The passing of power from heads of families and clans to the ruling elite took place as agricultural societies replaced horticultural and pastoral societies.

That statement is true

Explanation:

This happen because personal belongings have no value in horticultural and pastoral societies, but it has a lot of value in agricultural societies.

Unlike the previous societies, People in agricultural societies understand the value of owning large number of lands for themselves would give them more security/comfort for their own survival. Because of this, they developed a practice to pass power and ownership of the land to their families and a small group of ruling elite in order to maintain the upper hand within the society.