Human Evolution and the Origins of Hierarchies: The State of Nature

Human Evolution and the Origins of Hierarchies: The State of Nature
ISBN-10
1139491318
ISBN-13
9781139491310
Category
Social Science
Language
English
Published
2010-09-06
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Author
Benoît Dubreuil

Description

In this book, Benoît Dubreuil explores the creation and destruction of hierarchies in human evolution. Combining the methods of archaeology, anthropology, cognitive neuroscience and primatology, he offers a natural history of hierarchies from the point of view of both cultural and biological evolution. This volume explains why dominance hierarchies typical of primate societies disappeared in the human lineage and why the emergence of large-scale societies during the Neolithic period implied increased social differentiation, the creation of status hierarchies, and, eventually, political centralisation.

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