Leadership and power may have evolved through many routes. Early roles of leaders probably included organizing the relatively recently instituted agricultural food production, coordinating the increasingly large local living groups (villages, towns), coordinating aggression and defense, and serving as a religious leadership. Leaders probably benefitted from their key position in society, and probably saw benefits in expanding the area and population over which they had control. While those being led may have benefitted from certain aspects of the organization, they inevitably had to support such specialists through increasing levels of contributed labor or produce. It is likely that early leaders were searching for strategies through which they could convince others of their ability and right to make decisions and control others.