Life in Neolithic Farming Communities - Social Organization, Identity, and Differentiation (Fundamental Issues in Archaeology)

Drawing on both the results of recent archaeological research and anthropological theory, leading experts synthesize current thinking on the nature of and variation within Neolithic social arrangements. The authors analyze archaeological data within a range of methodological and theoretical perspectives to reconstruct key aspects of ritual practices, labor organization, and collective social identity at the scale of the household, community, and region. Life In Neolithic Farming Communities: An Introduction / Ian Kuijt -- Early Sedentism In The Near East: A Bumby Ride To Village Life / Anna Belfer-cohen And Ofer Bar-yosef -- Hallan Çemi And Early Village Organization In Eastern Anatolia / Michael Rosenberg And Richard W. Redding -- Households In Transition: Neolithic Social Organizations Within Southwest Asia / Brian F. Byrd -- The Quick And The Dead: The Social Context Of Aceramic Neolithic Mortuary Practices As Seen From Kfar Hahoresh / Nigel Goring-morris -- Keeping The Peace: Ritual, Skull Caching, And Community Integration In The Levantine Neolithic / Ian Kuijt -- Ritual And Social Structure Et Neolithic 'ain Ghazal / Gary O. Rollefson -- Is Size Important? Functions And Hierarchy In Neolithic Settlements / Frank Hole -- Villages On The Edge: Regional Settlement Change And The End Of The Levantine Pre-pottery Neolithic / Alan H. Simmons -- The Symbolic Foundations Of The Neolithic Revolution In The Near East / Jacques Cauvin -- Çatal Höyük In Context: Ritual At Early Neolithic Sites In Central And Eastern Turkey / Mary M. Voigt -- The Pottery Neolithic Period: Questions About Pottery Decoration, Symbolism, And Meaning / Estelle Orrelle And Avi Gopher -- Near Eastern Neolithic Research: Directions And Trends / Ian Kuijt. Edited By Ian Kuijt. Based On Papers Presented At A Symposium Held In 1995 At The Sixtieth Annual Meeting For The Society Of American Archaeology In Minneapolis, Minnesota. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. While previous research on the Near Eastern Neolithic has addressed many dimensions of food production and environmental change, relatively few studies have explored the social context of these processes, the nature of political, economic, and religious practices in Neolithic communities, and how these specific patterns aid archaeologists and anthropologists in understanding some of the material and symbolic ways in which people were identified, how these are reflected through archaeological data sets, and the process by which social differentiation emerged in our earliest prehistoric agricultural contexts. Drawing on both the results of recent archaeological research as well as anthropological theory, leading experts synthesize current thinking on the nature of and variation within Neolithic social arrangements. The authors analyze archaeological data within a range of methodological and theoretical perspectives to reconstruct key aspects of ritual practices, labor organization, and collective social identity at the scale of the household, community, and region. -- Provided by publisher. "Drawing on both the results of recent arhaeological research as well as anthropological theory, leading experts synthesize current thinking on the nature of and variation within Neolithic social arrangements. The authors analyze archaeological data within a range of methodological and theoretical perspectives to reconstruct key aspects of ritual practices, labor organization, and collective social identity at the scale of the household, community, and region."--Pub. desc