I think the idea of hunter-gatherers being egalitarian is just a subtrope of the “noble savage”. (The ancient people were perfect in all applause lights: perfectly spiritual, perfectly ecological, perfectly free and egalitarian, but also perfectly knowing their place in society, perfectly peaceful, but also having a perfect warrior ethics, etc.)
Probably with some Marxist-ish use of wealth as a proxy for inequality in general; so if you have no capital, then by definition everyone must be perfectly equal, right? Haha, no. A strong person and their buddies can bully the weaker ones, regardless of whether the money was already invented.
Sometimes we get an evidence that some specific form of hierarchy is opposed, for example the successful hunters are not allowed to boast about their skills. From my perspective, a more plausible interpretation of this norm is that there is an established hierarchy (based on interpersonal violence and coalition-organizing skills) which opposes any attempt to create parallel hierarchies.
I think the idea of hunter-gatherers being egalitarian is just a subtrope of the “noble savage”. (The ancient people were perfect in all applause lights: perfectly spiritual, perfectly ecological, perfectly free and egalitarian, but also perfectly knowing their place in society, perfectly peaceful, but also having a perfect warrior ethics, etc.)
Probably with some Marxist-ish use of wealth as a proxy for inequality in general; so if you have no capital, then by definition everyone must be perfectly equal, right? Haha, no. A strong person and their buddies can bully the weaker ones, regardless of whether the money was already invented.
Sometimes we get an evidence that some specific form of hierarchy is opposed, for example the successful hunters are not allowed to boast about their skills. From my perspective, a more plausible interpretation of this norm is that there is an established hierarchy (based on interpersonal violence and coalition-organizing skills) which opposes any attempt to create parallel hierarchies.