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	Archaeology of Prehistoric Complex Societies
		Supporting investigation of Eurasian complex societies are Pitt faculty offering requisite language training, and courses on the rise of complex societies in the ancient world, Chinese epigraphy, and early Asian empires.
		Robert D. Drennan (PhD, University of Michigan): emerging complex societies (especially chiefdoms); quantitative analysis and computer applications; regional settlement archaeology; prehistory of Mesoamerica, northern South America, and China.
		Bryan K. Hanks (University of Cambridge): settlement archaeology, middle-range societies, pastoralism, zooarchaeology, Eurasian prehistory.
	www.pitt.edu /~pittanth/grad/laa.html (887 words)

	Department of Near Eastern Studies
		Glenn Schwartz is a Near Eastern archaeologist whose research focuses on the emergence and early history of urban societies in Syria and Mesopotamia.
		The research focus at Tell al-Raqa'i concerned the role of small rural communities in early urban and complex societies.
		In 2003, Professor Schwartz and Peter Akkermans co-authored The Archaeology of Syria: From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Urban Societies, ca.
	www.jhu.edu /~neareast/schwartz.html (255 words)

	World History Connected \| Vol. 1 No. 2\| David L. Toye: The Emergence of Complex Societies: A Comparative Approach
		One method of facilitating this study is to identify the common characteristics of these complex societies and the factors in their development that can be discerned from the archaeological record.
		Anthropologists, historians, and archaeologists employ the neutral terms "complex" and "simple" to classify cultures that were once categorized, respectively, as "civilized" and "savage"--labels that have been replaced due to their emotionally charged connotations.
		Complex cultures also are governed by states, which possess sole authority to collect and distribute resources for the common good and to enforce the rules that order society.
	worldhistoryconnected.press.uiuc.edu /1.2/toye.html (5388 words)

	[No title] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
		Complex societies are voluntaristic }{\i\fs24 and}{\fs24 coercive; we must understand them in terms of conflicts }{\i\fs24 and}{\fs24 functions, and at the level of the individual }{\i\fs24 and}{\fs24 the institution.
		In complex societies, we are expected to live in social systems whose size, degree of division of labor, requirements for subordination, frequency of interaction with strangers, degree of status differences, and so on, are far outside the range of even the most complex foraging societies.
		A common method of deepening and strengthening the hierarchy of command and control in complex societies is to construct a formal nested hierarchy of offices, using various mixtures of ascription and achievement principles to staff the offices.
	www.santafe.edu /files/workshops/bowles/Complex_for_Human_Nature_IV.rtf (15883 words)

	Richerson/Boyd: Complex Societies
		The evolution of complex societies is one of the deepest puzzles of the social sciences.
		Since the American and Soviet societies had ready access to egalitarian ideologies that could have served to reduce the social distance between officers and their troops, perhaps the most plausible explanation is that Hitler’s enlisted man’s experience in WWI gave him an intuitive sympathy for and appeal to ordinary soldiers’ motivations for fighting.
		In complex societies, the moralistic solidarity of tribal societies has to be supplemented with formal police institutions if larger scale public goods are to exist in the face of selfish temptations to expropriate them by individuals, nepotists, and cabals of reciprocators, organized predatory bands, and classes or castes with special access to means of coercion.
	www.geser.net /richerson.html (14052 words)

	COMPLEXITY, PROBLEM SOLVING, AND SUSTAINABLE SOCIETIES, by Joseph A. Tainter, 1996
		Complexity is generally understood to refer to such things as the size of a society, the number and distinctiveness of its parts, the variety of specialized social roles that it incorporates, the number of distinct social personalities present, and the variety of mechanisms for organizing these into a coherent, functioning whole.
		Complexity has always been inhibited by the burdens of time and energy that it imposes, and by complexity aversion (which is no doubt related to cost).
		As such a society evolves along the marginal return curve beyond B2, C2, it crosses a continuum of points, such as B1, C3, where costs are increasing, but the benefits have actually declined to those previously available at a lower level of complexity.
	dieoff.org /page134.htm (5608 words)

