21 - Systems Collapse as Social Transformation: Catastrophe and Anastrophe in Early State Societies

Abstract

This chapter discusses several features of a system collapse and the aftermath of such a collapse. It has been observed that there are cases where suddenly, and without any very obvious cause, a brilliant and flourishing society with a highly structured, central administrative organization disappears from the archaeological record. The immediate aftermath is always less clearly understood because the range of archaeological evidence is much less adequate. The early state society fragments into a whole number of smaller units that are at a much lower level of sociopolitical integration. The collapse of central power is followed by competition among various small power groups inside the former territory and on its borders. The new central organization that in many cases develops in the same area often after a few centuries traces its origins back to one of these small groups.