 Proto-civilisation

Proto-civilisation (French writing, British spelling) is the transitional state between a society structured as a collection of tribal chieftains, perhaps owing allegiance to a paramount chief, and the development of a full urban civilization, in which people live in a graded hierarchy of settlement types perhaps starting with isolated peasant farms, hamlets or small villages, through market towns, to centralised capital cities or ceremonial centres.It is an important stage in the genesis of a civilization, but historically appears to be an unstable threshold, often reverting to tribal or chieftain cultures if unable to "progress" to a full blown and semi-stable civilization.