Despite the abundance of literature on the role of economics in the development of social inequalities manyof the comparative studies on the topic have used multiple methodologies, even within the same study;or have employed inadequate variables to identify economic or social inequalities. This article describeschanges in the distribution of wealth at the communal scale, of three trajectories of social development inthe Intermediate Area (Mesitas, El Venado and HE-4) by using Lorenz curves and Gini coefficients. Thesemeasures allow an objective and comparable evaluation of societies with similar levels of social inequalityas inferred from burial practices. The results contribute to the discussion of the role of economic inequalityin the institutionalization of social inequalities (or vice versa). It is indicated that: a) the rates of economicinequality within a social developmental trajectory increase when social inequalities are materialized incontexts different from household consumption; b) egalitarian communities have similar levels of wealthdistribution, but they differ from the levels of wealth distribution of communities with materializedsocial inequalities, regardless of the mechanisms that led to the institutionalization of these inequalities.
Keywords:
Wealth, Social inequality, Economic inequality, Gini coefficients, Community
Giraldo Tenorio, H. (2013). Measuring wealth differentiation in the archaeological record: a proposal applied to the andean intermediate area. Revista Chilena De Antropología, (27). Retrieved from https://revistachilenahumanidades.uchile.cl/index.php/RCA/article/view/27351
