ARH305H1 Lecture : Complex Societies
Document Summary
The mortuary facility (e. g. , platform mount, crypt, shallow grave: 3. Large scale storage: associated with surplus production. Storage facilities (granaries, warehouses, etc) should be centralized (i. e. , under elite control, found in central places, near palace or chief"s residence) If egalitarian societies produce more than they need it is for winter (when food it not available: this is not a surplus, but delayed consumption. Problem with rarity method is that you can"t compare site to site (i. e. , copper belt may have value of "10" in site a and 5" in site b. Some items may be rare in graves because they are of low value: there is no reason to assume that rarity is high social status. Lorenze curves use glv o compare proportion of population (% of graves) to proportion of wealth within those graves. Line of equality - (20% of population controls 20% of wealth; 60% of population controls. 60% of wealth: this is rarely achieved in complex societies.
