Chiefdom facts for kids
A chiefdom is a way people are organized politically. It's like a small country or group led by a powerful person called a chief. Sometimes, chiefdoms are seen as early forms of states or kingdoms.
Usually, a chief gets their position because of their family ties. This power often stays within certain families or 'houses'. These powerful families can become like a special group of leaders, an aristocracy, compared to everyone else.
Chiefdoms and chiefs are sometimes thought of as similar to kingdoms and kings. This means they can be seen as monarchies, where one person rules, even if they aren't a full-blown state.
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What is a Chiefdom?
In anthropology, which is the study of human societies, chiefdoms are seen as a step in how societies develop. They are more complex than a small tribe or a band society (a very small group of people). But they are less complex than a full-fledged state or a large civilization.
Chiefdoms have a few key features:
- They have permanent leaders (the chief).
- Decisions are made in a central place.
- People in the chiefdom depend on each other for goods and services.
- There's a clear social order, with some people having more power or status than others.
Elman Service, an anthropologist, described chiefdoms as being between tribes and states in how societies grow. He said it goes: band - tribe - chiefdom - state. A chief's status is usually inherited or given at birth, unlike the leaders of tribes, who earn their status. This means chiefdoms often have a lot of social inequality. People are ranked, as Morton Fried explained: egalitarian (everyone equal) - ranked - stratified (layered) - state.
A simple way to define a chiefdom, according to Robert L. Carneiro, is: "An independent political group made up of several villages or communities, all under the lasting control of one main chief."
How Archaeologists See Chiefdoms
In archaeology, which studies human history through digging up old things, Elman Service's idea of chiefdoms has been very important. He described them as societies where a central leader collects and then shares out goods, especially extra food. This is called "redistribution."
However, many archaeologists disagree about how important redistribution really was. Some say chiefs didn't just redistribute basic goods. For example, in ancient Hawaiian chiefdoms, chiefs might have given out special, valuable items to their followers to keep their power.
Some experts even question if the idea of "chiefdom" is useful for archaeology at all. Timothy Pauketat argues that the chiefdom model doesn't fully explain the many different kinds of societies we find in archaeological digs. He thinks the idea is based on old, outdated ways of thinking about how societies evolve. He says it makes pre-state societies seem "underdeveloped." He uses Cahokia, an important ancient city in North America, as an example.
However, Pauketat himself calls Cahokia a "civilization," which still fits into the same evolutionary idea he criticizes.
Simple Chiefdoms
Simple chiefdoms have a clear central authority and a lot of inequality. There are at least two main social groups: the elite (powerful people) and the commoners (regular people). For example, the ancient Hawaiian chiefdoms had up to four social groups. Sometimes, a person could change their social group through amazing actions.
One family from the elite group usually becomes the main ruling family of the chiefdom. They have the most influence, power, and respect. Kinship (family relationships) is usually how the society is organized. Marriage, age, and gender can also affect a person's social status and role.
A single simple chiefdom usually has a main community. Around it are smaller communities that look up to it. All these communities recognize the power of one ruling family or person. This leader lives in the main community. Each smaller community has its own leaders, but they usually pay tribute (gifts or payments) to the main chief. They are also under the main chief's control.
Complex Chiefdoms
A complex chiefdom is a group of simple chiefdoms, all controlled by one main center and ruled by a very powerful paramount chief. Complex chiefdoms have two or even three levels of political power.
In these societies, nobles are clearly different from commoners. Nobles usually don't do any farm work. The highest-ranking members of society use most of the goods that are sent up the chain as tribute.
Nobles also perform special rituals that only they can do. They might also give out small, symbolic amounts of food or other goods. In complex chiefdoms, higher-ranking chiefs control several lesser chiefs. Each lesser chief controls a specific area or group of people. The main chief's power depends on getting enough tribute, which is collected by the lesser chiefs from the people below them. At the very top of this social ladder is the paramount.
Anthropologists and archaeologists have found that chiefdoms are often not very stable. They tend to go through cycles of falling apart and coming back together. Small groups might join up, grow powerful, then break apart due to stress, and then join up again.
An example of this kind of society was the Germanic Peoples who conquered the western Roman Empire in the 5th century CE. Even though they are often called tribes, anthropologists classify their societies as chiefdoms. They had a complex social order with kings, a warrior noble class, free common people, serfs (farm workers tied to the land), and slaves.
Some Native American tribes also had ruling kings or governors in certain areas. For example, the Cherokee had a ruling family system for a long time. Early Spanish explorers in the Americas wrote about the Indian kings they met. Some native tribes had princes, nobles, and different social classes. The "Great Sun" of the Natchez people was like the Great Khans of Asia. The Great Sun is a good example of a chiefdom and imperial ruler in North American Indian history. The Aztecs of Mexico had a similar culture.
Chiefdoms in India
The Indus Valley Civilisation (from about 3300 BCE to 1700 BCE) was like a group of chiefdoms. Each had a supreme chief, and there was a system of smaller chiefs under them. The chiefs included ordinary chiefs, elders, priests, or cattle owners, and head chiefs.
The Arthashastra, an old Indian book about politics written between 4th century BC and 2nd century AD, describes how kings would have circles of friendly and enemy states around them.
Chiefdoms in Hispaniola
Native Chieftain System in China
Tusi, also known as Headmen or Chieftains, were tribal leaders in China. The Chinese governments of the Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and Qing Dynasty recognized them as officials, especially in Yunnan. This system is known as the Native Chieftain System (Chinese: 土司制度; pinyin: Tǔsī Zhìdù).
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