An edition of The collapse of complex societies (1988)

The collapse of complex societies

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Cover of: The collapse of complex societies by Joseph A. Tainter.
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Last edited by MARC Bot
November 4, 2020 | History
Edit
An edition of The collapse of complex societies (1988)

The collapse of complex societies

by

  • ★★★★ 4.00 ·
  • 1 Rating
  • 45 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 2 Have read

A survey of complex (post-hunter-gatherer, hierarchical) societies and their collapse, and the various theories proposed to account for collapse. The author develops his own theory based on the increasing cost of managing complexity that acheives decreasing marginal benefits.

Publish Date
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Language
English
Pages
250

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Previews available in: English

Subjects
Ancient Civilization, Civilization, Comparative civilization, Philosophy, Archaeology
Places
The Roman Empire, Mayan Civilization, Chacoan Civilization

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Edition Availability
Cover of: The Collapse of complex societies
The Collapse of complex societies
1990, Cambridge University Press
in English
Libraries near you: WorldCat
Cover of: The collapse of complex societies.
The collapse of complex societies.
1990, Cambridge University Press
in English
Libraries near you: WorldCat
Cover of: The collapse of complex societies
The collapse of complex societies
1988, Cambridge University Press
Hardback in English
  • Not in Library
Libraries near you: WorldCat

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Book Details

Table of Contents

Figures Page xi
Tables Page xii
Acknowledgements Page xiii
1. Introduction to collapse Page 1 What is collapse? Page 4 Collapse in history Page 5 After collapse Page 18 2. The nature of complex societies Page 22 Introduction Page 39 What collapses? More on definitions Page 39 Classification of theories Page 42 Framework of discussion Page 43 Resource depletion Page 44 New resources Page 51 Catastrophes Page 52 Insufficient response to circumstances Page 54 Other complex societies Page 61 Intruders Page 61 Conflict/contradictions/mismanagment Page 64 Social dysfunction Page 73 Mystical factors Page 74 Chance concatenation of events Page 86 Economic explanations Page 86 Summary and discussion Page 86 4. Understanding collapse: the marginal productivity of sociopolitical change Page 91 The marginal productivity of increasing complexity Page 93 Explaning declineing marginal returns in complex societies Page 109 Explaining collapse Page 118 Alternatives to collapse Page 123 5. Evaluation: complexity and marginal returns in collapsing societies Page 127 The colapse of the Western Roman Empire Page 128 The Classic Maya collapse Page 152 The Chacoan collapse Page 178 Evaluation Page 187 Conclusions Page 191 6. Summary and implications Page 193 References Page 217 Index Page 243

Edition Notes

Bibliography: p. 217-242.
Includes index.

Published in
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, New York
Series
New studies in archaeology

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
930
Library of Congress
CB311 .T245 1988

The Physical Object

Format
Hardback
Pagination
xiv, 250 p.
Number of pages
250
Weight
620 grams

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL2738665M
Internet Archive
collapsecomplexs00tain
ISBN 10
0521340926
LCCN
86033432
Library Thing
17449
Goodreads
3786461

Source records

Scriblio MARC record
Ithaca College Library MARC record
OpenLibraries-Trent-MARCs record
Internet Archive item record
Internet Archive item record
marc_openlibraries_sanfranciscopubliclibrary MARC record
Better World Books record
Library of Congress MARC record

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November 4, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
August 18, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
July 15, 2019 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
July 7, 2019 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user Imported from Scriblio MARC record