I. Introduction -- 1 • Foundations of Prehistoric Social Inequality -- II. Theoretical Perspectives -- 2 • Pathways to Power: Principles for Creating Socioeconomic Inequalities -- 3 • Social Inequality, Marginalisation, and Economic Process -- 4 • The Cultural Foundations of Inequality in Households -- 5 • Social Inequality at the Origins of Agriculture -- III. Studies in Emerging Social Inequality -- 6 • Chiefly Power and Household Production on the Northwest Coast -- 7 • Equality and Hierarchy: Holistic Approaches to Understanding Social Dynamics in the Pueblo Southwest -- 8 • Social Inequality and Agricultural Resources in the Valle de la Plata, Colombia -- 9 • Prehistoric European Chiefdoms: Rethinking "Germanic" Societies -- IV. Conclusion -- 10 • The Emergence of Inequality: A Focus on Strategies and Processes.