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Complexity? Well, you know, that's just like uh, your opinion, man

About this episode

This fortnight, we sit down with his dudeliness, Dr. Gary Coupland (Prof. Emeritus, University of Toronto), ostensibly to talk about complexity but in doing so have to ask, what really is complexity? We’re talking status inequality, a wealth of beads, and the best way to cook salmon. Unfortunately, Ken didn’t remember to ask Gary how the Leafs will do this year, but we can be reasonably assured they will win it all. Well, I hope you folks enjoy yourselves, catch you later on down the trail.

Show Notes

Coupland, Gary G., and E. B. Banning. 1996. People who lived in big houses : archaeological perspectives on large domestic structures.Monographs in world archaeology, no. 27. Madison, Wis: Prehistory Press.

Coupland, Gary, David Bilton, Terence Clark, Jerome S. Cybulski, Gay Frederick, Alyson Holland, Bryn Letham, and Gretchen Williams. 2016. "A Wealth of Beads: Evidence for Material Wealth-Based Inequality in the Salish Sea Region, 4000–3500 Cal B.P." American Antiquity 81 (2): 294-315. https://doi.org/10.7183/0002-7316.81.2.294

Coupland, Gary, Terence Clark, and Amanda Palmer. 2009. "Hierarchy, Communalism, and the Spatial Order of Northwest Coast Plank Houses: A Comparative Study." American Antiquity 74 (1): 77-106. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25470539

Matson, R. G., and Gary G. Coupland. 1995. The prehistory of the Northwest Coast. Toronto: Academic Press.

McGuire, Randall H. 1983. "Breaking Down Cultural Complexity: Inequality and Heterogeneity." In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, edited by Michael B. Schiffer, 91-142. San Diego: Academic Press.

Moss, Madonna L. 2012. "Understanding Variability in Northwest Coast Faunal Assemblages: Beyond Economic Intensification and Cultural Complexity." Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 7 (1): 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2011.586090. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2011.586090.

Sassaman, Kenneth E. 2004. "Complex Hunter-Gatherers in Evolution and History: A North American Perspective." Journal of Archaeological Research 12 (3): 227-280.

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Complexity? Well, you know, that's just like uh, your opinion, man

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