	Wilson: Determinism, Uncertainty, etc.
		All complex societies had some system of punishment for people who acted in ways that are prohibited, as well as a hierarchical system of judges and law enforcement people.
		It may be that these earlier models of complex society did not tend to expand rapidly or move to annex other lands and peoples.
		As a whole, the complex societies that dominate the globe, and the economies they depend on, have created enormous problems of overexploitation in terms of global warming, mass extinctions, and fossil fuel depletion.
	uts.cc.utexas.edu /~swilson/uncertainty.html (5643 words)

	The Collapse of Complex Societies
		Even when a society is past the point of diminishing returns - when economically, they'd be better off not investing in more complexity - there is a situation where they cannot collapse.
		Complex societies are a relatively new development in human history.
		Neighboring societies of the time honored reproducing women, and the evidence suggests the Maya did as well, feeding the females at the expense of the males.
	members.aol.com /leanan7/tainter.htm (1994 words)

	Who matters in a complex society?
		It is that their behaviors are complex in similar ways, as in terms of occasional chaotic behavior, irreversible dynamics and the emergence of structures of high level (e.g.
		In general, the ability of participants in CAE systems to "connect the dots" across disciplines, subcultures et cetera, to see the implications of disjointed and/or incomplete information, to sense change and to use inductive reasoning are more important than their ability to apply advanced mathematics or use deductive reasoning.
		This metaphor illustrates the guarded optimism of complexity economists, as opposed to the strong pessimism of Austrian economists, although both emphasize the spontaneous emergence of macro structures in economies and markets.
	www.economicswebinstitute.org /essays/whocomplex.htm (4503 words)

	Thesis #14: Complexity is subject to diminishing returns. (The Anthropik Network) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
		As societies increase in complexity, more networks are created among individuals, more hierarchical controls are created to regulate these networks, more information is processed, there is more centralization of information flow, there is increasing need to support specialists not directly involved in resource production, and the like.
		The costs of complexity relative to its benefits are simply too high, and substantial numbers across the society begin to see benefits to "dropping out" of the complexity of that society.
		Ergo, the end result of any set of societies that can raise or lower their complexity must be a situation where they all increase their complexity, all the time, as quickly as they can, until only one of them remains alive, and inevitably crumbles under the weight of its own unsustainable complexity.
	anthropik.com /2005/10/thesis-14-complexity-is-subject-to-diminishing-returns (9806 words)

	Civilization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Civilisations are more complex again than chieftain societies, as, in addition to a variety of specialist artisans and craftspeople, civilisations are all characterised by a social elite, with status inherited, determined largely from birth.
		Literally, a civilization is a complex society, as distinguished from a simpler society.
		Additionally, it is argued that the complex division of labor and specialized economic activities that characterize civilizations produce better standards of living for their inhabitants.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Civilization (7574 words)

	Amazon.ca: The Collapse of Complex Societies: Books: Joseph Tainter (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
		One of the strengths of his framework is the broadness of its terms of reference...Tainter's model accomodates all levels of complexity and all kinds of evidence, from fiscal policy to the acquisition of raw materials.
		Complexity, writes Tainter, describes a variety of characteristics in a number of societies-- many differentiated social roles, a large class of administrators not involved in the production of primary resources, energy devoted to different kinds of communication, centralised government, etc. Societies become more complex in order to solve problems.
		Since, as Tainter writes, the "number of challenges with which the Universe can confront a society is, for practical purposes, infinite," complex societies need to keep on increasing their level of complexity in order to survive new challenges.
	www.amazon.ca /Collapse-Complex-Societies-Joseph-Tainter/dp/052138673X (1498 words)

