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Cited by 72Ancient Egypt and ArchaeologyArchaeological and Geological StudiesArchaeology and ancient environmental studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 249 of the 255 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 8 of the 204 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation

Open access
Stevenson, Alice·2016·Journal of Archaeological Research
DOI 10.1007/s10814-016-9094-7
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Abstract

When the archaeology of Predynastic Egypt was last appraised in this journal, Savage ( 2001a , p. 101) expressed optimism that “a consensus appears to be developing that stresses the gradual development of complex society in Egypt.” The picture today is less clear, with new data and alternative theoretical frameworks challenging received wisdom over the pace, direction, and nature of complex social change. Rather than an inexorable march to the beat of the neo-evolutionary drum, primary state formation in Egypt can be seen as a more syncopated phenomenon, characterized by periods of political experimentation and shifting social boundaries. Notably, field projects in Sudan and the Egyptian Delta together with new dating techniques have set older narratives of development into broader frames of reference. In contrast to syntheses that have sought to measure abstract thresholds of complexity, this review of the period between c. 4500 BC and c. 3000 BC transcends analytical categories by adopting a practice-based examination of multiple dimensions of social inequality and by considering how the early state may have become a lived reality in Egypt around the end of the fourth millennium BC.

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TL;DR

This review argues that Predynastic Egyptian state formation was not a gradual neo-evolutionary march but a syncopated process of political experimentation and shifting social boundaries between c. 4500 and c. 3000 BC. Using practice-based synthesis and revised Bayesian radiocarbon chronology, it traces five phases from Neolithic/Badarian to First Dynasty, when kingship became a lived, reified reality.

Key findings

  • Revised Bayesian chronology compresses Naqada I–III to around 700 years and gives First Dynasty generational-scale resolution, including an estimate for the accession of king Aha at c. 3080 BC; Table 2 dates the phases as Badarian 4400–3800, Naqada IA–IIB 3800/3750(?)–3450, Naqada IIC–D 3450–3325, Naqada IIIA–IIIB 3325–3085, and Naqada IIIC–D/First Dynasty 3085–2867 cal BC.
  • Rather than a linear trajectory, state formation is presented as overlapping clusters of development with alternative power strategies; multiple dimensions of inequality—food resources, exotic goods, sacred knowledge—may overlap but not conjoin, and Naqada IIC–D is interpreted as showing more heterarchical forms of social organization.
  • Naqada IIC–D saw expanding connectivity, new ceramic technologies such as marl clay and Decorated ware, wider distribution of Upper Egyptian material culture, increased exotic imports including lapis lazuli, and the introduction of sealing practices.
  • First Dynasty royal funerary practices escalated dramatically: Djer’s tomb included at least 318 individuals, and roughly 2000 people were interred around First Dynasty royal monuments at Abydos, Saqqara, Abu Rawash, and Giza; tomb U-j at Abydos had 12 chambers, about 2000 clay vessels, the earliest confirmed wine in Egypt, and the first known hieroglyphic writing on ivory tags.

Methods

  • This is a synthetic review of archaeological literature and evidence from Predynastic Egypt c. 4500–3000 BC, organized into five phases and framed through a practice-based examination of multiple dimensions of social inequality and the state idea/state-system.
  • It draws on field projects in Sudan, the Egyptian Delta, and Upper Egypt, together with new dating techniques; chronological discussion uses Hendrickx’s relative Naqada chronology and Bayesian analyses of radiocarbon estimates, including more than 100 fresh measurements on organic materials from museum collections.
  • No new primary excavation data are presented; the paper synthesizes existing archaeological and chronometric evidence.

Limitations

  • The paper states that settlement data are sorely lacking, broader regional surveys are needed, full publication of excavations at Hierakonpolis and Tell el-Farkha is still awaited, and critical studies of social identities and gender relationships remain underdeveloped.
  • The paper states that absolute dates for the Predynastic are extremely limited because Egyptian antiquities laws forbid export of finds and there are no AMS facilities in the country; it also notes problems in sample selection, ad hoc application of dates to features, and lack of multiple dates for single contexts.
  • Evident in the text: the synthesis depends on uneven, often partially published evidence, and several key debates remain unresolved—including the socioeconomic basis of the Badarian, the date of the Tasian relative to the Badarian, and the mechanisms behind the “Naqada expansion”—so conclusions about pace and direction remain provisional.

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Crossref · 10.1007/s10814-016-9094-7

Cites

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Claims the paper makes

8 of 204 cited sources checked · 4 supported · 0 flagged · accuracy not yet measured

Show all 104 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 49
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 92
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
127 of 127

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Material culture distributions and burial practices directly reflect social networks and political strategies.

    “This patchwork of locally focused practices suggest that in the early Predynastic the orientation of social networks was more internally directed as communities sought to reconfigure relationships within the seasonality of cereal agriculture.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The archaeological record at Hierakonpolis is sufficiently representative to infer broader Upper Egyptian social complexity.

    “revealing the most complete picture of social complexity for the Naqada I-IIB period based on settlement, cemetery, ceremonial, and industrial spaces of activity”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The scale of production beyond domestic use indicates specialized, surplus production.

    “where large hearths and the sheer quantity of bones indicate that production was on a scale beyond domestic use”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The presence or scarcity of exotic goods indicates the extent of long-distance exchange.

    “evidence for imported material is scarce across Hierakonpolis at that time, suggesting that long-distance exchange was not yet a determining feature of sociopolitical life.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Chronological models are accurate enough to compare spans of time.

    “new chronological models (Dee et al. 2013) suggest that this was a much shorter span of time than previous chronologies had permitted.”
5 of 5

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Metadata

Authors
Stevenson, A.
Affiliations
University College London (GB)
Corresponding author
Stevenson, Alice
ORCID
Stevenson, Alice
Venue
Journal of Archaeological Research
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2016-03-01
Volume
24
Issue
4
Pages
421-468
ISSN
  • 1059-0161 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-7756
DOI
10.1007/s10814-016-9094-7
OpenAlex
W2288706945
Semantic Scholar
e3c6a10c889bb9b610ac97df2b0950d7a181625c
Cited by
72
References
255
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1
FWCI
20.48
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Archaeological Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology (arts and humanities) › Ancient Egypt and Archaeology
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology (arts and humanities) › Archaeological and Geological Studies
  • Social Sciences › Archeology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
Keywords
Predynastic Egypt, state formation, complex societies, social inequality, political experiment, social boundaries, early states, 4th millennium BC, Egyptian Delta, Sudan, social change

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