268 CHAPTER 11 | The Emergence of Cities and States
(250 miles) in a single day over a network of roads and
bridges that remains impressive even today.
Considering the complexity of the Inca civilization, it
is surprising that they had no known form of conventional
writing. Instead, public records and historical chronicles
were maintained through an ingenious coding system of
colored strings with knots.
Social Stratification
The rise of large, economically diversified populations
presided over by centralized governing authorities brought
with it the fourth cultural change characteristic of civi-
lization: social stratification, or the emergence of social
classes. For example, symbols of special status and privi-
lege appeared in the ancient cities of Mesopotamia, where
people were ranked according to the kind of work they did
or the family into which they were born.
People who stood at or near the head of government
were the earliest holders of high status. Although specialists
of one sort or another—metalworkers, tanners, traders, or
the like—generally outranked farmers, such specialization
did not necessarily bring with it high status. Rather, people
engaged in these kinds of economic activities were either
members of the lower classes or outcasts.^11 Merchants in
these societies could sometimes buy their way into a higher
class. With time, the possession of wealth and the influence
it could buy became in itself a requisite for high status, as it
is in some contemporary cultures.
Archaeologists know that different social classes ex-
isted in ancient civilizations through evidence of laws and
other written documents, as well as archaeological features
including dwelling size and location. Social stratification is
also revealed by burial customs. Graves excavated at early
Neolithic sites are mostly simple pits dug in the ground,
containing few, if any, grave goods. Grave goods consist of
objects such as utensils, figurines, and personal possessions,
symbolically placed in the grave for the deceased person’s
use in the afterlife. Early Neolithic grave sites reveal little
variation, indicating essentially classless societies. Graves
excavated in civilizations, by contrast, vary widely in size,
mode of burial, and the number and variety of grave goods.
This reflects a stratified society, divided into social classes.
The graves of important people contain not only various ar-
tifacts made from precious materials, but sometimes, as in
some early Egyptian burials, the remains of servants who
were evidently killed to serve their master in the afterlife.
Skeletons from the burials may also provide evidence
of stratification. Age at death as well as presence of certain
capital of his empire, he issued a set of laws now known
as the Code of Hammurabi, notable for its thorough detail
and standardization. It prescribed the correct form for le-
gal procedures and determined penalties for perjury and
false accusation. It contained laws applying to property
rights, loans and debts, family rights, and even damages
paid for malpractice by a physician. It defined fixed rates
to be charged in various trades and branches of commerce
and mechanisms to protect the poor, women, children,
and slaves against injustice.
Officials ordered the code publicly displayed on huge
stone slabs so that no one could plead ignorance. Even the
poorest citizens were supposed to know their rights and re-
sponsibilities. Distinct social classes were clearly reflected
in the code (“rule of law” does not necessarily mean “equal-
ity before the law”). For example, if an aristocrat put out
the eye of a fellow aristocrat, the law required that his own
eye be put out in turn; hence, the saying “an eye for an eye.”
However, if the aristocrat put out the eye of a commoner,
the punishment was simply a payment of silver.^10
While some civilizations flourished under a single
ruler with extraordinary governing abilities, other civiliza-
tions possessed a widespread governing bureaucracy that
was very efficient at every level. The government of the
Inca empire is one such example.
The Inca civilization of Peru and its surrounding
territories reached its peak 500 years ago, just before the ar-
rival of the Spanish invaders. By 1525, it stretched 4,000
kilometers (2,500 miles) from north to south and 800 kilo-
meters (500 miles) from east to west, making it one of the
largest empires at the time. Its population, which numbered
in the millions, was composed of people of many different
ethnic groups. In the achievements of its government and
political system, Inca civilization surpassed every other civ-
ilization of the Americas and most of those of Eurasia. An
emperor, regarded as the divine son of the Sun God, headed
the government. Under him came the royal family, the aris-
tocracy, imperial administrators, and lower nobility, and be-
low them the masses of artisans, craftspeople, and farmers.
The empire was divided into four administrative re-
gions, further subdivided into provinces, and so on down
to villages and families. Government agricultural and
tax officials closely supervised farming activities such as
planting, irrigation, and harvesting. Teams of professional
relay runners could carry messages up to 400 kilometers
(^10) Moscati, S. (1962). The face of the ancient orient (p. 90). New York:
Doubleday.
(^11) Sjoberg, G. (1960). The preindustrial city (p. 325). New York: Free Press.
grave goods Items such as utensils, figurines, and personal
possessions, symbolically placed in the grave for the deceased
person’s use in the afterlife.