Archaeology of State Origins
Code: 106878 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Archaeology | OP | 3 |
Contact
- Name:
- Rafael Mico Perez
- Email:
- rafael.mico@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites are needed
Objectives and Contextualisation
The most relevant proposals regarding the State as a historical phenomenon in itself and, also, as a category of social analysis will be presented and debated.
The contents of the course are structured in two parts:
1. Theories of the State in Western philosophical thought. The concept of "State" will be reviewed over time, in order to expose and critically evaluate the most influential philosophical models within the framework of the tradition of Western thought. In parallel, its respective influence on archaeological discipline will be emphasized.
2. Archeology of the State. The key issue of State formation will be approached from the archaeological and, secondarily, anthropological research. From this perspective, the conditions and mechanisms that triggered the formation of the State in different times and regions of the world will be analyzed.
Learning Outcomes
- CM18 (Competence) Identify social, economic and environmental impact in the past and present of the different processes of change that occurred in prehistory based on a critical evaluation of the archaeological evidence from different periods and geographical areas.
- CM19 (Competence) Expose the participation of women in the prehistoric societies of Africa, Eurasia and America and the social construction of gender relations and the sexual division of labour.
- KM28 (Knowledge) Defend the contributions and implications of the main theoretical proposals of archaeology (traditional, processual, post-processual, feminist, Marxist archaeologies) on the societies of the different periods of the prehistory of Africa, Eurasia and America.
- KM29 (Knowledge) Chronologically arrange the appearance of different architectural types, the main complexes of lithic industry, and the most relevant ceramic, archaeozoological and archaeobotanical assemblages of European prehistory.
- KM30 (Knowledge) Characterise the main historical processes of prehistoric societies in relation to paleoenvironmental and social effects, identifying the contributions of recent archaeological research to previous knowledge.
- KM31 (Knowledge) Recognise androcentric biases in representations and dissemination of prehistory to develop inclusive analyses that recognise the roles of women and sexual division.
- SM30 (Skill) Critically analyse prehistoric societies to identify inference processes, the biases of the different theoretical models and the potential and limitations of existing records.
- SM31 (Skill) Synthesise the contribution of different factors to the processes of social change and environmental impact in the different periods of prehistory, especially European.
- SM32 (Skill) Produce hypotheses about periods of the prehistory of Africa, Eurasia and America from the recognition, critical interpretation and synthesis of records from archaeological projects.
Content
Part I: Theories of the State in Western Philosophical Thought
- Politics and government in the classical world: Plato and Aristotle.
- Christian thought: Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas.
- Machiavelli and the modern theory of the State: technologies of power.
- The modern conception of the State: Hobbes and radical individualism; Locke and the liberal emergence; Rousseau, assembly and social contract.
- Evolutionism and Civilization.
- The Marxist theory of the State: Marx, Engels, and Lenin.
- The anarchist critique of the State: Bakunin.
Part II: Archaeology of the State: Case Studies
- The formation of the State in Egypt.
- The formation of the State in the Yellow River.
- Cahokia: chiefdom or civilization?
- Violence and the formation and maintenance of States.
- Writing and the State.
- Other case studies: “complexity” without States, societies “against” States.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Theoretical classes | 50 | 2 | CM18, CM19, KM28, KM30, KM31, SM30, SM32, CM18 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Practical classroom-based workshops | 10 | 0.4 | CM19, KM28, KM30, KM31, SM32, CM19 |
The subject consists of theoretical and seminary classes.
-In the theoretical classes the central contents of the syllabus will be taught, linking the different theoretical proposals from political thought with the central archaeological problem around the formation and development of classist societies with state political organization. The treatment of the topics will be accompanied by the critical exposure of case studies corresponding to different times and regions of the world.
-The seminars will discuss the most relevant theoretical and methodological aspects related to the subject contents.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short texts for discussion | 10 | 10 | 0.4 | CM19, KM28, KM31 |
| Text commentary | 40 | 30 | 1.2 | CM19, KM28, KM31 |
| Written test | 50 | 50 | 2 | CM18, CM19, KM28, KM29, KM30, KM31, SM30, SM31, SM32 |
- A text commentary, related to the subjects included in Part i.
- Short texts for discussion.
- Written test related to the case studies reviewed in Part II..
Resit: written test on the contents reviewed in this subject.
Single evaluation procedure allowed: text commentary and written test.
Bibliography
Handbooks
BOBBIO, N.
(1987), La teoría de las formas de gobierno en la historia del pensamiento político. Fondo de Cultura Económica, México.
LULL, V. & MICÓ, R.
