House Societies among Coastal Hunter-Gatherers: A Case Study of Stone Age Ostrobothnia, Finland

In this article I discuss a concept that can be useful for cross-scale comparative research on the origin and evolution of social inequality. Levi-Strauss' 'House Society' concept is theoretically and methodologically useful because of its open and diachronic character. House Societies, used as a framework for explanation, allow comparative research across large temporal and spatial scales. I apply the House Society - adaptive cycle model to the complex hunter-gatherer context from Stone Age Ostrobothnia, Finland. Population aggregation and increased population density, due to environmental circumscription around 6500-6000 cal. bp led to increasing social differences between Houses in Ostrobothnian communities. In the long run, we find a core of large, successful Houses and a second group of smaller less successful Houses. By the end of Stone Age, c. 4000 cal. bp, increasing institutionalization of social differences resulted in population dispersal and a weakened position for Ostrobothnian House Societies in relation to larger entities (trade, exchange).