Neolithic Europe

ANTH.106.Introduction to Archaeology.

Notes & images compiled by Gregory Mumford © 2015.

Doc.-Lecture-a: Neolithic Europe,including the Chalcolithic & “Iceman”

1.

Early Searchers:(i.e., Prehistoric Europe)

Stonehenge & Europe:

12th cent AD historian Geoffrey of Monmouth:• Theorized that Wizard Merlin

had brought the stones toSalisbury Plain from Ireland.

• Suggested Stonehenge laterbecame the burial place forUther Pendragon & Ambrosius(King Arthur’s father & uncle).

16th-18th centuries AD:• Scholars discarded Arthuriantheories and suggested it hadbeen built by …- Romans- Danes- Phoenicians- Druids

• Most defined it as a “temple”• Some suggested a crowningplace of kings.

Some early scholars made accurate plans & careful studies:E.g., William Stukeley (1687 - 1765):

Demonstrated that megalithic monuments = not made by giants, devils, etc.

The First Excavations:E.g., Richard Hoare & William Cunnington excavate north of Stonehenge: 1805

2.

The Evidence:(i.e., Prehistoric Europe)

Late Neolithic Europe, South-central region, ca. 3,600 BC.

Lake edge dwellings in Switzerland 3600 BCE.g., St. Aubin, (see Gimbutas 1991: 194)

(see Cunliffe 1994: 178)

4000 BC

Late Neolithic Europe: South-central region, ca. 3,600 BC.

(Lakeside dwelling Switzerlandsee Cunliffe 1994: 178)

Ice Man3,000 BC

3.More recent archaeological

Investigations& researchers:

(i.e., Prehistoric Europe)

Setting:

• 1991 discovery of the Iceman(initially a police investigation andremoval of the body; subsequently

became an archaeological project),

• The Iceman = found in Tyrolean Alps,on the Hauslabjoch (Mountain)/Peak,near the Tisenjoch pass betweenAustria and Italy: = an Alpine region.

• 3,200 m above sea level.

• Near an East-West ridge through theAlps: i.e., crossing the Alps.

• He had probably been traversing thisarea during the autumn.

Late Neolithic Europe, Southern region focus ca. 3,200–3,000 BC.

Whittle, Alasdair

Europe in the Neolithic:The Creation of New Worlds.Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press (1996).

Excellent overview of iceman

and Neolithic in general.

Neolithic Europe, ca. 7,000 – 3,000 BC

Champion, Timothy,

Gamble, Clive,

Shennan, Stephen,

and Whittle, Alasdair.

Prehistoric Europe.London: Academic Press (1984).

Some excellent coverage of the

Neolithic period.



Cunliffe, Barry

Europe Between the Oceans:9000 BC – AD 1000. New

Haven: Yale University Press

(2008).

Excellent recent summary of

European Prehistory to the

Dark Ages.

Cunliffe, Barry (ed.)

Prehistoric Europe: AnIllustrated History.Oxford: Oxford University

Press (1994).

Excellent coverage of the

Neolithic.


Neolithic Europe: The advent of farming spans ca. 7000–4000 BC

4.a.

CHRONOLOGY:Summation

of the emergence

of a Neolithic farming

lifestyle throughout Europe

Emergence of Neolithic Europe: spanning ca. 7,000 – 4,000 BC.

• The “Neolithic” period/cultures begins & ends at different times

in different places in Europe:

Advent of Neolithic in Europe:SE Europe: Neolithic begins between 7000 and 5500 BCE

Central-W Med: Neolithic begins around 6000 BCE

NW Europe: Neolithic begins around 4000 BCE

i.e., gradual shift northwards with withdrawal of “Ice Age”End of Neolithic in Europe:SE Europe Neolithic ends around 3000 BCE

Rest of Europe: Neolithic ends around 2500 BCE

Time Range:Hence, Neolithic Europe spans 7000/4000 BCE to 3000/2500 BCE

Our area of study (Alpine & Greece):The Iceman & Greece-Aegean in general fit in Central-SE Europe,

spanning 7000/6000 through 3000/2500 BCE (from South-North).

4.b.Approaches to dating

and chronology:(i.e., Prehistoric Europe)

Introduction to Archaeology: Renfrew & Bahn 2012 (6th ed.): chp.1

1. The Searchers: The History of Archaeology.3.4. The Three Age System:• 1836/1848 AD: C.J. Thomsen

suggested artifacts from Danishbarrows displayed 3 Ages:Stone, Bronze, & Iron Ages. system = adopted in Europe.

• Later: Stone Age “old” & “new”= Paleolithic and Neolithic.

• This system was less applicableoutside Europe

• Remains a key class. system

• Conceptual advances:- 1. Antiquity of humankind- 2. Principle of evolution- 3. Three-Age system

• Other scholars typologies:- Oscar Montelius: fibulae

- John Evans: coins

IRONAGE

BRONZEAGE

STONEAGE

Relative dating:1800s = developingEuropean concept of

an “Early” / “older”technological phase:

“Stone Age”


4. When? Dating Methods and Chronology.8.2.b. C14 history & basis of method.• 1949 W. Libby obtained 1st C14 date• Need organic samples -wood

-charcoal-seeds-plants-bones

• Various counting errors, cosmicradiation, etc. uncertainty inmeasurements (+/- std. deviation).

• Samples sizes decreasinga. 1950s-60s: 10-20 g. woodb. 1970s-80s: 5 g pure carbonc. Now: 5-10 mg samples

test precious items• C14 dates expressed before 1950 AD

when listing years BP (before present)• +/-100 yrs 68% +/-200 yrs 95%• Calibration with tree-rings calendar

years.

Radiocarbondates calibrated

with tree-rings seq.


4. When? Dating Methods and Chronology.

9.1. Trapped electron dating:• Thermoluminescence (TL), optical,

& electron spin resonance datingdisplay indirect radioactive decay.

• Focus on radiation received by sample(assuming annual dose = constant).

9.2.a. Thermoluminescence dating:• TL advantages versus C14, it …a. dates pottery (i.e., clay)b. “dates” inorganic items (burnt flint)

earlier than C14 limit (50,000 BP)

9.2.b. Basis of method:• Dating minerals set to “0” by 500 C/932 F

accidentally/intentionally (pottery; flints)• Clay has some radioactive elementsobtained internally & externally.

