Skip to main content
Social Sci LibreTexts

10: Reconstructing Socio-Political Organization

  • Page ID
    78471
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Learning Objectives

    • Describe the four categories used to characterize a political organization.
    • Compare and contrast egalitarian, rank, and stratified societies.
    • Explain some of the methods used by archaeologists to better understand the social characteristics of the societies they study.

    • 10.1: Socio-political Organization
      Political organization describes how the people of a community organize themselves and their relationship with other communities around them. Archaeologists use a system of classification developed by anthropologist Elman Service. These levels of political organization are known as: bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states.
    • 10.2: Social Analysis
      When attempting to reconstruct the social and political organization of prehistoric societies, it can be a bit challenging. Archaeologists have to solely rely on the archaeological record that is recovered from the site. Archaeologists use a variety of techniques to identify the social dynamics of the past societies they study.
    • 10.3: Chapter 10 Review
      Review important concepts and definitions of key terms.

    Image: Ruins of the antique city of Tlos, Turkey. (2207). By Toksave under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.


    10: Reconstructing Socio-Political Organization is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

    • Was this article helpful?