21CASE ARCH – 21st Century Advances in Social and Economic Archaeology 28–29 January 2027

To celebrate Philippe Della Casa’s long archaeological career and his well-deserved retirement, we are organising an international colloquium on “21^st Century Advances in Social and Economic Archaeology (²¹CASE-ARCH): How the perception of past societies and economies has changed in the new century”on 28–29 January 2027 at the University of Zurich.

Over the past three decades, social and economic archaeology has undergone significant transformation: methodological innovations including network analysis and complex systems studies have provided new approaches to long-standing questions of economic dependency and social inequality. At the same time, concepts like resilience and resource cultures have opened up new perspectives on past social and economic life. Groundbreaking studies—notably Alain Testart’s Éléments de classification des sociétés—have fundamentally changed the way we think about prehistoric societies, their structures, and their institutions.

Anyone who has worked with Philippe Della Casa—whether as a student in his courses, as a discussion partner in lively debates, or as a colleague and fellow researcher—knows that his enduring passion for these subjects has been a refreshing constant in this otherwise dynamic and ever-changing field of research. A rite of passage—which Philippe Della Casa’s retirement undoubtedly is—always provides an opportunity to look back and take stock, but at the same time to look ahead and reflect on the future of the discipline. With the colloquium 21^stCentury Advances in Social and Economic Archaeology (²¹CASE-ARCH) we would like to invite contributors to do precisely that.

The presentations will focus on the following topics:

(I) Networks, Resilience, and Socio-Economic Dynamics in Prehistoric Societies

(II) Classifying Prehistoric Societies: Inequality, Dependency, and Social Structure

(III) Economic Logics in Prehistoric Societies: Beyond Market vs Gift

NEU: Um Anmeldung als Gast bis am 30.11.2026 via Formular  wird gebeten.

Bei Fragen erreichen Sie uns via 21casearch@iaka.uzh.ch.

NEW: Please register as a guest via this form

or scan the QR code. For questions please contact us via 21casearch@iaka.uzh.ch.

Organizers:

Jonas Blum

Oliver Bruderer 

Philippe Della Casa 

Timo Geitlinger 

Anto Goujon

Julia Schönicke 

Rouven Turck 
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Venue: Room (to be announced), University of Zurich,  Rämistrasse 71, 8001 Zurich

Conference Poster (PDF, 2 MB)