Comparing Social Networks in Archaeology
ASM 591 Final Project Proposal
Robert Bischoff
10/22/2019
Project Background: My Dissertation Topic
- My dissertation research focuses on small arrow points in the United States Southwest during two time periods:
- The AD 800s was a period of rapid community growth and reorganization
- Similarly, the post-AD 1350 period was also a period of major community reorganization
- Changes in social networks for both time periods have been studied through the use of ceramic assemblages
Project Background: My Dissertation Topic
- My research expands this analysis to study these social networks through projectile points and other available data, including ceramics
- The goal of this class project is to create a general model to compare social networks created through different social processes
- These processes are the production and circulation of ceramics and projectile points
Social Networks in Archaeology
- Social networks analysis is becoming a common tool in archaeology
- Most analyses consider networks created from one type of artifact–usually ceramics
- Note: these social networks do not necessarily reflect actual social connections in the past–a good definition is that they represent the potential for interaction
- An example of this is the Southwest Social Networks Project (e.g., Mills et al. 2013)
- although in some analyses the authors also considered obsidian exchange
Southwest Social Networks Project

Social Networks in Archaeology