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READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading
Passage I on pages 2 and 3.
Categorizing societies
When research scholars, including archaeologists and anthropologists, study
societies past or present, it can be very useful to have a system of ranking against
which to test their ideas. A four fold categorizing system was developed by the
American anthropologist Elman Service; each grouping is associated with certain
types of site and settlement. The four types are known as bands, tribes, chiefdoms
and early states.
Bands
These are small-scale societies, generally of fewer than 100 people, who live by hunting and
gathering, moving seasonally to take advantage of wild (undomesticated) food sources.
Most groups who live in this way today, such as the Hadza of Tanzania or the San of
southern Africa, would be classified as bands. The members of one band are generally
related to each other, either by descent or by marriage, Bands lack formal leaders, so that
there are no clear economic differences or other differences in status among the members,
Because bands are composed of mobile groups, their sites consist mainly of seasonally
occupied camps, and some other sites, such as work sites, where tools are made or other
specific activities are carried out Archaeological sites associated with this type of society
may show
Tribes
These are generally larger than bands, but rarely number more than a few thousand people,
whose diet is mainly based on plants or domestic animals. Typically, these people are settled
farmers, but for some groups life is nomadic, with a mobile economy based on herds of
animals. Although some tribes have officials, these lack the economic base necessary for
effective use of power. The typical settlement pattern for tribes is one of permanent
agricultural homesteads or villages. Characteristically, no one settlement dominates any of
the others in the region. Instead, the archaeologist often finds evidence of isolated,
permanently occupied houses, or permanent villages. These latter may be made up of a
collection of free-standing houses like those of the first farmers of the Danube
Valley in Europe, or their houses may be grouped together, as in the pueblos of the
American southwest, or the early farming village of Catalhoyiik in what is now Turkey.
Chiefdoms
These operate on the principle of ranking - differences in social status between people.
Different lineages (groups claiming descent from a common ancestor) are graded on a scale
of prestige, and the senior lineage, and hence the society as a whole, is governed by a chief.
Prestige and rank are determined by how closely related one is to the chief, and there is no
true stratification into classes. The role of the chief is crucial.
Often, there is local specialization in craft products such as pottery, cloth and leatherware,
and any surplus of these and of foodstuffs is periodically paid to the chief, He uses these to
pay his retainers, and may also redistribute them to his subjects as rewards. The chiefdom
generally has a centre of power, often with temples, residences of the chief and his retainers,
and craft specialists, Chiefdoms vary greatly in size, but the range is generally between 5,000
and 20,000 persons Chiefdoms give indications that some sites were more important than
others, and may have operated as permanent ritual and ceremonial centres, although they
were not centres with an established bureaucracy. Examples are Moundville in Alabama USA,
or the late Neolithic monuments of Wessex in southern Britain, including the famous
ceremonial centre of Stonehenge.
Early states
These preserve many of the features of chiefdoms, but the ruler, perhaps a king or queen,
has explicit authority to establish laws and to enforce them by the use of a standing army.
The society no longer depends on kin relationships, but is stratified into different classes.
Agricultural workers and the poorer urban dwellers make up the base of the pyramid, with
the craft specialists above them and the priests and relatives of the ruler higher still. The
society is regarded as a territory owned by the ruling lineage, and populated by tenants who
have the obligation to pay taxes. The central capital houses the officials of a bureaucratic
administration, One of their main functions is to collect revenue (often in the form of taxes
and tolls) and distribute it to government, army and craft specialists. Many early states
developed complex distribution systems to support these essential services.
Early state societies show a characteristic settlement pattern in which cities play the
predominant part, The city is typically a large population centre, often of more than 5,000
people, with major public buildings, and often there is a pronounced settlement hierarchy
with the capital city as the major centre, and subsidiary or regional centres as well as local
villages.
Certainly, it would be wrong to overemphasize the importance of the four types of society
given above, or to spend too long agonising as to whether a particular society should be
classified in one category or another, However, in seeking to talk about early societies, we
must use words and hence concepts to do so, Elman Service's categories provide us with a
good framework to organize our thoughts. They should not, however, deflect us from
focusing on changes over time in the different institutions of a society, whether in the social
sphere, the organisation of the food quest, technology, contact and exchange, or the
spiritual life.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1. There is usually little difference in wealth between the various members of a band.
2. In tribes, farmers typically grow a wide range of food plants.
3. A typical tribe has one settlement which is.more important than others.
4. In a chiefdom, social status usually depends on the amount of land a person
owns
5. A chiefdom typically contains some workers who are engaged in making goods.
6. An early state may depend on military power to maintain law and order
7. Bureaucratic officials in early states receive higher salaries than any other workers
Questions 8-13
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for
each answer
Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.
8. What items do bands produce at work sites?
9. Which way of life, apart from settled farming, may be followed by people in tribes?
10. How were houses arranged in the village of Catalhayak?
11. Which items, apart from craft goods, may be given by a chief to members of his
chiefdom?
12. What is usually the maximum number of people living in a society which has a chief?
13. Apart from less wealthy inhabitants of cities, which group forms the lowest class in
an early state?
### ✅ **Final Answer Summary:**
#### **Questions 1–7:**
1. TRUE
2. NOT GIVEN
3. FALSE
4. FALSE
5. NOT GIVEN
6. TRUE
7. FALSE
#### **Questions 8–13:**
8. B (Tribe)
9. C (Chiefdom)
10. C (Chiefdom)
11. A (Band)
12. D (Early state)
13. D (Early state)
PASSWORD: 7JUNE2025
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