From Leaders to Rulers

I: Introduction. 1. Cultural Evolution and Political Centralization; J. Haas. 2. Communication, Holism, and the Evolution of Sociopolitical Complexity; C.L. Crumley.II: The Emergence of Leaders. 3. The Origins of Centralization: Changing Features of Local and Regional Control during the Rio Grande Classic Period, A.D. 1325-1540; W. Creamer. 4. Assessing Political Development in Copper and Bronze Age Southeast Spain; A. Gilman. III: Leaders to Rulers. 5. Rulers and Warriors: Symbolic Transmission and Social Transformation in Bronze Age Europe; K. Kristiansen. 6. Institutionalization of Chiefdoms: Why Landscapes Are Built; T.K. Earle. 7. Cosmology and the Institutionalization of Hierarchy in the Maya Region; P.A. McAnany. IV: Rulers in Power. 8. Mesoamerican Political Complexity: The Corporate/Network Dimension; G.M. Feinman. 9. Understanding the Timing and Tempo of the Evolution of Political Centralization on the Central Andean Coastline and Beyond; B.R. Billman. 10. `Who Was King? Who was NOT King?' Social Group Composition and Competition in Early Mesopotamian State Societies; G. Stein. V: Conclusion. 11. Nonlinear Paths of Political Centralization; J. Haas. References. Index.

"[...]contains nine high-quality essays by well-known archaeologists, who discuss considerable amounts of data from various regions in the world and attendant literature on the interpretation of cultural sequences and social/political change." (Journal of Anthropological Research, 58, 2002)