The Neolithic --a period in which the first sedentary agrarian communities were established across much of Europe--has been a key topic of archaeological research for over a century. However, the variety of evidence across Europe, the range of languages in which research is carried out, and the way research traditions in different countries have developed makes it very difficult for both students and specialists to gain an overview of continent-wide trends. The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe provides the first comprehensive, geographically extensive, thematic overview of the European Neolithic --from Iberia to Russia and from Norway to Malta --offering both a general introduction and a clear exploration of key issues and current debates surrounding evidence and interpretation. Chapters written by leading experts in the field examine topics such as the movement of plants, animals, ideas, and people (including recent trends in the application of genetics and isotope analyses); cultural change (from the first appearance of farming to the first metal artefacts); domestic architecture; subsistence; material culture; monuments; and burial and other treatments of the dead. In doing so, the volume also considers the history of research and sets out agendas and themes for future work in the field.
Part I: Introduction 1: Chris Fowler, Jan Harding, and Daniela Hofmann: Defining the 'Neolithic in Europe': Diverse and Contemporaneous Communities, c. 6500-2500 BC Part II: Mobility, Change, and Interaction at the Large Scale 2: Tony Brown, Geoff Bailey, and Dave Passmore: Environments and Landscape Change Movement of Plants, Animals, Ideas, and People 3: Joannes Müller: South-East Europe 4: Jean Guilaine: The Neolithization of Mediterranean Europe: Mobility and Interactions from the Near East to the Iberian Peninsula 5: Wolfram Schier: Central and Eastern Europe 6: Anne Tresset: Moving Animals and Plants in the Early Neolithic of North-Western Europe 7: Stephen Shennan: Language, Genes, and Cultural Interaction Sequences of Cultural Interaction and Cultural Change 8: John Chapman: South-East Europe 9: Caroline Malone: The Neolithic in Mediterranean Europe 10: Detlef Gronenborn and Pavel Dolukhanov DR: Central and Eastern Europe 11: Nick Thorpe: Northern and Western Europe Part III: Neolithic Worlds and Neolithic Lifeways Houses, Habitation, and Community 12: Pál Raczky: Tells and Settlements in South-East Europe 13: Demetra Papaconstantinou: Domestic Space in the Mediterranean 14: Jonathan Last: Longhouse Lifestyles in the Central European Neolithic 15: Francesco Menotti: Lakeside Dwellings of the Circum-Alpine Region 16: Anick Coudart: Households and Communities in Neolithic France 17: Kenneth Brophy: Houses, Halls, and Occuptation in Britain and Ireland 18: Mats Larsson: Places of Settlement in Southern Scandanavia Subsistence and Social Routine 19: Rich Schulting: Stable Isotopes and Neolithic Subsistence: Pattern and Variation 20: Amy Bogaard: Subsistence Practices and Social Routine in Neolithic Southern Europe 21: László Bartosiewicz and Malcolm Lillie: Subsistence Practices in Central and Eastern Europe 22: Tony Legge DR and Peter Rowley-Conwy: Subsistence Practices in Western and Northern Europe 23: Dimitrij Mleku%z: The Neolithic Year 24: Roy Loveday: Religious Routine and Pilgrimage in the British Isles Materiality and Social Relations 25: Marjorie de Grooth: Invention and European Knapping Traditions 26: Pedro Díaz-del-Río and Mara Capote: Shared Labour and Large Scale Action: European Flint Mining 27: Gabriel Cooney: Stone and Flint Axes in Neolithic Europe 28: Mihael Budja: Pottery of South-East Europe 29: Joachim Pechtl: Linearbandkeramik Pottery and Society 30: Rick Peterson and Johannes Müller: Ceramics and Society in Northern Europe 31: Marc Vander Linden: Bell Beaker Pottery and Society 32: Stratos Nanoglou: A Miniature World: Models and Figurines in South-East Europe 33: John Chapman and Bisserka Gaydarska: Spondylus and Shell Ornaments 34: Tony Axelsson, Morten Ramstad, and Anders Strinnholm: Amber 35: Volker Heyd and Katherine Walker: The First Metalwork and Expressions of Social Power 36: Mark Pearce and Martin Bartelheim: Early Metallurgy in Iberia and the Western Mediterranean 37: Ben Roberts and Catherine Frieman: Early Metallurgy in Western and Northern Europe 38: Duncan Garrow: Deposition in Pits 39: Arkadiusz Marciniak and Joshua Pollard: Animals and Social Relations Monuments, Rock Art, and Cosmology 40: Jörg Petrasch: Central European Enclosures 41: Robin Skeates: Italian Enclosures 42: Niels Andersen: Causewayed Enclosures in Northern and Western Europe 43: Vicki Cummings, Magdalena Midgeley DR, and Chris Scarre: Chambered Tombs and Passage Graves of Northern and Western Europe 44: Sara Fairen-Jiminez: Rock Carvings in Iberia 45: Angelo Fossati: Rock Carvings in South Central Europe 46: Andrew Cochrane, Andrew Jones, and Kalle Sognnes: Rock Carvings in Northern Europe 47: Robin Skeates: Underground Religion in the Central Mediterranean Neolithic 48: Michael Hoskin: A Place in the Cosmos: Monuments and Celestial Bodies Death, Bodies, and Persons 49: Du%san Bori'c: Mortuary Practices, Bodies, and Persons in the Neolithic and Early-Middle Copper Ages of South-East Europe 50: John Robb: Burial and Human Body Representations in the Central Mediterranean Neolithic 51: Daniela Hofmann and Jörg Orschiedt: Mortuary Practices, Bodies, and Persons in Central Europe 52: Karl-Göran Sjögren: Mortuary Practices, Bodies, and Persons in North-East Europe 53: Chris Fowler and Chris Scarre: Mortuary Practices and Bodily Representations in North-West Europe Part IV: Conclusion: Debates in Neolithic Archaeology 54: Alasdair Whittle: Unexpected Histories? South-East and Central Europe 55: Julian Thomas: What Do We Mean By 'Neolithic Societies'? 56: Kristian Kristiansen: The Decline of the Neolithic and the Rise of the Bronze Age Society
Chris Fowler, Senior Lecturer in Prehistoric Archaeology, Newcastle University. Jan Harding, Senior Lecturer in Prehistoric Archaeology, Newcastle University. Daniela Hofmann, Junior Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology, Hamburg University.
Reviews for The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe
The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe is a great scholarly achievement and a valuable offering essential to everyone interested in the archaeology of the European Neolithic. * Evita Kalogiropoulou, European Journal of Archaeology *
