🔥Classifying Societies (ancient societies classification)- Làm bài online format computer-based, kèm giải thích từ vựng (thi ngày 24/06/2023 & 23/12/2023)

A. Although humans have established many types of societies throughout history sociologists and anthropologists tend to classify different societies according to the degree to which different groups within a society have unequal access to advantages such as resources, prestige or power, and usually refer to four basic types of societies. From least to most socially complex they are clans, tribes, chiefdoms and states.

Clan

B. These are small-scale societies of hunters and gatherers, generally of fewer than 100 people, who move seasonally to exploit wild (undomesticated) food resources. Most surviving hunter-gatherer groups are of this kind, such as the Hadza of Tanzania of the San of southern Africa. Clan members are generally kinsfolk, related by descent or marriage. Clans lack formal leaders, so there are no marked economic differences or disparities in status among their members.

C. Because clans are composed of mobile groups of hunter-gatherers, their sites consist mainly of seasonally occupied camps, and other smaller and more specialised sites. Among the latter are kill or butchery sites – locations where large mammals are killed and sometimes butchered-and work sites, where tools are made or other specific activities carried out. The base camp of such a group may give evidence of rather insubstantial dwellings or temporary shelters, along with the debris of residential occupation.

Tribe

D. These are generally larger than mobile hunter-gatherer groups, but rarely number more than a few thousand, and their diet or subsistence is based largely on cultivated plants and domesticated animals. Typically, they have settled farmers, but they may be nomadic with a very different, mobile economy based on the intensive exploitation of livestock. These are generally multi-community societies, with the individual communities integrated into the large society through kinship ties. Although some tribes have officials and even a “capital” or seat of government, such officials lack the economic base necessary for effective use of power.

E. The typical settlement pattern for tribes is one of settled agricultural homesteads or villages. Characteristically, no one settlement dominates any of the others in the region. Instead, the archaeologist finds evidence for isolated, permanently occupied houses or for permanent villages. Such villages may be made up of a collection of free-standing houses, like those of the first farms of the Danube valley in Europe. Or they may be clusters of buildings grouped together, for example, the pueblos of the American Southwest, and the early farming village or the small town of Catalhoyuk in modern Turkey.

Chiefdom

F. These operate on the principle of ranking-differences in social status between people. Different lineages (a lineage is a group 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.

G. Often, there is local specialization in craft products, and surpluses of these and of foodstuffs are periodically paid as an obligation to the chief. He uses these to maintain his retainers and may use them for redistribution to his subjects. The chiefdom generally has a center 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 about 5000 and 20,000 persons.

Early State

H. These preserve many of the features of chiefdoms, but the ruler (perhaps a king or sometimes a queen) has explicit authority to establish laws and also to enforce them by the use of a standing army. Society no longer depends totally upon kin relationships: it is now stratified into different classes. Agricultural workers and the poorer urban dwellers form the lowest classes, with the craft specialists above, and the priests and kinsfolk of the ruler higher still. The functions of the ruler are often separated from those of the priest: the palace is distinguished from the temple. The society is viewed as a territory owned by the ruling lineage and populated by tenants who have an obligation to pay taxes. The central capital houses a bureaucratic administration of officials; one of their principal purposes 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 redistribution systems to support these essential services.

I. This rather simple social typology, set out by Elman Service and elaborated by William Sanders and Joseph Marino, can be criticised, and it should not be used unthinkingly. Nevertheless, if we are seeking to talk about early societies, we must use words and hence concepts to do so. Service’s categories provide a good framework to help organise our thoughts.

Questions 1-7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? 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’s little economic difference between members of a clan.

2. The farmers of a tribe grow a wide range of plants.

3. One settlement is more important than any other settlements in a tribe.

4. A member’s status in a chiefdom is determined by how much land he owns.

5. There are people who craft goods in chiefdoms.

6. The king keeps the order of a state by keeping a military.

7. Bureaucratic officers receive higher salaries than other members.

Questions 8-13
Answer the questions below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.

