Peer-polity interaction explained

Peer-polity interaction is a concept in archaeological theory, developed by Colin Renfrew and John Cherry, to explain changes in society and material culture.^[1]

Peer-polity interaction models see the primary driver of change as the relationships and contacts between societies of relatively equal standing. According to the model set out by Renfrew,^[2] it encompasses three main sorts of interaction:

• Competition, including warfare and competitive emulation.
• Symbolic entrainment, where societies borrow symbolic systems wholesale from their neighbours, such as numerical systems, social structures and religious beliefs, because these fill a currently empty niche in their society.
• Transmission of innovation, where technology spreads by trade, gift-giving, and other forms of exchange.

Further reading

• Colin Renfrew, John F. Cherry (Eds.): Peer Polity Interaction and Socio-Political Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1986, .
• John Ma: Peer Polity Interaction in the Hellenistic Age. In: Past and Present. 180, 2003, S. 9–39.
• Anthony Snodgrass: Interaction by Design: The Greek City State. In: Ders.: Archaeology and the Emergence of Greece. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2012,, S. 234–257.
• Summary of the article by Anthony Snodgrass: http://m.edinburgh.universitypressscholarship.com/mobile/view/10.3366/edinburgh/9780748623334.001.0001/upso-9780748623334-chapter-13

Bibliography

1. Colin Renfrew: Introduction: Peer Polity Interaction and Socio-Political Change. In: Colin Renfrew, John F. Cherry (Hrsg.) Peer Polity Interaction and Socio-Political Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1986,, S. 1-18.
2. Ibidem, S. 6.