	Archaeology of Native American Complex Societies
		The Archaeology of Native American Complex Societies is a specific realm of archaeological inquiry focused on the emergence, development, and organization of complex societies.
		From an archaeological perspective, complex societies are the consequence of the transformation from hunting and harvesting to food production, in other words, from an economic strategy in which people move to food resources to one that moves food to people.
		Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) Very similar in content to the SAA web-page though specific emphasis is placed on Historic archaeology.
	www.as.ua.edu /ant/archaeology_of_native_american_c.htm (365 words)

	Complex Societies 2006
		The course will emphasize both theories of culture and society that pertain to complex societies and the archaeological methodologies -- some new, some old -- that are most effective in allowing us to understand them.
		We will examine the theories concerning the nature of complex societies and their origins, looking particularly at the role of cultural or ethnic heterogeneity in situations of emerging complexity.
		We will also spend a good part of the course looking at the key methodologies that allow us to understand how complex societies were organized, especially through the analysis of inter- and intra-site settlement patterns, households, trade and exchange, architecture, burials, craft specialization, shamanism and ceremonialism, warfare, and kinship.
	www.utexas.edu /courses/wilson/complex06 (178 words)

	Tiwanaku and Andean Archaeology Page - Basic Readings in Theory of Complex Societies
		1978 Unilinealism, Multilinealism and the Evolution of Complex Societies.
		Earle, T.K. 1977 A Reppraisal of Redistribution: Complex Hawaiian Chiefdoms.
		Steponaitis, Vincas P. 1981 Settlement Hierarchies and Political Complexity in Nonmarket Societies: the Formative Period of the Valley of Mexico.
	www.tiwanakuarcheo.net /1_main/teoria.html (835 words)

	Social insects point to non-genetic origins of societies
		The ability of certain animals to form complex social systems -- particularly humans and social insects like bees, ants and termites -- is considered by many biologists to be one of the pinnacles of biological adaptation and complexity.
		Social characteristics such as caste systems and complex behaviors have been thought to be traits programmed by genes, created through evolutionary processes.
		Though insect social systems are in many ways as complex as human societies, Fewell contends that the relative simplicity of the insects themselves argues against the systems being created solely by the evolutionary development of biocomplexity in the individual organisms.
	www.eurekalert.org /pub_releases/2003-09/asu-sip092603.php (736 words)

	Amazon.com: The Collapse of Complex Societies (New Studies in Archaeology): Books: Joseph Tainter (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
		A study of why complex societies collapse should begin with a clear picture of what it is that does so.
		Complexity, writes Tainter, describes a variety of characteristics in a number of societies.
		As Jared Diamond correctly points out in his new "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed," complex societies would be expected to be the best at staving off collapse because they are by definition the most highly organized, with the best information, resource and administrative structures to deal with new challenges.
	www.amazon.com /Collapse-Complex-Societies-Studies-Archaeology/dp/052138673X (2816 words)

	Edge: WHY DO SOME SOCIETIES MAKE DISASTROUS DECISIONS?
		These are all societies that we've realized, from archaeological discoveries in the last 20 years, hammered away at their own environments and destroyed themselves in part by undermining the environmental resources on which they depended.
		An example of a society that suffered from disastrous consequences of reasoning by false analogy was the society of Norwegian Vikings who immigrated to Iceland beginning in the year AD 871.
		Thus, human societies and smaller groups may make disastrous decisions for a whole sequence of reasons: failure to anticipate a problem, failure to perceive it once it has arisen, failure to attempt to solve it after it has been perceived, and failure to succeed in attempts to solve it.
	www.edge.org /3rd_culture/diamond03/diamond_print.html (5432 words)

	Brian Oliver Shepphard, Is Anarchism Suitable For Complex Societies
		Whereas Jackson attributes the ebbing of the revolutionary tide to the discovery of the unsuspected complexity of modern society, Orwell's firsthand observations [in Homage to Catalonia], like those of Borkenau, suggest a far simpler explanation [namely, Communist suppression].
		The complexities of modern society that baffled and confounded the unsuspecting anarchist workers of Barcelona
		The collectivisation of the textile industry shatters once and for all the legend that the workers are incapable of administrating a great and complex corporation.
	www.hartford-hwp.com /archives/27d/018.html (722 words)

