New study reveals wealth inequality was never inevitable

Summary

A groundbreaking study published in the journal PNAS is overturning traditional wisdom regarding the origins and inevitability of wealth inequality. Based on a massive dataset of over 50,000 houses in some 1,000 archaeological sites worldwide, the study suggests that economic inequality is not an inevitable result of societal advancement, agriculture, or population. Instead, it seems to be a consequence of political choices and governance structures.Led by Gary Feinman, the MacArthur Curator of Mesoamerican, Central American, and East Asian Anthropology at the Field Museum in Chicago, the study uses house size as a proxy for household wealth to estimate Gini coefficients—a standard measure of inequality—for societies that encompass 10,000 years of human history and six continents. The research is linked to the Global Dynamics of Inequality (GINI) project, which aims to understand the historical roots and trajectories of social disparities.“This is an unprecedented dataset in archaeology,” Feinman said. “It allows us to empirically and systematically look at patterns of inequality over time.” The study analyzed settlements built between the end of the Pleistocene and the onset of European colonialism, across North America and Mesoamerica, Europe, and Asia. By comparing the variability in house sizes, scientists could compare the degree of inequality in each society and how it related to population size and political complexity.Three excavated Classic period (ca. 550–750 CE) houses at El Palmillo (Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico). Bottom: the largest and most elaborate residential structure (Platform 11). Top right: a less elaborate residence (Structure 35). Top Left: a smaller residence (Terrace 925). Credit: Linda Nicholas and Gary Feinman.Contrary to the conventional narrative—that inequality inevitably rises when societies grow larger, adopt formal leadership, or begin farming—the study found that inequality levels varied greatly across time and space. “There are a lot o...