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From Cattle To Capital: How Agriculture Bred Ancient Inequality

Archaeologists say early civilizations in North and Central America were more egalitarian than the societies of Eurasia — and they think it's because early Americans didn't have cattle or horses.
A farmer plows his field with an ox-pulled plow in China's Guangxi province. Archaeologists think that domesticated farm animals increased inequality in some ancient societies.

The gap between rich and poor is one of the great concerns of modern times. It's even driving archaeologists to look more closely at wealth disparities in ancient societies.

"That's what's so fun about it," says , at Washington State University. "It widens

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