Module 11 - AGRARIAN SOCIETIES

1.  SIMPLE AGRARIAN SOCIETIES

• Exhibit: First agrarian state civilizations  (Chirot 1994: p. x)

(Note that New World societies, Peru and Mesoamerica, shown in the previous exhibit are not technically considered agrarian societies according the typology of societies used in the course, since they do not use the plow.) 

1.  Technology

• better control of weeds
• bringing back leached nutrients to the surface
  Exhibit: How the plow brings leached nutrients back to the surface
• harnessing animal power (oxen), from which...
• manure is produced, which can be used as fertilizer

The adoption of plow-based agriculture will literally "change the landscape" (see second exhibit below).  

• Exhibit: Early Egyptian ox-drawn plow  (HS 6th edition Figure 7.1 p. 159)
• Exhibit: Peasant using traditional plow in Iran  (HS Figure p. 173)

Adoption of the plow led to greater productivity of labor and a tremendous expansion of the surplus (production in excess of what is needed to keep farmers alive and productive), with momentous social consequences. 

2.  Ideology

• religion justifies the exploitation of the surplus (through sacrifices and tributes)
• religion leads to invention of writing (originally for purpose of temple accounting)
  Exhibit: Temple of Luxor in Egypt, about 1400 BC  (HS Figure p. 156)

3.  Population

There is growth in the size of communities and societies, often through conquest.

• Exhibit: Egyptian soldiers attacking a fortress, ca. 1940 BC  (HS 6th edition, Figure 7.3 p. 162)
• Exhibit: King Narmer vanquishing an enemy  (HS Figure p. 157) 

4.  Polity: Growth of the State

With respect to the polity there is

• a decline in role of kinship ties (as kinship is no longer adequate as an organizing principle of larger and more complex agrarian societies)
• the emergence of government bureaucracies staffed by scribes
  Exhibit: Organizational chart of government of Egypt  (HS Figure 7.2 p. 159)
• the emergence of professional armies, because:
• men now cultivate the fields
• societies are larger so wars take longer (see next exhibit)
  Exhibit: How larger societies entail longer wars
• larger surplus can support a specialized (non-productive) class of soldiers
•  first formal legal systems (replacing the use of blood revenge by relatives) to incorporate of diverse populations.  EX: Code of Hammurabi ca. 1,800 BC in Babylon

Q - Which modern "state" still has a (foreign) professional army?

5.  Economy: First Monetary Systems & Growth of Trade

• monetary system: standard medium of exchange (based first on grain, later on metallic currencies).  Q - Why is exchange based on money more efficient than barter?
• consequences of expansion of trade:
• emergence of a merchant class
• increased division of labor
• an increase in individualism?

6.  Stratification: Increasing Inequality

1. Governing class vs. the mass
2. Urban minority vs. peasant majority
3. Literate minority vs. illiterate majority

7.  Slowdown in Rate of Technological Innovation

• Exhibit: Quotation from V. Gordon Childe  (HS pp. 162-163)

The slowdown in innovation may be due to the exploitative nature and high level of inequality of the stratification system of simple agrarian societies, so that

• peasants: have no incentive for innovation due to exploitation
• elites: have no technological expertise & conquest constitutes a more effective means of increasing wealth
• Exhibit: Model of the causes of the decline in the rate of technological innovation (HS Figure 7.3 p. 163)

Q - Which of the following trends are consequences of the shift from horticulture to agriculture?

• greater involvement of men in farming
• fields kept continuously under cultivation
• the growth of urban population
• expansion of the surplus

• declining trade?
• declining birth rates among the elite?
• an increasing store of cultural information?
• the nature of the stratification system?
• increasing birth rates among the peasants?

2.  ADVANCED AGRARIAN SOCIETIES

Advanced agrarian societies are marked by the invention of iron metallurgy.   Examples are ancient Rome, Western European societies until about 1750, colonial America 

1.  Technology: Iron Smelting

• ca. 1,400 BC: iron smelting developed by Hittites of Asia Minor
• ca. 1,200 BC: diffusion of technique begins
• ca. 800 BC: iron used for common tools

• cast iron (2.5% to 3.5% carbon) is too brittle
• wrought iron (no carbon) is too soft
• steel (after putting back some carbon -- .25% to 1.25%) is just fine for making "cutting, chopping, piercing, or slashing" tools

• Exhibit: Early ore smelter  (Purcell 1982: pp. 186-187)  (Q - Why will this ore smelter not work as described?  Hint: Look at the blower.)

