Call for Papers (current) by Jan-Eric Schlicht
CfP for Session #215 at the 26th EAA Annual Meeting in Budapest, Hungary, 26-30 August 2020
EAA 2020 BUDAPEST Dear colleagues, we invite you to our session # 215 Networks of interaction and... more EAA 2020 BUDAPEST Dear colleagues, we invite you to our session # 215 Networks of interaction and communication: Patterns of emerging complexity Providing a new explanatory framework for numerous 'old' archaeological issues, complex systems and complex dynamic behavior became increasingly prominent topics in current archaeological discourse. While depending on initial conditions, scale-free properties of a number of complex systems demonstrate that for an understanding of the development of human organization and culture it is necessary to refocus from 'challenge-respond' patterns to the systems' internal driven forces. Therefore, behavior of complex dynamic systems, which by definition exceeds the sum of the behavior of their integral parts, may be approached through the analysis of communication/interaction networks. For doing so, it is not only necessary to develop sound and innovative methodologies, but also to reflect and integrate various practical application-driven research perspectives with reflective and innovative theoretical thought. We believe complexity, complex systems and complex dynamic behavior to offer excellent grounds for new and integrative prospects in archaeological research.
In this session we aim to explore various theoretical and methodological approaches to complexity in archaeology from prehistory to more recent times. The session especially aims to discuss the complex networks and interaction/communication paths to evolving complexity. We encourage contributions to the following issues:
• Behavioral patterns produced by interaction/communication networks
• Description and modeling of complex dynamic behavior
• Distinction between external and internal driven forces in systems behavior
• Approaching cycles in development of complex systems
• Theoretical contribution of complexity to archaeological method and theory
Papers dealing with related, but not listed issues, are highly welcome as well.
CfP for the #S6 Complexity in archaeology at the International Open Workshop: Socio-Environmental... more CfP for the #S6 Complexity in archaeology at the International Open Workshop: Socio-Environmental Dynamics over the Last 15,000 Years: The Creation of Landscapes VI 11th – 26th of March, 2019.
Papers by Jan-Eric Schlicht
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2023
Providing an explanatory framework for numerous ‘old’ and ‘new’ archaeological issues, complex sy... more Providing an explanatory framework for numerous ‘old’ and ‘new’ archaeological issues, complex systems, and complex dynamic behaviour became increasingly prominent talking points in recent archaeological and anthropological discourse. Complexity, as a wider framework, potentially offers the capacity to structure various specified approaches under a more holistic umbrella, a direction which has been demanded by some during the last 20 years (e.g. Bentley & Maschner, 2009; Furholt, 2021; Kristiansen, 2014). Therefore, this framework may prove to be central in the undertaking of integrative efforts between an increasingly specialised and fractured discipline in the future. Aiming for a snapshot of the most current developments in archaeological complexity studies, we hosted a session entitled ‘Networks of Interaction and Communication: Patterns of Emerging Complexity’ at the Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists in 2020. Papers in this Special Issue resulting from the session cover a wide variety of issues ranging from data aggregation to developing methods and explaining complex patterns of the past. We hope that the Special Issue will enrich the conceptual scope among readers both familiar and unfamiliar with the field of complexity research.
Miera, Jan (ed.). 2023. Narrating the Past: Archaeological Epistemology, Explanation and Communication. Proceedings of the 6th Annual Conference of the Central European Theoretical Archaeology Group, held at the University of Leipzig (Germany), 12–13 September 2019., 2023
Certain narrative articulations from popular science to fiction tend to be objects to criticism b... more Certain narrative articulations from popular science to fiction tend to be objects to criticism by archaeologists. Common critiques revolve around the misrepresentation of (pre-) historical circumstances, misconstrued depictions of archaeological contexts, or generally oversimplified stories about past human life. While critical stances towards these media outputs are often warranted, the roots for such kinds of narrative articulation are not disjunct from academia. While there are many possible points to address, this text focuses on terminology, specifically the term “culture(s)”. “Culture” is notoriously ambiguous: it is part of numerous discourses and is read differently by many people. Whilst employing “archaeological cultures” as classificatory devices in archaeology is often said to be intended as purely technical terms for classifying material and contextual attributes, they may invoke different readings within a wider audience, particularly in those cases where “cultures” are transformed into acting entities. Such discursive developments harbour the danger of supporting chauvinistic, nationalistic, and exclusionary views in public discourse through a perceived sense of scientific confirmation, even if done unintentionally. Since one of the reasons “archaeological cultures” are often employed is likely located within a desire to reduce complex relationships in material and contexts for the sake of narration and
interpretive efforts, this paper proposes an alternative perspective from the point of systemic complexity. In that light, “narrative” itself is explored conceptually as a mode of cognition in order to assess the possibilities and constraints such a perspective may provide in the effort of tackling the conundrum of narrating complexity with the additional goal of reflecting the political responsibility embedded in the production of archaeological narrative.
