Social complexity in coastal and terrestrial environments both emerge as forms of subsistence intensification on previous foraging patterns but take different trajectories because of differences in the spatial and temporal structure and density of harvestable biomass between the two ecozones. Norms and values surrounding standards of living motivate households to intensify production above what is needed for mere survival (i.e., surplus), which in turn has the effect of providing a buffer against unpredictable shortfalls and longer-term population-resource imbalances caused by population growth. Economies of scale introduced by increasing labor group size and differentiation as well as technology fund the production and consumption of surplus and drive the emergence of social complexity among foragers and cultivators alike.

沿海和陆地环境的社会复杂性都以先前觅食模式的生存集约化形式出现，但由于两个生态区之间的时空结构和可收获生物量密度的差异而呈现出不同的轨迹。围绕生活水平的规范和价值观促使家庭集约化生产，使其超出生存所需（即剩余），这反过来又可以为人口增长造成的不可预测的短缺和长期人口资源失衡提供缓冲。 。劳动力群体规模和分化的增加带来的规模经济以及技术为剩余的生产和消费提供了资金，并推动了采集者和耕种者之间社会复杂性的出现。