Houses, bodies and tombs

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Early Farming ◽  
The Dead

The house is among the features that are supposed to characterize early farming. Its presence implies sedentism, while its absence suggests a mobile pattern of settlement. That idea raises many problems. What applies to individual houses also applies to settlements. British archaeologists have been frustrated by their inability to locate what they had expected to find. If people were growing crops and raising livestock, then surely they must have occupied more substantial shelters than mobile hunter-gatherers, and their living sites ought to be easier to identify. That has been difficult to demonstrate, with the result that at different times a wide variety of earthwork enclosures have been claimed as permanent settlements; ditches and pits have been recruited as subterranean dwellings; and even mortuary monuments have been assigned to the living rather than the dead. This chapter argues that the survival of houses has been given an importance that it cannot support. It suggests that the reason why the field evidence poses so many problems is because the histories of the buildings in which people had lived were reflected by the ways in which their bodies were treated when they died.

scholarly journals Keeping the Frontier: Steps “Towards Neolithization” in the Eastern Gulf of Finland

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1244-1257
Author(s):  
Dmitriy V. Gerasimov
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Gulf Of Finland ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Sociocultural Development ◽  
The Face ◽  
Early Farming

Abstract This article is an attempt to understand the driving forces behind the process of Neolithization in the Eastern Europe Forest zone, where the consumption economy existed till the Bronze or even till the Early Iron Age. Main peculiarities of the sociocultural development in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland region (EGF) on the transition from Mesolithic to farming societies (sixth – first ka. BC) are discussed in relation to the changes in material culture, subsistence strategy, communication system and settlement pattern. The process of neolithization lasted there for several thousand years. Overview of the dynamics of the social and cultural development in the region revealed several phases of substantial changes in archeological materials (presumably reflecting considerable sociocultural changes). These changes happened later than in the neighboring territories and were preceded by dramatic environmental transformations that affected prehistoric communities in the coastal zone. For the population of the region, innovations could be considered as not “steps toward,” but “retreat in the face of” neolithization. Resistance of the population of EGF to the innovations could be based on environmental conditions that were extremely favorable for hunter–gatherers’ subsistence, but made farming (especially early farming) rather risky.

scholarly journals Estimating the relative importance of demic and cultural diffusion in the spread of the Neolithic in Scandinavia

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (148) ◽  
pp. 20180597 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joaquim Fort ◽  
Maria Mercè Pareta ◽  
Lasse Sørensen
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Spread Rate ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Cultural Diffusion ◽  
Early Farming ◽  
Wave Of Advance ◽  
Early Farmers ◽  
Parameter Values ◽  
Demic Diffusion

Using a database of early farming sites in Scandinavia, we estimate that the spread rate of the Neolithic was in the range 0.44–0.66 km yr −1 . This is substantially slower (by about 50%) than the rate in continental Europe. We interpret this result in the framework of a new mathematical model that includes horizontal cultural transmission (acculturation), vertical cultural transmission (interbreeding) and demic diffusion (reproduction and dispersal of farmers). To parametrize the model, we estimate reproduction rates of early farmers using archaeological data (sum-calibrated probabilities for the dates of early Neolithic Scandinavian sites) and use them in a wave-of-advance model for the first time. Comparing the model with the archaeological data, we find that the percentage of the spread rate due to cultural diffusion is below 50% (except for very extreme parameter values, and even for them it is below 54%). This strongly suggests that the spread of the Neolithic in Scandinavia was driven mainly by demic diffusion. This conclusion, obtained from archaeological data, agrees qualitatively with the implications of ancient genetic data, but the latter are yet too few in Scandinavia to produce any quantitative percentage for the spread rate due to cultural diffusion. We also find that, on average, fewer than eight hunter–gatherers were incorporated in the Neolithic communities by each group of 10 pioneering farmers, via horizontal and/or vertical cultural transmission.

