This volume presents the results of an advanced seminar dedicated to exploring new approaches in comparative archaeology. The seminar grew out of a planning meeting held at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University in October 2007. Robert D. Drennan, Timothy Earle, Gary M. Feinman, Michael E. Smith, and Barbara L. Stark discussed current directions in research on early complex societies and agreed on the value of an invited advanced seminar focused on the diversity of rigorous comparative methods being used today.

The advanced seminar was held at the Amerind Foundation in Dragoon, Arizona, March 3–7, 2008. The session was organized by Michael E. Smith and sponsored by the Amerind Foundation and Arizona State University. The participants were: Robert D. Drennan (University of Pittsburgh), Timothy Earle (Northwestern University), Gary M. Feinman (Field Museum of Natural History), Roland Fletcher (University of Sydney), Michael J. Kolb (Northern Illinois University), Peter Peregrine (Lawrence University), Christian E. Peterson (University of Hawai’i at Mānoa), Carla Sinopoli (University of Michigan), Michael E. Smith (Arizona State University), Monica L. Smith (UCLA), Barbara L. Stark (Arizona State University), and Miriam T. Stark (University of Hawai’i). ASU graduate student Juliana Novic participated as an assistant and notetaker. Figure 0.1 shows the participants at the Amerind Foundation.