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The emergence of State Level Societies in Mesoamerica
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Theoretical Explanations of the Emergence of State Level Societies in Mesoamerica
The dynamic nature of cultural systems makes it inevitable for societies and traditions to transform in terms of the collective behavior of people under a complex set of rules. Cultural evolution occurs through long-term vital changes following the accumulation of subtle but specific transformations across various daily practices. The emergence of state-level societies in ancient Mesoamerica at the end of the pre-classic transitioning into the classic period was manifested through the reduction of village level chiefdoms. The Mesoamerican people that resided in or near major cities were influenced by the urban lifestyle and assimilated the characteristics as cultural protocols. A dichotomous system was created between urban and rural ways of life.
Gordon Childe proposed the theory of state emergency which was founded on some degree of archeological evidence unlike other theoretical models of the time. According to Childe, the most significant influencing state emergency is the contribution of agriculture especially as proven by the early archeological evidence of the Near East (the Fertile Crescent in modern day Iraq). Childe believed that the earliest areas of occupation that indicated agricultural practices were linked to the floodplains of the Euphrates and Tigris river drainage systems. The Neolithic Revolution was caused by the corresponding effects of agriculture across the existing human systems in Mesoamerica (Findlay, 2017).

Robert Braidwood (1960) concurred with Childe in acknowledging the role of agriculture in the establishment of stratified and complex societies. Braidwood spent considerably more time than Childe on conducting actual archeological excavations that enabled direct testing of hypotheses. Braidwood believed that the archeological evidence of the Near East was not sufficient to support the location of early agricultural sites near river floodplains. According to Braidwood, the original agricultural sites were located in the foothills of the Zagros-Taurus Mountains. In Braidwood’s theoretical view, the transition to state societies unfolded gradually and incrementally as opposed to Childe’s Neolithic Revolution theory (Findlay, 2017). The above theories by these scholars make it possible to understand the gradual transformation of agricultural societies to political states. Through activities like agriculture and farming, it was easy to transform rural landscapes into urban terrains. And these theories altogether hold water in defining how this transformation occurred over a historic period of time.
References
Findlay, M.S. (2017). Cultural Traditions of Ancient Mesoamerica: An Introduction. Chico, CA.