This introductory chapter examines previous archaeological thinking regarding the origins, scales, forms of evidence, and nature of social complexity in the human past. As a relative newcomer to this topical area, bioarchaeological approaches are shown to bring unique theoretical and empirical perspectives on these issues. Unique strengths of the bioarchaeological approach include compelling ways of looking at power, hierarchy, and heterarchy, the embodiment of social realities into human behavior and biology, and avenues to bridge long-standing divides between mortuary archaeology and bioarchaeology. The authors also discuss a number of challenges in the bioarchaeology of social complexity, including how best to grapple with typological thinking and interpretation of social structures from human skeletal remains. The chapter closes with a preview summary of the following chapters in the volume.