Caral : Civilization State and City
Very Interesting Places in Peru
- Caral : The Origins of Civilization
- Caral : Civilization State and city
- Caral : Supe and the Area Norcentral
- Caral : Contemporary Settlements
- Caral : Production and Exchange
- Caral : Religion and Goverment
- Caral : Social Classes
- Caral : Conclusions
THE CIVILIZATION : Caral : Civilization State and City
The Civilization is identified by:
- Availability of a production surplus in order to mobilize an enormous labor force for the construction of public works and housing for the élite.
- Complex social organization, with division of work and unequal distribution of the surplus.
- A state government.
- Residence in urban settlements with improvements in the standard of living of one social class.
- An advanced knowledge of exact and predictive sciences such as arithmetic, geometry, physics, medicine, astronomy, etc., and their application in agricultural technology, in the construction of monumental buildings, in measuring time, in appropriate management of the territory, public administration, specialized work, etc.
- Cultivation of the arts and their material expression in the manufacture of different objects for luxury use.
- The existence of complex and extensive trade networks.
- Cultural expressions shared by the population of an extensive territory.
THE STATE
A form of development of society characterized by the exercise of power by one dominant social class over the population of a certain territory, organized hierarchically and controlled by military force or by the force of religion, whereby the continuity of the system is assured.
A State society presupposes the existence of:
- A surplus economy: achieved either by extra work or by developing the means of production in order to increase productivity.
- A social division of labor and social relations in production that emphasize the individual over the collective.
- The appropriation of the social product or surplus by certain groups, as a consequence of the division of society into classes, with appropriating individuals and expropriated individuals.
The State has:
- An apparatus, the political-religious bureaucracy, for the control of the surplus, the circulation of goods and services, the use of resources, and the performing of the different functions and actions.
THE CITY
A settlement that is dense, diverse and permanent, of socially heterogeneous individuals where the power of the rulers, the bureaucracy and their civil servants are concentrated; it is a center of religious, political and administrative power. It forms part of a hierarchical group of settlements that have:
- Certain territorial extension derived from a concentration of population manifested in the residential complexes.
- A well-defined design denoting planning, zoning, and organized management of space for differentiated use by its occupants, with physical or symbolic connotations.
- Diverse architectural expressions relating to a complex division of labor and the presence of specialists in a variety of production and trade activities; and where the surplus
is distributed unequally, according to each person's place in the social productive process. - Indicators that reflect the hierarchical position of the occupants by social strata:
residence of authorities, specialists, civil servants. - The development of public architecture in keeping with the institutions present: temples and palaces for religious, administrative and political functions.
- Evidence of services rendered for the development of production processes: a calendar, public works, irrigation and management of agriculture, trading of goods with other societies.
Information and Photos by www.caralperu.gob.pe
Peru Travel News
Caral : the oldest town in the New World
Caral is the oldest civilization in the Americas, having developed almost simultaneously with the civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China. [more...]
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