The Importance of a Comparative Perspective in the Study of Ancient Economies

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The author reviews methodological issues in the comparative analysis of archaeological data on pre-modern economies. Drawing attention to Alison Wylie’s model of analogy as a means to improve our interpretations of the past, and framing archaeological analysis as a form of “case study approach”, he highlights theoretical and methodological guidelines derived from the social sciences that can be fruitfully applied in archaeological research. Explicitly comparative analysis, he contends, is an important method for generating reliable information on the nature of pre-modern economies.