Beyond the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B interaction sphere

This article aims to provide a critical evaluation of the influence of the culture-historical paradigm in the Neolithic archaeology of Western Asia through the re-assessment of currently established theoretical concepts, notably the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) interaction sphere, demic diffusion and acculturation. It is argued that these concepts are too abstractly defined to enable meaningful insights into the dynamics of Early Neolithic societies. A different theoretical framework is needed in order to achieve an historical understanding of the spatial and temporal variability of regional socio-cultural interactions and population displacement. This framework begins with the detailed analysis of local patterns of social organization and exchange. Exchange itself is seen as a socially situated process that was integrally related to the negotiation and reproduction of collective identities during the Neolithic.     

Sickle blade life-history and the transition to agriculture: an early Neolithic case study from Southwest Asia

In Southwest Asia, sickle blades first appear early in the sequence of the transition to agriculture. In the past, detailed qualitative research on silica bearing blade stone tools focus on the characterization of use-wear traces such as polish types and accrual rates. In this paper we approach the study of sickle blades slightly different, choosing to examine tool life-history by developing a method to quantitatively estimate harvesting intensity. The method centers on an experiment of cutting cereal stalks and measuring stone blade edge thickness under a scanning electron microscope as a proxy for cutting time. We end with regressing the experimental results to provide an estimation of how intensively archaeological sickle blades recovered from the site of Dhra’, Jordan were used for harvesting. The results, while preliminary, enable an initial interpretation of sickle blades as important tools with long use-life histories during the early Neolithic in the Southern Levant.     

山东省平邑县新石器时代遗址调查

一、前 言 平邑县地处山东省南部,沂蒙山区的西缘。境内地形较为复杂,北部属蒙山中山丘陵区,中部属河谷平原区,南部属四开山低山丘陵区。主要河流有浚河,河,两河自西向东,南北并行,注入沂河。平邑县的文物调查工作始于１９５６年,计历次调查共发现新石器时代遗址６１处,见附表。（图一）这些遗址大多分布在浚河流域,遗址以河旁台地居多,次为岭前坡地,洞穴遗址最少,仅有一处。现选择几处较有代表性的遗址进行介绍。 二、遗 址 １．东石门遗址（编号５２）位于白彦镇东石门村西缘。遗址北距河约２５０米,南约５０米处有一条自…     

Functional analysis of stone grinding and polishing tools from the earliest Neolithic of north-western Europe

This reconstruction of grinding, pounding, hammering and abrading activities in the Early Neolithic of north-western Europe (Linearbandkeramik and Villeneuve-Saint-Germain cultures, 5100–4700 BC) is based on the study of 1289 sandstone tools from 17 sites located in the main Paris basin river valleys (Aisne, Eure, Marne, Oise, Seine, Yonne). An original method of functional identification was elaborated, relying on observation of use-wear with a stereoscopic microscope (under120×). Identification of traces of use relied on an experimental referential of 92 samples. These include (1) grinding cereals, (2) pounding temper, colourants and various plants, (3) shaping mineral, vegetal and animal objects by polishing (schist, limestones, bone, antler, wood), (4) softening skin. A significant observation concerns the use of small handstones for grain dehusking and larger handstones for grain grinding. Recycling is a widespread feature, with multipurpose handstones and frequent reuse of lower grinding tools for obtaining colourants. A change in the function of tools can also be observed between the Linearbandkeramik and the Villeneuve-Saint-Germain.     

浅谈新石器时代出土陶器的考古修复

根据陶器质地、火候的差异使用不同的粘接剂是陶器修复的关键;补配材料及作色材料的应用得当,将使出土陶器再现当年风采。     

Early Neolithic Agriculture in the Iberian Peninsula

The spread of agriculture in the Iberian Peninsula is documented from at least ca. 5600–5500BC, although botanical data are absent or very limited for large areas. Archaeobotanical information shows from the beginning an imported agrarian system with a great diversity of crops: hulled and naked wheats and barleys, legumes such as pea, lentil, fava bean, vetches and grass peas, flax and poppy. This diversity of plants with different requirements, processing and uses, implies that the first farmers quickly imported or acquired a wide range of agrarian knowledge. Regional and inter-site agrarian differences are discussed in relation to factors like ecology, culture, use of the cultivated plants and management of the risk of crop failure. The adoption of farming resulted in significant ecological, economic, dietary, and social changes for the Neolithic people of Iberia.     

新石器时代中国玉器的区域特征

新石器时代我国辽河流域、黄河流域与长江流域三个地区的玉器,在材质、造型和纹饰方面表现出强烈的区域性特征:辽河流域的玉器多采用岫岩玉为原料,长江流域的玉器则多用透闪石一阳起石制成,而黄河流域多见绿松石制成的器物;辽河流域的玉器纹饰简单风格朴实,长江流域的玉器器形和纹饰都很特别,黄河流域则多生产工具且光素无纹.此外,玉器反映了新石器时代中晚期辽河流域内渔猎经济和宗教在社会中居于主导地位,长江流域中下游地区则可能进入了王权、军权和神权一体化的方国阶段,而世俗权力的独大在黄河流域普遍存在.世俗权力在这一地区社会政治生活中占据了主导地位.     

The Pastoral Neolithic of East Africa

In East Africa, as in many other regions, the initial shift from hunting and gathering to food production was a secondary process involving the introduction of species domesticated elsewhere. Specifically, the East African Neolithic, or Pastoral Neolithic, centered on herding livestock, some of which may have been domesticated in the Sahara and all of which were almost certainly imported from areas to the north. The development of the Pastoral Neolithic was lengthy and complex, having begun before 4000 B.P. and lasted until about 1300 B.P. Although detailed information on this segment of African prehistory is not abundant, data so far available reveal a succession of cultural transformations within the Pastoral Neolithic, such that it can be divided into early, evolved, and late stages, each exhibiting distinctive combinations of ceramic wares, lithic industries, and subsistence regimes. The transformations seem to have been fostered by both environmental change and population movements.     