The greater availability of metal will permit greater use of tools such as saws (which cannot be made of stone), with further consequences such as the ability to make wheeled vehicles.

• Exhibit: Bronze saw  (Purcell 1982: p. 189
• Exhibit: How to make a wheel out of a log  (Purcell 1982: p. 206)
• Exhibit: Potter's wheel  (Purcell 1982: p. 191)
  (Oldest potter's wheel was found in Ur, Mesopotamia, dated ca 3250 BC)
• Exhibit: Earliest depiction of wheeled vehicle (Purcell 1982: p. 204)   The oldest picture of a wheeled cart, found in Uruk, Mesopotamia, dated ca 3000 BC; oldest actual vehicle dated ca 2700 BC.  However, it is conjectured that the wheel was invented earlier, ca. 4,000 BC. 

2.  Population: Continuing Trends

• size of societies & cities increases (due to improved productivity & empire building through conquest)
• high birth rate -- ca. 40 birth per 1,000 population per year (due to value of children as assets)
• high death rate -- ca. 40 deaths per 1,000 population per year from:
• unsanitary towns
• plagues (EX:  the Black Plague ca. 1350 killed 1/4 to 1/2 of the population of Europe)
• famines (often local or regional, as food cannot easily be brought in from the outside because of poor transportation technology)

3.  Economy: Increasing Differentiation

Rural sector:

• characterized as a command (versus market) economy
• high degree of inequality
  Exhibit: Structure of rural exploitation  (HS Figure 7.4 p. 172)

Urban sector:

• rarely more than 10% of population)
• increasing division of labor & specialization
  Exhibit: Occupations of householders in 1385 Barcelona  (HS Table 7.2 p. 171)

Q - What is a huckster, a scrivener, a currier (not courier)?

4.  Polity: Development of the State

• the proprietary theory of the State (the State viewed as "personal property" of ruler)
• high concentration of income (in most agrarian societies, ruler + governing class -- less than 2% population, receive 50% of income or more)
• high level of conflict within elite (EX: of 79 Roman emperors, 31 were murdered, 6 driven to suicide, 4 deposed forcibly)

5.  Religion: Emergence of Universal Faiths

•  Christianity (Catholicism)
•  Buddhism
•  Islam
• Exhibit: Major agrarian civilizations in about 1500 AD  (Chirot 1994: p. xi)

 Why do these universal faiths emerge in the advanced agrarian era?

Clues from Catholicism:

• etymology of Catholicism, from kata ¢olos:
• kata =  "for", "over"
• holos =  "the whole"
• Emperor Constantine's motto In Hoc Signo Vinces (meaning?)
• competition among cults in Roman Empire (EX: the cult of Mithra, of Persian origin and restricted to men, as seen in cross-section of Italian church)
  Exhibit: Cross-section of an Italian church illustrating the succession of universal cults in the Roman Empire

Possible causes favoring the spread of universal faiths:

• broader outlook from expanding trade relations (EX: the Temple of the Unknown God in ancient Rome)
• role of universal faith in unifying diverse populations (EX: Constantine's conversion)
• Exhibit: Christianization of Europe (Davies 1996: p. 1236).  Find out where your ancestors come from, and how late they remained pagan!

Despite the spread of universal faiths, there is a persistence of:

• belief in magic
• fatalism & preoccupation with death

6.  Leisure & The Arts

• Exhibit: Gladiators (HS 7th edition p. 215)  

7.  Stratification

• growing complexity, manifested as:
• more intermediate-status occupations (EX: merchants, artisans)
• more overlap in rankings according to wealth/property (EX: some merchants wealthier than some members of governing class)
• high degree of inequality
• Exhibit: Class structure of advanced agrarian societies (HS Figure 7.5 p. 190)

Q - Which of the following are innovations of agrarian societies?

• bureaucratic religious and government organizations
• warfare
• universal religions
• legal codes
• professional armies
• slavery
• monetary systems

8.  Variation Among Agrarian Societies

•  proximity to trade routes favors greater development (EX: the Middle East during most of the Agrarian Era, and later Western Europe)

• frontier societies created by expansion into sparsely inhabited lands have distinct characteristics (EX: early North America):
• land is abundant
• people are scarce
• as a result, frontier societies are at first more egalitarian than other agrarian societies
• Exhibit: Early modern political systems (Davies 1996 p. 1265)

In the United States, development of a typical "agrarian" pattern of high inequality was well under way, especially in the South, and was only prevented by the onset of industrialization in late 19th century.

Q - In what ways did frontier societies of the agrarian era differ from more typical agrarian societies?