The Evolution of Complex Societies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Evolution of Complex Societies - Essay Example This paper is trying to investigate the rise of different complex societies or civilizations in various regions of the world. One key technique of facilitating this investigation is to recognize the common features of these complex societies and the aspects that have influenced their development that can be distinguished from the archaeological evidence. The renowned authors have provided various methods with their theories for the advance of complex societies, such as the multiple effect theory. According to their works, innovations in one subsystem or aspect of culture boost and influence other cultural aspects via positive feedback. The authors argue that the cumulative impact of the interaction between these diverse subsystems due to these innovations is the emergence of civilization. This theory of multiplier effect in force is demonstrated by deducing the assortment of artifacts from the diverse cultures of the Aegean Bronze Age during the 3rd millennium BCE and examining seeds , animal bones, and architectural remnants collected from archaeological sites located in the area that date to this period. The authors’ explanation of the evolution of complex cultures during the Aegean period has persisted to dictate the way Aegean archaeologists approach this subject. Their ideas have widely endured the examination of Aegean archaeologists, raising the question of whether this theory can effectively explain the evolution of various diverse complex cultures worldwide. ... For instance, questions have been raised as to whether the theory can explain the complex societies that emerged in the lower Mississippi valley in the 2nd millennium BCE. This culture is most recognized by the huge earthworks in northeast Louisiana at Poverty Point. Examination of the archaeological data and artifacts of the Poverty Point society offers a positive answer to the questions raised. Despite the despite the immense differences between the societies in terms of their religion, art, architecture, and economics, the archaeological data point out this theory, as the authors explain (Stanish 2005). For a study of two such contrasting societies, that exist in very different surroundings, showing that they were influenced by the same exact processes, the theory offers students an instrument which they can connect to the archaeological data to assist them understand the universal influence that the evolution of complex societies had on human societies. This comparative approach has an additional instructional advantage in that students are able to expand their appreciation for the distinctive factors of each specific culture based on the artifacts that each society produced (Tainter 1988). As a result, in the process of studying one early complex society after another, students can discover to acknowledge how particular kinds of relics expose similar practices at work in the evolution of complex societies and the diversity in these societies. This comparative approach can be demonstrated by first identifying the main factors that characterize a complex society as categorized by the two authors. The authors use the neutral terms "simple" and