When Worlds Collide

Interactions between societies are among the most powerful forces inhuman history. However, because they are difficult to reconstruct fromarchaeological data, they have often been overlooked and understudiedby archaeologists. This is particularly true for hunter-gatherersocieties, which are frequently seen as adapting to local conditionsrather than developing in the context of large-scale networks. WhenWorlds Collide presents a new model for discerning interactionnetworks based on the archaeological record, and then applies the modelto long-term change in an Arctic society. Max Friesen has adapted andexpanded world-system theory in order to develop a model that explainshow hunter-gatherer interaction networks, or world-systems, arestructured – and why they change. He has utilized this model tobetter understand the development of Inuvialuit society in the westernCanadian Arctic over a 500-year span, from the pre-contact period tothe early twentieth century.