10 - Conclusion

Summary

This book has sought to address the formation and transformation of social groups at the site of ancient Gordion, as a means to understand the complex processes of social change across the region during the highly dynamic period between the LBA and the conquest of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BCE. Sequences and patterns of group dynamics can provide critical insights into these processes of cultural transformation. In the introduction we proposed the idea that key societal transformations are likely to be driven by innovative and novel modes of group formation. Such transformations include substantial realignment of relationships between kin groups, religious affiliations, political organization and manipulations of ancient social media. In subsequent chapters we explored the nature of social groups chronologically, as a foundation for identifying novel features of Iron Age group formation. In this final chapter we bring together the key insights of this study of Phrygian Gordion and Iron Age societies in this region, to juxtapose and reframe previous explanations for the transformation of ancient societies more generally.