Final answer:
To gain favor in a tribe, leaders accrue prestige goods, control trade routes, and redistribute wealth. Societal structure could affect the means of gaining prestige, such as warfare in Germanic societies or generosity in gatherer-hunter communities. Prestige often depended upon the ability to demonstrate generosity, strength, and the capacity to provide for one's community.
Step-by-step explanation:
To gain prestige or favor in a tribe, leaders often relied on acquiring and displaying prestige goods, controlling trade routes, forming alliances, and redistributing wealth within their community. Leadership in these societies was not just about material wealth but also about acts of generosity, strength in warfare, demonstration of power, and providing for the well-being of one's followers.
In East Asia, leaders generally used a constant stream of prestige goods to maintain power. The political order being unstable, leaders had to continuously demonstrate their superiority and ability to provide for their followers. This often meant that chiefs and kings would develop control over trade routes or forge alliances to ensure a steady supply of goods, which were then passed down the hierarchy to demonstrate power and acquire loyalty.
Similarly, in Germanic societies, warfare played a crucial role. Successful warriors could gain prestige by serving under a powerful leader and partaking in the spoils of war. Germanic law structured compensation for injuries through the wergild system, which reflected the social hierarchy and importance of warriors. For Melanesian and New Guinean lineages, the role of the big man was crucial, where one's prestige was tied to wealth accumulation and redistribution, as well as service to the community.