Settlement layout and social organisation in the earliest European Neolithic. (15th September 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Furholt, Martin
• Is Part Of: Antiquity. Volume 90:Number 353(2016)
• Page Start: 1196
• Page End: 1212
• Publication Date: 2016-09-15
• Subjects: Europe, -- Neolithic, -- settlement, -- social organisation, -- correspondence analysis; Archaeology -- Periodicals; Antiquities -- Periodicals; 930.05
• DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2016.170
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0003-598X

Abstract

Abstract: Abstract : The internal layout of early settlements can provide insight into social organisation and the processes of Neolithic expansion into Europe. Analysis of variables describing 71 sites revealed a spectrum extending between two distinct settlement types that can be regionally and chronologically situated. The very early 'Anatolian village' in the south-east exhibits multi-level organisation, reflected in concentrated residence and temporal stability; the younger (post 6000 BC) 'Balkan village' in the north-west represents a new model with less centralised control of space and a less permanent layout. Between these types is a transitional domain of more heterogeneous, and ever-changing settlement layouts, which is characterised as a 'third space' of hybridised traditions.