CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Liang, Yutong |
|---|---|
| Title | Understanding the Formation of Inequality in Neolithic Societies: An Agent-Based Model Simulation of Resource Distribution and Social Dynamics |
| Summary | Social stratification in Neolithic societies has been evidenced through archaeological findings such as burial goods, dwelling sizes, and grave scales. The transition from foraging to agriculture enabled more stable food production and storage, laying the foundation for material wealth accumulation. This thesis develops an agent-based model to simulate a densely connected Neolithic village, revealing the endogenous emergence of material wealth inequality as quantified by the Gini coefficient. Over time, affluent households form tightly knit networks through trade and marriage, reinforcing their economic advantages and increasing resilience to resource shocks. These households benefit disproportionately from high-quality land and cumulative gains, consolidating wealth across generations. Conversely, overextended households, despite sufficient food production, suffer from internal demographic pressures, reducing per capita food availability and pushing them toward subsistence limits. This situation exacerbates the wealth gap, driving a polarization wherein the middle class gradually disappear while the upper and lower classes expand. The simulation reveals that inequality is not only a function of resource distribution but also of relational structures and ecological constraints. To mitigate this emergent stratification, this thesis suggests a proto-institutional mechanisms such as communal adherence to fallow farming practices, which serve to regulate land use and redistribute opportunity, highlighting the critical role of collective norms in fostering socioeconomic balance in early agrarian communities. |
| Supervisor | Kertész, János |
| Department | Undergraduate Studies BA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/liang_yutong.pdf |
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