Tradition and identity: a typological perspective

Current concepts of the social life of early human societies register the complex and dynamic nature of the social structure of these societies, which combines elements of hierarchical and egalitarian order. At the same time, the task of operationalizing these concepts for the interpretation of individual archaeological and historical facts requires a response. This article offers a way to solve this problem through a transdisciplinary approach using the conceptual apparatus of social philosophy. It is proposed to use the concept of “subject identity” as an analytical tool reflecting the characteristics of the subject in one of the social structures of early societies. Parochial identity (social structures of kin and small groups with unique relationships), egalitarian identity (creating a subject with no unique traits to dominate others), achievement identity (hierarchical distribution of subjects depending on their economic and political status), and historical identity (equal visibility of all subjects, including before the beyond) are distinguished. These types of identities are constructed through corresponding types of traditions, primarily funerary traditions. Of particular interest are the corresponding achievement identities of hierarchical traditions, which are in tension with egalitarian collective memory. The methodological contribution of the study is to expand the possibilities of interpreting archaeological and historical facts by correlating them with a certain type of tradition and identity of the subject corresponding to a given social structure.