What did Marvin Harris mean by an "open moment"?

Question

Marvin Harris wrote the incredible book "Cannibals and Kings." What did he mean when he talked about an "open moment"?

Answer 1

http://ishkbooks.com/cultural_materialis...

"Some moments are more open than others for conscious decisions.  The most open moments would be those at which a mode of production reaches its limits of growth and a new mode must be adopted."

The site above talks about different Marvin Harris Books.

Cannibals and Kings in explained about a quarter of the way down.  Hope this helps!