Becoming Villagers

Becoming Villagers PDF Author: Matthew S. Bandy
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816529018
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
Outgrowth of a symposium at the 2006 Society for American Archaeology meetings in San Juan, and of a seminar at the Amerind Foundation. Cf. pref.

Becoming Villagers

Becoming Villagers PDF Author: Matthew S. Bandy
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816529018
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
Outgrowth of a symposium at the 2006 Society for American Archaeology meetings in San Juan, and of a seminar at the Amerind Foundation. Cf. pref.

Persistent Traditions

Persistent Traditions PDF Author: Luc W.S.W. Amkreutz
Publisher: Sidestone Press
ISBN: 9088902038
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 550

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Book Description
The adoption of agriculture is one of the major developments in human history. Archaeological studies have demonstrated that the trajectories of Neolithisation in Northwest Europe were diverse. This book presents a study into the archaeology of the communities involved in the process of Neolithisation in the Lower Rhine Area (5500-2500 cal BC). It elucidates the role played by the indigenous communities in relation to their environmental context and in view of the changes that becoming Neolithic brought about. This work brings together a comprehensive array of excavated archaeological sites in the Lower Rhine Area. Their analysis shows that the succession of Late Mesolithic, Swifterbant culture, Hazendonk group and Vlaardingen culture societies represents a continuous long-term tradition of inhabitation of the wetlands and wetland margins of this area, forming a culturally continuous record of communities in the transition to agriculture. After demonstrating the diversity of the Mesolithic, the subsequent developments regarding Neolithisation are studied from an indigenous perspective. Foregrounding the relationship between local communities and the dynamic wetland landscape, the study shows that the archaeological evidence of regional inhabitation points to long-term flexible behaviour and pragmatic decisions being made concerning livelihood, food economy and mobility. This disposition also influenced how the novel elements of Neolithisation were incorporated. Animal husbandry, crop cultivation and sedentism were an addition to the existing broad spectrum economy but were incorporated within a set of integrative strategies. For the interpretation of Neolithisation this study offers a complementary approach to existing research. Instead of arguing for a short transition based on the economic importance of domesticates and cultigens at sites, this study emphasises the persistent traditions of the communities involved. New elements, instead of bringing about radical changes, are shown to be attuned to existing hunter-gatherer practices. By documenting indications of the mentalité of the inhabitants of the wetlands, it is demonstrated that their mindset remained essentially ‘Mesolithic’ for millennia. This book is accompanied by a separate 422 page volume containing the appendices. These constitute a comprehensive inventory of 159, mostly excavated archaeological sites in the Lower Rhine Area.

Understanding the Neolithic

Understanding the Neolithic PDF Author: Julian Thomas
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134621434
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
This book employs contemporary theoretical perspectives to investigate the Neolithic period in southern britain. It is a fully reworked edition of the author's Rethinking the Neolithic (1991).

A History of World Agriculture

A History of World Agriculture PDF Author: Marcel Mazoyer
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1583674918
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 529

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Book Description
Only once we understand the long history of human efforts to draw sustenance from the land can we grasp the nature of the crisis that faces humankind today, as hundreds of millions of people are faced with famine or flight from the land. From Neolithic times through the earliest civilizations of the ancient Near East, in savannahs, river valleys and the terraces created by the Incas in the Andean mountains, an increasing range of agricultural techniques have developed in response to very different conditions. These developments are recounted in this book, with detailed attention to the ways in which plants, animals, soil, climate, and society have interacted. Mazoyer and Roudart’s A History of World Agriculture is a path-breaking and panoramic work, beginning with the emergence of agriculture after thousands of years in which human societies had depended on hunting and gathering, showing how agricultural techniques developed in the different regions of the world, and how this extraordinary wealth of knowledge, tradition and natural variety is endangered today by global capitialism, as it forces the unequal agrarian heritages of the world to conform to the norms of profit. During the twentieth century, mechanization, motorization and specialization have brought to a halt the pattern of cultural and environmental responses that characterized the global history of agriculture until then. Today a small number of corporations have the capacity to impose the farming methods on the planet that they find most profitable. Mazoyer and Roudart propose an alternative global strategy that can safegaurd the economies of the poor countries, reinvigorate the global economy, and create a livable future for mankind.

