Social transformations in the Late Neolithic and the Early Chalcolithic periods in central Anatolia

2007 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 115-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arkadiusz Marciniak ◽  
Lech Czerniak
Keyword(s):  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
Social Basis ◽  
The Social

AbstractThis article explores the character of social transformations within Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic communities of central Anatolia. This comprises the demise of neighbourhood communities that formed the social basis of the Early Neolithic period and the emergence of the household as a well-defined and autonomous entity. These changes are examined by focusing mainly on settlement patterns, the organisation of space and changes in architecture. The transformations are examined on the microscale, using Çatalhöyük as a case study, and on a regional scale focused on three areas of central Anatolia: the Beyşehir-Seydişehir area, the Konya plain and the Cappadocian region.

scholarly journals Communities, households and animals. Convergent developments in Central Anatolian and Central European Neolithic

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 93-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arkadiusz Marciniak
Keyword(s):  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
Central European ◽  
Household Organization ◽  
The North ◽  
Animal Bone ◽  
European Neolithic

This paper intends to scrutinize striking similarities in cultural developments and social transformations in Neolithic communities in the North European Plain of Central Europe and Central Anatolia in the early phase of their development and in the following post-Eearly Neolithic period. They will be explored through evidence pertaining to architecture and the organization of space, alongside changes in settlement pattern, as well as animal bone assemblages and zoomorphic representations. Social changes, in particular a transition from communal arrangements of local groups in the Early Neolithic to autonomous household organization in the following period, will be debated.

The Palaeoecology of South Central Anatolia at the end of the Pleistocene and the beginning of the Holocene

1970 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 119-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold R. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Ecological Study ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
South Central ◽  
Last Ice Age ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Considerable Body

The origins of agriculture and domestication have long been identified, in theory, with the beginning of permanent settlements; the beginning of the Early Neolithic Period is known, in fact, to be synchronous with the ending of the Last Ice Age. To some scholars, fact and theory have suggested that this synchronism implies a causal relationship between certain assumed climatic changes and the beginnings of food production; for others, this synchronism is not more than a misleading coincidence. It is not the purpose of the writer to discuss the validity of these assumptions except to indicate that opinion seems to be hardening that food production may have had a more complicated and lengthy history than these assumptions suggest. There has grown up over the last 25 years a considerable body of literature expressing the most varied opinion about the causes for the origins of food production, and its variety has not narrowed with the emergence of new evidence. In my opinion, the basis for the solution of this problem will be derived essentially from palaeoecological analyses of selected areas and regions in various parts of the world, and not only in the Near East. This paper is intended to open such a study for the region of south central Anatolia. As might be expected in an ecological study, the evidence derives from a number of disciplines, and, accordingly, several colleagues have contributed to the formulation of the suggested ecological pattern. That pattern itself, however, is the responsibility of the writer.

Aesthetic, Social, and Material Networks: A Perspective from the Flint Daggers at Çatalhöyük, Turkey

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Joseph Nazaroff ◽  
Christina Tsoraki ◽  
Milena Vasic
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Material World ◽  
Social Fabric ◽  
The Social

The Neolithic period bore witness to the emergence of novel engagements between humans and the material world. In the Middle East, these interactions were important components of broader social and ritual developments which came about with the rise of sedentary communities. In this paper, we examine the significance of these processes as represented by elaborate flint daggers at the site of Çatalhöyük in Central Anatolia. Detailed analyses of the manufacture, use and deposition of these items indicate that they were central nodes in multiple social and material relations, and functioned as durable facets of Çatalhöyük's artisanal social fabric. Their presence at the apogee of Çatalhöyük's ritual florescence further identifies their importance to particular segments of the community. Studying the intentionality of dagger production and use, we conclude, allows us to comment on the particulars of material milieu in shaping the social networks necessary for the development of large-scale sedentary communities.

scholarly journals Tibet's Invisible Languages and China's Language Endangerment Crisis: Lessons from the Gochang Language of Western Sichuan

2018 ◽  
Vol 233 ◽  
pp. 186-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Roche ◽  
Yudru Tsomu
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Social Impacts ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
Language Endangerment ◽  
Western Sichuan ◽  
The Social ◽  
Formal Recognition

