Comparative Civilizations (Archaeology)

Waging War on Civilization

by Fadwa El Guindi

Landnám: The Settlement of Iceland in Archaeological and Historical Perspective

by Kevin P. Smith

Published in "World Archaeology", 1995

The Norse settlement of Iceland established a viable colony on one of the world's last major uninhabited land masses.... more The Norse settlement of Iceland established a viable colony on one of the world's last major uninhabited land masses. The vast corpus of indigenous Icelandic traditions about the country's settlement makes it tempting to view this as one of the best case studies of island colonization by a pre-state society. Archaeological research in some ways supports, but in other ways refutes the historical model. Comparison of archaeological data and historical sources provides insights into the process of island colonization and the role of the settlement process in the formation of a culture's identity and ideology.

Patterns in Time and the Tempo of Change: A North Atlantic Perspective on the Evolution of Complex Societies.

by Kevin P. Smith

In Continuity or Change: The Role of Analytical Scale in European Archaeology, edited by James Matthieu and Rachel Scott, pp. 83-99.  British Archaeological Reports, International Series 1261, 2004.

Between 1175 and 1250 AD, medieval Icelanders transformed their society from a network of decentralized simple... more Between 1175 and 1250 AD, medieval Icelanders transformed their society from a network of decentralized simple chiefdoms into a unified proto-state. Uniquely, a vast corpus of vernacular writing - much written by the chieftains themselves - describes actors' ideologies, histories, motivations and understandings of the processes involved. Archaeological data provide alternative perspectives, highlighting processes that extended over temporal scales beyond actors' abilities to observe or manage. How robust can our explanatory frameworks be if the changes we seek to explain occur too rapidly to be monitored by most archaeological methods? Do archaeological perspectives provide valuable or illusory insights on the processes involved?

Size, Complexity, and Organizational Variation: A Comparative Approach (2011)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 2011)

In 1963, Melvin Ember illustrated the overarching cross-cultural relationship between societal scale (specifically,... more In 1963, Melvin Ember illustrated the overarching cross-cultural relationship between societal scale (specifically, maximal community size) and hierarchical complexity. Yet this study (and subsequent ones) found much less regularity in the size-complexity relationship when focused down on human groupings of less extensive/narrower size ranges. Here, it is argued that this lack of a more precise fit requires the consideration of a third key parameter, different modes of integration or interpersonal connectivity. Comparative
findings (both synchronic and diachronic) are marshaled to make the case that integrative differences mediate the overarching relationship between demographic size and political complexity. It is proposed that when they are small, groups that operate more collectively often dampen the emergence
of decision-making hierarchies; alternatively large, more collective, or democratic formations may necessitate greater administrative or hierarchical political complexity per capita than is found in more autocratic groups of comparable size.

Variability in States: Comparative Frameworks (2008)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 2008)

Changes in Regional Settlement Patterns and the Development of Complex Societies in Southeastern Shandong, China (2008)

by Gary Feinman

(Anne P. Underhill, Gary M. Feinman, Linda M. Nicholas, Hui Fang, Fengshi Luan, Haiguang Yu, and Fengshu Cai, 2008)

The Changing Structure of Macroregional Mesoamerica: The Classic-Postclassic Transition in the Valley of Oaxaca (1999)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 1999)

Social Boundaries and Political Change: Comparative Perspectives (1994)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 1994)

Chiefdoms and Nonindustrial States (1996)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 1996)

A Dual-Processual Theory for the Evolution of Mesoamerican Civilization (1996)

by Gary Feinman

(Richard E. Blanton, Gary M. Feinman, Stephen A. Kowalewski, and Peter N. Peregrine, 1996)

Landscapes over Time: Resilience, Degradation, and Contemporary Lessons (2005)

by Gary Feinman

Christopher T. Fisher and Gary M. Feinman, 2005)

The Economic Underpinnings of Prehispanic Zapotec Civilization (2006)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 2006)

More than Alluvial Land and Water: The Late Pre-Hispanic Emergence of Eastern Tlacolula, Oaxaca, Mexico (2005)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas, 2005)

The Imprint of China's First Emperor on the Distant Realm of Eastern Shandong (2010)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, Linda M. Nicholas, and Fang Hui 2010)

The Mesoamerican World System (1984)

by Gary Feinman

(Richard Blanton and Gary Feinman, 1984)

Social Differentiation and Leadership Development in Early Pithouse Villages in the Mogollon Region of the American Southwest (1982)

by Gary Feinman

(Kent G. Lightfoot and Gary M. Feinman, 1982)

Boundaries, Scale, and Internal Organization (1983)

by Gary Feinman

(Stephen A. Kowalewski, Richard E. Blanton, Gary Feinman, and Laura Finsten, 1983)

Labor, Surplus, and Production: A Regional Analysis of Formative Oaxacan Socio-Economic Change (1987)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas, 1987)

At the Margins of the Monte Albán State: Settlement Patterns in the Ejutla Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico (1990)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas, 1990)

Demography, Surplus, and Inequality: Early Political Formations in Highland Mesoamerica (1991)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 1991)