Why did ancient states collapse? : : the dysfunctional state / / Malcolm Levitt.

• Superior document: Access archaeology
• VerfasserIn: Levitt, Malcolm,
• Place / Publishing House: Oxford, England : : Archaeopress Publishing Limited,, [2019]; ©2019
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Language: English
• Series: Access archaeology
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (54 pages)

Rooted in agriculture, sedentism and population growth, ancient states were fragile and prone to collapse. There is an ongoing debate about the importance, nature and even existence of state-wide collapse. This book investigates why ancient states collapsed and examines to what extent inequality contributed to their downfall.

Table of Contents

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Information -- Contents -- Abstract -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- I. Introduction: meaning, origins, fragility, cyclicality and collapse of ancient states, -- Meaning -- Increasing complexity -- Farming -- Population growth -- Chiefdoms and pathways to states -- Competition, coercion, consensus -- Fragility -- Cyclicality -- Meaning of collapse -- Evidence of collapse -- Explanations of collapse -- II. The dysfunctional state -- The state's core functions -- Conditions necessary for fulfilling the state's functions -- Collapse as dysfunction -- III. Egyptian Old Kingdom -- Collapse -- Explanations of collapse -- IV. Mycenaean Palace States -- Collapse -- Explanations of collapse: Earthquakes -- Climate change -- Decline in foreign trade -- Warfare techniques -- Sea Peoples -- Interstate Mycenaean warfare -- Internal strife -- Rural collapse -- Systems collapse -- Conclusions -- V. The Western Roman Empire -- What Collapsed? -- What caused collapse? -- Christianity -- Barbarians -- Failure of the Eastern Empire to help -- Internal strife -- Economic factors -- Natural Disasters -- Conclusions -- VI. Classic Mayan collapse -- Collapse -- Causes of collapse -- Climate Change, Drought -- Internal and external strife and violence -- VII. Inequality -- Inequality and state collapse -- Inequality and violence in ancient states. -- Evidence of popular resentment -- Conclusions -- VIII. Summary and Conclusions -- Bibliography.