• Gauge site soil’s radioactivity accuracy(1 yr. capsule; radiation counter; sample)

• Lab heats sample; measures light radiation

5.a.Approaches to

Categoriingsocial organization:

(i.e., Prehistoric Europe)


5. How Were Societies Organized? Social Archaeology.

2.2. Classification of societies:• E. Service adopted 4 types of

societies (useful; now modified)(bands; tribes; chiefdoms; states)

2.2.a. Mobile hunter-gatherer groups:• “Band”• Usually less than 100• Seasonal movement pursuing

wild crops & game.• > all = related by blood or marriage• They > lack designated leaders• Status = essentially the same• Seasonally occupied campsites

(temporary huts)• Other sites: kill & butchery; worksites• Paleolithic 12,000 BP = 100% bands• Terminology:

“Mobile hunter-gatherer groups”versus “bands”


5. How Were Societies Organized? Social Archaeology.2.2.b. Segmentary societies (tribes).• Up to a few 100• Cultivating plants• Herding domesticated animals• Usually = settled farmers• Sometimes = nomadic pastoralists

(focused on herds)• Contain several communities

linked by blood ties (kinship).• Sometimes have a central “capital”

with appointed leaders & officials• Small villages or homesteads

Isolated houses = dispersed patternPerm. villages = nucleated patternAdjoining houses = agglomerate “

• A “tribe” assumes a unified cultural

identity (which is not common)• Segmentary society = relatively small

independent group, usually agricultural(may unite to form a “tribe”)


5. How Were Societies Organized? Social Archaeology.2.2.c. Chiefdoms:• Greater difference in rank

(social status)

• Different lineages with diff.prestige (chief tribesperson)

• Rank = affiliation with chief

• Usually craft specialists

• Surplus food & products paid

to chief

• Re-dispersal of produce

• Special central housing (forthe chief & his entourage)

• Size approx. 5000 – 20,000

• Note: prominent ritual andceremonial center for chiefdoma. within site

b. amongst sites Chief Paul Payakan (Kayapo, Brazil)

5.b.

SOCIAL

ORGANIZATION:Settlements & social stratification …

(i.e., in Prehistoric Europe)

Neolithic Europe: Early Holocene ca. 7,000 – 3,000 BCE …

Early Neolithic Europe: central – west region, ca. 7000 – 3000 BC

Central-W. Mediterraneanca. 7,000 – 5,000 BCE:

• Many ditched enclosures =in Italy from the Neolithic, oftenalong valley edges, near water.

• Such enclosures vary from 1hectare to 30 hectares (mostare under 7 hectares).

• 1-4 ditches dug up to 2 m deepforming a circular defensivesystem around the settlement.

• Interior compounds may havec-shaped compounds inside.

• Passo di-Corvo is one of thelargest sites (Southern Italy):- inner enclosure 28 hectares- outer enclosure 40 hectares- site spans about 1000 metres

(See Whittle 1996: 297)

Neolithic Europe: Southeast region, ca. 7,000 – 3,000 BC

7,000 – 3,000 BCE:early farming villageat Karavono in SEEurope (Bulgaria):

Wattle-and-mud-

walled rectilinear

housing.

50 m-sq. floor areas

suggest a smallnuclear family.

Larger long housesimply an extended

family/household.

(see Champion et. al.,

1984: 141)

Plan of early Neolithic mud & timber house from Slatina (Bulgaria).

i.e., average home.STRUCTURE:-9.5 x 12.5 m-wattle & daub-doorway-smoke hole?-window(s)?

CONTENTS:

Backroom:-storage? +?

Main room:-grain bins-food bins-grinding grain-cooking oven-Loom forweaving-Hearth forheating-2 wide beds(ext. family)

Generic reconstruction of a Neolithic house interior: loom, etc.

Middle Neolithic Europe: SE region, ca. 6,000 – 5,500 BC

Middle Neolithic house plans from Otzaki in Greece.- Many Neolithic sites were placed on ridges or hills near lakes,

rivers, and the sea.

- Some people occupied caves,while many others dwelt in farming

villages (i.e., small, spanning a few hectares, with 100 – 200/300).

- Housing became permanent durable structures of var. materials:

E.g., Wood (N), mud-coated reeds, later sun-dried mud bricks.

Often single-storied, but later developing two stories.

(Dickinson 1994: 32, 39)

Plan of early Linearbandkeramiksettlement at Janskamperveld(in Holland).

Ca. 5,500 – 5,300 BCE.Multiple occupations –several huts;Remains of some streets & blocks;

Middle Neolithic Europe: central region, ca. 5,500 – 4,000 BC

SE Europe: ca. 5,500-4,000 BCE:i.e., in the Hungarian plain

(= East of Iceman territory).

• Reconstructed housing from Tisza

and Herpaly culture sites.

Top: Ocsod-Kovashalom

(Tisza culture)

Centre: Berettyoujfalu-Herpaly

level 11 (Herpaly culture)

Base: Hodmezovasarhely-

Gorsza, level 10

(Tisza culture)


Plan of the Late NeolithicSettlement at Polyanista(Bulgaria): ca. 4,500 BC.a. 4 gateways through a multi-

walled palisade (vertical logs):69 x 75 m (5,175 sq. m.).

b. Two streets sub-dividing thesmall settlement into fourquarters with 22-23? houses:3 sets of six small houses1 set of four-five small housesEach quarter may = lineage.

c. The houses have wattle anddaub construction (1 storey):approx. 7-8 x 13-14 metres.

d. Most houses had a hearth.

e. Some houses appear to bejoined (shared households?)and may share one hearth?

f. Probably 150 – 180+ persons.

Late Neolithic Europe, South-central region, ca. 3,600 BC.

Lake edge dwellings in Switzerland 3600 BCE.g., St. Aubin, (see Gimbutas 1991: 194)


4000 BC

Late Neolithic Europe: South-central region, ca. 3,600 BC.

(Lakeside dwelling Switzerlandsee Cunliffe 1994: 178)

Reconstruction of Neolithic Lake front dwelling in Switzerland.

Reconstruction of a Neolithic Lake front dwelling at La Tene,

Lake Neuchatel (in Switzerland).

Late Neolithic Europe, central-west region, ca. 4,000 – 2,500 BC.

(See Whittle 1996: 220)Central-Western Europe: Germany.Ca.4000-2500 BCE

4,500 BC

2,500 BC

Late Neolithic Europe, Eastern region, ca. 3,700 BC.


Late Neolithic site ofDobrovody in Ukraine:

- ca. 3,700 BCE

- One of the largest lateNeolithic farming sites.

- Approximately 200+ houses within an enclosure(maybe 2000 persons)

- Over 1000 x 1000 metresin area.

- Most Neolithic sites aremuch smaller.

Late Neolithic Europe, Eastern region, ca. 3,000 BC.

(see Champion et. al., 1984: 176)

3,000 BC+/-Hilltop enclosureat Homolka, Czech.

Late Neolithic Europe, Southeast region, ca. 4,000 BC.

Social organization: Elite burials (“chieftain”):- A single interment of a 45-year

old male. = very wealthy andprobably a chieftain.

- The burial lay in a late

Neolithic cemetery at Varna

on the Black Sea coast of

Bulgaria.

- It dates to ca. 4,000 BCE.

- It had over 990 individual gold

items (1,516 grammes) and

various copper and flint

weapons.


Neolithic social organization:

- Emerging chieftains (wealthy individuals);

- Community elders, or leaders, including religious leaders;

- Probably some hunters & warriors;

- Traders (including overland and maritime);

- Sailors, including fishermen, crews for migratory ships, traders,+

- Craft specialists: potters, sculptors, metal smiths, weavers,

carpenters, etc. (including general craftsmen

& craftswomen: cooking, mending, tailoring, +).

