The concept of inequality can be defined as ‘the state or quality of being unequal; disparity, social or economic disparity’ (Collins English Dictionary 2000: 787) but as this chapter illustrates, such a simple statement hardly does it credit. It will become apparent that the complexities of ‘disparity’ require more than a dictionary definition. Commonly, inequality is linked to power and status in terms of military, economic or intellectual control (e.g. Mann 1986: 22-25), but even this seemingly obvious link has problems. Power and status can have very different meanings, with status linking to social differences and power to dominance. This study encounters both, though it will become apparent that social inequality, rather than power, is more relevant to the Neolithic. Where ranks do exist in societies, there is not always resistance to them or competition for them, and they are not necessarily rigid: ‘[For the Tlingit] ranking was inexact, subject to re-evaluation and an individual’s prestige changed over the course of his or her life’ (Kan 1985, quoted in Moss 1993: 642).

Ownership is ‘the state or fact of being an owner, legal right of possession’ (Collins English Dictionary 2000: 1111) and accordingly is central to the concept of inequality. Again it will become clear, especially given our capitalist ideas of wealth and property, that the concept can be diverse with unexpected subtleties. For example we might assume that ownership is always individual but Mann refers to property studies that ‘show a myriad different ownership rights-individual; familial, age-, village-, and clan-banded’ (1986: 51).