Social Change in Aegean Prehistory

Social Change in Aegean Prehistory PDF

Author: Corien Wiersma

Publisher: Oxbow Books

Published: 2016-11-30

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1785702203

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This volume brings together papers that discuss social change. The main focus is on the Early Helladic III to Late Helladic I period in southern Greece, but also touches upon the surrounding islands. This specific timeframe enables us to consider how mainland societies recovered from a ‘crisis’ and how they eventually developed into the differentiated, culturally receptive and competitive social formations of the early Mycenaean period. Material changes are highlighted in the various papers, ranging from pottery and burials to domestic architecture and settlement structures, followed by discussions of how these changes relate to social change. A variety of factors is thereby considered including demographic changes, reciprocal relations and sumptuary behavior, household organization and kin structure, age and gender divisions, internal tensions, connectivity and mobility. As such, this volume is of interest to both Aegean prehistorians as to scholars interested in social and material change. The volume consists of eight papers, preceded by an introduction and concluded by a response. The introduction gives an overview of the development of the debate on the explanation of social change in Aegean prehistory. The response places the volume in a broader context of the EH III-LH I period and the broader discussion on social change.

Explaining Social Change

Explaining Social Change PDF

Author: Colin Renfrew

Publisher: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13:

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These papers look at the increasingly influential role of social archaeology - an area in which Colin Renfrew has been a key player. Topics covered include: the development of the human mind, trade and exchange, social change, chiefdoms and states, and the archaeology of island societies.

Prehistory

Prehistory PDF

Author: Chris Gosden

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 153

ISBN-13: 0198803516

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Recent archaeological discoveries from China and central Asia have changed our understanding of how human civilization developed in the period of some 4 million years before the start of written history. In this new edition of his Very Short Introduction, Chris Gosden explores the current theories on the ebb and flow of human cultural variety.

Gender Transformations in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies

Gender Transformations in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies PDF

Author: Julia Katharina Koch

Publisher:

Published: 2019-12-17

Total Pages: 500

ISBN-13: 9789088908224

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This volume is dedicated to examining the role and impact of gender relations during socio-environmental transformation processes as well as matters of gender equality in archaeological academia across the globe.

Detecting and Explaining Technological Innovation in Prehistory

Detecting and Explaining Technological Innovation in Prehistory PDF

Author: Michela Spataro

Publisher:

Published: 2019-12-19

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9789088908248

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Technology refers to any set of standardised procedures for transforming raw materials into finished products. Innovation consists of any change in technology which has tangible and lasting effect on human practices, whether or not it provides utilitarian advantages. Prehistoric societies were never static, but the tempo of innovation occasionally increased to the point that we can refer to transformation taking place. Prehistorians must therefore identify factors promoting or hindering innovation.This volume stems from an international workshop, organised by the Collaborative Research Centre 1266 'Scales of Transformation' at Kiel University in November 2017. The meeting challenged its participants to detect and explain technological change in the past and its role in transformation processes, using archaeological and ethnographic case studies. The papers draw mainly on examples from prehistoric Europe, but case-studies from Iran, the Indus Valley, and contemporary central America are also included. The authors adopt several perspectives, including cultural-historical, economic, environmental, demographic, functional, and agent-based approaches.These case studies often rely on interdisciplinary research, whereby field archaeology, archaeometric analysis, experimental archaeology and ethnographic research are used together to observe and explain innovations and changes in the artisan's repertoire. The results demonstrate that interdisciplinary research is becoming essential to understanding transformation phenomena in prehistoric archaeology, superseding typo-chronological description and comparison.This book is a scholarly publication aimed at academic researchers, particularly archaeologists and archaeological scientists working on ceramics, osseous and metal artifacts.

Economy and Society in Prehistoric Europe

Economy and Society in Prehistoric Europe PDF

Author: Sherratt A. Sherratt

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Published: 2019-08-07

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 1474472567

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This book brings together a classic collection of Andrew Sherratt's work on the economic foundations of prehistoric Europe, which have put forward important new ideas about the development of farming, pastoralism, early technology and trade. In a series of contributions that have included wide-ranging syntheses and detailed local studies, he discusses their implications for the understanding of settlement-patterns, social structures, material culture, and less tangible aspects of prehistoric life such as the spread of languages and the use of narcotics.

Social Complexity and Complex Systems in Archaeology

Social Complexity and Complex Systems in Archaeology PDF

Author: Dries Daems

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-02-22

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 1000344738

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Social Complexity and Complex Systems in Archaeology turns to complex systems thinking in search of a suitable framework to explore social complexity in Archaeology. Social complexity in archaeology is commonly related to properties of complex societies such as states, as opposed to so-called simple societies such as tribes or chiefdoms. These conceptualisations of complexity are ultimately rooted in Eurocentric perspectives with problematic implications for the field of archaeology. This book provides an in-depth conceptualisation of social complexity as the core concept in archaeological and interdisciplinary studies of the past, integrating approaches from complex systems thinking, archaeological theory, social practice theory, and sustainability and resilience science. The book covers a long-term perspective of social change and stability, tracing the full cycle of complexity trajectories, from emergence and development to collapse, regeneration and transformation of communities and societies. It offers a broad vision on social complexity as a core concept for the present and future development of archaeology. This book is intended to be a valuable resource for students and scholars in the field of archaeology and related disciplines such as history, anthropology, sociology, as well as the natural sciences studying human-environment interactions in the past.