- Farmers, including gardeners (knowledgeable about flora)

- Shepherds, including tending sheep, goats, pigs, cattle.

- Children – adolescents being trained in farming, crafts, etc.

- Perhaps captives (slaves?): e.g., death pits.

- Increasing complexity over time and some shared skill sets.

6.a.Determining the

Past Environment:(i.e., Prehistoric Europe)

Chronological sequence of cold & dry periods versus warm & wet periods:i.e., Last Glacial Maximum: 20,000–10,000 BC, incl. 12,700–10,800 Interstadiali.e., Younger Dryas (10,800–9,600 BC) & Holocene (9,600 BP–present).

Last Glacial Maximum: Ice Sheets, Tundra, Forest, Parktundra, & Steppe land.

Forest

Forest

Example of tundra (from Norway):- i.e., covering much of northern Europe during Ice Age (Last Glacial Maximum).

Example of steppe (in Europe):- i.e., covering parts of southeast Europe during Ice Age (Last Glacial Maximum).

Example of temperate forests (in northern Canada):

- i.e., covering parts of coastal Europe during Ice Age (Last Glacial Maximum).

Pre-Neolithic Europe: from the Ice Age to the Neolithic …

6.b.

TRANSITION

TO HOLOCENEwarm & wet phase:

(i.e., post Ice Age)

Early Holocene: 8,000 BC 5,000 BC transformation of N. Europe: Dogger …

Neolithic farmers in North EuropeHunter-gatherers in North Europe

Prehistoric landscapes:6,000 BC: Britain is nowseparated from Europe bythe English Channel.

Seismic data: anc. river

Neolithic Europe: Early Holocene ca. 7,000 – 3,000 BCE …

6.c.

ENVIRONMENTIN EARLY HOLOCENE

MODERN EUROPE:

Geological map of Europe

Soils map of Europe: i.e., emphasizing the great spatial diversity.

By the early Holocene, including the Neolithic period, …Europe had a warmer, wetter, and more stable climate (closer to today):

-- excepting a transitory slightly colder spell ca. 6,200 BCE.

Europe: SUMMER temperatures in C & F for July.- More than 25 degrees down to 5-10 degrees Celsius from South to North- More than 77 degrees down to 50-59 degrees Fahrenheit from South to North

Europe WINTER temperatures in C & F for January.- Around 10-15 degrees down to less than 10 degrees Celsius from SW to NE- Around 50-59 degrees down to less than 14 degrees Fahrenheit from SW-NE

Vegetation map of modern Europe:

7.a.Determining the

past subsistence patterns:(i.e., Prehistoric Europe)

The spread of Neolithic farming from the Near East to Europe:

7.b.

THE SPREAD OFNEOLITHIC

FARMING lifestyle:Migration, Diffusion, Acculturation.

Neolithic innovations spread to Greece & Balkans: 7,000–5,800 BC

8,500 – 7,500+ BCcrop animal domestication

W-demic diffusion: corroborated by DNA evidence

Neolithic lifestyle continues spreading from Greece to Italy & the Balkans:ca. 6,000–5,700 BCE, alongside obsidian trade (frequently from island sources)

6,400 –6,200 BC

6,100 –5,900 BC

6,000 BC

6,000 –5,750 BC

5,200? BC

7,000 –6,000 BC

Cave of Grotta dell’Uzzo in Sicily:8th – 5th mill. BC occupation: H+G farmers

Tracking changes in localsubsistence at Uzzo Cave

Westward spread of Neolithic farming lifestyle in Mediterranean Area:

5711-5558 BC+ Emergence of domestic sheep, goats, pigs at Uzzo Cave (Sicily)Adoption of farming: Wheat, barley, lentils, vetch, beans, peas.Increasingly reduced exploitation of wild fauna: e.g., deer.Subsequent development of local Impressed Ware pottery.

BOTH migrations (demic diffusion) and acculturation (adoption of lifestyle)

The next phase of agricultural colonization, diffusion, & acculturation:i.e., 5,500–4,100 BC emergence of Impressed Ware pottery along coast & inland.

Impressed ware pottery


5,500–4,100 BC emergence of Impressed Ware pottery along coast & inland.

Aside from improbable overland coastal diffusion, 500-year ‘rapid’ spread = SEA.


Radiocarbon-dated spread of Impressed Ware pottery sites WEST

5,500BCE+

6,000BCE+ 7,000

BCE+


Early SEEuropeanNeolithic5,800+

BC

6,500BCE+

Riverine access for agricultural colonization & acculturation in interior of Europe



Detail of the demic diffusionof agricultural colonization& acculturation in W. Europe:• i.e., Imported Neolithic

lifestyle (crops; animals)• Local variants of pottery:

e.g., Impressed ware.

The emergence & growth of early NeolithicLinearbandkeramik (LBK) culture in MiddleEurope, spanning 5,500 – 5,000 BCE …Initially ca. 5,500–5,300 BC in N. Austria+Expands c.5,100–5,000 BC in Mid-Europe

5,500–5,300 BCE

5,100–5,000 BCE

5,100–5,000BCE

5,100–5,000 BCE

5,000 BCEDogger Island

Evidence for violence during the spread of Neolithic lifestyle:

- Massacre of 34 persons at Linearbandkeramik site Talheim SW Germany: 5100 BC16 children; adult males & females; axe blows to back of head; 3 arrows in back

- After reaching limit of colonization: prob. population growth & social tensions.

See in-class doc.-2: Lost Cannibals of Europe(= the same period & region).

Neolithic Europe, spanning ca. 7,000 – 3,000 BC.

7.c.

SUBSISTENCE:i.e., agriculture and livestock

(sheep, goats, pigs, cattle).

Early-mid Neolithic Europe: SW region, ca. 7,000–5,000 BC

Grotta di Porto Badisco (Spain): 7000-5000 BCE many paintings.


Uzzo Cave illustrates shift from wild to domesticated animals ca. 5711–5,558 BC

Neolithic Europe: general farming technology ca. 7,000–3,000 BC

Rise of farming in Europe

Gimbutas 1991: 196, wooden furrowing sticks

(Champion et. al., 1984: 121)

Late Neolithic Europe, farming practices ca. 4,000–2,500 BC.


Central-Western Europeca. 4,000 – 2,500 BCE:

- People maintained herds ofdomesticated animals:cattle, pigs, sheep, & goats.

- Hunting & fishing continuing.

- Population cultivated grains: einkorn; emmer; breadwheats; barley) and legumes)

Possibly initially using a cycleof clearing some land, plantingsome crops, and allowingdomesticated animals to graze the land.

i.e., shifting and short-livedclearances (until later whenlarger and longer lived ones =used in Corded Ware culture).


Central-Western Europeca. 4,000 – 2,500 BCE:

- Continuing the landclearance cycle with theneed to re-clear land afterthe regeneration of theearlier woodland.

- Renewed clearance(illustrated below).

Late Neolithic Europe, farming practices ca. 4,000–2,500 BC.

Late Neolithic Europe, Southern region, focus ca. 3,500 BC.

