CLASS 6738 - [Networks in Archaeology]

(crosslisted) ANTHR 6738 , ARKEO 6738 , NES 6638

Spring. Not offered 2017-2018. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

A. Van Oyen.

It has become impossible to conceive of the world in which we live without networks. Our social circles have become so connected that only ‘six degrees of separation’ stand between you and any other person on earth. Computers and the internet enable instant communication. And both people and goods can travel across the globe in short time spans. Are networks a strictly modern phenomenon, or did they exist in the ancient world as well? Can thinking in terms of networks shed new light on the nature of the ancient world? Or does our modern reliance on relational thought cloud our view of the specificity of the past?

This course teaches how to think relationally on the basis of archaeological evidence, and how this can benefit our understanding of key themes in the study of the economy and society of the past. Can networks really do away with ‘container thinking’ and fixed analytical entities and why is this needed? We will compare formal network approaches and practice-based relational thought. We will assess the role of human action and material flows in building and maintaining networks. We will discuss how networks have been used to study topics such as the city, trade, mobility, and religion. And we will ask which evidence and which historical phenomena fail to get picked up by network-based approaches.