`  == Definition of a ``great power`` ==  In the definitions of city-states, states, nations, and empires, one can spend a lot of time talking about the projection of power. In the transition between egalitarian hunting and gathering, to semi- and fully sendentary living, I think the greatest shift occurred when ``power`` over individuals changed from the elder of the extended family/tribe into the hands of an elite ruling over other families. This is all just definitions. I guess I'm only getting to the point where I ask what everybody else things the definitiary threshold is for the status of ``great power``. Rather than pure quantification, I think the threshold for inclusion should be the simple existence of a ruling political party (still a somewhat obscure term and accompanying definition). Or coming from the other direction, maybe outling some criteria for exclusion: archeological evidence alone does not make a state. Can literacy be used as a standard? I have a feeling there have been states and polities of marginal literacy, but I could be wrong (I hope I'm wrong).   Did that make any sense?  `