| Description |
xiii, 277 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm |
| Contents |
1. The evolution of a factoid -- 2. Dimensions of power in the earliest states -- 3. The meaning of cities in the earliest states and civilizations -- 4. When complexity was simplified -- 5. Identity and agency in early states : case studies -- 6. The collapse of ancient states and civilizations -- 7. Social evolutionary trajectories -- 8. New rules of the game -- 9. Altered states : the evolution of history |
| Summary |
"In this ground-breaking work, Norman Yoffee challenges prevailing myths underpinning our understanding of the evolution of the earliest cities, states, and civilizations. He counters the emphasis in traditional scholarship that the earliest states were large and despotically controlled and that their evolution can be adequately modeled by ethnographic analogies. By illuminating the creation of, and changes in, social roles - not simply of male leaders but also of slaves and soldiers, priests and priestesses, peasants and prostitutes, merchants and craftsmen - Yoffee depicts an evolutionary process centered on the concerns of everyday life. Drawing on evidence from ancient Mesopotamia as well as from Egypt, South Asia, China, Mesoamerica, and South America, the author explores the changes in human societies that created the world we live in |
|
This book offers a bold new interpretation of social evolutionary theory and as such it is essential reading for any student or scholar with an interest in the emergence of complex society."--BOOK JACKET |
| Notes |
Formerly CIP. Uk |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 236-267) and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
State, The.
|
|
Cities and towns, Ancient.
|
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Civilization, Ancient.
|
| Author |
MyiLibrary.
|
| LC no. |
2004052683 |
| ISBN |
0521818370 hardback |
|
0521521564 paperback |
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