Rise and fall of political complexity in island South-East Asia and the Pacific

Nature • Vol/Iss. 467(7317) • Macmillan • • Published In • Pages: 801-804 •
By Currie, Thomas E., Greenhill, Simon J. , Gray, Russell D. , Hasegawa, Toshikazu, Mace, Ruth

Abstract

Using phylogenetic modeling, the researchers test hypotheses for different sequences of political complexity among South-East Asian and Pacific Austronesian-speaking cultures. The research adds to an existing debate between sequential, incremental political evolution models and non-sequential models with larger increases in complexity. The results suggest support for a more sequential unilinear model.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
Ethnographic Atlas (EA)Other researchers'Classification of political organization

Hypotheses (6)

HypothesisSupported
Political evolution followed a rectilinear sequence of incremental steps in the direction of increasing complexity.Not Supported
Political evolution followed a unilinear sequence of incremental steps in the direction of increasing complexity.Supported
Political evolution followed a relaxed unilinear sequence of incremental steps in the direction of increasing complexity.Mostly Supported
Political evolution followed a non-sequential "alternative trajectories" model of increasing complexity.Not Supported
Political evolution followed a non-sequential "reversible alternative trajectories" model of increasing complexity.Not Supported
Political evolution followed an entirely "full" non-sequential model of increasing complexity.Not Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By:  Benjamin.gonzalez