Overview

The processes involved in the transformation of society from Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to Neolithic farmers were complex. They involved changes not only in subsistence but also in how people thought about themselves and their worlds, from their pasts to their animals. Two sets of protagonists have often been lined up in the long-running debates about these processes: on the one hand incoming farmers and on the other indigenous hunter-gatherers. Both have found advocates as the dominant force in the transitions to a new way of life. North-west Europe presents a very rich data set for this fundamental change, and recent research has both extended and deepened our knowledge of regional sequences, from the sixth to the fourth millennia cal BC. One of the most striking results is the evident diversity from northern Spain to southern Scandinavia. No one region is quite like another; hunter-gatherers and early farmers alike were also varied and the old labels of Mesolithic and Neolithic are increasingly inadequate to capture the diversity of human agency and belief.Surveys of the most recent evidence presented here also strongly suggest a diversity of transformations. Some cases of colonisation on the one hand, and indigenous adoption on the other, can still be argued but many situations now seem to involve complex fusions and mixtures. This wide-ranging set of papers by leading specialists offers a comprehensive and authoritative overview of this fundamental transition.

Full Product Details

Author:   Alasdair Whittle (, Distinguished Research Professor, School of History and Archaeology, Cardiff University; Fellow of the British Academy) ,  Vicki Cummings (, Lecturer in Archaeology, University of Central Lancashire)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Volume:   144
Dimensions:   Width: 16.70cm , Height: 3.90cm , Length: 24.20cm
Weight:   1.562kg
ISBN:  

9780197264140

ISBN 10:   019726414
Pages:   640
Publication Date:   22 November 2007
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

Alasdair Whittle and Vicki Cummings: Introduction: transitions and transformations Alan Barnard: From Mesolithic to Neolithic modes of thought Jean Guilaine and Claire Manen: From Mesolithic to Early Neolithic in the western Mediterranean Pablo Arias: Neighbours but diverse: social change in north-west Iberia during the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic (5500-4000 cal BC) Detlef Gronenborn: Beyond the models: 'Neolithisation' in Central Europe John Robb and Preston Miracle: Beyond 'migration' versus 'acculturation': new models for the spread of agriculture Alex Bentley: Mobility, specialisation and community diversity in the Linearbandkeramik: isotopic evidence from the skeletons Richard P. Evershed: Exploiting molecular and isotopic signals at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition Ruth Bollongino and Joachim Burger: Neolithic cattle domestication as seen from ancient DNA Anne Tresset and Jean-Denis Vigne: Substitution of species, techniques and symbols at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in western Europe Pierre Allard: The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in the Paris Basin: a review Gregor Marchand: Neolithic fragrances : Mesolithic-Neolithic interactions in western France Chris Scarre: Changing places: monuments and the Neolithic transition in western France Philippe Crombe and Bart Vanmontfort: The neolithisation of the Scheldt basin in western Belgium Leendert P. Louwe Kooijmans: The gradual transition to farming in the Lower Rhine Basin Graeme Warren: Mesolithic myths Chris Tilley: The Neolithic sensory revolution: monumentality and the experience of landscape Richard Bradley: Houses, bodies and tombs Amy Bogaard and Glynis Jones: Neolithic farming in Britain and central Europe: contrast or continuity? Alasdair Whittle: The temporality of transformation: dating the early development of the southern British Neolithic Gill Hey and Alistair Barclay: The Thames Valley in the late fifth and early fourth millennium cal BC: the appearance of domestication and the evidence for change Julian Thomas: Mesolithic-Neolithic transitions in Britain: from essence to inhabitation Alison Sheridan: From Picardie to Pickering and Pencraig Hill? New information on the 'Carinated Bowl Neolithic' in northern Britain Vicki Cummings: From midden to megalith? The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in western Britain Steven Mithen, Anne Pirie, Sam Smith and Karen Wicks: The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in western Scotland: a review and new evidence from Tiree Gabriel Cooney: Parallel worlds or multi-stranded identities? Considering the process of 'going over' in Ireland and the Irish Sea zone Soenke Hartz, Harald Lubke and Thomas Terberger: From fish and seal to sheep and cattle: new research into the process of neolithisation in northern Germany Lars Larsson: Mistrust traditions, consider innovations? The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in southern Scandinavia Alasdair Whittle: Going over: people and their times

Reviews

This is an impressive volume...a state-of-the-art compendium of work...it deserves to become a classic source of information. C.R. Wickham-Jones Antiquity

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