Miocene to sub-Recent magmatism at the intersection between the Dead Sea Transform and the Ash Shaam volcanic field: evidence from the Yarmouk River gorge and vicinity

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Amit Segev ◽  
Itay J. Reznik ◽  
Uri Schattner
Keyword(s):  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Volcanic Field ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
River Morphology ◽  
Dead Sea Transform ◽  
Aerial Photos ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Yarmouk River ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Lower Cover

Abstract The Yarmouk River gorge extends along the Israel–Jordan–Syria border junction. It marks the southern bound of the Irbid–Azraq rift and Harrat Ash Shaam volcanic field at their intersection with the younger Dead Sea Transform plate boundary. During the last ∼13 Ma, the gorge has repeatedly accumulated basaltic units, chronologically named the Lower, Cover, Yarmouk and Raqqad Basalt formations. We examined their origin and distribution through aerial photos, and geological and geophysical evidence. Our results define a southern Golan magmatic province, which includes exposed Miocene (∼13 Ma) basalts, gabbro–diabase intrusions below the gorge and the adjacent Dead Sea Transform valley, and numerous Pliocene–Pleistocene volcanic sources along the gorge. Cover Basalt (∼5.0–4.3 Ma) eruptions formed two adjacent 0–100 m thick plateaus on the transform shoulder before flowing downslope to fill the topographically lower Dead Sea Transform valley with ∼700 m thick basalts. Later incision of the Yarmouk River and displacement along its associated fault divided the plateaus and formed the gorge. The younger Yarmouk (0.8–0.6 Ma) and Raqqad (0.2–0.1 Ma) basalts erupted in the upper part of the gorge from volcanos reported here, and flowed downstream toward the Dead Sea Transform valley. Consequently, eruptions from six phreatic volcanic vents altered the Yarmouk River morphology from sinuous to meandering. Our results associate the ∼13 Ma long southern Golan volcanism with the proposed SW-trending extensional Yarmouk Fault, located east of the Dead Sea Transform. Hence, the Yarmouk volcanism is associated with the ongoing Harrat Ash Shaam activity, which is not directly linked to the displacement along the Dead Sea Transform.

Living Plurally

Us, Relatives ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurit Bird-David
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
The Dead

Hunter-gatherers’ mobility, nomadism, and travel are often discussed with emphasis on spatiality. This chapter, instead, dwells on locals’ notions and praxis of visiting, training attention on the interpersonal vector and the achievement of pluripresence. Scale-sensitive ethnography is provided of everyday visiting and of full attendance of everyone in the multisited community at births and deaths. The ethnography shows locals’ ideas of birthing a “relative” rather than a “new individual” and of the dead joining invisible members of the local community. It shows their project and ideal: a community subsisting in each member’s participation in the life of everyone else.

scholarly journals Isotopic evidence for residential mobility of farming communities during the transition to agriculture in Britain

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 150522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Neil ◽  
Jane Evans ◽  
Janet Montgomery ◽  
Chris Scarre
Keyword(s):  
Residential Mobility ◽  
Tooth Enamel ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Farming Communities ◽  
Transition To Agriculture ◽  
Early Farming ◽  
Local Hunter ◽  
Early Farmers

Development of agriculture is often assumed to be accompanied by a decline in residential mobility, and sedentism is frequently proposed to provide the basis for economic intensification, population growth and increasing social complexity. In Britain, however, the nature of the agricultural transition ( ca 4000 BC) and its effect on residence patterns has been intensely debated. Some authors attribute the transition to the arrival of populations who practised a system of sedentary intensive mixed farming similar to that of the very earliest agricultural regimes in central Europe, ca 5500 BC, with cultivation of crops in fixed plots and livestock keeping close to permanently occupied farmsteads. Others argue that local hunter–gatherers within Britain adopted selected elements of a farming economy and retained a mobile way of life. We use strontium and oxygen isotope analysis of tooth enamel from an Early Neolithic burial population in Gloucestershire, England, to evaluate the residence patterns of early farmers. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that early farming communities in Britain were residentially mobile and were not fully sedentary. Results highlight the diverse nature of settlement strategies associated with early farming in Europe and are of wider significance to understanding the effect of the transition to agriculture on residence patterns.

