Theses and Dissertations
Advisor
Hardin, James
Committee Member
Miller, Darcy
Committee Member
Osterholtz, Anna
Date of Degree
8-12-2026
Original embargo terms
Embargo 2 years
Document Type
Graduate Thesis - Open Access
Major
Applied Anthropology
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures
Abstract
This thesis examines the political and economic power dynamics within Late Bronze Age exchange networks in the eastern Mediterranean basin and Near East, using the Southern Levant as a geographical focal point. A combination of a multiscalar theoretical approach, using Network Theory, Communities of Practice, and World System Analysis, and a statistical methodology, Social Network Analysis, was used. This framework was applied to the imported artifact assemblages of six Canaanite sites — Tel Hazor, Tel Megiddo, Tel Gezer, Tel Dan, Tell Halif, and Tel Lachish to reconstruct trade relationships and identify structural hierarchies within the Late Bronze Age world system. Statistical network measures, including degree centrality, betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, and weighted shortest path, reveal that Egypt, Cyprus, and Mycenae functioned as core polities, while Canaan operated as a negotiated periphery with distributed, multi-nodal trade connections. Results demonstrate that power in the Late Bronze Age was not imposed through a single imperial core but was negotiated through connectivity and access.
Recommended Citation
Hale, Emily, "Determining power dynamics through trade and exchange: Using a multiscalar approach to understand late bronze age disparities in the Near East and Mediterranean basin" (2026). Theses and Dissertations. 7051.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/7051
