{"id":153308,"date":"2026-05-21T09:38:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T13:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=153308"},"modified":"2026-05-21T09:40:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T13:40:49","slug":"new-study-explores-how-governance-has-evolved-across-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/new-study-explores-how-governance-has-evolved-across-history\/","title":{"rendered":"New Study Explores How Governance Has Evolved Across History"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A newly published study in Science Advances<\/em><\/a> is taking a broader look at how societies have organized power across history, combining archaeological and historical evidence to better understand governance over time.<\/p>\n

Coauthor Sarah \u201cStacy\u201d Barber, professor and associate chair for UCF\u2019s Department of Anthropology<\/a>, says the project was driven in part by the growing availability of archaeological data and a need to think more expansively about human history.<\/p>\n

\u201cArchaeology has been a scientific area of study for about a century, so we now have 100 years of aggregate data about ancient societies,\u201d Barber says.<\/p>\n

She explains that many past societies are often excluded from research because they did not leave behind written records the way most European, South Asian and East Asian societies did. Incorporating archaeological evidence ensures that the interpretation of ancient governance is not limited to societies with written history but instead allows for the reflection of an array of human experience.<\/p>\n