Neolithic Archaeology

The Typology of the Anthropomorphic Figurines From Northeastern Bulgaria

by Ivan Vajsov

The article presents the principles for classification of Neolithic anthropomorphic sculpture in Bulgaria (SE Europe). As historiography, here are the views of Bulgarian authors on this issue. For the examples used unpublished anthropomorphic figurines Northeastern Bulgaria (from Samovodene, Kachitsa, Hotnitsa-Orlovka, etc.) and there are many citations to previous publications (Usoe, Hamangia culture, etc.). Here is presented a hierarchical structure in which typological tures to handle complex of prehistoric anthropomorphic figurines. Presented a hierarchical structure serves as the basis for the study of prehistoric anthropomorphic sculpture in Bulgaria, and numerical codes presented here are based on statistical processing.

At the beginning of the article briefly outlines and chronological framework of the earliest (monochrome) in the Balkans Neolithic (6500-6000 cal. BC).

Tim Kerig, Grenzen ziehen: Zur Chronologie regionaler und sozialer Unterschiede im hessischen Altneolithikum.

by tim kerig

Die Neolithisierung Mitteleuropas - The Spread of the Neolithic to
Central Europe. RGZM – TAGUNGEN 4. Mainz: Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums 2010, 475-486.

Drawing boundaries: a chronology of distinction in the Earliest Neolithic of Hesse

The Linear Band Pottery... more Drawing boundaries: a chronology of distinction in the Earliest Neolithic of Hesse

The Linear Band Pottery Culture (LBK) of Hesse is one of the classical research fields of Central-European Neolithic studies
and has gained new attention in the last few years. The percentages of lithic raw materials at the single sites allow
to reconstruct the flow of the raw material along interregional communication networks (fig. 2). Especially the hindered
or inhibited exchange of silex between neighbouring settlement areas is astonishingly clear: already in earliest LBK times
networks develop, which reach into the non-Neolithic west and into the Neckar area respectively (fig. 1). It is possible to
contrast the lithic networks with the stylistic groupings of pottery (fig. 3): The multivariate statistical method detrended
correspondence analysis (DCA) is used to show the chronology of pottery styles on the first axis and their local groupings
on the second axis. A measure of similarity is introduced to compare contemporary pottery assemblages. Overlaying the
raw material networks with stylistic groupings of pottery shows situations in which the boundaries of both match each
other. These frontier situations represent zones of inhibited exchange between neighbouring areas – pointing to social
change also manifested in massacres as well as in earthworks of that time.



Tracer des frontières : à propos de la chronologie des différences régionales et sociales dans le Néolithique
ancien de la Hesse

Le Rubané de la Hesse fait partie des problématiques privilégiées de la recherche néolithique centre-européenne et elle a suscité un regain d’intérêt au cours de ces dernières années. A partir des pourcentages des matières premières lithiques
de certains sites, il est possible de reconstruire la transmission de ces matières premières et le réseau de communication
interrégional sous-jacent (fig. 2). Ce sont plus particulièrement les frontières de la transmission du silex entre territoires
avoisinants qui ressortent clairement. Dès la phase la plus ancienne du Rubané, des réseaux se mettent en place et
s’étendent d’une part vers l’ouest, non encore néolithisé, et d’autre part à la région du Neckar plus au sud (fig. 1). La
répartition spatiale des groupes céramiques est superposée à cette cartographie (fig. 3). La méthode de l’analyse des
correspondances détendancée (DCA) offre la possibilité de représenter sur le premier axe le temps et sur le deuxième
axe les caractéristiques stylistiques régionales. Une mesure d’écart est introduite à l’aide de laquelle on peut indiquer
la ressemblance stylistique entre différents assemblages céramiques. De cette façon, les réseaux de communication
et les groupes stylistiques peuvent être mis en relation. Des situations de «frontière» sont clairement identifiables. En
revanche, la représentation des limites des aires de répartition quant aux vestiges archéologiques, ne sont pas interprétées
en tant que frontières entre différentes entités territoriales : l’échange de plus en plus freiné entre villages voisins
est un indice pour des bouleversements sociaux qui se manifestent parallèlement dans la présence de massacres et dans
la construction d’enceintes rubanées.
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Neolithic Rock Art In Context: Landscape History and the Transition to Agriculture In Mediterranean Spain

by Sarah McClure

Testing Technological Practices: Neutron Activation Analysis of Neolithic Ceramics From Valencia, Spain

by Sarah McClure

Cavidades de uso funerario durante el Neolítico final/Calcolítico en el territorio valenciano: trabajos arqueológicos en Avenc dels Dos Forats o Cova del Monedero ( …

by Sarah McClure

Technological style, chaine opératoire and labor investment of early Neolithic pottery

by Sarah McClure

with Joan Bernabeu

2012. Review of Landscapes of Neolithic Brittany (Scarre, 2011)

by Katina Lillios

In Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.) 18: 466-510.

Produire des meules du Néolithique à l'Age du fer : économie des matières premières et évolution technologique du matériel de mouture sur le massif armoricain et ses marges

by Klet Donnart

HAMON C., ROBIN B., DONNART K. et BRISOTTO V. (2012) - Produire des meules du Néolithique à l'Age du fer : économie des matières premières et évolution technologique du matériel de mouture sur le massif armoricain et ses marges, in Marchand G. et Querré G. (dir.), Roches et Sociétés de la Préhistoire, entre massifs cristallins et bassins sédimentaires, actes du colloque international de Rennes, 28-30 avril 2010, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, p. 221-236.

Based on the development of the study of querns over the last decade, this paper proposes a first synthesis of their... more Based on the development of the study of querns over the last decade, this paper proposes a first synthesis of their evolution from the Early Neolithic to the Late Iron Age in the Armorican Massif (Brittany, Mayenne). Several points are discussed, ranging from raw material supply and exploitation to the evolution of milling techniques and their economic consequences. Since the Early Neolithic, the development of reciprocal querns in built structures of Danubian tradition reflects the importance of cereal consumption at the domestic level. On Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age sites, “basin” querns represent a real evolution of grinding techniques and probably also the food practices. Because of their high level of fragmentation, querns from the Bronze Age remain poorly known in Brittany. During La Tène, the rapid spread of rotary querns leads us discuss the existence of a new organisation and control of raw material resources, new modes of production on major sites (flour milling) and new ways of distribution of querns -and probably other valued goods- throughout western Europe.

Animals in the Ancient World

by Benjamin Arbuckle

Tim Kerig: Ein Statuenmenhir mit Darstellung einer Axt vom Eschollbrückener Typ? Zu einem enigmatischen Steindenkmal aus Gelnhausen-Meerholz (Mainz-Kinzig-Kreis). In: Prähistorische Zeitschrift, Bd. 85 (2010), 59–78

by tim kerig

Marked in Life and Death: Identifying Biological Markers of Social Differentiation in Late Prehistoric Portugal

by Anna Waterman

PhD Thesis. Completed in the Spring of 2012

This dissertation research is a bioarchaeological investigation of Late Neolithic through Early Bronze Age (3600-1800... more This dissertation research is a bioarchaeological investigation of Late Neolithic through Early Bronze Age (3600-1800 BC) burial populations from the Portuguese Estremadura. In this project macroscopic and isotopic analyses of skeletal and dental materials are used to gather information pertaining to diet, health status, and inter-lifetime mobility patterns for individuals interred at different burials within a small geographic area with the goal of evaluating the level of social differentiation in the region. The archaeological record for the transition between the Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age in southwestern Portugal demonstrates clear evidence of the rise of a socially-complex, non-state society. During the Early Bronze Age, however, this region underwent a period of social ‘devolution’ which cumulated in widespread settlement abandonment. To date, it is unclear to what extent sociopolitical or environmental factors contributed to this social collapse. This study seeks to expand our knowledge of social differentiation in the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age of the Estremadura region of Portugal and provide insight into social structure during the emergence and collapse of early complex societies in Iberia.
The results of this study found that there were statistically significant differences in dietary, mobility and demographic patterns between burials that suggest socially distinct populations were interred at different sites. In particular, one burial site, Cova da Moura, diverged significantly from the other sampled burial populations. However, based upon the data presented here, it was not possible to tie these biological markers of differentiation to particular aspects of Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age social organization. Therefore, while this study successfully identified differences between burial populations, at this time, it is not possibly to relate these to particular hierarchical structures. It is suggested that aspects of burial practices in the region confound biologically-based investigations of social organization in a similar way that they have impeded researchers’ abilities to identify elite versus non-elite individuals through grave goods alone. Nonetheless, despite these obstacles, this work provides strong evidence of population heterogeneity in the region, and has implications for our understanding of the evolution of complex societies in the Iberian Peninsula and elsewhere.

The Experimental Firing of a Neolithic Oven (Çatalhöyük, Turkey)

by Daniel Eddisford

Osídlenie juhovýchodnej časti Trnavskej sprašovej tabule kultúrou s mladšou lineárnou keramikou. Linear Pottery Settlement Structure in the South-eastern Part of Trnava Loess Table

by Katarina Hladikova

Co-authored with Marek Hladík, Kristína Piatničková, published in Zborník Filozofickej fakulty Univerzity Komenského MUSAICA, roč. XXVI, Bratislava 2009, s.21-34

Nové nálezy kultúry s mladšou lineárnou keramikou z Opoja. New Finds of the Linear Pottery from Opoj, Slovakia

by Katarina Hladikova

Co-authored with Kristína PIatničková, published in Zborník Filozofickej fakulty Univerzity Komenského MUSAICA, roč. XXVI, Bratislava 2009, s. 5-20

The Nose, the Eye, the Mouth and the Gut: Social Dimensions of Food-Cravings and Commensality

by Fredrik Fahlander

In: Making sense of things. Archaeologies of sensory perception, Red: Fredrik Fahlander & Anna Kjellström, Stockholm: Univ, 2010, pp35-50.

In archaeology, the discussion concerning food and ingestion has primarily focused on diet, i.e., what people have... more In archaeology, the discussion concerning food and ingestion has primarily focused on diet, i.e., what people have eaten. There has been little interest in elaborating on the social dimensions of commensality. In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the ritual use of food and especially the social dimensions of the feast, potlatch or symposia. Still, missing from the debate are elaborated discussions about the daily gatherings around the pots and pans. The daily dinner is not just a matter of consuming nourishment; it involves planning and gathering ingredients, and thinking about ways of cooking them and how to combine them. Eating and drinking require a number of key social elements such as materiality, spatial arrangement and place, bodily experiences, mental expectations,and bonding/exclusion. In many ways, food culture may be a more important trait for social groups than their material culture, let alone style and design of pottery.

Neolithic settlement of Thermi 2008- 2009

by Tassos Antonaras

Co-authored with Maria Pappa, Evangelia Vliora and Stratos Nanoglou

In two neighboring plots excavations yielded structures situated in the periphery of the Neolithic settlement -which... more In two neighboring plots excavations yielded structures situated in the periphery of the Neolithic settlement -which is located at the NW edge of the modern town of Thermi, in the vicinity of Thessaloniki-, along with part of the cemetery of the historical period, dating from the 4th century to the late Byzantine- early Ottoman period. Of special importance, was the cemetery, which, according to the grave construction and the placement of the dead, was identified as a Muslim cemetery, presenting the first of its kind identified in the wider region of Thessaloniki. The two single finds of the cemetery, a carnelian ring and a carnelian bead, date it to the early Ottoman period and/or at the late 14th century. In a lower level lie the prehistoric depositions which were interrupted by sparse graves dating from the Archaic to the Roman period.

GRMn°5 : Le problème Chasséen : Productions et styles régionaux

by Johanna Recchia

PÔLE PREHISTOIRE RÉCENTE UPV-MONTPELLIER 3
ÉQUIPE PRÉHISTOIRE ET PROTOHISTOIRE MÉDITERRANÉENNES
UMR 5140. Lattes

GROUPE DE RÉFLEXIONS MODESTES 5

LE PROBLÈME CHASSÉEN : PRODUCTIONS ET STYLES RÉGIONAUX.
animé par Johanna Recchia.

INTERVENANTS :
Willfried GALIN, étudiant de Master 2, Université Le Mirail, Toulouse
Johanna RECCHIA, Doctorante, Université Paul Valéry, Montpellier