Magnitude and Frequency of the Largest Palaeofloods during the Holocene in Nahal Ze'elim and Nahal Rahaf, Judea Desert, Israel

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rami Zituni ◽  
Noam Greenbaum ◽  
Ezra Zilberman
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Analysis ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Flood Frequency ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Flood Frequency Analysis ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Flood Deposits ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Peak Discharges

<p>The Judea Desert constitutes a distinctive hydrological region characterized by short and steep ephemeral streams draining eastward to the Dead Sea Valley. The aridity of the Judea desert is caused by the rain-shadow effect of the north-south, mountainous back bone (MBB) of Israel, as well as by the low elevations within the Dead Sea valley. The hydrological data for these streams is scarce, which leads to poor estimation of the magnitude and frequency of floods. The lack of data is particularly significant when planning infrastructure such as roads, bridges, reservoirs, dams etc. Flood frequency analysis for risk assessment is therefore, based on various models such as rainfall-runoff, empirical, regional models etc.</p><p>The current study is based on Palaeoflood Hydrology  which uses geomorphological evidence for real floods that accumulate in typical natural traps, along the course of the streams for hundreds and thousands of years. The collection of these data enables us to reconstruct the history of the floods in the streams including/at least the largest event that occurred in the stream in the last hundreds to thousands years. By combining these data with measured and historical data (if any), a long, solid database can be reconstructed. The applicability of the system in Israel has been proven in the larger streams in the Negev.  However, the Negev Desert is a significantly different hydrological environment. The  largest flood that occurred in the stream is important for regional envelope curves. Long palaeoflood records can indicate on changes in the hydrological regime, which testify for climatic fluctuations.</p><p>The method is based on field evidence in the form of slackwater deposits and other high water marks, which accumulate in typical sites and indicate on the minimum water elevation enabling discharge calculations using HECRAS hydraulic engineering software. The ages of the floods are determined by dating the flood deposits using radiocarbon and OSL.</p><p>In the Upper Nahal Rahaf stream (50 km<sup>2</sup>), three sites were located with 2-4 flood deposits at each site, including  a rock shelter within which  2 flood remnants with reconstructed peak discharges of 1,200-1,300 m<sup>3</sup>/s. These flood sediments are overlying  an Upper Paleolithic site dated to about 30 ka.</p><p>In Nahal Ze'elim stream (245 km<sup>2</sup>) 5 sites were located - 4 of which close to the outlet. Each site recorded between 2-8 sedimentary units with reconstructed peak discharges of 200-900 m<sup>3</sup>/sec.</p><p>The integration of the floods from all sites with their age revealed a vast information regarding major events. In further study this will also allow a renewed frequency analysis on the basis of wider knowledge.</p>

The Invention Of Hunter-Gatherers in Seventeenth Century Europe? A Comment on Mark Pluciennik

2002 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Zvelebil
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Economic Order ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
The Past ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Hunting And Gathering ◽  
Invented Tradition ◽  
Early Farming ◽  
Capitalist Ideology ◽  
Industrial Societies

Mark Pluciennik has presented us with an excellent and original piece of research. His conclusion that the current categorisation of pre-industrial societies into hunter-gatherers and farmers is, effectively, a modern invention represents a continuation of his earlier investigations into this subject (1998; 2001). He supports this conclusion with very convincing arguments, and offers a historically contingent explanation in terms of the coalescence of several ideological and economic ‘currents’ which, in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, led to the establishment of a categorical distinction between ‘savage hunter-gatherers’ and ‘civilised farmers’. In my comment, I would like to focus on two issues, broadly following the structure of his paper: (1) in general terms, are we really dealing with yet another ‘invented tradition’, spawned by the need for an ideological justification for the supremacy of western capitalist ideology and economic order? (2) How do we categorise early farming, fishing, hunting and gathering communities in the past, if at all?

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