The Early Neolithic in Greece: The First Farming Communities in Europe

by Catherine Perlès, Gerard Monthel (Illustrator)

Overview

Farmers made a sudden and dramatic appearance in Greece around 7000 BC, bringing with them new ceramics and crafts, and establishing settled villages. Their settlements provide the link between the first agricultural Near Eastern communities and the subsequent spread of the new technologies to the Balkans and Western Europe. Drawing on evidence from a wide range of archaeological sources, including often neglected "small finds", the author introduces daring new perspectives on funerary rituals and the distribution of figurines, and constructs a complex and subtle picture of early Neolithic societies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521000277
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/04/2001
Series:	Cambridge World Archaeology
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	372
Product dimensions:	6.69(w) x 9.61(h) x 0.79(d)
Lexile:	1390L (what's this?)

About the Author

Catherine Perlès is Professor in the Department of Ethnology at the University of Paris. Her recent publications include Préhistoire du feu (1977), Les industries lithiques taillées de Franchthi (3 vols., 1987, 1990, in press) and 'Greek Neolithic: a new review' (co-authored with J.-P. Demoule, 1993).

Table of Contents

1. The land and its resources: the geographic context; 2. The Mesolithic background; 3. The introduction of farming: local processes, diffusion or colonization?; 4. Foreign colonists: where from?; 5. The earliest Neolithic deposits: 'aceramic', 'pre-pottery' or 'ceramic'?; 6. The spread of the Early Neolithic in Greece: chronological and geographical aspects; 7. A case study in Early Neolithic settlement patterns: Eastern Thessaly; 8. Early Neolithic subsistence economy: the domestic and the wild; 9. The Early Neolithic village; 10. Craft specialization: the contrasting cases of chipped stone tools, pottery and ornaments; 11. A variety of daily crafts; 12. Ritual interaction? The miniature world of 'dolls or deities'; 13. Interacting with the dead: from the disposal of the body to funerary rituals; 14. Interactions among the living.

Editorial Reviews

"This fresh, authoritative coverage of the early Neolithic in eastern Greece wraps together a nice presentation of the principal sites, an evaluation of the radiocarbon chronology, and a well-illustrated review of crafts with a penetrating review of the major interpretive questions...While an essential volume for colleges and universities with programs in archaeology, anthropology, and classical studies, the engaging text will also appeal to informed general readers. An excellent bibliography carries coverage through the mid-1990's." Choice

"This fresh, authoritative coverage of the early Neolithic in eastern Greece wraps together a nice presentationof the principal sites, an evaluation of the radiocarbon chronology, and a well-illustrated review of crafts with a penetrating review of the major interpretive questions. While an essential volume for colleges and universities with programs in archaeology, anthropology, and classical studies, the engaging text will also appeal to informed general readers." Choice

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