Archaeologists Say Pottery Shards Demonstrate Long-distance Social Networks

Credit: Mathew Devitt, Arizona State Museum

It turns out modern society isn't the first to establish long-distance social networks...just the first to do so without depending on foot travel! 

On March 26, 2013, Alexis Blue, University of Arizona, discussed the findings reported in "Transformation of Social Networks in the Late Pre-Hispanic US Southwest" (Mills, Clark, Peebles, et al.). Her comments were featured at Futurity.org, a site that aggregates research from major universities in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.

Alexis breaks down the research report, which she says "sheds light on the transformation of social networks in the late pre-Hispanic American Southwest and shows that people of that period were able to maintain surprisingly long-distance relationships with nothing more than their feet to connect them."

Or, you can read the original report in full at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences site, where it was posted on February 26, 2013. 

--Sandy Hawes, Digital Resources Librarian