What can archaeology tell us about societies past and present?

Human societies grow and change over time due to all sorts of factors ranging from the highest-level policies of modern governing systems to the smallest decisions made by individuals in farming villages during the Neolithic.

The direct and indirect effects each of these factors has on the course of sociocultural evolution is not always clear though. This is even the case with modern societies equipped with advanced measurement tools, scientific theories, etc.

Archaeology is a discipline that is well-positioned to illuminate the different courses of change across societies due to its focus on long periods of time (i.e., the longue durée.) With such a perspective of the past, we can observe extensive stretches of growth, transformation, disintegration, and so on.

My goal with this blog is to bring these insights to a broader audience and help people understand what archaeology has to say about the past, present and future!