Settlement scaling and economic change

In a newly-published paper in Journal of Archaeological Science, the Social Reactors Project team show that settlement scaling theory provides new tools for investigating economic change. The case study involves the impact of the Inka expansion for living standards among the Wanka people of Peru, ca. 1450 CE. Using settlement scaling theory, the authors show that the observed growth rate in material outputs is predictable from the observed changes in the settlement size distribution following the Inka conquest. The results suggest Inka policies led to economic expansion by encouraging greater social connectivity in Wanka society. You can read the paper here.