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"Network Science in Archaeology The Cambridge Manual to Archaeological Network Science provides the first comprehensive guide to a field of research that has firmly established itself within archaeological practice in recent years. Network science methods are commonly used to explore big archaeological datasets and are essential for the formal study of past relational phenomena: social networks, transport systems, communication, and exchange. The volume offers a step-by-step description of network science methods and explores its theoretical foundations and applications in archaeological research, which are elaborately illustrated with archaeological examples. It also covers a vast range of network science techniques that can enhance archaeological research, including network data collection and management, exploratory network analysis, sampling issues and sensitivity analysis, spatial networks, and network visualisation. An essential reference handbook for both beginning and experienced archaeological network researchers, the volume includes boxes with definitions, boxed examples, exercises, and online supplementary learning and teaching materials. Tom Brughmans is Associate Professor of Classical Archaeology at the Centre for Urban Network Evolutions, Aarhus University. His research explores how social networks connected people throughout history, how large integrated economies like the Roman Empire could function for centuries, and how expansive communication systems using fire and smoke signaling worked. Matthew A. Peeples is Associate Professor of Anthropology in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and Director of the Center for Archaeology and Society at Arizona State University. His research focuses on integrating archaeological data with methods and models from the broader social sciences to address questions regarding the nature of human social networks over the long term"--

ABSTRACTIn social network analysis,brokeragerefers to the processes through which individuals or larger groups mediate interactions between actors that would otherwise not be directly connected. Brokers occupy key intermediate positions that have alternately been interpreted as sources of social capital or potential disadvantages. Recent empirical studies suggest that the relationship between brokerage and rewards or risks varies considerably depending on the nature of interactions in a given setting. In this study, we use a large settlement and ceramic database including sites across the western U.S. Southwest (C.E. 1200–1400) to identify settlements that likely filled brokerage roles in ceramic networks. We develop a new structural measure of brokerage and compare long‐term outcomes for settlements characterized by varying degrees of brokerage. We argue that brokerage was not a major source of social capital in our study area, as interactions instead favored the formation of discrete groups over such intermediate positions.

"Network research has recently been adopted as one of the tools of the trade in archaeology, used to study a wide range of topics: interactions between island communities, movements through urban spaces, visibility in past landscapes, material culture similarity, exchange, and much more. This Oxford Handbook is the first authoritative reference work for archaeological network research, featuring current topical trends and covering the archaeological application of network methods and theories. This is elaborately demonstrated through substantive topics and case studies drawn from a breadth of periods and cultures in world archaeology. It highlights and further develops the unique contributions made by archaeological research to network science, especially concerning the development of spatial and material culture network methods and approaches to studying long-term network change. This is the go-to resource for students and scholars wishing to explore how network science can be applied in archaeology through an up-to-date overview of the field"--

ABSTRACT  Change is inevitable, but some changes and transformations are more dramatic and fraught with suffering than others. Resilience theory suggests the concept of a "rigidity trap" as an explanation for these differences. In rigidity traps, a high degree of connectivity and the suppression of innovation prolong an increasingly rigid state, with the result that the eventual transformation is harsh. Three archaeological cases from the U.S. Southwest (Mimbres, Mesa Verde, and Hohokam) and new methods for assessing transformations and rigidity are used to evaluate this concept. They reveal the expected association between the severity of transformation and degree of rigidity, suggesting that a rigidity trap contributed to the Hohokam decline, which included significant human suffering. Possible causes of rigidity, with implications for today's world, are explored.