Anthropology 150 Ancient Civilizations BAND, TRIBE, CHIEFDOM, STATE: FOUR BASIC CATEGORIES OF HUMAN SOCIETY In the 1960s, anthropologists Morton Fried and Elman Service developed a classification system that divided human societies into four very broad categories: bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states. Bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states differ in the following ways: A. size of population and territory B. power, prestige, and access to resources C. division of labor D. exchange and economy E. subsistence F. settlement(s) G. conflict resolution H. leadership BANDS TRIBES CHIEFDOMS STATES A < 75, usually 20-40 (local band) >75, often more than 1,000 in a tribe much larger than tribes larger population & territory B egalitarian egalitarian with more opportunities to acquire status & prestige unequal inherited rank hierarchical: classes or castes; political/religious elites have economic & political control enforced by power specialists C age & gender age & gender with part-time specialists age, gender, & family, full-time specialists highly specialized, complex, interdependent D reciprocity, with trading partners for external exchange reciprocity & ceremonial redistribution kinship-based or institutional redistribution redistribution codified (e.g., tax) & protected by institutions; market economy is possible E hunting, gathering, fishing (foraging) small-scale farming specialized agriculture intensive agriculture F temporary small, (semi-) permanent villages centers & villages urban centers, settlement hierarchy from city to village G Fission (people leave one band and join another) kinship, leaders as arbitrators chief's authority & power institutionalized & codified by government (laws, courts, police, etc.) H Achieved, specific to an event or occasion ceremonial, achieved (not inherited) inherited & institutionalized may be inherited or acquired; codified & supported by coercive & ideological means These are broad generalizations and each category includes many variations and exceptions. No value judgements are