SE Europe:- Burials of cattle & humansat Alsonomedi (SE of

modern Budapest; Hungary).

Male & female & a cow & bullock.

- Part of the Baden-culture

(possibly Pecel-culture).

- Dating approximately to

ca. 3,500 BCE.

- A change in burial rites:More formal laying out of

persons, animals, & goods.

- The livestock burial may

reflect enhanced importance

& new ideas of ownership.

(See Whittle 1996: 122-24)

8.

TECHNOLOGY:


Early Neolithic Northern Europe, focus ca. 5,500 BC.

Mesolithic to Neolithic stone tools:- An example of the changes in stonetool technology from the Mesolithic toNeolithic periods from Denmark.

- Note the reduction in microlithic stone tools, albeit with some retention.

- Note the continuity and increase in other stone tools:E.g., scrapers, perforators, burins,

axes, etc. (see Cunliffe 1994: 92)

NOTE:- Many other types of tools are presentin the Neolithic (and earlier),including wooden tools and latercopper tools.

Late Neolithic Europe, focus ca. 4,000 – 3,000 BC

Neolithic tools:• Stone axes with wooden hafts

(see Gimbutas 1991: )

• Illustrating the techniques of

hafting.

• 4th millennium BCE.

Late Neolithic Europe, focus ca. 3,800 – 3,600 BC.

Neolithic tools:• Left side:

Wooden handles from

agricultural harvesting knives.

3700-3600 BCE

• Upper right:

Flint harvesting knives placed

in a wooden handle. 3800 BCE

• Lower right:

Other types of flint knives in

wooden handles. Sickle blades

3700-3600 BCE

(see Gimbutas 1991: 197)

Late Neolithic Europe, metallurgy, ca. 4,500 – 3,000 BC.

Late Neolithic metallurgy:Ca.4,500 - 3,000 BCE.

- Early copper tools from theNeolithic in eastern Europe:e.g., Bulgaria, Romania.

(a). Hammer-axe

(b). Chisel

(c). Axe-adze

(d). Awl set in antler handle

(e). Fish hook.

(see Champion et. al., 1984: 145).

A shift in using native copperto smelting, hammering, andlater casting copper ores tookplace around 4500 BC: E. Europe

(see Champion et. al., 1984: 145-46)

Central Europe:Examples of copper items found incentral Europe during the late 4th toEarly 3rd millennium BC: 3,000 BC+/-

TOP: Torque / necklace

LEFT: Axe with shaft-hole for a wooden handle

RIGHT: A chisel with a square shaft(missing its wooden handle)

Smelting at 1,000 degrees C.

(see Champion et. al., 1984: 165-67)

Late Neolithic Europe, metallurgy: copper working ca. 3,000 BC.

Mapping water management: e.g., wells, irrigation, springs, etc.

5,090 – 5,050 BC

Early Neolithic pottery:Ca. 7,000 – 5,000 BCE.

- Handmade pottery with a rangeof crude to well-made forms.

- Adopted from Near East, but verysoon adopted different designsand forms according to variousregions.

Early Neolithic Europe: Southeast region, ca. 7,000 – 5,000 BC.


Impressed Ware pottery: - It displays great variety & regional through sub-regional differences in Centraland Western Europe: 7000-5000 BCE. Mainly consisting of bowls and jars.

- Italy has yielded many variants of Impressed Ware pottery.- Predates Stentinello-style pottery in Italy.

Early Neolithic Europe, Southeast region, ca. 7,000 – 5,000 BC.


Late Neolithic Europe, SE central region, ca. 4,000 – 3,000 BC.Baden culture pottery (SE-Central Europe)Especially 4,000 – 3,000 BCE

Baden culture drinking cup, 3400 BCE(see Cunliffe 1994: 185)



Late Neolithic–EB Age Europe central-west region 3000–2400 BC

Late Neolithic–EB Age Europe central-west region 3000–2400 BC

Alpine region: Corded Ware pottery, central-western Europe, 3,000–2,400 BCE

Early to late Corded Ware pottery from 3000-2400 BC (Cunliffe 1994: 191)

SE Europeca.4,000-3,000 BCE:

A Baden-culture burial inHungary at Szigetszent-martion. Ca.3500 BCE.

The burial yielded a cartcup-model illustrating thearrival of wheeled wagons(1st seen in Mesopotamiafar to the far east).

Wooden cart wheels arefound elsewhere in WestEurope in the early 3rd

millennium BCE (later!).

Other early cart modelsdate nearer the advent ofBaden culture (4000-3000BCE). Ca.3,500 BCE(!)


Late Neolithic Europe, SE central region, ca. 4,000 – 3,000 BC.

Late Neolithic to early EB Age: early 3rd millennium BCE:4-wheeled Ceramic wagon model as a cup, from Szigetszentmarton in Hungary.

(Late) Neolithic Europe: Southern region, focus ca.6000–3000 BC

Wagon with wooden wheels: ca.3,000 BC from Plachidol, Bulgaria.


Reconstruction of a late Neolithic 2-wheeled cart from Europe.

LATER EXAMPLES OF SIMILAR WHEELED CARTS:

Early Bronze Age cart burial from Tri Brata pit-grave: 3rd mill. BCReconstructed 4-wheeled cart from MB Age burial at Lchashen: 2nd mill. BC

9.

TRADE &

EXCHANGE:Exchange of materials, products,

& ideas (incl. influx of peoples).


TRADE in the Neolithic:

• Exotics: ivory & ostrich shells (N. Africa)i.e., prestige items in Iberia.

• Resins: amber from N. Europe.

• Stone: obsidian, etc. (in Europe)

• Metals: copper, gold, silver, tin (in Europe).Copper formed one of the most importantand prestigious trade items.

• Pottery: Pottery containers and pottery styles spread as well.


Neolithic obsidian trade:

- Obsidian sources appear in variousMediterranean islands and some mainlandsites in Turkey, etc.

- Especially popular for stone tools.

Later Neolithic:As the Neolithicprogressed, copperbecame increasingly

a major trade itemfrom copper richsources to non-copper bearingareas.

The triangles showcopper ore areas.

The blue circlesshow gold producing areas.

The red-circles showtin-producing areas.

(see Champion et.al., 1984: 166)


Carpatho-Balkan copper exchange network: 5th mill. BC 3,800 BC.- Copper ore from Aibunar Cu mine ca. 5100 BC trade until 3,800 BC at latest.

Prod.: unused/prestige copper tools, axes, chisels, etc. Possibly as gifts displaying status/power of elite.

Nova Zegora:Aibunar Cu-mine nearby

Jadeite trade:-Source in Alpine areaof NW Italy & SE France

-Jadeite axes (& rings)traded in W. Europe from4,700 – 3,800 BCE.

-Peak period of trade:4,500 – 4,300 BCE.

-Functional small axes tolarger ceremonial axes:Trade gifts & ritual offerings

Jadeitesources

10.a.

COGNITIVE

ARCHAEOLOGY:Shrines & religious beliefs.


Late Neolithic: 3,500–2,500 BC- Two conjoined stone temples,built over a substantial period.

