For decades, archaeologists have debated the question of how prehistoric societies were organised. Since the financial crisis in 2008, this debate has largely been oriented towards the deep origins of the social inequality, stratification and hierarchies we know from the world of today. Have we ever been truly egalitarian, and if not, when and why did social stratification first evolve?
In this thesis, Hallvard Bruvoll presents a novel way of approaching this question, applying theory and methods from mathematics and complex systems that have so far been largely ignored within archaeological research. Through case studies of 5.500 to 7.500 year old Neolithic villages in modern Slovakia and Ukraine, he argues that households within villages were already then organised in hierarchies. More importantly, this type of organisation seems to have been at play cross-culturally but only within large settlements with populations above a threshold, as a response to inefficient information flow in large social groups.
However, the case studies also show that hierarchical social organisation could be implemented in various ways depending on culture. In Linear Pottery culture, social hierarchy was probably reflected in clan-based structures with some level of top-down domination, over time leading to tension and violence. In large Trypillia culture settlements on the other hand, hierarchy was probably implemented through more bottom-up democratic institutions.
Hallvard Nikolai Bruvoll successfully defended his dissertation on February 13 2024.
Trial lecture
Designated topic: "Emergence of hierarchical socio-political structures in the context of early European settlement and urbanism."
Evaluation committee
- Professor Mark Lake, University College London (first opponent)
- Professor Daniela Hofmann, University of Bergen (second opponent)
- Professor David K. Wright, University of Oslo (committee administrator)
Chair of the defence
Supervisors
- Professor Ingrid Fuglestvedt, University of Oslo
- Professor Martin Furholt, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
- Senior Research Fellow, Martin Hinz, Universität Bern