Social Processes and Technological Change

Summary

Archaeologists are much concerned with, and often have evidence for studying, the effects of technological change on social processes. In this paper, I reverse the causal arrow and examine social processes that can initiation technological change. Among these varied social processes, I discuss here peer competitions; social role expectations; new social groups, social roles, and activities; and maintaining a system of status differentiation. Each of these processes can serve as fillips to invention and, perhaps, initiate processes of development, manufacture, and adoption.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• New Perspectives on the Archaeology of Technological Change   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

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