12. What can uniformitarianism tell us about Natufian social structure?
The term, uniformitarianism, coined by William Whewell, states that the same natural laws and processes that operate in the universe now, have always operated in the universe in the past and apply everywhere. It is often included in the concept, "that the present is the key to the past." This principle can help us to better understand many things about Natufian social structure. For example, it shows us that since most everyone shared equal responsibility their was no heavily defined social structure, thus everyone was equal. Also in all of the burial sights all of the deceased were buried with only simple things, like pots and tools. No one single person was buried with anything of extremely high value, like gold or other precious metals. This shows that there was no chief of the band, meaning that all were equal.
By: Andrew Smith
Source Url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdffmygdkoA
Image: https://goo.gl/iIxtdi
