Overview
- An international team analyzed 40 cases across 31 political units in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, publishing the results in Science Advances.
- Researchers built an autocracy index from archaeological proxies such as urban layouts, public spaces, monuments, administrative traces, and signs of wealth inequality.
- How rulers raised revenue was the strongest predictor of governance: monopolized external income streams aligned with autocracy, while broad internal taxation or communal labor aligned with inclusiveness.
- Population size and the number of political tiers did not meaningfully correlate with whether power was concentrated or shared.
- Case studies highlight collective traits at Mohenjo-daro, Teotihuacan, and Monte Albán, contrasted with autocratic indicators at Anyang, with more inclusive systems generally showing lower economic inequality.