The horizontal and vertical egalitarian systems in the vision of Marcella Frangipane. A comparison with the Terramare society of the Po valley (Italy)

The emergence of the first forms of socio - economic inequality is one of the aspects to which Marcella Frangipane has most contributed. In this paper the concepts of horizontal egalitarian or vertical egalitarian systems used for the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Mesopotamian societies are compared with the social organization of the Bronze Age Terramare culture, (Po valley - Italy). The result of the comparison shows convergences with the vertical egalitarian system model, but also significant differences.