Session: #620

Content:

Prehistoric archaeology has vigorously embraced biomolecular techniques to investigate poorly understood social phenomena. Αrchaeological theories of complexity brought forward the idea of societies as non-equilibrium systems and enhanced opposing discussions on the causality of societal change. Exploring several approaches to understand the organisation of interdependence, archaeology encompassed systems theory, network analysis, small-world theories, providing attractive tools to visualise plausible scenarios of multi-scalar social interactions.
Similarly, isotopic studies have enriched archaeological understanding of significant processes in prehistory. The reconstruction of dietary diversity within and across social strata and the symbolism associated with eating shed light on the identity of prehistoric communities and their evolution across time. This is because consumption patterns -and the consequential supply strategies- are an expression of economic interaction, social competition, community-level decision making, collective food traditions, gendered eating behaviours, and regional agricultural practices. The application of isotope analyses strongly contributes to the direct investigation of dietary patterns, subsistence strategies, and food system complexity.
We invite contributions that use isotope analyses of traditional and less explored elements (i.e., C, N, S, Ca, Zn) measured from collagen, collagen amino acids, calculus, to break long-held stereotypes of past social constructs, highlight complex networks, demonstrate economic diversity, pinpoint lifeway disturbances, identify system failures, and provoke new conceptualisations of past social organisation and interaction.

Session: #620

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