Transportation Innovation and Social Complexity among Maritime Hunter‐Gatherer Societies

Abstract

A NUMBER OF social, demographic, historical, and environmental factors affected the degree to which prehistoric coastal peoples became maritime oriented and hierarchcally organized. One type of historical-techno-log~cal development worth exploring in some detail is the importance of advances in water transportation technology for sociopolitical evolution. Evidence suggests that where largecapacity, reliable watercraft were developed that enhanced food-getting, ritual, trade, and communication systems, and where the opportunities to own or operate such watercraft were limited, advanced boat technology helped to stimulate new levels of sociopolitical complexity. Examination of two North American coastal hunter-gatherer societies and the ramifications of their advanced water transport technology reveals the multiple political and symbolic, as well as practical, impacts of boats. Rarely explored from this perspective, coastal settings represent distinctive environments with unique opportunities for i n t e n s m g subsistence, communication, networks of exchange, and hierarchy through advanced boat technology.Marx, Childe, White, and others have identified the means by which sophisticated technologies may stimulate social evolution, and debates concerning their insights have simmered for decades. Beyond this, the historical contextuahzation of the process of technological innovation is an important goal, and the several economic, political, and symbolic implications of this process must be considered. That is, study of the contribution of technology to the concentration of economic and political power

An evolutionary model explaining the Neolithic transition from egalitarianism to leadership and despotism

“…There is evidence that aspiring leaders drove the development of technology that increased subsistence intensification and raised population carrying capacity [17,22]. For example, construction of irrigation systems would have allowed more land to be used for agriculture, providing an incentive for individuals to follow the leader.…”

Archaeological perspectives on the effects of medieval drought in prehistoric California

“…In a series of highly influential papers, Arnold (1991Arnold ( , 1992aArnold ( , b, 1993Arnold ( , 1995 proposed that the Chumash on the northern Channel Islands of the southern coast were effected by elevated sea surface temperatures and an associated decline in marine productivity between A.D. 200 and 1200. The period of warm seas was based on a preliminary Holocene sea surface temperature chronology developed by Pisias (1978).…”

“…157-161), the artifacts associated with their production (e.g., microblade drills, microblade cores, and bead detritus) (Preziozi, 2001;Kennett and Conlee, 2002, pp. 158-161) and the sewnplank canoe (Arnold, 1995;Bernard, 2001;Arnold and Bernard, 2005). One of the most compelling aspects of Arnold's original model was the strong evidence for a punctuated increase in bead manufacture after ca.…”

“…cal A.D. 1150 on Santa Cruz Island (see Arnold, 1992b, p. 138). Arnold (1995) further linked this increased production to the emergence of craft specialization (organized and directed by elites) and increased use of sewn-plank canoes (the Chumash tomolo). More recent research shows, however, that trends involving beads and boats in the Santa Barbara Channel ca.…”

Origem e evolução da desigualdade material hereditária: uma abordagem dos Sistemas Adaptativos Complexos

“…Também não foram abordados os casos de controle do imaginário, seja ritual ou religioso (ARNOLD, 1995;FLANNERY, 1972). A presença deste mecanismo é difícil de captar no registro arqueológico e, embora seja claro que o universo ritual faça parte das populações discutidas, seu papel na transição não foi avaliado.…”