8. What is made at the clan work sites?

9. What is the other way of life tribes besides settled farming?

10. How are Catalhoyuk’s housing units arranged?

11. What does a chief give to his subjects as rewards besides crafted goods?

12. What is the largest possible population of a chiefdom?

13. Which group of people is at the bottom of an early state but higher than the farmers?

• Societies (xã hội)

  • Vietnamese: Xã hội là một nhóm người sống cùng nhau và chia sẻ các quy tắc, văn hóa và tổ chức.

  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Although humans have established many types of societies throughout history..." (Con người đã thiết lập nhiều loại xã hội khác nhau trong suốt lịch sử.)

• Clans (thị tộc)

  • Vietnamese: Thị tộc là một nhóm nhỏ người sống bằng săn bắn và hái lượm, thường có ít hơn 100 người.

  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Clan members are generally kinsfolk, related by descent or marriage." (Các thành viên trong thị tộc thường là người thân, có quan hệ huyết thống hoặc hôn nhân.)

• Tribes (bộ lạc)

  • Vietnamese: Bộ lạc là nhóm xã hội lớn hơn thị tộc, thường sống bằng trồng trọt và chăn nuôi.

  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "These are generally larger than mobile hunter-gatherer groups, but rarely number more than a few thousand..." (Bộ lạc thường lớn hơn nhóm săn bắn hái lượm di động, nhưng hiếm khi vượt quá vài nghìn người.)

• Chiefdoms (thủ lĩnh bộ lạc)

  • Vietnamese: Thủ lĩnh bộ lạc là xã hội có sự phân cấp, nơi quyền lực tập trung vào một thủ lĩnh.

  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Different lineages are graded on a scale of prestige, and the senior lineage, and hence the society as a whole, is governed by a chief." (Các dòng họ khác nhau được xếp hạng theo mức độ uy tín, và dòng họ cao cấp nhất, cũng như toàn bộ xã hội, được cai trị bởi một thủ lĩnh.)

• States (nhà nước)

  • Vietnamese: Nhà nước là xã hội phức tạp nhất, có luật pháp và quân đội để duy trì trật tự.

  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "These preserve many of the features of chiefdoms, but the ruler has explicit authority to establish laws and also to enforce them by the use of a standing army." (Nhà nước giữ lại nhiều đặc điểm của thủ lĩnh bộ lạc, nhưng người cai trị có quyền lập pháp và thực thi luật bằng quân đội thường trực.)

• Lineages (dòng họ)

  • Vietnamese: Dòng họ là nhóm người cùng chung tổ tiên.

  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Different lineages are graded on a scale of prestige..." (Các dòng họ khác nhau được xếp hạng theo mức độ uy tín.)

• Stratification (phân tầng xã hội)

  • Vietnamese: Phân tầng xã hội là sự phân chia xã hội thành các tầng lớp khác nhau dựa trên địa vị, quyền lực hoặc tài sản.

  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Society no longer depends totally upon kin relationships: it is now stratified into different classes." (Xã hội không còn phụ thuộc hoàn toàn vào quan hệ huyết thống: nó được phân tầng thành các giai cấp khác nhau.)

• Redistribution (phân phối lại)

  • Vietnamese: Phân phối lại là quá trình phân chia lại tài nguyên hoặc của cải trong xã hội.

  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Many early states developed complex redistribution systems to support these essential services." (Nhiều nhà nước sơ khai phát triển hệ thống phân phối lại phức tạp để hỗ trợ các dịch vụ thiết yếu.)

• Bureaucratic (hành chính)

  • Vietnamese: Hành chính là hệ thống quản lý và điều hành bởi các quan chức.

  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "The central capital houses a bureaucratic administration of officials..." (Thủ đô trung tâm là nơi đặt bộ máy hành chính của các quan chức.)

• Subsistence (sinh kế)

  • Vietnamese: Sinh kế là cách thức kiếm sống của một cộng đồng, thường dựa vào nông nghiệp hoặc chăn nuôi.

  • IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Their diet or subsistence is based largely on cultivated plants and domesticated animals." (Chế độ ăn uống hoặc sinh kế của họ chủ yếu dựa vào cây trồng và vật nuôi.)