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Dear Colleagues,

I am organizing a session entitled “Exploring complex systems through indigenous sciences and ontologies” for the Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting in 2019, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and invite abstract submissions for the session. See session description below for more information.

If you are interested in joining this session, please send an abstract of 200 words to [log in to unmask] by August 15, 2018. I will then submit your name to the SAA site as part of the session. You will be invited by email to register and upload your 200 word abstract by the deadline for SAA for abstract submission, Sept. 6, 2018, 3pm EST. All session participants will need to be registered and have submitted the paper abstract online by that date.

Please share this call for abstracts across your list servs and pass the details on to anyone you know might be interested!

Best regards,

Nicole

Dr. Nicole M. Mathwich

Arizona State Museum

University of Arizona

[log in to unmask]

Call for abstracts

Session title: Exploring complex systems through indigenous sciences and ontologies

Complex systems approaches to archaeological interpretation are well-established in the discipline and offer important ways for studying change over various scales. Large data sets and regional syntheses invite new applications of complex systems applications of complex systems to archaeological data. At the same time, indigenous and postcolonial perspectives have increasingly become foundational to project planning, data collection, and interpretation. Despite the importance of these two approaches to contemporary archaeology, researchers seldom interpret complex systems concepts and methods through indigenous ontological frameworks. The lack of substantial dialogue between these theoretical approaches results in uncritical applications of complexity theory which inadvertently reinforce scripts of settler colonialism. Researchers are also potentially missing opportunities to reinterpret and store legacy data in ways that respect indigenous sovereignty. This session will explore ways indigenous theoretical frameworks can inform complexity concepts and methods, such as resilience, emergence, and computer modeling, and invite pragmatic examinations of the limits and potential conflicts among these theoretical approaches.

We invite papers presenting archaeological case studies, regional syntheses, and methodological approaches to the study of complex systems in conversation with indigenous sciences. Dr. Lindsay M. Montgomery of the University of Arizona has agreed to be the session discussant.

In this session, contributions dealing with the following topics will be welcome:

- Reinterpretation of legacy data through indigenous ontologies

- Reflections on collaborations involving complex systems methods

- Computer modeling of indigenous political organization or ecology

Please send abstracts (200 word count) to [log in to unmask] by August 15, 2018.