Chapter 11 Agricultural States

1
Chapter 11 Agricultural States
Top Mayan Hieroglyphs (writing) Bottom Temple
of the Warriors, Chichén Itzá
Map of present-day Mexico Extension of Mayan
Empire
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Todays Objectives

• How are states different from bands, tribes, and
  chiefdoms?
• What similarities do you see?
• Name some cultures that are considered exemplary
  of agricultural states.
• Know the environment, technology, demography,
  political organization, etc.

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Introduction and Definitions

• Neolithic (12kyBP) H/G went from band to tribe
  and chiefdom societies
• Development of intensive agriculture using
  fertilizers and irrigation
• State societies that differ from bands, tribes,
  and chiefdoms in terms of bureaucratic
  organization
• Agricultural States developed with the
  intensification of agriculture
• Industrial States Chapter 12

4
Definitions

• Agricultural Civilizations complex societies
  with a number of characteristics
• Dense populations located in urban centers
• Food surpluses, division of labor
• Bureaucratic organization or government
• Monumental art, architecture, engineering
• Writing systems
• Ecology of civilizations
• Agriculture developed in Near East, not in
  sub-Saharan Africa
• Geographical barriers
• Proximity of other cultures

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Demography

• Pros
• Population increase with transition to intensive
  agriculture
• Higher birth rates
• Food surplus
• Manufactured clothing and shelter
• Cons
• Higher mortality rates
• Poor sanitation
• Worse health
• Jared Diamond article recap

6
Technology

• More sophisticated than chiefdoms
• Irrigation advances
• Shaduf (SW Asia)
• Pot irrigation (Oaxaca Valley)
• Farm equipment
• Plow
• Oxen
• Metallurgy (copper, tin, iron)
• Diffusion of ideas
• Before 1500 AD, not a lot of diffusion
• Near East, China, India more technically
• advanced than Europe
• China paper making, printing, paper money,
• guns and gunpowder, compasses, umbrellas,
• hot-air balloons, anatomy, etc.

Top Egyptian shaduf Bottom Temple of the Sun,
Teotihuacan
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Political Economy

• Scale
• Large Mesopotamia, Egypt, Rome, China, Maya,
  Aztec
• Small Africa, Asia
• Segmentary states
• Theatre states
• Feudalism
• Decentralized political economy, much like
  chiefdom societies
• Existed in western Europe and Japan

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Early Empires
Top Roman Empire, Europe, c. 200 AD Left
Maya Empire, Central America, c. 300 AD
Aztec Empire, Mexico, c. 1300 AD Inca
Empire, Peru, c. 1300 AD Right Tang Dynasty,
China, c. 900 AD
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Political Economy

• Labor
• Division of labor
• Created hundreds of new occupations
  craftsworkers, commerce, government, education,
  military, etc.
• Property Rights
• Major source of wealth was land ownership
• Government or landlord owned property
• Peasantry
• Paid tribute to elite to cultivate land
• Command economy didnt favor them
• Socioeconomic status varied (serfs to land
  owners)
• Corvée labor (compulsory labor for the
  government)
• Moral economy

Painting of Medieval Europe serfdom
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Political Economy

• Trade and Money
• Internal and external trade led to
• Road networks (Rome, Americas)
• Government control over trade routes, products
• Caravan routes (Near East, North Africa)
• Monetary exchange developed from
• Long-distance exchange
• Need for equivalent, portable form of exchange
• Merchants
• Buy goods and resell them to others for profit
• Create demands for luxury goods
• Were sometimes used as spies
• Were usually full-time
• Practiced haggling

Outdoor Market
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Social Organization

• Mostly based on land and occupation
• Kinship still important
• Royal incest among Egyptians, Incas
• Patrimony
• Extended family prevalent
• Patrilineal (45), bilateral (45)
• Matrilineal (9) Example Nayar

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Social Organization

• Marriage
• Usually arranged, endogamous among elite
• Dowry (agricultural societies) and bridewealth
  (horticultural societies)
• Polygyny rare (elites might have harems)
• Divorce was uncommon (bad for women)
• Gender Relations
• Plow lower status of women, patriarchy
• Women inside, men outside
• Female seclusion (foot binding, purdah)
• Sexism reinforced by religion
• Some variation in status of women in state
• societies

Bound Feet
Afghani woman and child
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Social Stratification

• Closed societies
• Status was ascribed, not achieved
• Caste system (India)
• Endogamous social grouping
• Movement into a different caste is impossible
• Slavery
• Tended to increase with social complexity
• Systems differed open and closed
• Race and Ethnicity
• Used only in state societies
• Minorities subordinated by majority group

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Law

• Formal decisions through law, court, police,
  legal specialists
• Different from norms, customs, religion
• First law code Hammurabis Code (1750 BC)
• Developed in Babylon (Near East)
• Reinforced inequality by protecting
• elite
• Are laws good or bad?
• Good Maintain society by limiting
• disruptions
• Bad Maintain social inequality

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Warfare

• Integral aspect of state societies
• Increased in scale
• Became more organized
• Increased surpluses
• Primary goal was to gain
• political control over other
• peoples
• Military professionals

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Religion

• Political power, authority, and religion became
  more closely related
• Ecclesiastical religions
• No separation between church and state
• All people required to belong to the religion
• No tolerance for other beliefs
• Earliest Egypt, China, Greece, Rome, Central and
  South America
• State officials were also priests and vice versa
• Rulers have divine authority
• Traditions based on written, interpreted texts
• Religion sanctified and legitimized authority of
  political leaders
• Universalistic Religions
• Spiritual messages that apply to all of humanity
• Two major branches
• Near East Judaism, Christianity, Islam
• Southern Asia Hinduism and Buddhism
• Many universalistic religions become
  ecclesiastical religions

Judaism Orthodox Christianity Islam H
induism Buddhism