Did Geography Shape the Origins of Early Complex Societies?

Why did the world's earliest complex, sedentary societies emerge in some places but not others? For more than fifty years, scholars have debated whether the landscapes surrounding early populations played a decisive role in shaping these outcomes. Some have argued that geographical barriers to movement intensified competition and encouraged the development of complex social organisation, while others emphasise the uniqueness of individual historical trajectories. In this talk, I revisit this classic question by approaching the theory from a new angle. Drawing on formal modelling methods with simulated data alongside archaeological examples, I argue that constraints do not operate in a simple or uniform way. Certain forms of geographical limitation may accelerate the emergence of hierarchy by concentrating populations, while others may instead inhibit complexity by isolating communities. By exploring a range of possible scenarios, I also highlight the importance of factors that were not originally considered central, as well as processes for which there is little or no direct archaeological evidence. I conclude by considering how modelling approaches can be used to reassess longstanding ideas in archaeology, and what these findings imply for our understanding the origins of social complexity.

Members of the Cluster are invited to the reserved AWRC lunch table in Hall starting at 12.30 to meet Alice.  Alice's talk in the Levett Room at 1:15 will be catered with cake and tea/coffee (all welcome).