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A Reappraisal of the Roles of Technology and Organization in the Origin of Civilization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Robert L. Carneiro
Robert L. Carneiro*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History
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Abstract

The view that technological advance was the prime cause of the early civilizations is examined and rejected. Instead, it is argued that civilization was an organizational solution to specific social and ecological problems. Even where technology gave an impetus to the rise of civilization, it can be shown that the tools or weapons involved were themselves developed in response to societal demands. Thus, the invention of the steam engine, which led to the Industrial Revolution, can be traced back to the need by feudal states in Europe to cope with a severe shortage of labor. This interpretation is presented, not as a repudiation of cultural materialism, but as an elaboration on it.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 39 , Issue 2Part1 , April 1974 , pp. 179 - 186
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1974

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