Thanks for that very interesting article. I don't know if it's less "moralistic" than mine though. At least one of the authors is an anarchist activist, and their view of the seasonal flexibility of prehistoric social structures is consistent with that political stance. Some authors just wear their values on their sleeves more than others.

Still, this gradualist approach to prehistory may be the most plausible one, and I'll have to think about how to incorporate it into the philosophy I'm working out. I can certainly see how social inequality could emerge at the micro level, such as between the sexes or between adults and children.