Trobriand Chiefdom: A Hierarchical Society

Chiefdoms

1. The social structure of chiefdom is a hierarchical society in which some people have greater access than others to wealth, rank, status, authority and power. According to Scupin, many Polynesian chiefdoms rule of succession is based on primogeniture in which the eldest son assumed the status and realm of the father. This helped to avoid power struggles when a chief died. Chiefly Authority was more limited among the Trobrianders than was among the Hawaiians and Tahitians. The Trobriand chief has to work to expand his area of power and status and prevent other chiefs from destroying or diminishing his ancestral rights. A Trobriand chief gained rights, legitimacy, and authority through descent. Generosity was one of
The hunter and gatherers had a great self-sustaining way of life. From their survival techniques evolved the domestication of animals and plants, which then led to intensive agriculture, which is the cultivation of crops by preparing permanent fields year after year, often using irrigation and fertilizers. This enables a population to produce enormous food surpluses to sustain dense populations in large, permanent settlements. Agriculture developed around the major river valleys of the Near East in Mesopotamia and Egypt, but there were no such areas in sub-Saharan Africa. Geographical and ecological advantages have played an important role in where agricultural civilizations developed. Some areas did not have geographical barriers such as mountains, rain forests, or deserts that inhibited the flow of agricultural patterns from one area to
A racist belief going back deep into Western history talks about how Europeans were superior mentally and intellectually. The European industrial revolution did not develop as a result of the unique genius intelligence or particular superior cultural values of Europeans, but as an unpredictable sequence of prehistoric and historical processes. Most of the plants and large mammals that could be domesticated existed in the Near East and this pattern of plant and animal domestication spread into the Eurasian continent that included china and Europe. Harvests were abundant and domesticated animals enabled the Near Easterners, Europeans and Asians to develop cities with large populations, governments, specialized economic systems and writing systems. There were no major obstacles such as geographical barriers that inhibited the spread and diffusion of this agricultural package across the Near East and Mediterranean areas to the Eurasian continent. Then the Europeans developed the technological knowledge and political power to conquer other areas of the world that did not have these resources. The diffusion of agriculture and domesticated animals happened quickly in Europe and Asia because there were not geographical barriers. This gave Europe the edge in the initial beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. A major factor leading to the emergence of industrial states in European society was the increased contact among different societies primarily through trade.