Summary and Conclusions

Abstract

This study has examined the relationship between the availability of resources in a region, the ways in which human beings exploit those resources, and the effects of these patterns of exploitation on human organization. It proposed that social structure should be more complex when larger groups of people come together more regularly and stay together longer, and that larger, more regular, and longer human aggregations should occur when resources are abundant and concentrated predictably at a small set of locations within a region. Greater complexity under these circumstances should be required to mediate group decisions and provide more effective social control.