Lalueza-Fox 2022

Vocab

%%social differentiation/stratification%%-can be based on wealth but can also be based on personal prestige and power.

%%Gini coefficient%%-a single number most commonly used to measure income inequality using the dimensions of houses as estimated indicators of wealth.

%%inequality-%%

%%hunter-gatherer-%%

%%health inequality-%% skeletal indicators (dental cavities, arthrosis, traumas, vitamin deficiencies, etc.) that can reflect the health status of the population in each period. The frequencies of these pathological markers are in general higher during periods of higher inequality.

%%infant mortality-%%

%%isotope analysis%%- analysis of carbon and nitrogen ratios in bone collagen using isotopes

%%megalith%%-large funerary stone structures

%%patrilocal%%-males stayed in the groups where they were born, while females moved away from them

Questions

^^What is the main research objective of most archaeologists?^^

  • They want to understand the daily life of past civilizations and to document and study the evolution of inequality in ancient societies.

^^Why might a burial be a poor source of evidence for social differences?^^

  • People may have wanted to act as if they were richer than they actually were. Also social status is not always based on money it is also based on power and personal prestige.

^^What is the advantage of applying the Gini coefficient to determining inequality?^^

  • It can take into account your personal

^^How does the Gini coefficient correspond with different lifeways, such as hunter-gathers, early farming, hierarchical societies? What are some of the factors that might account for higher Gini coefficients?^^

  • Hunter gatherers have a low score because they carried fewer personal items and your ability to hunt and such was more important. This doesn’t mean they did not have a social hierarchy it means it is harder to determine without material items which is why it will be higher for settled groups of people. In ancient farming societies it was in the 40s. The score determined from the ruins was different than the score from reading past accounts because the writers in Babylonia probably exaggerated to make them look better. The Aztecs all had similar house sizes so even with human sacrifices they were fairly egalitarian than Mexico 200 years later. Also inequality greatly increases with agriculture.

^^What was the possible reason for the disparity in Gini coefficients calculated from archaeological remains vs ancient texts?^^

  • Exaggeration to make Babylonia look better than it was like exaggerating the details of a trip.

^^What is the role of domestication in social inequality? What is the importance of metals in social inequality? What are some other factors?^^

  • Metal increased social inequality especially seen in burial of rulers and domesticated animals were aids in war. Also increased population stemming from trade routes, more food, and political organization.

^^What are some of the challenges to applying the Gini coefficient to archaeological sites?^^

  • Some settlements grew over destroyed ones like cake layers causing disagreements on whether or not these should be examined separately or together. Also regarding house size the terrain affects the shape and size of houses usually. Also archaeologists argue building material quality, approximate to city center, and mosaics, wall art, furniture that can be hard to find should be taken into consideration.

^^How might archaeologists determine^^ ^^health inequality^^ ^^within a population (be specific)?^^

  • skeletal indicators (dental cavities, arthrosis, traumas, vitamin deficiencies, etc.) that can reflect the health status of the population in each period. The frequencies of these pathological markers are in general higher during periods of higher inequality. Ex. Spinal injuries in under 16, early deaths, dietary deficiencies seen in bone, burial without many objects or burial in group. High infant mortality rate is also an indicator

^^What can we learn about inequality from the study of isotopes?^^

  • The stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen ratios in bone collagen can provide information on nutritional status and mobility patterns associated with specific individuals. Ex. show higher protein in richer people

^^What can we learn about inequality from the study of ancient DNA? How does DNA analysis change how we understand European megaliths?^^

  • DNA can be used, for the first time, to correlate ancestry with social power in each period and reveal family lines. Finding related males in two different megaliths which implies the families expanded. Newgrange passage tomb revealed that they belonged to the incestuous son of a brother and sister (or a parent and child), and therefore a quarter of his genome had no genetic variation.

^^How did researchers determine that Bronze Age communities in the Lech River valley of Germany followed patrilocal residence rules?^^

  • Isotope data revealed that 50% of females were non local and 80 something % of males and children were local. Teeth revealed that females moved from birthplace during adolescence or later. The results indicate that these Bronze Age settlements followed patrilocal residential rules — that is, males stayed in the groups where they were born, while females moved away from them.