Mardi 22 mai 2012, 17 rue Abbé de l'Épée, Montpellier

Le colloque de Nemours de 1989, Identité du Chasséen, avait montré que le complexe chasséen n’est pas aussi uniforme... more Le colloque de Nemours de 1989, Identité du Chasséen, avait montré que le complexe chasséen n’est pas aussi uniforme qu’on le pensait. J. vaquer dans l’introduction de ce colloque évoquait l’assimilation que faisait J. Guilaine de la culture chasséenne à l’une des premières cultures à s’être étendue sur l’ensemble de l’Hexagone. Les conclusions de ce colloque avaient mis en avant que cette perception du phénomène chasséen était obsolète, et qu’il fallait à présent raisonner en termes de styles régionaux.
Les travaux de C. Georjon dans le Languedoc et ceux de C. Lepère, par le biais notamment d’études technologiques, en Provence ont mis en évidence ces styles régionaux.
V. Léa quant à elle a fait une synthèse conséquente sur les industries lithiques du Languedoc oriental, faisant le lien entre les travaux de D. Binder en Provence d’une part, et ceux de J. Guilaine, J. Vaquer et F. Briois en Languedoc occidental d’autre part.
J.-P Sargiano, S. Van Willigen et A. D’Anna ont proposé une définition plus restrictive du Chasséen à partir de l’étude du site des Bagnoles l’Île-Sur-Sorgue.
Le complexe dit « Chasséen » est aujourd’hui encore un casse-tête. Chacun s’accorde pour signifier qu’il existe des problèmes liés d’une part à la définition de ce complexe –qui, pour le moment, est encore assimilé à l’ensemble du Néolithique moyen dans le Sud de la France – à savoir quels en sont les fossiles directeurs en termes d’industrie lithique et de mobilier céramique ? D’autre part aux chronologies proposées pour sérier ce Chasséen puisqu’il n’existe pas de consensus autour de son phasage, avec des périodes dites anciennes (pré-chasséen, protochasséen, phase 0) ou classiques, celles-ci étant de plus remises en questions.
Cette remise en question du concept de « Chasséen », n’est pas nouvelle en soi. Constatant que les lithiciens et les céramologues ne proposent pas de définition commune en ce qui concerne le Néolithique moyen dans le Sud de la France, ce sont aussi les notions de culture matérielle et d’identité qui sont interrogées.
Willfried Galin travaille sur les productions lithiques chasséennes du site de Saint-Michel-du-Touch dans le cadre de son Master 2 à l’université du Mirail à Toulouse.
Johanna Recchia a travaillé dans le cadre de son Master 2 à l’Université Paul Valéry de Montpellier, sur le mobilier céramique issu de fosses datées du Néolithique Moyen, sur le site de la Capoulière à Mauguio.
Ces deux étudiants ont décidé de discuter des difficultés qu’ils rencontrent dans leurs études respectives. Ils soumettent aujourd’hui ces questionnements, l’état des lieux de leur réflexion, et émettent ensemble un premier bilan critique de la question chasséenne en Languedoc et en Provence.
Le GRM aura lieu le 22 mai à partir de 9h30, au 17 rue Abbé de l’Épée à Montpellier.

Pour tout renseignement, contactez Johanna Recchia :
06.98.70.67.43
recchiajohanna@yahoo.fr

Reconstrucción virtual de un túmulo funerario neolítico.

by Francisco José López Fraile

Se presenta una infografía didáctica de la secuencia constructiva de un túmulo megalítico, siguiendo la tipología de las estructuras de época neolítica documentadas en Villaviciosa (Asturias). Se pueden distinguir en las sucesivas fases constructivas la cámara formada por megalitos, los estratos de compactación de bloques y las coberteras de tierra.

Jiangzhai: Social and Economic Organization of a Middle Neolithic Chinese Village

by Christian Peterson

Peterson, Christian E., and Gideon Shelach. 2012. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 31:265–301.

The Early Yangshao period (5000–4000 BC) village of Jiangzhai is the most completely excavated and reported of any... more The Early Yangshao period (5000–4000 BC) village of Jiangzhai is the most completely excavated and reported of any early agricultural community in the middle reaches of northern China’s Yellow River Valley. This comprehensive dataset can better our understanding of early agricultural village societies and complex society development, especially the emergence of economic inequality. Analyses of Jiangzhai’s architectural remains and their arrangement; estimates of household population, storage capacity, and animal consumption; and analyses of household artifact assemblages are used to reconstruct the social and economic organization of this important Neolithic settlement. Our analyses suggest that differences in economic organization at the household level are responsible for patterns of intra-settlement economic differentiation previously attributed to higher-order ‘‘corporate’’ institutions. Rather than a segmental society composed of redundant homologous units, Jiangzhai displays substantial variability among residential sectors and constituent households in terms of activity emphases and surplus accumulation. Substantial intrasite variation in socioeconomic organization has previously been thought characteristic only of more complex Late Neolithic societies in the middle Yellow River Valley region.

Cronologia e Culture dell'arcipelago Maltese tra VI e IV Millennio Cal BC. Unpubl.Diss., Università Ca'Foscari, Venezia, 2009/10.

by Tiziano Fantuzzi