essay
Economy, ritual, and power in 'Ubaid Mesopotamia
chiefdoms and early states in the near east : the organizational dynamics of complexity • (18) • Published In 1994 • Pages: 35-46
By: Stein, Gil.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this paper Stein argues that in trying to understand the culture of the 'Ubaid period of the late 6th to 5th millennia BC, the chiefdom continues to have utility as a model for early forms of administrative organization with formal leadership positions. However, the elements of the Mesopotamian 'Ubaid societies that he sees as critical for understanding social complexity are not those traits or patterns usually associated with the classic Melanesian or Mesoamerican models of chiefly society: warfare, long distance trade of exotic goods as markers of status, exaggerated symbolization of social ranking, and unstable political structures. Such behaviors are clearly documented in the archaeological record only at the very end of the 1500 year long 'Ubaid period on the eve of state formation.Stein proposes that the means of a group's attainment of chiefly status and chiefly authority can vary greatly; for this reason, the apparent lack of prestige goods in 'Ubaid Mesopotamia does not indicate the absence of chiefly rank. He suggest that D'Altroy and Earle's distinction between wealth finance and staple finance as strategies of surplus mobilization may explain some of the apparently anomalous aspects of 'Ubadi political and economic organization. In this alternative model, he argues that the chiefly elites of small scale, irrigation-based 'Ubaid polities used inclusive ideologies emphasizing group membership through a strategy of ritually mobilized staple finance instead of overtly hierarchical principles (p. 35).
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Ceramic technology
- Territorial hierarchy
- Production and supply
- Labor supply and employment
- Religious and educational structures
- Community heads
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Ubaid
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2000
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Middle East
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Middle East
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 2006
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- no date
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 7500-5800 BP (5500-3800 BC)
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Iraq (southern Mesopotamia)
- NotesAdditional notes
- Gil Stein
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-46)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 94010284
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Ubaid culture