Ancient societies have gone through cycles of development and decline in terms of the level of social complexity. In this subject students are introduced to theoretical and practical approaches in archaeology relating to understanding of social-political change. Discussion topics include the emergence of social inequality, acquisition and maintenance of power by elites, function of ritual and ideology in relation to social transformation, and variability of political economy associated with the development of social complexity. Special attention is placed on the current debate about cultural evolution - how and why civilisations emerged, progressed, and collapsed in different parts of the world

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