Economic inequality appears to have been rare and episodic among humans during the Neolithic period (i.e., about 11,000 to 5,000 years ago). However, in the following period, economic inequality became common and widespread. why? Samuel Bowles and Mattia Fochesato say “Origins of persistent economic inequality” (Journal of Economic LiteratureDecember 2024, 62(4), pp. 1475–1537). From the abstract:
We have archaeological evidence suggesting that rising levels of wealth inequality among hunter-gatherers and farmers in Neolithic western Eurasia (11,700 to 5,300 years ago) were temporary and rare compared to the substantial persistence of inequality over the past 5,000 years. Investigate . In response, we seek to understand not the creation of new “inequalities,” but rather a process by which significant wealth differences can persist for long periods of time, and why this only occurred at the end of the Neolithic period, at least 4,000 years after the Agricultural Revolution. . Archaeological and anthropological evidence suggests that aggressively egalitarian cultures may have prevented the emergence of persistent wealth inequality until the late Neolithic, when new agricultural technologies increased the value of material wealth relative to labor and concentrated elite power in early proto-states. And ultimately, the exploitation of slave labor provided the political and economic conditions for deepening wealth inequality.
If you are like me, the first obvious question is whether there is any archaeological evidence for this question. The author wrote: “The estimate is based on the size of the dwelling, the size of the storage space (where it can be identified), land ownership, and the value of items buried with the dead.” While the authors are quick to acknowledge the limitations of this data, they are also quick to point out that it is rapidly growing and expanding.
A key element of their question is agricultural technology, namely the transition from hoe-based agriculture to ox-drawn plows. They argue that the “Agricultural Revolution,” the transition from hunter-gatherers to geographically stable, crop-growing farming communities, occurred during the era of hoe-based agriculture. The production dynamics and social norms of these economies were highly egalitarian. But with the advent of ox-drawn plows, the dynamics changed. They write:
Recent research in paleontology conducted by Amy Bogaard and her colleagues provides a key part of our proposed solution to the above puzzle. Advances in agricultural technology provide new opportunities for wealth accumulation that are differentially advantageous for those with greater initial wealth. These innovations, especially the ox-drawn plow, increased the value of land, livestock, and other forms of material wealth relative to labor, which in turn was associated with important demographic, cultural, and institutional changes. The ox-drawn plow transformed a previously land-rich, labor-limited economy into one where material wealth was scarce relative to labor. As a result, previously rare and often temporary ecological conditions under which significant wealth inequalities could emerge were generalized to all regions suitable for plow-based agriculture. We then draw on recent ethnographic evidence to suggest that the explanation for innovations such as irrigation and the domestication of long-lived animals that increased the value of land and other forms of material extends beyond the distinction between plow-based and hoe-based agriculture. or suggested. The importance of wealth in securing a household’s livelihood.
These technological changes created the conditions for deepening inequality, but political changes, including slavery, further reinforced them.
However, at some Late Neolithic and Bronze Age sites the significant wealth inequalities resulting from this process may have been short-lived (like their early Neolithic predecessors), but with subsequent processes of political centralization complementing the growing wealth inequalities. This happened. Below it will be defined as the first ancient proto-state of Mesopotamia. Two subsequent institutional developments perpetuated wealth inequality to modern levels and, in some cases, beyond. The first was a continuous process of state formation in which a unified elite increasingly monopolized the use of coercion. The first example in our dataset is an observation from the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD. The second was the imposition of slavery, which converted free labor into a form of material wealth that wealthy households could own, accumulate, and pass on over generations.
There is a lot to chew on here. Note the claim that “persistent wealth inequality” thousands of years ago was “in some cases reaching modern levels and in others exceeding them.” Note that this is inequality of wealth, not income (although it seems almost certain that societies with high rates of slavery would also have high income inequality). Pay attention to the role of technology. As Bowles puts it in another context, “The ox-drawn plow was the robot of the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age because it replaced labor, making land scarce and labor abundant.” Notice how the question of whether labor is “scarce” or “abundant” changes over time. Note how political and social institutions can contribute to reinforcing or increasing wealth inequality by influencing how wealth is created and inherited (particularly whether humans can be converted to “wealth” through slavery).
The Neolithic Age is sometimes called the ‘Neolithic Age’ or ‘Prehistoric Age’. The Bronze Age that followed included the separation of rural and urban areas, the development and recording of cities, and the increase in wealth inequality to modern levels. The roots of modernity were being established before the beginning of the Iron Age, approximately 1000 BC.
