Archaeology and World-Systems Theory

Archaeology has tremendous potential for developing world‐systems approaches to non‐Western and noncapitalist societies because it has the ability to both explore non‐Western and noncapitalist societies with the sophistication of anthropology and to explore societies in existence long before the capitalist world‐system began to evolve. I suggest that sociologists stand to gain by learning about non‐Western and noncapitalist societies, particularly as they are understood by archaeologists. World‐systems theory provides a common framework within which archaeologists and sociologists can both work. This article explores recent work in world‐systems archaeology that sociologists might find particularly valuable.