Emergent Complexity : The Evolution of Intermediate Societies

Serious interest in the evolution and dynamics of intermediate societies has grown by leaps and bounds during the past decade. The purpose of this volume is to suggest new ways to model the many stimuli and processes by which cultural complexity emerges, emphasizing major organizational changes, not the appearance and disappearance of specific traits. All contributors share the view that it is time to fundamentally reconsider a variety of ideas about the emergence of complex organization. Their chapters present data from a broad range of case studies, including the Northwest Coast and British Columbia Plateau, California, the Plains, the Mississippian Southeast, the American Southwest, Spain, and Northern Europe.

Jeanne E. Arnold is Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has published extensively on the history of the American Pacific Coast, focusing on Native American community and household organization, specialized labor and occupations, and the emergence of hierarchical socioeconomic and political relationships in traditional societies.