	The Collapse of Complex Societies - Cambridge University Press
		Any explanation of societal collapse carries lessons not just for the study of ancient societies, but for the members of all such societies in both the present and future.
		He then develops a new and far-reaching theory that accounts for collapse among diverse kinds of societies, evaluating his model and clarifying the processes of disintegration by detailed studies of the Roman, Mayan and Chacoan collapses.
		model accomodates all levels of complexity and all kinds of evidence, from fiscal policy to the acquisition of raw materials.
	www.cambridge.org /us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=052138673X (429 words)

	ZNet \|Vision & Strategy \| Is Anarchism Suitable For Complex Societies
		The multi-faceted nature of advanced industrial economies; their scope of operation and breadth of distribution; the extensive refinement in their division of labor - all these and more are held up as examples of the labyrinth of problems that nothing as "simplistic" as anarchism could ever hope to address.
		In "The Relevance of Anarchism to Modern Society," he delved into the subject by reaffirming that "the classical anarchists always rejected the kind of 'simplicity' which camouflages regimentation in favor of the natural complexity which reflects the many faceted richness and diversity of social and individual life."
		Complexity comes to the fore and foils the anarchists, it seems, allowing Franco to sweep into power.
	www.zmag.org /content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=41&ItemID=2717 (669 words)

	WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future: Collapsing Upwards (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26)
		Joseph Tainter decided that a “complex society” is one that has many social divisions (both vertical and horizontal), a significant amount of energy devoted to administration & communication rather than primary resource development (such as farming or manufacturing), and a mostly centralized government (among other characteristics).
		As he said in an interview, “in societies where the elites do not suffer from the consequences of their decisions, but can insulate themselves, the elite are more likely to pursue their short-term interests, even though that may be bad for the long-term interests of the society...”
		Tainter’s definition of a “complex” society is a centralized one with large administrative classes; one form of “collapse” is decentralization that dissolves social stratification and removes socio-economic overhead.
	www.worldchanging.com /archives/002207.html (1012 words)

	107-411 Archaeology of Complex Societies
		This subject examines the concept of complexity from an archaeological perspective.
		It surveys various cultural traditions, focusing on issues associated with the emergence and development of social, economic and political complexity such as the advent of sedentism; early villages; the evolution of urban, literate societies; city-states and incipient supra-regional polities; and ancient 'world empires'.
		Students should complete the subject with a critical understanding of historical and contemporary theoretical issues in archaeological research and interpretation concerned with complexity, and have a knowledge of various methodologies utilised toward these interpretative ends.
	www.unimelb.edu.au /HB/subjects/107-411.html (226 words)

	After Collapse: The Regeneration of Complex Societies
		From the Euphrates Valley to the southern Peruvian Andes, early complex societies have risen and fallen, but in some cases they have also been reborn.
		This is the first book-length work to examine the question of how and why early complex urban societies have reappeared after periods of decentralization and collapse.
		The contributors draw on material culture as well as textual and ethnohistoric data to consider such factors as preexistent institutions, structures, and ideologies that are influential in regeneration; economic and political resilience; the role of social mobility, marginal groups, and peripheries; and ethnic change.
	www.uapress.arizona.edu /BOOKS/bid1670.htm (305 words)

	Complex Networks Group - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
		This is the home of the complex networks group at the Departament de Llenguatges i Sistemes Informàtics of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.
		We focus our research on the dynamics and characteristic features that emerge in complex societies formed by proactive agents with minimum cognitive capacity and simple competition and collaboration rules.
		In particular we are interested in the relationship between individual behaviour, the rise of norms and adherence to conventions, and the emergence of organizational traits in the form of complex networks, as well as the diffusion of knowledge and information.
	www.complexnetworks.org (690 words)

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