wealth, One's power (or degree of powerlessnce ), one's destiny. Monuments and great art are only the
material symbols of the powerful position of members of the elite social strata
these societies.
A Formal Government
Along with social stratification, a state possesses a true "government," defined
by archaeologist Joseph Tainter (1988:26) as a "specialized decision-making
organization with a monopoly of force, and with the power to draft for work,
levy and collect taxes, and decree and enforce laws." The power of the state
provided by its formal government is wielded by members of the upper social
classes. Pharaohs, emperors, and kings, along with the nobles serving under
them, are members of a permanently circumscribed social class of people ruling the great masses of people who make up a state society.
As shown in Chapter 11, complex societies are defined, in part, by the organization of society beyond the level Of the household or family. Leadership
accrues to those who are good at organizing the projects that need to be accomplished by a large labor force. Leaders in non-state complex societies
achieve their status by their ability to convince Other people to follow their
commands and to marshal the opinion Of the group. Chiefs and Big Men
don't have laws, a police' force, or an army to compel people to comply with
their wishes. Chiefs do not have absolute power. They do, however, have authority they are good at Organizing labor, keeping people happy, and undertaking and conducting successful projects that people recognize are for the
good of the group. Their leadership usually comes about as a result Of their
accomplishments and abilities. It is this earned respect that convinces people
to listen and follow.
The kings, pharaohs. or emperors of state societies have much more than
authority; they rule by more than simply the consensus of the populace. Instead. They have true power: the ability to make decisions. give commands
and then make Sure those commands are carried out. Jail. enforced labor and
even the gallows await those who fail to heed the dictates of the ruler of a sta
te
society. The rulers of state societies sit atop a formal government with fixed
laws. Leaders in such societies possess the ability to enforce those laws.
Labor Specialization
With the specialization of labor, certain individuals can devote all their time
to perfecting skills in sophisticated and time-consuming specialties, such as
technology. engineering, the arts, and crafts. Without the devotion of a life
time's work, the level of skill exhibited in the great works associated with ear
ly
civilizations. like the "wonderful things" in King Tut's tomb, could not have
been achieved. Specialists can exist only in a society where enough food can
be produced to feed all those people engaged in full-time specialist pursuit
and where the social system provides a rationale for their existence. Such specialists are needed only in a society that demands their work by and for certain powerful people of an even higher class.

Record Keeping
Without some system of record keeping by which the elite could keep track
of food surpluses and labor and, in essence, dictate history by recoding it in a
manner beneficial to them, it is unlikely that the entire system supporting the
civilization could ever have developed. In modern America. for instance, how
well would the Internal Revenue Service function and how well would the
country work if there were no way to keep track of individual income and
yearly tax contribution? On the other hand, a system of keeping records that
can reinforce the legitimacy of the rule of the king for instance, by demonstrating descent from previous rulers or even from the gods is another important way the system justifies and maintains itself. As a result of the record
keeping of civilizations. in this chapter and Chapter 13 we begin to breach the
edge of history. reaching the end of the human story that is the focus Of this
book that part Of the human saga from the period before history.
Monumental Works
Finally. let us return to the most obvious symbols of civilizations, the mounumental works by which we recognize them in the archaeological record, Those
monuments are made possible by the characteristics of the state just enumerated. A food surplus freeing the labor of a large labor force; a large, dense po
pulation: a stratified social system in which the many serve the dictates Of the
few; a formal government that enforces that social inequality, specialization
and a system of record keeping together make possible the production of the
monumental works and great art that first command our attention when we
are confronted by the remains of an ancient civilization,
Great monuments and art. therefore, are enabled by the social and political
system of the state. The rulers in societies have the power to cause the
construction of fabulous tombs filled with splendid works of art. They can
conscript armies, collect taxes. and call up workforces.
In a feedback process. such power, at the same time, adds compelling support for the existence of the state. In complex civilizations, the great mass of
people must believe that there are individuals who can rightfully requite their
labor, time. and wealth, As archaeologist Joseph Tainter ( 1988) put'. it. the
early elites had to convince the great mass Of society that their rule was legit
iand that the political world with
mate in other words, "proper and valid
a powerful elite commanding from on high and accumulating great wealth
was "as it should be" (Tainter 1988:27). And, as the old saying goes, nothing
succeeds like success"; an awe-inspiring pyramid or temple goes a long way
toward convincing the populace that the ruler who commanded that such a
thing be built actually is as powerful as he is purported to be, and commands
the attention of the gods, and that allegiance is due him.
Pyramids, great tombs, huge palaces. and the like are the material symbol'
of the power of the State, both for those living within such systems and for tho
se
of us in the modern world who study them. In addition to being literal monuments to kings, gods, or generals, they also stand as symbolic monuments to the
power of the state. They serve the role of providing, as Tainter characterlzes i
t
(1988:28), "sacred legitimization" for the power of the elite, and they reflect
the
need to establish and constantly reinforce legitimacy" (Tainter 1988:27).
THE GEOGRAPHY OF CIVILIZATIONS
Perhaps most remarkably, these features of the world's first civilizations
evolved from an earlier Neolithic base not once but several times, in both the
Old and New Worlds: in at least southwest Asia, Egypt. the Indus valley of
Pakistan and eastern China and on the island of Crete (all discussed in this
chapter in Mesoamerica and Peru (discussed in Chapter 13) These primary

civilizations developed more or less independently each following its

own path. The next sections will present brief synopses of the evolution of
each of the centers of early civilization in the Old world.