From Chiefdom to State in Early Ireland

Download or read book From Chiefdom to State in Early Ireland written by D. Blair Gibson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-08-27 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book tracks the development of social complexity in Ireland from the late prehistoric period on into the Middle Ages. Using a range of methods and techniques, particularly data from settlement patterns, Blair Gibson demonstrates how Ireland evolved from constellations of chiefdoms into a political entity bearing the characteristics of a rudimentary state. This book argues that early medieval Ireland's highly complex political systems should be viewed as amalgams of chiefdoms with democratic procedures for choosing leaders rather than kingdoms. Gibson explores how these chiefdom confederacies eventually transformed into recognizable states over a period of 1,400 years.