This can also be seen in modern populist movements, where leaders attack established elites while consolidating and masking their own elite status. The Neolithic era would therefore mark not only the dawn of agriculture but also the rise of elites in human society. Where Social Elites Came FromIn the Upper Euphrates and Tigris regions, the earliest elites were not kings or bureaucrats, but those who controlled resources, cultural tastes, and rituals. In these early societies, culturally sanctioned preferences and religious rituals anchored elite power through social legitimacy, complementing their material wealth. Anthropologist Cathy Costin points to craft specialization in Iraq at Bestansur between 7600 BC and 7100 BC, likely serving elites.