- Limestone orthostats (uprightslabs) lining chambers & wallfaces, with rubble fill.

- Temples contained large stonesculptures of very big women:a. mother goddess figures(?);b. priestesses(?)

Late Neolithic temple at Hagar Qim on southern coast of Malta: ancestors?Malta temples = unique: perhaps resource depletion led to greater religious cults.

Late Neolithic to EB Age: ca. 3,500 – 2,500 BCE.



Brochtorff Circle (Malta): shrines & 1000s of burials –ancestor cult?Collective burials with stone-built temples: Central-W. Med.: 5,000 – 2,500 BC.

4,000 – 3,000 BC


Malta: stone temple at Ggantijaca. 3,000 BCE.

• Malta contains many lateNeolithic stone temples, many

of which contain rock-cut

components in combination with

stone built superstructures,

open areas, standing stones,

and enclosures.

• Many of these “temples” onMalta, and elsewhere during the

Neolithic, are associated with

collective/mass-burials, with

some bodies numbering in the

thousands: ancestor cult?

i.e., veneration of ancestors, etc.

Neolithic anthropomorphic figures & pots:

- Early Neo. figurines from Greece.

- Anthropomorphic pot (ca. 4000 BC)

from Hotnica, Bulgaria.

- Functions: deities? Ancestors? Etc.?

Mid?-Neolithic Europe: Southeast region ca. 6,000 – 4,000 BC.

(Dickinson 1994: 41)

“Mother goddess” and other cultic figurines appear in the Neolithic

Plateia Magoula Zarkou:- males, animals, model buildings, etc.

Late Neolithic Europe: Southern region, ca. 6,000 – 3,000 BCE.

A plain building at Ovcarovo-IX yielded a collection of “cultic” figurines (daily cult)

SE Europe: “Ancestor cult”?


Votive offerings:- Larger jadeite axeswith high polish andfinish were fragileand non-functional.

- Found away from thesource and likelyserved as prestigegifts: to chieftain, etc.

- Many appear asdeposits in “waterycontexts”: i.e.,probably like Celticofferings in springs,rivers, bogs, etc., tolocal spirits andsacred natural spots.

- Presumably offered inhope of var. benefits:E.g. Crops? Children?Victory? Healing? Etc.

10.b.

COGNITIVE

ARCHAEOLOGY:Burials & mortuary beliefs.


(Late) Neolithic West European megalith tombs: 4,500–3,500 & 3,500–2,500 BC.

Ballykeel, Ireland:Early Neolithic 4500+ BC

Portal dolmen: grave.

(Mid)-Neolithic Europe, western region, ca. 4,500 – 4,000 BCE.

S. Brittany, France: Passage grave in late 5th mill. BC (Cunliffe 1994: 179)Collective burials, dry stone walling, corbell vaulting, W. European tradition.

4,700–3,800 BC: Grand Menhir at Locmariaquer (originally 20 m high; 348 tons)Later Neolithic passage tomb nearby (south coast of Brittany).

Early 5th millennium BCE:

- Menhirs with carvings: animals, etc.

Locmariaquer

Mid-Late Neolithic Europe, western region, ca. 4,500 – 2,500 BC.

(See Whittle 1996: 326)Central-WesternMediterranean:Ca.5,000 – 2,500 BC.

• 2nd phase of massivecollective burial atSion (Switzerland).

- Decorated façadestones at entryway.

- Stone stelae havedepictions of daggers

attesting to the useof copper weaponrythat is also found inother burials.

Late Neolithic Europe, Southern region, focus ca. 3,200 BC.

NW EUROPE: passage grave/tomb at Maes Howe (Orkney): ca. 3,200 BC.

Late Neolithic Europe, central-western region, ca.5,000–2,500 BC

Central & Western Mediterranean: ca.5,000 – 2,500 BCE (see Whittle 1996: 339)• Neolithic peoples apparently honoured their dead greatly throughout much of Europe.

• The Iceman dates to this period and wouldnormally have been buried in a collective burial:E.g., A rockshelter at Manerba del Garda.

- Small rectilinear chambers: 1 x 2 m

- Stone flooring with presumed wooden walling.

- E.g., one chamber (MS.133) yielded 3 skulls &disarticulated bones.

- Burial goods included pottery vessels (including4 intact pottery vessels), stone beads, shell, andcopper. Stones sealed the deposit. 4 pots above

- Infant burial outside in a small pit/cist.

- Separate offerings with cereal grains, legumes,and other plants.

- A facility for burning bones with other offerings.

Late Neolithic Europe: Southeast region, ca. 4,000 BC

Elite burials (“chieftain”):- A single interment of a 45-year

old male.

- The burial lay in a late

Neolithic cemetery at Varna

on the Black Sea coast of

Bulgaria.

- It dates to ca. 4,000 BCE.

- It had over 990 individual gold

items (1,516 grammes) and

various copper and flint

weapons.


Late Neolithic Europe, central-west region, ca. 4,000 – 3,000 BC.

Central & W. Europe:Ca.4,000 – 2,500 BCE.

- Corded Ware burialsat Cachovice in NWBohemia.

- Corded Ware burialsnormally were singleburials following earlytraditions.

- Grave goods are often

gender specific: e.g.,amphorae, beakers,some stone battle axes,axes, maceheads, Cujewelry, ochre, andanimal bones(feasting)

-A few pits have a smallmound over them.(see Whittle 1996: 264)

Late Neolithic Europe, Central-western region ca. 4,000–2,500 BC

Central & Western Europe:Ca.4,000 – 2,500 BCE.

- Baden culture collectiveburial at Bronocice pit 36-B1.

- Burials appear in settlements,ceremonial sites, and specialinhumations.

- One collective burial yielded17 persons in one pit-grave:

(a).Four adults: a 25-year old man in thecentre, two youngerwomen at the edge.

(b).13 children here and there.

(See Whittle 1996: 241-42)

Late Neolithic Europe: Southern region, ca. 3,000 BC.

(see Whittle 1996: 341)

Italy: Remedello grave: examples of some single interment graves versus themore popular collective burials during the Neolithic.

Late Neolithic Europe: Southeast region, ca. 4,000–3000 BC.

SE Europe4,000-3,000 BCE:

Baden culturecremation urns

from Center nearOzd (Hungary).

Other Baden Culture burials rep.inhumation burialsi.e., non-cremation

This example mayreflect earliertraditions and diff.customs in a verydiverse region &SE Europe (See

Whittle 1996: 126)

Neolithic Europe: Central-eastern region, ca. 5,500 – 3,000 BC.

Burial goods:Nitra cemetery in

Czechoslovakia (a)

and Tiszapolgar-

Basatanya cemetery

in Hungary (b).

Male burials tend to

have various grave

goods versus female

burials (elsewhere

this is less the case).

Adults tend to have

more burial goods

than most persons

younger than 20 yrs.

Children had not yet

had time to gain any

wealth. Less emph.

on inherited wealth.

(see Champion et. al.,

1984: 143)

10.c.

COGNITIVE

ARCHAEOLOGY:Language: Indo-European …


Origins of European languages: i.e., a postulated single “Indo-European” root.- Increasingly archaeologists view the “Indo-European” language as arriving via

Neolithic agricultural colonists (i.e., demic diffusion versus cultural diffusion).

- Indo-European is thereby viewed as originating in SW Asia in 8th mill. BC+

- Arrived in Europe via: (a) Balkans Great Hungarian Plain Middle Europe(b) West Mediterranean coastline Iberia …

- Creolization of Indo-European with Mesolithic languages Slavic, Baltic, etc.

Indo-European languages:

- Probably arrived via a postulatedProto-Indo-European languagefrom Southwest Asia via thevarious early Neolithic migrations.ca. 7,000 – 5,500 BCE.

Creolization of proto-Indo-European probably = ca. 4,000 – 2,500 BCE.


11.

APPEARANCE:(e.g., clothing, health,

etc.)

Bat Cave (Spain): 4,000 BC clothed bodies with baskets (see Cunliffe 1994: 183)


Western-central Europe 5000-2500 BCStelae/Menhirs: ancestral veneration?


N. Italy:St. Martin de

CorleansCa.3,000 BC

A 2.5 m high stela with a

depiction of amale with:

Face (schematic)

An axeA bowA belt

A pouch

(see Iceman)

(see Champion et. al.,1984: 193).


Germany, 3,000 BC slab: illustrating quiver of arrows, a bow, & matting(originally red-painted and placed in a grave)


Exceptional preservation has providedmuch additional information on clothing,tattooing, implements, health, diet, etc.

E.g., The Iceman and other findsca. 3,200 – 3,000 BCE.


Palaeolithic – Neolithic Europe, ca. 7,000 – 3,000 BC.

12.

PROCESSES

OF CHANGE:Palaeolithic – EB Age

Chronological sequence of cold & dry periods versus warm & wet periods:i.e., Last Glacial Maximum: 20,000–10,000 BC, incl. 12,700–10,800 Interstadiali.e., Younger Dryas (10,800–9,600 BC) & Holocene (9,600 BP–present).

ICE AGE coastline changes:E.g., 140,000 yrs of sea-level changes

Evidence from uplifted reefs N.G.

+deep sea oxygen isotopes sed.i.e., 20,000 yrs BP “land bridge” from

approx. 120 m drop in sea-levelIce Age: peopling of North America:

Lower Prehistoric landscapes:- 15,000 B.C.: N. Europe 3,000 years

after Ice sheets had begun to melt.- 1931: Trawler brought up Mesolithicbone harpoon encased in peat.

- 1998: B. Coles gathered all findingsfrom North Sea theoretical mapsof Prehistoric “Doggerland”

- Recent: seismic data from oil expl.

Palaeolithic to Neolithic & Chalcolithic Europe: 7000 - 3000 BC.

CHANGES to Neolithic (including the “Copper Age”):• End of Ice Age climate becomes warmer progressively:

from southern Europe to northern Europe.

• Beginning of domestication of plants: cultivating grains & legumes

• Subsequent domestication of animals: cattle, sheep, goats, pigs.

• Pottery emerges; it is regional; has sub-types; changes over time

• Copper-working gradually appears; types increase; trade.

• Social stratification (differential wealth: chieftains/clans)

Changes to Early Bronze Age (i.e., Greece & Aegean):• Rise of a more urban society in parts of the Aegean & Greece

• Later rise of early state complex societies in SE Europe:

E.g., Minoans –Proto-Palatial and early Palatial phases (MB Age)


13.

CASE STUDY:

THE ICEMAN

i.e., “discovery”later an archaeological investigation

(Cunliffe 1994: 15)


• The Iceman was found in Tyrolean Alps, on the Hauslabjoch,

near the Tisenjoch pass between Austria and Italy.

i.e., in an Alpine region.



Setting:

• 1991 discovery of the Iceman(initially a police investigation andremoval of the body; subsequently

became an archaeological project),

• The Iceman = found in Tyrolean Alps,on the Hauslabjoch (Mountain)/Peak,near the Tisenjoch pass betweenAustria and Italy: = an Alpine region.

• 3,200 m above sea level.

• Near an East-West ridge through theAlps: i.e., crossing the Alps.

• He had probably been traversing thisarea during the autumn.


Ice Man3,000 BC

Clothing:

• Leather loincloth.

• Leather leggings.

• A belt which also functioned as a pouch.

• Deer skin coat (sleeveless?)

• Outer cape composed of reeds orgrasses.

• Calfskin shoes insulated with grassinside and secured by knotted grassstrings.

• Headgear consisted of several types of fur joined together and containingflaps joined under the chin.

i.e., well-designed clothing to protecthim in crossing the Alps.

• L wrist: fur-birch bracelets, marble disc.

(See Whittle 1996: 315-16)


Possessions:

• A bow of yew that had not beenfinished.

• A quiver manufactured using a frameand supplied with a lid.

• 14 broken arrows.

• A bone tool with a curved shaped.

• Spare arrowheads: i.e., bone projectile points.

• Probable spare strings for the bow:i.e., sinew & tree bast.

• An axe with a yew handle/haft and acopper blade *(Remedello: 150 km S.).

• A flint knife placed on a wooden handleand stored in a string sheath.

• An antler tip inserted into a woodenhandle, probably as a retouching tool.


Possessions (continued):

• The belt pouch contained:(a) a flint scraper(b) a flake(c) a flint awl(d) some sort of fungus probably being

tinder for lighting a fire.

• Two birch-bark cylindrical containers(shaped by sewing)

(a) One may have carried embers from

a fire to relight new fires.

• A hazel wood frame for a backpackmade with cross boards and fur.

Skin:• His skin yielded a series of small tattoos: small linear designs.


Occupation(s):

• Debated greatly:(a). A trader(b). A hunter(c). A shaman(d). A community leader/elite (axe)(e). A ritual execution / murder victim(f). A refugee from an attack(g). A shepherd

Whittle’ s preferred theory:• A shepherd making a hunting bowwhilst tending to his flock: murdered!e.g., small fragments of ibex bone lay

near the body, representing ananimal found in mountains.

• The copper axe may represent an itemfound more widely amongst lateNeolithic persons than previouslythought: i.e,, not an elite item.


The Iceman and his clothing and possessions.


Italy: Stentinello?-culture (S)/Remedello-culture (N) Austria: Rössen-culture



14.

SUMMARY:

Neolithic Europe, ca. 7,000 – 3,000/2,500 BC

Summary notes on Neolithic Europe:

End of the Ice Age (Last Glacial Maximum [LGH]):

• 20,000 – 10,000 BCE experienced mostly melting/retreating ice sheets;

• Sea level rose from a low of minus 120 m (-120 m) to minus 35 m (-35 m);

• Forests mostly lay along the southern Mediterranean coastline of Europe;

• The North Sea contained a large stretch of land (Dogger hills), ca. 18,000 BC,which progressively receded with rising waters to become Dogger Island by5,000 BC; 1931: a trawler dredged up a Mesolithic bone harpoon point here(i.e., Dogger Island was occupied by local hunter-gatherers in the Mesolithic).

Initiation of animal & plant domestication in Near East:

• i.e., The Fertile Crescent, especially NW Syria, Palestine, and Zagros Mts.

• Pre-pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) Near East witnessed domestication of wheatand barley between 8,500 and 7,500 BCE.

• Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) Near East experienced the domestication ofanimals (sheep; goats; pigs; cattle) by 7,500 BCE extending to 6,000 BCE.


Exportation of a Neolithic (Near Eastern) lifestyle to Europe:Fully domesticated crops (wheat; barley) & animals (sheep/goats; pigs;+), andpottery production and a sedentary lifestyle, reach:a. Crete and Eastern Greece (especially Thessaly): ca. 7,000 – 6,500 BCE;b. The Balkans: ca. 5,800+ BCE;c. Western Greece, Southern Italy, & Sicily: ca. 6,100 – 6,000+ BCE;d. Coastal Mediterranean areas from Adriatic to Western Portugal, and inland:

ca. 5,500 BCE (including emergence of Impressed Ware pottery);e. Demi diffusion (migrants) transfers this lifestyle up rivers into West Europef. Demi diffusion (migrants) transfers this lifestyle northeast into central Europe

ca. 5,500 – 5,300 BCE (including emergence of Linearbandkeramik);g. Internal population growth & expansion in central Europe expand outwards

to west, north, south, and east ca. 5,100 – 5,000 BCE (Linearbandkeramik);h. Neolithic lifestyle reaches NW Europe ca. 4,500 BCE;

By the end of this initial period of Neolithic colonization (demi diffusion),

local acculturation (indigenous adaptation), and internal population growth,possible rising social tensions translate into conflict, including massacres:E.g., death pits with murdered/executed children and adults (see Nat. Geo.);

Summary: Europe is transformed from 7,000–4,500 BCE by a Neolithic lifestyle,which ends in ca. 3,000 BCE (SE Europe) & 2,500 BCE (elsewhere).


Social organization:Settlement patterns reveal some aspects of Neolithic social organization:a. Many types of settlements and housing emerge across Europe, influenced

by regional materials, setting, and other factors.b. Neolithic settlements range from 1–30 hectares, with most being 7 or less,

with square, rectilinear, ovoid, circular, and sometimes irregular plans.b. They are often located on defensible hilltops, valley edges, and other areas

near fresh water sources: e.g., lakes, springs, rivers, streams.d. Excavations reveal multiple fortification walls around settlements, including

ditches and multiple palisade walls with vertical logs/posts & complex gates.e. Interior layouts reveal a street around the interior palisade, main streets

between blocks of houses, & often tightly packed houses with narrow alleys.f. Houses vary widely in construction, having stone foundations & mud brick

walls, wattle & daub, timber construction, & other variants (cave dwellings);Lake fronts included raised timber, pile dwellings (e.g., Lake Konstanz).

g. Houses vary from being square to rectilinear, and also long houses;h. Most have single floors (some 2nd storeys) for nuclear & extended families;

Social organization: Chieftains, elders, religious leaders, warriors, hunters,traders, sailors, craft specialists (potters; sculptors; metal smiths; weavers;carpenters; +), farmers, shepherds, trainees/apprentices, captives/slaves, etc.


Subsistence:- The Neolithic lifestyle entailed farming (wheat; barley; legumes; etc.) andmaintaining herds (sheep; goats; pigs; cattle).

- Farming required land clearance, re-clearance, digging furrows (i.e., digging sticks), planting seeds, tending fields, harvesting, winnowing & threshing,storing excess grain etc., processing grain etc., and maintaining herds;

Technology:The Neolithic populations, including both new settlers & acculturated locals,had a wide range of technology and products:a. Stone tools continued using microliths, abandoning some forms, retaining

others, modifying some, and introducing many new forms.b. Wooden tools are used (e.g., furrow sticks), form handles & other fittings,

and furniture etc.c. Copper mining & production is known, including axes, chisels, adzes, awls,

hooks, torques, etc.; many seem to be unused ceremonial /status items(?);d. Pottery is handmade, fired, and ranges from well-made to crude types.e. Wagons are known by the 4th millennium BCE, and continue into EB Age+f. Many other forms of technology are in use during this period:

E.g., ship-building; weaving; tanning(?); cooking/baking; brewing; etc.


Trade & exchange:Many materials, items, ideas, and peoples moved to, from, and within Europethroughout the Neolithic period (i.e., cultural diffusion & demic diffusion), withsome local acculturation (i.e., Mesolithic populations adapting to new ideas etc.).

a. Initially the arrival of “Near Eastern” domesticated crops & animals, people,housing, pottery production, items, ideas, language (prob. Indo-European).

b. Exotica: ivory & ostrich eggshells from North Africa;

c. Amber (i.e., resin) from Northeast Europe (Baltic) traded to south;

d. Obsidian from various parts of southern/Mediterranean Europe for tools etc.

e. Metals: copper, gold, silver, & tin from various locations in Europe for varioustools (axes; chisels), jewellery (torques): often unsed gifts & prestige items.

f. Jadeite: from sources in NW Italy (where it is used in small functional tools),and traded throughout Western Europe as larger, well-polished, better made

ceremonial axes (& some rings), as gifts & votive offerings: watery contexts.

g. Pottery: made in various distinct styles in smaller areas to broad regions,with dispersals over wide areas characterizing several main parts of Europe.

h. Other materials and items: …

Summary notes on Neolithic Europe:Temples/shrines: i.e., daily life religion.A variety of Neolithic temples and shrines are known, especially in Malta:a. Stone-lined chamber, passages, and exterior walls (i.e., orthostats/slabs)

with corbell/other roofing, rubble-filled interior walls, and mounded tops.(some combine rock-cut & rock-built architecture; stones may be huge)

b. Many have surrounding compounds with an exterior stone wall and gate;

c. They are often associated with large sculptures of huge women – function:Fertility figures? Mother goddesses? Priestesses? Matriarchal ancestors? +

d. Many stone temples have collective communal burials with disarticulatedbones, skulls, and possessions: i.e., perhaps communal ancestor cults?

e. This huge stone construction constitutes megalithic architecture: W. Europeca. 4,500/4,000 – 3,000/2,500 BCE.

f. Many shrines also contain female figurines: fertility aspects often emphasizedOther figurines are androgynous; some are male; some are animals.Presumably representing a polytheistic society with various deities, spirits,and beliefs, which may reflect both diverse origins and local acculturation.

g. Other cultic deposits include: small pottery bowls, trays, furniture, food, human figures, animals, house models: votive offerings, etc. with aims:

h. Jadeite axes are found as offerings in watery contexts:Poss. cultic aims: Placating spirits/deities; asking for fertility (children; crops;

livestock), health, stability, happiness, victory, safe journey, +

Summary notes on Neolithic Europe:Mortuary practices/religion:The influx of diverse settlers, acculturation by indigenous hunter-gatherers, andcontinuous trade/exchange, probably translated into diverse mortuary customs:

a. Megaliths: ca. 4,500-3,500 NW fringes of Europe & 3,500-2,500 BC spreadin Western part of Europe (including Malta: along W. European trade route?).E.g., Portal dolmen grave topped by a mound; stone-lined passage grave

with stone corbel vaulting; mostly for collective/communal burials.E.g., Menhirs: small to large (e.g., 20 m high & 348 tons) re-used in tombs.E.g., Entry stelae/slabs with decoration: e.g., carved weaponry (daggers).

b. Rock shelter tomb/grave: Disarticulated burials, offerings, jewellery, grain,legumes, burnt bones, etc.

c. Variously sized pit-grave types under mounds: Single wealthy burials;several burials and individual burials under smaller mounds with somepossessions, pottery, weapons, jewellery, animal bones (feasting), etc.

d. Settlement & cemetery burials: some intramural & extramural burials.

e. Pit-graves with cremation urns and some possessions.

f. Grave goods: adult males gen. have items; adult females & children = none

Basic beliefs: Intact inhumations, disarticulated burials, & cremation burials.


