• Corpus ID: 2085751

Evolution of complex hierarchical societies

@article{Turchin2009EvolutionOC,
  title={Evolution of complex hierarchical societies},
  author={Peter Turchin and Sergey Gavrilets},
  journal={Social Evolution \& History},
  year={2009},
  volume={8}
}
One of the greatest puzzles of human evolutionary history concerns the how and why of the transition from small-scale, ‘simple’ societies to large-scale, hierarchically complex ones. This paper reviews theoretical approaches to resolving this puzzle. Our discussion integrates ideas and concepts from evolutionary biology, anthropology, and political science. The evolutionary framework of multilevel selection suggests that complex hierarchies can arise in response to selection imposed by… 
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