(2007), Arqueología del Origen del Estado. Las Teorías. Ed. Bellaterra. Barcelona.
SABINE, G. H.
(1996), Historia de la teoría política. Fondo de Cultura Económica, México.
TOUCHARD, J.
(1996), Historia de las ideas políticas. Tecnos, Madrid.
Selected titles
ARISTOTLE
(1970), Política. Centro de Estudios Constitucionales, Madrid.
BAKUNIN, M.
(1978), Escritos de filosofía política. Alianza editorial, Madrid.
BINFORD, L.
(1988), En busca del pasado. Crítica, Barcelona.
CASTRO, P., GILI, S., LULL, V., MICÓ, R., RIHUETE, C., RISCH, R. & SANAHUJA YLL, Mª E.
(2001), “Teoría de la producción de la vida social. Un análisis de los mecanismos de explotación en el sudeste peninsular”, Astigi Vetus, 1, pp. 13-54.
CHAPMAN, R. W.
(2010), Arqueologías de la complejidad. Bellaterra, Barcelona.
CHILDE, V. G.
(1950), “The urban revolution”, Town Planning Review, 21, pp. 3-17.
CHILDE, V. G.
(1984), Los orígenes de la civilización. Fondo de Cultura Económica, México.
CHOMSKY, N. & DIETERICH, H.
(1997), La aldea global. Txalaparta, Tafalla.
ENGELS, F.
(1975), El Origen de la Familia, la Propiedad Privada y el Estado. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, La Habana.
FEINMAN, G. & MARCUS, J. (eds.)
(1998), Archaic States, School of American Research, Santa Fe.
FLANNERY, K.
(1975), La evolución cultural de las civilizaciones. Anagrama, Barcelona.
FRIED, M.
(1985), “Sobre la evolución de la estratificación social y del Estado”, a LLOBERA, J. R. (ed.) Antropología Política. Anagrama, Barcelona, pp. 133-154.
GLEDHILL, J., BENDER, B. & LARSEN, M. T. (eds.)
(1988), State and Society. The Emergence and Development of Social Hierarchy and Political Centralization. Unwin Hyman, Londres.
GODELIER, M.
(1974), Esquemas de evolución de las sociedades. Castellote, Madrid.
HAAS, J., ed.
(2001), From Leaders to Rulers, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, Nova York.
HARRIS, M.
(1978), Caníbales y Reyes. Argos-Vergara, Barcelona.
HEGEL, G. W. F.
(1993), Fundamentos de la filosofía del derecho. Ediciones Libertarias/Prodhufi, Madrid.
HOBBES, T.
(1991), Del ciudadano y Leviatán. Tecnos, Madrid.
LENIN, V. I.
(1976), El Estado y la revolución. Anagrama, Barcelona.
LOCKE, J.
(1985), Ensayo sobre el gobierno civil. Orbis, Barcelona.
MACCHIAVELLI, N.
(1981), El Príncipe (comentado por Napoleón Bonaparte). Espasa-Calpe Mexicana, México.
MARX, K.
(1975), “Crítica del Programa de Gotha”, en Marx y Engels. Obras escogidas. Vol. II. Akal, Madrid, pp. 5-30.
MARX, K.
(1989 [1857]), “Introducción” a las Grundrisse”. Annex a Contribución a la crítica de la economía política. Progreso, Moscú.
MARX, K.
(1979), Formaciones económicas precapitalistas. Estudi preliminar de E. Hobsbawn. Crítica, Barcelona.
MICÓ, R.
(2020), "Physical Violence, Public Violence: Searching for Mechanisms of Social Domination", Culture & History Digital Journal, 9 (1).
MORGAN, L. H.
(1987), La sociedad primitiva. Endymion, Madrid.
PLATO
(1973), La República o El Estado. Espasa-Calpe, Madrid.
PRICE, T. D. & FEINMAN, G. M. (eds.)
(1995), Foundations of Social Inequality, Plenum Press, Nueva York/Londres.
ROUSSEAU, J.-J.
(1985), El contrato social. Edaf, Madrid.
ROUSSEAU, J.-J.
(1996), Discurso sobre el origen de la desigualdad de los hombres. Alba, Madrid.
SERVICE, E.
(1984), Los Orígenes del Estado y de la Civilización. Alianza, Madrid.
SMITH, A. T.
(2003), The Political Landscape. Constellations of Authority inEarly ComplexPolities, University of California Press, Berkeley / Los Ángeles.
THOMAS AQUINAS
(1995), La monarquía. Tecnos, Madrid.
WASON, P. K.
(1994), The archaeology of rank. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Software
No specialised software is required
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | Catalan/Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan/Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |