World-System Analysis and the Dynamics of Ancient and Medieval Societies

World-system analysis has been around for nearly fifty years, with its origins often traced back to the publication of I. Wallerstein’s first volume of ‘The Capitalist World-System’ in 1974. This groundbreaking book generated significant attention and marked a new era in the study of historical processes by integrating linear perspectives (stadial theories) with discrete descriptions (civilizational approaches) of the past. The article explores how world-system analysis can be applied in archeology. It examines networks for the exchange of prestigious goods and information, discusses synchronous cycles of rise and decline in various regions of the world, and focuses specifically on world-system cycles during the Bronze and Iron Ages.