Developmental Origins of Permanent Inequality from Neolithic Revolution

The revolutionary evolution of culture can be analyzed through a shift in complexity of social organization. Population growth triggered a need for cohesion, resource surplus, distribution and regulations of surplus implicating widespread population trade networks. These causal factors of the Neolithic Revolution incorporate other potential causal factors that implies through these three pathways a sociopolitical transformation developed, Urbanization. By identifying the Neolithic revolutionary factors this paper will be able to directly correlate the urbanization aspect in a generalized cause and effect description. 12,000-6,500 years ago, the Neolithic period laid down a sociopolitical foundation that through various entities and cultural factors developed into a rapid and revolutionary sociopolitical system. Subsequently, because the complexity of Urbanization is multifaceted and multivariable in its genesis I choose to focus my efforts on Ancient Near East Pre-Pottery Neolithic in turn narrowing the perspective to key causal factors, population growth, ritual beliefs, and trade, which in my opinion are the base elements of social complexities (Overlay in population growth resulting in new technology, and social developments, as well as religion being a technology of control through administration of surplus agricultural assets, economics and new technology are enhanced through trade—the process of Neolithic to urban revolution is succinctly intertwined.), also linking urbanization factors to their potential Neolithic effect. There is no doubt that population growth played a significant role in the transition from bands and chiefdoms to state-level societies. â€Å"Population was at once the cause and effect of this shift in civ... ...ssumption that seemingly all the points are the result of sedentism—or population increase. Mesopotamia, during the Neolithic revolution was primed for domestication and agriculture. The shift is environmental temperatures gave way to the ability to create permanent settlements. It is through these permanent settlements and technology of agriculture that inequality was created. In order to control the growing population and expanding foodways a social complexity was needed. There had to be someone to dictate who does what and when, power, was then established, and upheld through religious connotations and exclusivity propaganda. It is through writing this paper that I completely agree that, â€Å"Neolithic revolution was a technological breakthrough† (Acemoglu 2009:2). Technology adds complexity; it was a natural progression into the origins of permanent inequality.