This 1982 collection of eight original anthropological essays provides an exciting synthesis of theory and practice in one of the key issues of contemporary cultural evolutionary thought. The contributors ask why complex, highly stratified societies emerged at several locations in the New World at the same point in prehistory. Focusing primarily on the initial centers of civilization in Mesoamerica and the Andean region, they consider the sociopolitical, environmental and ideological factors in state formation. The essays discuss the prehistoric conditions and processes that simulated the development of the first state-level societies in Mesoamerica and Peru, and explore the difficulties archaeologists must face in their direct analysis of physical remains. In general, the contributors recognize a growing need for better archaeological solutions to the question of state origin and for more sensitivity to the problems as well as to the possibilities of ethnographic analogy.

Contributors

Grant D. Jones, Robert R. Kautz, Robert L. Carneiro, Jonathan Haas, Mark N. Cohen, Richard S. MacNeish, Michael D. Coe, Richard W. Keatinge, David A. Friedel

Contents

Preface
Part I. Introduction:
1. Issues in the study of New World state formation Grant D. Jones and Robert R. Kautz
Part II. Sociopolitical Factors in State Formation:
2. The chiefdom: precursor of the state Robert L. Carneiro
3. Class conflict and the state in the New World Jonathan Haas
4. The ecological basis for New World state formation: general and local model building Mark N. Cohen
5. The transition to statehood as seen from the mouth of a cave Richard S. MacNeish
Part IV. Ideological Factors in State Formation:
6. Religion and the rise of Mesoamerican states Michael D. Coe
7. The nature and role of religious diffusion in the early stages of state formation: an example from Peruvian prehistory Richard W. Keatinge
8. Civilization as a state of mind: the cultural evolution of the Lowland Maya David A. Friedel
Works cited
Index.