Language:• A probable proto-Indo-European language probably entered Europe via the

early Neolithic migrations (demic diffusion), following trade routes, fromSouthwest Asia (Near East) in 7,000 – 5,500 BCE, spreading within Europe.

• After having settled in Europe, blending with local populations, a creolizationof this proto Indo-European probably took place ca. 4,000 – 2,500 BCE.

• This creolization translated into the base for many modern Europeanlanguages: Slavic, Baltic, Germanic, Celtic, etc.

Appearance:• The appearance and adornment of various Neolithic peoples is evident from:

some preserved burial remains (e.g., Spain), variously preserved textiles,leather, furs, etc. (Iceman), weaponry, jewellery, tattooing (Iceman), andsculpture, art, and other transmissions of clothing and features.

Changes:• The abundant changes in the Mesolithic to Early Bronze Age include:

(a) climatic changes; (b) geographic shifts; (c) environmental modifications;(d) influx of new domesticated plants, animals, artefacts, ideas, language, &peoples; and (e) many other changes including technology, etc.

15.

SOURCES:(i.e., some “searchers”)


Whittle, Alasdair

Europe in the Neolithic:The Creation of New Worlds.Cambridge: Cambridge


Excellent overview of iceman

and Neolithic in general.


Champion, Timothy,

Gamble, Clive,

Shennan, Stephen,

and Whittle, Alasdair.

Prehistoric Europe.London: Academic Press (1984).

Some excellent coverage of the

Neolithic period.



Cunliffe, Barry

Europe Between the Oceans:9000 BC – AD 1000. New

Haven: Yale University Press

(2008).

Excellent recent summary of

European Prehistory to the

Dark Ages.

Cunliffe, Barry (ed.)

Prehistoric Europe: AnIllustrated History.Oxford: Oxford University

Press (1994).

Excellent coverage of the

Neolithic.


Dickinson, Oliver.

The Bronze Age Aegean.Cambridge: Cambridge


Some helpful coverage of the

Neolithic period focusing on the

Aegean and mainland Greece.


Gimbutas, Marija

The Civilization of theGoddess: The World ofOld Europe.New York: Harper Collins

Publishers (1991).

Very controversial book;

excellent illustrations of

diverse aspects of the

Neolithic.


Renfrew, C. & Bahn, P.

Archaeology: Theories,

Methods, and Practice.London: Thames & Hudson

(2012, 6th edition).

Excellent detailed summary

of approaches to assessing

and data on diverse past

societies/cultures across

the globe:

- Environment

- Social organization

- Subsistence

- Technology

- Trade

- Cognitive archaeology

- Change

Archaeology in general (Mumford & Parcak textbook for ANTH.106)

Neolithic materials:

Runnels, C. and Murray, P. M.2001 Greece Before History:

An ArchaeologicalCompanion and Guide.Stanford: StanfordUniversity Press.

Chp.1: An introduction to thePrehistory of Greece: pp.1-8.

Chp.2: The Old Stone Age: howIt all began. Pp. 9-40.a. Palaeolithic, pp. 12-19.b. Middle Palaeolithic, pp. 19-25c. Upper Palaeolithic, pp. 25-31.d. Mesolithic period, pp. 31-40.

Chp.3: The New Stone Age: The

Earliest Greek civilization, 41-64.a. Origins of the Greek Neolithicb. Neolithic civilization.

Sandars, N. K.

Prehistoric Art in Europe.Harmondsworth: Prenguin Books

Ltd (1985 2nd edition).

Excellent coverage of Prehistoric

art, including Neolithic art.


16.

ADDENDUM:i.e., answers to in-class

questions/enquiries.


Ancient DNA from the First European Farmers in 7500-Year-Old Neolithic Sites:

“The ancestry of modern Europeans is a subject of debate among geneticists,archaeologists, and anthropologists. A crucial question is the extent to whichEuropeans are descended from the first European farmers in the Neolithic Age 7500 years ago or from Paleolithic hunter-gatherers who were presentin Europe since 40,000 years ago. Here we present an analysis of ancient DNAfrom early European farmers. We successfully extracted and sequenced intact stretches of maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 24 out of 57 Neolithic skeletons from various locations in Germany, Austria, and Hungary.We found that 25% of the Neolithic farmers had one characteristic mtDNA type and that this type formerly was widespread among Neolithic farmers in CentralEurope. Europeans today have a 150-times lower frequency (0.2%) of this mtDNA type, revealing that these first Neolithic farmers did not have a strong genetic Influence on modern European female lineages. Our finding lendsweight to a proposed Paleolithic ancestry for modern Europeans.”Abstract, by Haak et. al. (see full article via web link below):(http://www.uni-mainz.de/FB/Biologie/Anthropologie/MolA/Download/Haak%20et%20al.%202005%20Science.pdf)

Ancient DNA, pig domestication, and the spread of the Neolithic into Europe:

“The Neolithic Revolution began 11,000 years ago in the Near East and preceded a westward migration into Europe of distinctive cultural groups and their agricultural economies, including domesticated animals and plants. Despite decades of research, no consensus has emerged about the extent of admixture between the indigenous and exotic populations or the degree to

which the appearance of specific components of the “Neolithic cultural package” in Europe reflects truly independent development. Here, through the use of mitochondrial DNA from 323 modern and 221 ancient pig specimens sampled across western Eurasia, we demonstrate that domestic pigs of Near Eastern ancestry were definitely introduced into Europe during the Neolithic (potentially along two separate routes), reaching the Paris Basin by at least the early 4th millennium B.C. Local European wild boar were also domesticated by this time, possibly as a direct consequence of the introduction of Near Eastern domestic pigs. Once domesticated, European pigs rapidly replaced the introduced domestic pigs of Near Eastern origin throughout Europe. Domestic pigs formed a key component of the Neolithic Revolution, and this detailed genetic record of their origins reveals a complex set of interactions and processes during the spread of early farmers into Europe.” Abstract, by G. Larson et. al. (see full article via web link below):(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc1976408/).

Neolithic Europe

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