We propose that the development of social hierarchy following the Neolithic Revolution was due to the ability of the emergent elite to appropriate crops from farmers, rather than a result of increased productivity, as usually maintained. Since cereals are easier to appropriate than roots and tubers, we argue that regional variations in the suitability of land for the cultivation of these di§erent crop types can account for di§erences in the formation of hierarchies and states. Our empirical investigation supports a causal e§ect of the cultivation of cereals on hierarchy, and the lack of a similar e§ect of land productivity.