ASB 238
archaeology of north america

A chiefdom seems to be a community that is a regionally centralized organization - that is it controls a geographic area, is located in a central place, and is the center for flow of materials and trade. Rank is determined by geneological distance from a common ancestor. The Chief provides a spiritual service to those that surround the area. It is set up almost like a pyramid. There is one main area - Moundville (for instance), then you have some hamlets, then you have even more farmsteads. There is also a low level chiefdom which is close to a chiefdom, but lacks an emerging elite at the top of the mound. Whether or not such North American sites such as Moundville and Cahokia were Chiefdoms or low level Chiefdoms is yet a mystery to determined.

Chiefdoms are essentially expanded, more complex tribal societies that are headed by an individual, acting alone or in concert with some sort of advisory council. While the position is generally ascribed or hereditary the first "chief" generally came to the forefront through strength of personality or by force and was one who exhibited major political, ritualistic or entrepreneurial skills. These larger societies group a number of local communities under a centralized leadership, which in many instances, will only come together at certain religious festivals (which are frequently used as an occassion for redistribution of necessary resources) or in the face of defensive need.Each of the separate communities within a large chiefdom, the total population of which in some instances can number in the tens of thousands, will, in turn, be led by a lower level local chief.

Chiefdoms are much less egalitarian than bands and tribes and show definite degrees of ranking and status below that of the level of the chief. Frequently this ranking is based on the degree of closeness of kinship to the chief.

Chiefdoms are generall associated with agricultural societies, with evidence also in horticultural and pastoral groups. One of the principle responsibilities of the leadership group is to see to the reasonably equitable distribution of necessary goods and services. Thus redistribution, in addition to reciprocity which continues to play a major role, becomes an important economic stategy. The creation of food surpluses, which can be utilized for long term storage and as trade goods, frees an segment of the society from the necessity of being involved in food production and allows or leads to specialization in other areas of the economy as well as to wealth accumulation. This in turn creates, or more properly, leads to additionl or increased ranking within the society as differing specialties are accorded differing level of status. As such a society grows larger and more complex the need for a bureaucracy to support the leadership group grows and increases the levels or ranks.

More formalized religion is created and gains in importance while developing into communal forms rather than individualistic. Gods, as opposed to spirits, become more significant and totemism decreases in importance.Societal laws evolve and the responsibility for enforcement becomes more formal and shifts to the chief, a council or to a court.

In a study of the comparitive perceived benefits of tribes and chiefdoms one can question whether the move into the more complex chiefdom status has always been regarded as "progress". There would appear to be definite individual as well as societal advantages in the egalitaisn tribal system as compared to the ranking system that goes hand in hand with a chiefdom.

After experimenting for approximately 250 years with what appears from the archaeological record to have been a successful chiefdom based in Chaco Canyon, the Hopis and other Pueblo peoples abandoned this concept of organization and leadership (as well as the actual locale) and sucessfully devolved into the more simple and egalitarian tribal societies.

Was this a conscious, thought out change and rejection of one life style or did it simply happen in the face of environmental and ecological stress which required a new life style in order to survive?

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