Journal article
Comparing ancient inequalities: the challenges of comparability, bias and precision
- Abstract:
- Archaeological evidence provides the only basis for comparative research charting wealth inequality over vast stretches of the human past. But researchers are confronted by a number of problems: small sample sizes; variable indicators of wealth (including individual grave goods, the area of household dwellings or storage spaces); overrepresentation of the wealthy, or invisibility of those without wealth; and vastly different population sizes. Here, the authors develop methods for estimating the Gini coefficient—a measure of wealth inequality—that address these challenges, allowing them to provide a set of 150 comparable estimates of ancient wealth inequality.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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- Files:
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(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 473.2KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.15184/aqy.2019.106
Authors
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Journal:
- Antiquity More from this journal
- Volume:
- 93
- Issue:
- 370
- Pages:
- 853-869
- Publication date:
- 2019-08-12
- Acceptance date:
- 2019-02-19
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1745-1744
- ISSN:
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0003-598X
- Pubs id:
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pubs:976479
- UUID:
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uuid:f8883300-438c-4c2c-8c19-18adc84bae40
- Local pid:
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pubs:976479
- Source identifiers:
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976479
- Deposit date:
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2019-02-26
Terms of use
- Copyright date:
- 2019
- Notes:
- © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2019. This is the accepted manuscript version of the article. The final version is available online from Cambridge University Press at: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2019.106
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