Orderly anarchy
Subtitle: sociopolitical evolution in aboriginal California
By: Robert L. Bettinger
Series: Origins of human behavior and culture -- 8; Origins of human behavior and culture -- 8.
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 286
ISBN-13: 9780520283336
Subjects: Civilization; Indians of North America
Description: "A provocative and innovative reexamination of the trajectory of sociopolitical evolution among Native American groups in California, this book explains the region's prehistorically rich diversity of languages, populations, and environmental adaptations. Ethnographic and archaeological data and evolutionary, economic, and anthropological theory are often presented to explain the evolution of increasing social complexity and inequality. In this account, these same data and theories are employed to argue for an evolving pattern of 'orderly anarchy,' which featured small, inward-looking groups that, having devised a diverse range of ingenious solutions to the many environmental, technological, and social obstacles to resource intensification, were crowded onto what they had turned into the most densely populated landscape in aboriginal North America"--Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-280) and index.
Table of contents: title: Defining California; title: Jorgensen's western North American indians sample; title: Regional variation; title: Orderly anarchy; title: California in broad evolutionary perspective; title: The evolutionary fate of hunting and gathering; title: The rise and fall of agriculture in western North America; title: The evolution of intensive hunting and gathering in eastern California; title: Intensification studies in California; title: Ideal free distribution; title: Plant intensification in eastern California; title: Introduction of bow and arrow technology; title: Effects of the bow; title: Hunter-gatherer group size, subsistence risk, and resource pooling; title: The small group shift in Owens Valley; title: Alternative routes to plant intensification; title: The privatization of food; title: Pinyon intensification in eastern California; title: Family band organization; title: Murdock's theory of social organization; title: The social organization of Great Basin family bands; title: Why pinyon?; title: The generalization and spread of privatization; title: Plant intensification west of the Sierra crest; title: Appearance of the bow and intensification; title: Acorns as a resource; title: Archaeology of acorn use and intensification; title: Medieval climatic anomaly; title: Patrilineal bands, sibs, and tribelets; title: The patrilineal band; title: Privatization and the evolution of tribelets; title: The archaeology of tribelet development; title: The role of property; title: Back to the band : bilateral tribelets and bands; title: Demise of the patrilineal tribelet; title: Patrilineal to bilateral organization; title: Ascent of the individual; title: Emergence of anarchy and the Yurok-Karuk-Hupa household group; title: Cooperation in the presence of anarchy; title: Discussion; title: Money; title: Background; title: Why money in California?; title: How California money might have evolved; title: Money and inequality; title: The evolution of orderly anarchy; title: Motivation crowding; title: Mind-set in aboriginal California; title: Aboriginal orderly anarchy in evolutionary perspective; title: Quantifying organizational authority; title: The evolutionary landscape : results; title: Conclusion: Money; title: The importance of subsistence economy; title: Orderly anarchy more generally; title: Hierarchy versus orderly anarchy : alternative adaptive strategies; title: Orderly anarchy now and in the future.