Where, when, and under what circumstances did money first emerge? This Element
examines this question through a comparative study of the use of shells to facilitate trade …

How different were the lives of elites and commoners in early complex societies? This paper
examines this question using data from three fisher-hunter-gatherer sites in southern …

On global, regional, and local scales, sea level histories and paleoshoreline reconstructions
are critical to understanding the deep history of human adaptations in island and coastal …

Understanding how maritime hunter-gatherer diets changed through time in response to
increasing social complexity can help us understand important transitions in early human …

The past several decades of archaeological work across North America have greatly
expanded our understanding of hunter-gatherer complexity. We now know that many small …

The boat stands out as a prominent symbol of the Nordic Bronze Age, depicted at thousands
of rock art sites and on several metal objects throughout Scandinavia. Paradoxically, direct …

Abstract Background Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the main toxic
compounds in natural bitumen, a fossil material used by modern and ancient societies …

A popular model for social evolution in the Santa Barbara Channel region holds that, during
times of resource stress, islanders would trade with mainlanders for plant foods in order to …

Sequential models can be used to connect raw material culture to broader social, economic,
and religious processes. The present study explores an asphaltum (bitumen) production …

Abstract The Early and Middle Neolithic (3500–2300 [Before Current Era] BCE) Pitted Ware
Culture (PWC) was a critical component of the historical trajectory of Scandinavia's maritime …