A chiefdom is any community led by an individual known as a chief. Chief can refer to The chief engineer of a naval vessel or anyone with the rank Chief Warrant Officer in the Canadian Forces In heraldry, a chief is a band of colour or metal making up the top (usually the top third or slightly less) of a shield. ...

In anthropological theory, a chiefdom is a form of social organization more complex than a tribe, and less complex than a state or a civilization (see Cultural_evolution). Chiefdoms are characterized by pervasive inequality of peoples and centralization of authority. At least two inherited social classes (elite and commoner) are present, although social class can often be changed by extraordinary behavior during an individual's life. A single lineage/family of the elite class will be the ruling elite of the chiefdom, with the greatest influence, power, and prestige. Cultural evolution is the structural change of a society and its values over time. ...

A single simple chiefdom is generally composed of a central community surrounded by or near a number of smaller subsidiary communities. All of these communities recognize the authority of a single kin group or individual with hereditary centralized power, dwelling in the primary community. Each community will have its own leaders, which are usually in a tributary and/or subservient relationship with the ruling elite of the primary community.

A complex chiefdom (see Cahokia as an example) is a group of simple chiefdoms controlled by a single paramount center. Three levels of administration exist, rather than two. The local community has leaders that bow to the head of their chiefdom, who in turn serves a single paramount individual or kin group with centralized power. This article is about the Native American city. ...

Chiefdoms have been shown by anthropologists and archaeologists to be a relatively unstable form of social organization. They are prone to cycles of collapse and renewal, in which tribal units band together, expand in power, fragment through some form of social stress, and band together again.Also in simpler terms it is a society that has one master.