Neolithic

Neolithic PDF Author: Susan McCarter
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134220391
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
This excellent introductory textbook describes and explains the origins of modern culture– the dawn of agriculture in the Neolithic area. Written in an easy-to-read style, this lively and engaging book familiarises the reader with essential archaeological and genetic terms and concepts, explores the latest evidence from scientific analyses as varied as deep sea coring, pollen identification, radiometric dating and DNA research, condensing them into an up-to-date academic account, specifically written to be clear even the novice reader. Focusing primarily on sites in southwest Asia, Neolithic addresses questions such as: Which plants and animals were the first to be domesticated, and how? How did life change when people began farming? What were the first villages like? What do we know about the social, political and religious life of these newly founded societies? What happened to human health as a result of the Neolithic Revolution? Lavishly illustrated with almost a hundred images, this enjoyable book is an ideal introduction both for students of archaeology and for general readers interested in our past.

Archaeological Theory and Scientific Practice

Archaeological Theory and Scientific Practice PDF Author: Andrew Jones
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139432044
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Is archaeology an art or a science? This question has been hotly debated over the last few decades with the rise of archaeological science. At the same time, archaeologists have seen a change in the intellectual character of their discipline, as many writers have adopted approaches influenced by social theory. The discipline now encompasses both archaeological scientists and archaeological theorists, and discussion regarding the status of archaeology remains polarised. In this 2001 book, Andrew Jones argues that we need to analyse the practice of archaeology. Through an analysis of archaeological practice, influenced by recent developments in the field of science studies, and with the aid of extensive case studies, he develops a new framework which allows the interpretative and methodological components of the discipline to work in tandem. His reassessment of the status and character of archaeology will be of interest to students, scholars and professionals.

The early prehistory in the west of Ireland: Investigations into the social archaeology of the Mesolithic, west of the Shannon, Ireland

The early prehistory in the west of Ireland: Investigations into the social archaeology of the Mesolithic, west of the Shannon, Ireland PDF Author:
Publisher: Killian Driscoll
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description


The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe

The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe PDF Author: Chris Fowler
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191666890
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1303

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Book Description
The Neolithic --a period in which the first sedentary agrarian communities were established across much of Europe--has been a key topic of archaeological research for over a century. However, the variety of evidence across Europe, the range of languages in which research is carried out, and the way research traditions in different countries have developed makes it very difficult for both students and specialists to gain an overview of continent-wide trends. The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe provides the first comprehensive, geographically extensive, thematic overview of the European Neolithic --from Iberia to Russia and from Norway to Malta --offering both a general introduction and a clear exploration of key issues and current debates surrounding evidence and interpretation. Chapters written by leading experts in the field examine topics such as the movement of plants, animals, ideas, and people (including recent trends in the application of genetics and isotope analyses); cultural change (from the first appearance of farming to the first metal artefacts); domestic architecture; subsistence; material culture; monuments; and burial and other treatments of the dead. In doing so, the volume also considers the history of research and sets out agendas and themes for future work in the field.

The Making of the Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean from the Beginning to the Emergence of the Classical World

The Making of the Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean from the Beginning to the Emergence of the Classical World PDF Author: Cyprian Broodbank
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
ISBN: 050078020X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1308

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Book Description
An award-winning history of the Mediterranean from prehistory to the Classical world reissued with an extended new preface by the author. For millennia, the Mediterranean has been one of the global cockpits of human endeavor. World- class interpretations exist of its classical and subsequent history, but there has been remarkably little holistic exploration of how its societies, culture, and economies first came into being, despite the fact that almost all the fundamental developments originated well before 500 BCE. The Making of the Middle Sea offers a full interpretive exploration into the rise of the Mediterranean world from its beginning, before the emergence of our own species, up to the threshold of classical times. Extensively illustrated and ranging across disciplines, subject matter, and chronology, from early humans and the origins of farming and metallurgy to the rise of civilizations—Egyptian, Levantine, Hispanic, Minoan, Mycenaean, Phoenician, Etruscan, early Greek—the book is a masterpiece of archaeological and historical writing. Now featuring a new preface exploring the most recent archaeological research on the Mediterranean world.

Consciousness, Creativity, and Self at the Dawn of Settled Life

Consciousness, Creativity, and Self at the Dawn of Settled Life PDF Author: Ian Hodder
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108602150
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
Over recent years, a number of scholars have argued that the human mind underwent a cognitive revolution in the Neolithic. This volume seeks to test these claims at the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Turkey and in other Neolithic contexts in the Middle East. It brings together cognitive scientists who have developed theoretical frameworks for the study of cognitive change, archaeologists who have conducted research into cognitive change in the Neolithic of the Middle East, and the excavators of the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük who have over recent years been exploring changes in consciousness, creativity and self in the context of the rich data from the site. Collectively, the authors argue that when detailed data are examined, theoretical evolutionary expectations are not found for these three characteristics. The Neolithic was a time of long, slow and diverse change in which there is little evidence for an internal cognitive revolution.