Social Complexity and Population: A Study in the Early Bronze Age Aegean

Naoise Macsweeney

doi:10.5334/pia.225

Abstract

It is suggested that the size of a population to some extent defines the limits of its social complexity. State level societies tend to have relatively large populations, and egalitarian communities tend to be relatively small. Since the 1960s, anthropologists have tried to describe and explain this relationship between population size and social complexity, suggesting a causal link between large populations and social differentiation, based on studies of game theory and<br />human cognitive capacity. Once a population rises above a certain level, change in social organisation is deemed inevitable. Approximate figures for these ‘population thresholds’ have been proposed, but their accuracy and applicability to archaeological populations and communities<br />remain uncertain. This paper explores the hypothetical population threshold at the point when societies begin to show the first signs of ranking in the context of the Early Bronze Age<br />Aegean, comparing the estimated population sizes of particular sites with the evidence they show for ranking and social hierarchy. While larger communities tend to show more evidence for social differentiation, it is recognised that population size is not the sole factor in determining<br />its development.

Highlights

Population growth has long been proposed as a central factor in the development of complex social organisation and the emergence of ranking (Renfrew 1972: 225), and the general importance of understanding the scale of human communities has been newly emphasised by Whitelaw (2001: 15)
This model has most often been illustrated with modern ethnographic data, and this paper explores its applicability to past societies by considering the lowest of these population thresholds – the point at which egalitarian societies begin to show social status differentiation
Interpretation and Conclusions most of the 20 sites considered for this study demonstrated at least some evidence for social complexity

Summary

Introduction

Population growth has long been proposed as a central factor in the development of complex social organisation and the emergence of ranking (Renfrew 1972: 225), and the general importance of understanding the scale of human communities has been newly emphasised by Whitelaw (2001: 15). Introduction Population growth has long been proposed as a central factor in the development of complex social organisation and the emergence of ranking (Renfrew 1972: 225), and the general importance of understanding the scale of human communities has been newly emphasised by Whitelaw (2001: 15). The Early Bronze Age (EBA) Aegean (c.3300-2100 BC) has been chosen as a case study, as the relative abundance of Papers from the Institute of Archaeology 15 (2004): 52-65 publications about this period allows for an independent discussion of population sizes and the evidence for social complexity.

Results

Conclusion