The realm governed by a chief.
The term "chief" (or "chieftain") is loosely applied to a political or kinship-group leader in a relatively simple social system in which usually a single leader —the chief— (1) has personal relations with all or nearly all of those under him and (2) stands at the highest level of political authority.
Comment:Among foraging and some pastoral peoples the chief may be elected and enjoy a tenure of limited duration, but among agricultural peoples the office is most often hereditary and, once attained, is held for life.
Since "chief" is such a vague term, the term "chiefdom" is not applied to all societies with "chiefs" in them, but only the larger ones.
A chiefdom normally has a redistributive economic system, implying a level of complexity which includes an often hereditary, permanent central agency for the coordination of specialization and redistribution: the chieftainship. In such a context the chief has the ability to organize and deploy public labor and subsidize specialists, often at the redistribution center; social inequality stems from the creation of a nobility, usually starting with the chief's immediate family and kinfolk. Thus incipient social class is visible.
Probably most Bronze Age communities were chiefdoms in organization. Some Neolithic communities such as Çatal Hüyük, may also have been.
(Something of the confusion over how words like "tribe" and "chiefdom" relate to each other can be seen in the traditional reference to Hopi "chiefs," while the Hopi nevertheless do not constitute a "chiefdom"!)
Contrast: band, tribe, kingdom, archaic empire, state.
Definition Revised: 2004-09-15
Script Last Modified: 2025-02-04
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