This volume considers regional approaches to social complexity from a
variety of perspectives and at a global scale. John F. Cherry has been a
key figure in regional-scale inquiry and broader disciplinary interfaces
throughout his career, producing, mentoring, and inspiring a remarkably
diverse body of work, which nevertheless remains oriented around this
central theme. While Cherry's work is the inspiration for this volume
and the papers within it, this should not be seen as a traditional
festschrift, or piecemeal homage to the honorand's career. Rather, it
aims to explore this core concern of regional approaches to society and
complexity in comparative perspective, first in the Aegean, then
branching out to the wider Mediterranean, New World, and finally
reflecting on relevant issues of concern to all archaeologists working
at levels above the site.