Abstract:

This paper sets out a systematic approach to using comparative methods in the archaeological study of complex societies. Three scales of comparison are indicated—micro, meso, and macro—corresponding roughly to the site, regional/cultural, and historical/evolutionary levels. While there is obvious overlap, each level has appropriate sets of methods and expectations, and each needs to be integrated in a sequential or hierarchical fashion. Examples of these levels are taken from early third millennium Greece and the Levant. A larger goal is to illustrate how comparison of superficially similar pre- and proto-historic cultures may aid in the study of dramatically different historic societies.

Author: Alexander H. Joffe