This volume develops new theoretical and methodological approaches to the archaeology of households pursuing three critical themes: household diversity in human residential communities with and without archaeologically identifiable houses, interactions within and between households that explicitly considers impacts of kin and non-kin relationships and lastly change as a process that involves the choices made by members of households in the context of larger societal constraints.

Authors explore the role of social ties and their material manifestations how the household relates to other social units, how households consolidate power and control over resources, and how these changes manifest at multiple scales.

The case studies presented in this volume have broader implications for understanding the drivers of change, the ways households create the contexts for change, and how households serve as spaces for invention, reaction, and/or resistance.