Type 4 Societies

Early Type-4 societies face dangers from climate (a single bad drought/flood/harvest can starve the growing population), plague (dense populations, often with limited hygiene, and frequent new arrivals due to trade), and war (larger populations allow for the growth of armies, and will also strain resources). The high mortality rate (due to wars and plague) will push society toward large families, in the hope that at least some children will grow to old age. The dangers of plague and war will only add to this society's xenophobia --shunning outsiders is a valuable survival strategy.

A typical Iron-age city. (image from Ancient Architecture)

Rulers of Type-4 societies need fear betrayal only from their closest advisors; the size and centralized power structure means that the king/queen will quickly become aware of any planned widespread uprising before it can become a threat (whether or not they can successfully defuse the situation, however, is a measure of individual skill).

After a large-scale disaster (i.e., a near-extinction event), many advanced societies regress to Type-4 --it is often seen as the "basic" foundation of civilization. Because of this, Type-4 societies can often show wildly ideosyncratic technologies and social structures (as in the cases of Gargantia [an oceangoing city-state made up of interconnected ships, with access to heavy mecha and an orbital-reach railgun], Thundera [a walled pre-industrial city, with a black market in outlawed robotic technology], or Jeeha Village [an isolated cavern-town built over a buried mecha hangar].)

Control of water allows Immortan Joe to rule over his post-apocalyptic kingdom. (Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015)

Footprint: Region (city-state).

Sustainable Population: Thousands.

Government: Centralized, probably monarchic, and signifying a distinct ruling class. Ruler exercises direct authority over hir subjects.

Bureaucracy: Moderate (to administer trade and military), under the ruler's direct oversight. Most high-level positions will be personal friends of the ruling family.

Language: Advanced.

Literacy: Advanced among dedicated scribes, limited to moderate among nobles and merchants, and nonexistent among peasants and soldiers.

The pictographic language of the Gelflings marks them as early Type-4. (The Dark Crystal, 1982)

Network: Top-down dissemination using royal proclamation and envoys.

Religion: Ritualized and organized, with a complex cosmology and a social hierarchy, answering to a high priest.

Science: Advanced astronomy, alchemy, and simple material sciences have practical value, and will be reasonably widespread. Agricultural technology and knowledge is well-developed, with crops and livestock optimized to local conditions. Simple metalworking (copper, bronze, iron) is widely available through independent metalsmiths. Architecture will be advanced, and rely on a variety of materials; cities will contain elaborate palaces, temples, and fortifications.

The walled city of Thundera, with the royal palace visible. (Thundercats, 2011)

Medicine: Specialized anatomical knowledge exists in the form of trained healers (most of them operating out of their own houses or small shops), though surgery frequently leads to infection and permanent disability. Some experimentation with crude prosthetics. Medicinal herbs and compounds are well-known. An awareness of heredity will be well-established (both through animal husbandry, and to rationalize the ruling class' "pure" lineage).

Education: Organized apprenticeship to learn trades. Nobles will have access to a variety of tutors. No formal childhood education; parents are expected to teach children everything they need to know to survive.

Energy: Manual labour from slaves and livestock, and natural forces have been harnessed (in sails and hearth-fires) and are now being refined (in kilns, forges, aqueducts, reservoirs, mirrors and lenses, and simple steam-engines). Scholars are likely experimenting with calculated chemical reactions (as alchemy), and attempting to formulate laws of physics.

Industry: Organized craftsmen abound, with their apprentices replicating their work for larger contracts. Most large workforces (made up of slaves and journeymen) are owned by (or at least under the patronage of) nobles, or possibly the crown itself, though individual craftsmen and merchants still eke out a living on their own --artisans are part of the rudimentary middle-class.

Military: Organized army (and possibly navy), relying on melee weapons, augmented by primitive artillery (archers, catapults). Thousand-strong armies will be composed mainly of (peasant) infantry, with cavalry units serving directly under noble-born generals. Troops will bear the banners of their king, city, or general, though they may not have proper uniforms or standardized weapons (depending on the city-state's wealth).

Economy: Standardized currency backed by a national treasury, typically made out of some reasonably valuable material (so the coin itself is its measured-out value). Most cities will have a market square, filled with semi-permanent stalls (occasionally closed down to make space for major festivals). Organized caravans ply trade routes to distant lands --bandits and highwaymen work in small groups to ambush vulnerable travelers, surviving on what little they can steal.

Food: Organized agriculture, animal husbandry (free-range hunting can no longer support the entire population, though it may remain fetishized and practiced by nobles). Most food will come from local sources, though people are experimenting with preservation (via salting, smoking, or sealed vessels). Peasant meals will be cooked over simple fires; nobles will have access to skilled professional cooks.

Travel: Moderately complicated vehicles (oared/rigged boats, wheeled carts) are used for large voyages, though riding beasts are still common for single travelers (who may also use chariots, sailboats, or gliders). Merchants and generals will be familiar with advanced navigation (relying on stars and mapped landmarks), though most citizens remain restricted to their city and environs.

Nausicaa is one of the few to explore beyond the safety of her home Valley. (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, 1984)

Spaceflight: None.

Alien contact: Cautious. This society will likely be highly competitive for food, wealth, territory, and slaves --any outsiders will be seen as either enemies or assets to be used by the local ruler (either as allies, pawns, or slaves). While advanced technology may be seen as supernatural, this society's own technological advancements will make them (over)confident and ambitious. This society will be building large (probably walled) cities and sprawling farms, and will thus be readily detectable from orbit.

Examples (reality): Uruk, Protodynastic Egypt, Minoans, Cusco, Sengoku-era Japan, Mycenaean Greece (possibly), Athens, Biblical Bethlehem, Herodian/Roman Judea.
Examples (fiction): Dothraki, Tharks, Gerudo, Gelflings, Cimmeria, Thundera, Avista, Berk, Gargantia, Jeeha village, New Yogo, Themyscira, Middle Earth (the Shire, Erebor, Rohan), No. 6, Olympus, Water Tribes, Lion-Turtle villages, Valley of the Wind, Chimaera (individual rings; the planet itself functions as a very large Type-5), Earth during the third Robotech War, Immortan Joe's Citadel, Gas town, New Attica.