An Unexplored Realm in the Heartland of the Southern Gulf ... - Famsi

One outcome of these family-based cooperatives are ranked societies, which are
considered to be kin-based organizations wherein a person’s status or political position is
determined by their place within the hierarchical kinship system (Bender 1990; Earle
1997; Lee 1990; Widmer 2003). Change from lineal decent groups to collateral kin
creates a more inclusive corporate family organization as well as a significantly increased
labor force and status differentiation (Lowie 1928). Control of social status was of the
utmost importance to emergent social complexity (Earle 1987:4). As the relationships of
power within families progressed over time, they could, in the proper social milieu,
extend to the larger community (i.e., band, clan, or lineage) (Malinowski 1944). For
example, Redman’s (1998:3-6) ‘chieftain’ is not only the head of the household and
associated lineage or house (see Gillespie 2000b), but could also preside over other
factions and member households comprising the village as a whole. In this position, the
chieftain becomes the sole representative of the community in inter-village relations.
Through this position, the leader could extend ties, formulate exchanges, and achieve
regional prominence if not outright authority over other villages.
The second portion of the tripartite mechanism that, at some point, may lead to
hereditary inequality is sedentism. The specific reasons for the appearance of sedentary
communities are not at issue here, but the results of its onset are significant. Varying
degrees of semi- or fully sedentary lifestyles resulted in an increase in the size of the
nuclear family, and consequently the extended family and communities overall (Lee
1990:253-253). This increase in population is attributable to several factors. The demands
and restrictions of nomadic life among hunter-gatherer societies gave way to semi-
sedentary or settled communities that allowed the formation of corporate kin-group
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