This book examines the role of factional competition in the evolution of political systems in the ancient New World. It analyzes how competing factions within local groups and between regions sparked the emergence of social inequality changing patterns of chiefly authority, the formation and expansion of states, and the rise of institutional specialization. The contributors isolate the sources of factional competition in the kinship and political structures of New World societies.

They explore the opportunities and constraints presented by different mediums of competition such as feasting, gift-giving, and warfare, and analyze the relationship of factional competition to class struggle, ethnic identity, and resource shortages. They also define the evidence left by factional competition in the archaeological record. Recognizing the multiplicity of factions and interests that existed in prehistoric societies, the contributors suggest that theories of strict systemic or structural causality are inadequate for the analysis of social change.

Instead, they offer studies that integrate agent-centered and system-centered views. The new insights into premodern political systems, the dynamics of social change, and the evolution of social complexity in the New World will interest archaeologists, anthropologists, political scientists, and historians.