Chaos, Complexity, and a Revitalization of Four-Field Anthropology?

Abstract

Four-field anthropology has always struggled with the problem of how to holistically study human cultural systems that are the products of environment, process, and history. Complexity science offers a set of tools calibrated to the analysis of complex systems like those of human societies, and has the potential to allow us to scientifically understand how history and process affect the physical, cultural, and linguistic components that are entangled in the whole of human societies. Application of complexity science to anthropological problems thus far has favored engagement on a conceptual level rather than one that harnesses the full power of the approach.

KEYWORDS:

• chaos theory
• complexity science
• four-field anthropology

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Several individuals at the University of Michigan were instrumental in exposing me to complexity science and encouraging me to pursue my interest in it. Chief among them was Rick Riolo: a fine scholar, a great thinker, and an excellent teacher. Bob Whallon, Henry Wright, and John Speth provided support to me in numerous ways, serving on my doctoral committee and allowing me to go after the ideas that I thought were interesting. I thank Michael Harkin for the opportunity to write this essay and for his flexibility in letting me work around my teaching schedule. As always, I owe my family for the patience with work that spills over into evenings, weekends, and some pretty grumpy mornings.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrew A. White

ANDREW A. WHITE is an Assistant Research Professor in the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina. His research interests include hunter-gatherers, human cultural and biological evolution, complex systems theory, and prehistoric families. He initiated and maintains the Eastern Woodlands Household Archaeology Data Project, and has recently spent far too much time debunking claims for the existence of a prehistoric “race” of giants.