Coffee and snacks will be provided. This talk will be recorded for later viewing.

Abstract: Complex adaptive systems science provides ways to examine relationships among individuals in the archaeological past. Through these methods we directly observe the impacts of individuals’ decisions (in the case of agent-based modeling) or their relationships to other individuals (in the case of network analysis) and then examine the effects of these behaviors on larger societal structures. Approaches from complex adaptive systems thus help advance archaeological research to study not just the tangible (artifacts) but the intangible and invisible (relationships).

In this talk I highlight how tools from complex adaptive systems science have helped solve debates on when and how the peopling of Australia happened, and how people have been fundamental components in ecosystems for generations. This work has applicability to other systems worldwide, both in the past and into the future. Archaeology helps us understand vexing problems today by illustrating the trajectories of past societies, allowing us to see the long-term consequences of human decisions.