AbstractChina is facing a language endangerment crisis, with half of its languages decreasing in number of speakers. This article contributes to the understanding of language endangerment in China with a case study of the Gochang language, which is spoken by about 10,000 Tibetans in western Sichuan. We describe Gochang as an “invisible” language – one that is overlooked by the state's ethnic and linguistic policies and thus is more vulnerable to the social transformations wrought by statist development. Using UNESCO's language vitality and endangerment framework to assess the endangerment of Gochang, we conclude that the language is “definitely endangered.” Our comparison of Gochang with other “invisible” languages in China shows that most are in a similar predicament, suggesting that China's language endangerment crisis is likely to continue unless these languages receive formal recognition or local governments take advantage of ambiguities in the policy framework to support them. The social impacts of a continuing, deepening language endangerment crisis in China are as yet unknown.

scholarly journals Domesticated Water: Four Early Neolithic Wells in Moravia (CZ)

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1105-1137
Author(s):  
Ivana Vostrovská ◽  
Radomír Tichý ◽  
Michal Přichystal ◽  
Bernhard Muigg ◽  
Kristýna Urbanová ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Water Wells ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract Water wells are the most unique finds from the Early Neolithic period in Central Europe. These features provide unusual insight into societies and their settlements, as well as into the water management process. This article presents the updated results of material analyses and excavations of Early Neolithic wells at Mohelnice, Brno-Bohunice and Uničov in Moravia, Czech Republic. We studied the possibilities of the spatial and temporal distribution of wells on the example of these settlements. The social relation between the large longhouses and the wells in their immediate neighbourhood has not been proven. On the contrary, they could have been communal wells, serving the inhabitants of the entire settlement. Moreover, it turned out that in the Moravian region, geomorphological conditions were a key factor for choosing the location to build a well. By comparing radiocarbon dates, we estimated the time span of the existence of wells with respect to each other and to the settlements. Sealing and repairs of the well constructions prove that the first farmers maintained the wells over a long period of time. Studies of the well’s vertical sections shed light on its usage and decline; intentional backfilling of the well seems to have been common. Water management covered an entire cycle of activities, including the making of wooden buckets, which were mainly used for the pulling of water from wells.

Fired clay from Neolithic houses – the role of past environment revealed in mineral magnetic properties

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neli Jordanova ◽  
Diana Jordanova ◽  
Deyan Lesigyarski ◽  
Maria Kostadinova-Avramova
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Susceptibility ◽  
Firing Temperature ◽  
Rock Magnetism ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Magnetic Minerals ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Magnetic Studies ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Mineral Magnetic

<p>Human behavior and especially the use of fire increasingly influence our environment during the Anthropocene epoch. Balkan Peninsula is on the road of the ancient human dispersal during the Neolithic period. Burnt Neolithic remains are often related to ancient houses which ended their existence as a result of extensive fire. Materials from burnt clay remains from house destructions originating from 18 Neolithic sites from Bulgaria were studied using rock magnetism. Mineral magnetic studies and equivalent firing temperature estimates were carried out. The aim of the study was to explore the magnetic signature of fired clay materials in relation to the most important environmental factors. The main magnetic minerals identified were magnetite, maghemite and hematite, in several cases also epsilon-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>. Magnetic susceptibility enhancement is dependent on the raw clay mineralogy and the firing intensity, being higher for sites developed on loess materials. Sites located in river valleys from South Bulgaria show lower susceptibility enhancement. Magnetic susceptibility  and percent frequency dependent magnetic susceptibility at site level were considered in relation to the climatic conditions during the Neolithic as revealed by anthracological studies already published for the study region. Firing temperature estimates, comprising 198 single determinations in total, vary in the range 580 – 1050°C across the sites. Estimated average firing temperatures at site’s level showed higher values in Early Neolithic sites (Tfire average=815°C) as compared to Late Neolithic ones (Tfire average = 746°C and 713°C). Several possible hypotheses for the trend observed are considered: difference in climate regimes across the territory leading to different “fire weather”; difference in the vegetation fuel used in house construction; and intentional burning of Early Neolithic houses. This study is financially supported by the project KP-06-COST/2, funded by the Bulgarian National Science Fund.</p>

