Part of a resurgence in the comparative study of ancient societies, this book presents case studies of states, empires and chiefdoms.

1. Comparative archaeology: a commitment to understanding variation all contributors; 2. Approaches to comparative analysis in archaeology Michael E. Smith and Peter Peregrine; 3. Comparative frames for the diachronic analysis of complex societies: next steps Gary M. Feinman; 4. What it takes to get complex: food, goods, and work as shared cultural ideals form the beginning of sedentism Monica L. Smith; 5. Challenges for comparative study of early complex societies Robert D. Drennan and Christian E. Peterson; 6. Patterned variation in regional trajectories of community growth Christian E. Peterson and Robert D. Drennan; 7. The genesis of monuments in island societies Michael J. Kolb; 8. Power and legitimation: political strategies, typology and cultural evolution Peter Peregrine; 9. The strategies of provincials in empires Barbara L. Stark and John K. Chase; 10. Households, economies, and power in the Aztec and Inka imperial provinces Timothy Earle and Michael E. Smith; 11. Low-density, agrarian-based urbanism: scale, power, and ecology Roland Fletcher; 12. Archaeology, early complex societies, and comparative social science history Michael E. Smith.