The strange times we are living are showing us how quickly humans can adapt to change. Keeping in... more The strange times we are living are showing us how quickly humans can adapt to change. Keeping in mind that transformations are most likely a constantly occurring aspect of human life we want to ask: How was change in prehistory? Was it perceptible on a human scale? Were past communities able to readjust and reinvent themselves in the face of adversity? These, and other questions, are particularly applicable to the fluctuations that occur during the transition between the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC, a period marked by cultural shifts archaeologically visible throughout Europe. Transformative processes in populational dynamics, mobility practices and material exchange networks have been in the spotlight for quite some time. The Iberian Peninsula in particular functions as an excellent example for this development whereby a plethora of prehistoric contexts may indicate different socio-political trajectories. Adding to that, the existence of multiple ongoing long term projects in key sites (as ditched enclosures) has allowed the application of new methodologies like research on ancient DNA, paleoclimatic reconstructions and mobility studies (mainly through isotopic analysis) that have made the Iberian Peninsula a stage on which current theoretical backgrounds are being questioned. As such, there is a pressing necessity to confront, match and reconcile new sets of data and the archaeological evidence not only in Iberia but also throughout the rest of Europe, allowing to rethink and update theories and biographic narratives that will contribute to a possibly closer grasp on the lifeways of prehistoric communities. For this session, we invite presentations dealing with change in European contexts of the 3rd/2nd millennium BC, in order to stimulate comparisons between different theories and methodologies. We would also appreciate input from archaeological science researchers (aDNA, mobility, demography). Eventually, we intend to provide new insights to the prehistoric lifeways, based on solid interpretive hypothesis.
Uploads
Call for Papers (current) by Jan-Eric Schlicht
In this session we aim to explore various theoretical and methodological approaches to complexity in archaeology from prehistory to more recent times. The session especially aims to discuss the complex networks and interaction/communication paths to evolving complexity. We encourage contributions to the following issues:
• Behavioral patterns produced by interaction/communication networks
• Description and modeling of complex dynamic behavior
• Distinction between external and internal driven forces in systems behavior
• Approaching cycles in development of complex systems
• Theoretical contribution of complexity to archaeological method and theory
Papers dealing with related, but not listed issues, are highly welcome as well.
Papers by Jan-Eric Schlicht
interpretive efforts, this paper proposes an alternative perspective from the point of systemic complexity. In that light, “narrative” itself is explored conceptually as a mode of cognition in order to assess the possibilities and constraints such a perspective may provide in the effort of tackling the conundrum of narrating complexity with the additional goal of reflecting the political responsibility embedded in the production of archaeological narrative.
In this session we aim to explore various theoretical and methodological approaches to complexity in archaeology from prehistory to more recent times. The session especially aims to discuss the complex networks and interaction/communication paths to evolving complexity. We encourage contributions to the following issues:
• Behavioral patterns produced by interaction/communication networks
• Description and modeling of complex dynamic behavior
• Distinction between external and internal driven forces in systems behavior
• Approaching cycles in development of complex systems
• Theoretical contribution of complexity to archaeological method and theory
Papers dealing with related, but not listed issues, are highly welcome as well.
interpretive efforts, this paper proposes an alternative perspective from the point of systemic complexity. In that light, “narrative” itself is explored conceptually as a mode of cognition in order to assess the possibilities and constraints such a perspective may provide in the effort of tackling the conundrum of narrating complexity with the additional goal of reflecting the political responsibility embedded in the production of archaeological narrative.