Diversity Rules. On Late Prehistoric Settlement of the Eastern Netherlands and the Need for Regionally Specific Models

2011 ◽  
Vol 77 ◽  
pp. 25-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy van Beek
Keyword(s):  
Research Area ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Site Location ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Low Countries ◽  
Local Diversity ◽  
History Of

General habitation models based on well-researched regions tend to be applied to other, less intensively studied regions, usually implicitly. However, whether they lend themselves to do that is hardly ever tested. It may even be that such general models prevent us from obtaining a clear view of patterns of supra-regional, regional, and local diversity. As a test case, this paper focuses on the development of landscape and habitation in the eastern part of the Netherlands from the Late Neolithic period until the start of the Middle Roman period (c. 2850 BC–AD 100). Special attention is given to site location, settlement development, and landscape organisation. The research area until now has hardly entered the archaeological debate on the habitation history of the Low Countries. It is demonstrated that even though some habitation characteristics are well-known from other parts of the Low Countries, and sometimes beyond, the organisation of later prehistoric societies in the research area also deviates in interesting ways. The case-study makes clear that leaning too heavily on research results from other regions brings the risk that specific characteristics of a region will be overlooked or that regional diversity will be ignored in order to make the data fit the expected pattern. One size does not fit all. The only way to prevent this is to build new, solid interpretative frameworks for regions that have so far received little attention, and to create an awareness that existing models should not be applied uncritically.

scholarly journals Time Difference in the Social Transformation of China and Korea: A Case Study of Water-Moon Avalokiteśvara Paintings of the Song and Yuan Dynasties and the Koryŏ Dynasty

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-160
Author(s):  
Hyun Joo Lee
Keyword(s):  
Social Transformation ◽  
Zen Buddhism ◽  
Cultural Exchange ◽  
Time Difference ◽  
Geographical Distance ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
The Social ◽  
To Receive

Abstract The Water-Moon form of Avalokiteśvara arose in China during the process of nativization of Buddhism in Tang China. Extant images of Water-Moon Avalokiteśvara tend to have been painted in either China or Korea, but there is an odd dislocation in the changes of style, with the colorful Koryŏ dynasty images paralleling not contemporary Song trends but rather those from hundreds of years earlier. That this effect might simply be a delay caused by geographical distance seems unlikely given the active cultural exchange between the two realms. Dramatic changes occurred in the Tang-Song era, including the rise of plebeian culture and Zen Buddhism. This carried over to a more minimalist style of art in China. Meanwhile, in Koryŏ, Buddhism continued to receive royal sponsorship and remain influential. This article argues that the differences in images and techniques between Koryŏ and Song-Yuan paintings of Water-Moon Avalokiteśvara were caused by the time difference in the social transformations of China and Korea.

scholarly journals Take a seed! Revealing Neolithic landscape and agricultural development in the Carpathian Basin through multivariate statistics and environmental modelling

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. e0258206
Author(s):  
Michael Kempf
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Carpathian Basin ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Hydromorphic Soils ◽  
Site Preferences ◽  
Agricultural Revolution

The Carpathian Basin represents the cradle of human agricultural development during the Neolithic period, when large parts were transformed into ‘cultural landscapes’ by first farmers from the Balkans. It is assumed that an Early Neolithic subsistence economy established along the hydrologic systems and on Chernozem soil patches, which developed from loess deposits. However, recent results from soil chemistry and geoarchaeological analyses raised the hypothesis that extensive Chernozem coverage developed from increased land-use activity and that Early Neolithic ‘cultural’ groups were not restricted to loess-covered surfaces but rather preferred hydromorphic soils that formed in the floodplains. This article performs multivariable statistics from large datasets of Neolithic sites in Hungary and allows tracing Early to Late Neolithic site preferences from digital environmental data. Quantitative analyses reveal a strong preference for hydromorphic soils, a significant avoidance of loess-covered areas, and no preference for Chernozem soils throughout the Early Neolithic followed by a strong transformation of site preferences during the Late Neolithic period. These results align with socio-cultural developments, large-scale mobility patterns, and land-use and surface transformation, which shaped the Carpathian Basin and paved the way for the agricultural revolution across Europe.

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