Causes and Consequences of Pre- and Proto-historic Social Network Connectedness in Coastal Georgia

Summary

This poster considers social networks derived from artifact assemblages and interment types from early-Irene and late-Irene and protohistoric mortuary contexts on the Georgia (USA) coast. Network analysis can be used to evaluate potential interactions between community members represented in mortuary contexts. The R statistical program is used to model social networks according to multiple parameters and generate statistical indices of network connectivity. I propose that these indices are a function of external forces (e.g., political and economic pressures, or dramatic changes in climate) acting on connections among individuals in a community and between geographically separated, but culturally affiliated communities. If intersite, cross-temporal, social networks can be demonstrated from artifact assemblages, then the connectivity of each network may be consequences of, or causal to micro-regional external forces. The historic, archaeological, and paleo-climatic records frame this interpretation of network connectivity.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17524