Redistribution in Aegean Palatial Societies Redistributive Economies from a Theoretical and Cross-Cultural Perspective

Abstract

In this article, we address the historical question of why Aegean Bronze Age economies are characterized as redistributive systems and whether it is appropriate to continue to describe them as such. We argue that characterizing the political economies of the Aegean as redistributive is inaccurate and misleading. Instead, we suggest it is more fruitful to describe how specific prehistoric social institutions were used to organize and allocate goods and services and thereby to study how political and economic systems interacted with one another. By examining how Aegean social institutions were constituted and changed over time, we will be in a position to use the prehistoric Aegean to develop and refine general models of political economy.* * We thank Seth Richardson and an anonymous AJA reviewer for their valuable suggestions.

Long-term trends of land use and demography in Greece: A comparative study

“…Increased anthropogenic (API, PDI; Figure 7) indicators are recorded from the LBA in both sub-regions, although more subdued in the north, and suggest economic expansion in line with an increased number of sites and inferred population growth. The first evidence for extensive agricultural and herding strategies has also been identified during the LBA (Halstead, 1999;Nakassis et al, 2011), which from then on would to varying degrees have constituted a complement to small-scale mixed and more intensively practised agriculture (Halstead, 2000). Although environmental effects of small-scale mixed farming may very well be recorded by nearby pollen cores (Glais et al, 2016), extensive strategies -in effect larger fields and herds -are more likely to have large-scale effects on the palynological record (Halstead, 2000).…”

Pottery production, regional exchange, and state collapse during the Middle Horizon (A.D.500–1000): LA-ICP-MS analyses of Tiwanaku pottery in the Moquegua Valley, Peru

“…While exchange networks are not necessarily dependent on imperial infrastructure and often thrive outside the auspices of state authority (Nakassis et al 2011;Parkinson 2010;Parkinson and Galaty 2009), the movement of goods across states and empires was an important component of ancient political organizations, serving as the basis for elaborate tribute systems, providing a currency for rewarding loyal individuals, and acting as a vehicle for materializing and spreading ideology (D'Altroy et al 1994;DeMarrais et al 1996). Conversely, the breakdown of regional exchange networks and the concomitant decline in the longdistance movement of goods are commonly cited as consequences of state collapse (Renfrew 1979;Schwartz and Nichols 2006;Tainter 1988;Yoffee and Cowgill 1988).…”

The Development and Character of Urban Communities in Prehistoric Crete in their Regional Context: A Preliminary Study

“…Although the redistributive model of Aegean polities (Renfrew 1972;Killen 1985) has received much criticism and re-tuning in recent decades (e.g. Halstead 1999;Voutsaki and Killen 2001;Killen 2008;Pullen 2010;Nakassis et al 2011;Parkinson et al 2013), the scale of rations recorded in both Linear A and Linear B archives indicates redistribution was very significant in the economy (Halstead 2011;Bennet and Halstead 2014). Together, these basic shared characteristics suggest the value of an explicitly comparative exploration.…”