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Archaeology supports proposed redefinition of egalitarianism
1Anthropology, WSU: Washington State University, Pullman, USAtako@wsu.edu.
Abstract:
Influenced by reports from eastern North America, early Enlightenment thinkers portrayed hunter-gatherers as largely egalitarian. Subsequent observations, anthropological research, and archaeological evidence since the 1970s documented notable inequalities of power, wealth, and rank in some hunter-gatherer societies. Recent global archaeological analyses link increasing inequality to population growth, fuelling increases in group size, growing constraints on land and resources, and thus on individual autonomy.
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