От вождества к раннему государству: Некоторые промежуточные итоги перманентной дискуссии
From chiefdom to Early State: Some interim results of permanent discussion

Summary/Abstract: The article summarizes the ongoing discussion on the transition from chiefdom to early state. The author notes that the concept of the chiefdom, although known since the 1970s, is still not widely used among Russian historians, remaining primarily within the purview of ethnologists and archaeologists. A chiefdom is defined as a form of sociopolitical organization between egalitarian communities and the state, characterized by inequality and the leader’s power but lacking a bureaucratic apparatus. The article examines the evolution of complex societies through two main strategies: hierarchical (or network, leading to statehood) and heterarchical (corporate). It emphasizes that state formation is a complex, multivariate process influenced by ecology, population growth, warfare, technological innovations (especially military), and external factors. The specific case of nomadic empires, which could achieve large sizes without a developed bureaucracy, is separately addressed. The author criticizes the search for universal state criteria and, following the example of terms like «Neolithization» and «Bronzization», proposes to speak of «civilization as a process» — a long and uneven cumulative accumulation of various features (urbanization, writing, monumental architecture) in different regions. In conclusion, the articles in the thematic section focusing on European cases (barbarian kingdoms, Sarmatians, Rus’, Lithuania) are analyzed, highlighting the heuristic value of the concepts of chiefdom and heterarchy.

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