Political disintegration is a persistent feature of world history. The Collapse of Complex Societies, though written by an archaeologist, will therefore strike a chord throughout the social sciences. Any explanation of societal collapse carries lessons not just for the study of ancient societies, but for the members of all such societies in both the present and future. Dr. Tainter describes nearly two dozen cases of collapse and reviews more than 2000 years of explanations. He then develops a new and far-reaching theory that accounts for collapse among diverse kinds of societies, evaluating his model and clarifying the processes of disintegration by detailed studies of the Roman, Mayan and Chacoan collapses.

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Format: TradePaperback
Author: Tainter, Joseph
ISBN: 9780521386739
Condition: Used
Dimensions: 9.50 x 0.70
Number Of Pages: 262
Publication Year: 1990

Collapse of Complex Societies 1ed

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