A Neolithic Voyage

Examination of stone artefacts from Maiden Castle, Dorset, led to the identification of a Neolithic saddle-quern which originated in central Normandy. While stone axes from Brittany and jadeitite axes from the Alps have long been known from central southern England, the quern is the largest and heaviest Neolithic import yet identified. It has a bearing on the debate about indigenous or immigrant origins for the Neolithic, but also re-opens the question of the type of boat that plied the Channel at this early period. It is argued that logboats, for which there is evidence, should not be overlooked in favour of skin-boats for which there is none.
© 2009 The Authors     

Epipaleolithic/early Neolithic settlements at Qinghai Lake,western China

Transitions from terminal Pleistocene Upper Paleolithic foraging to Holocene Neolithic farming and pastoralist economic orientations in the northern Tibetan Plateau are examined from the perspective of Epipaleolithic sites located near Qinghai Lake, Qinghai Province, western China. Jiangxigou 2 is an artifact-rich, multicomponent midden site with the main period of occupation dating ca. 9000–5000 cal yr BP, containing abundant flaked stone artifacts including a substantial proportion of microlithic tools, abundant faunal remains including gazelle, deer, and sheep, and a small number of ceramics, including the oldest known on the Tibetan Plateau. Heimahe 3, on the other hand, is a brief hunter's camp dating ca. 8450 cal yr BP, with evident affinities to late Upper Paleolithic camps in the same region that date several thousand years older. The two distinctively different sites are probably nodes within a single Epipaleolithic foraging system that developed on the margins of the high Tibetan Plateau during the early Holocene, and that served as a basis for colonization of the high-altitude Plateau at that time. Jiangxigou 2 appears to be connected to early Neolithic agricultural settlements along the upper Yellow River (Huang He) drainage during the middle Holocene, and may provide insights into forager–agriculturalist interactions that lead to the development of pastoralist systems in the region.     

中国新石器时代文化演变动力分析

对多年来积累的气候资料的综合分析表明:在全新世期间有两个比较明显的温暖期。它们的时间分别为8～6kaBP(校正成日历年龄大约为9～7calkaBP)和5～3kaBP(日历年龄大约为5.5～3.2calkaBP)。文化的发展很大程度上受到了环境条件的制约。在前一个温暖期的后半段(8～7calkaBP),北方旱作农业(磁山文化、大地湾文化、兴隆洼文化)发展起来。南方稻作农业要在7.0～6.0calkaBP才初具规模。而6.0～5.5calkaBP的气候冷干事件使得南北方文化均有不同程度的衰退,但是南方受到的影响要小于北方。在后一个温暖期到来之后(5.5～3.2calkaBP),分别以龙山文化和良渚文化为代表的南北方新石器文化几乎同时进入发展史上的另一个黄金时代。尽管南北方文化体系对于气候变化的响应有所差异,并且不同时期不同地域文化发展动力也不尽相同,但是从大的时空尺度上来看,我国的新石器时代发展经历了如下阶段:最早期文化萌芽阶段(10calkaBP)——早中新石器时代之间的文化相对衰退期(10～8calkaBP)——新石器时代中期的北方农业文明崛起(8～7calkaBP)——7.0～6.0calkaBP的南方稻作农业的极大发展期——6.0～5.5calkaBP的文化衰退期——新石器时代晚期(5.5～4.0calkaBP)文化的极大繁荣。其间一些大的文化演替或者转型事件的时间在各地也大致相同。说明这种大的文化演进过程还是受到了同一个信号的支配,而只有环境气候因素才可能影响到如此大的范围。     

Transformations in an early agricultural society: Feasting in the southern Levantine Pre-Pottery Neolithic

Feasting is a powerful and transformative phenomenon. Societies are both integrated and differentiated through feasting; identities are both enacted and altered; and ideologies are inculcated. This paper uses ethnographic data to establish criteria for the archaeological recognition of prehistoric feasting. These criteria are then used to assess the changing evidence for feasting across the southern Levantine Pre-Pottery Neolithic (ca. 10,200–7500 BP/9700–6250 cal BC), with the aim of shedding light on changes in social organization across the transition to agriculture.During most of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, the extent and scale of feasting expanded as sociopolitical complexity increased. Towards the end of the period, however, populations dispersed and feasting probably declined. Feasts were simultaneously integrative and competitive, ameliorating scalar stress even as they offered opportunities for individual or household competition. Feasts may also have played a key role in conferring ideological prominence on Neolithic cattle, and perhaps even contributed to their adoption as domesticates.     

Cultural Origins of the Egyptian Neolithic and Predynastic: An Evaluation of the Evidence from the Dakhleh Oasis (South Central Egypt)

The debate surrounding the origins of the Egyptian Neolithic and Predynastic has, over the past few decades, come to rest on the neighboring Saharan region as the most likely source of influence. Although there is some evidence for the appearance of domesticates in the Western Desert before food-producing communities emerged in Upper and Lower Egypt, there is a strong case for the introduction of Saharan artifacts and technologies to the Nile Valley communities. This paper examines this argument in relation to the Western Desert region of the Dakhleh Oasis (South Central Egypt). The intent of the paper is to recognize the role Dakhleh played in the cultural development of the Egyptian Neolithic and Predynastic and whether this can clearly be seen through artifact parallels. Les parties débattant des origines de l'Egypte néolithique et pré-dynastique ont fini, au cours des dernières décennies, par conclure que la région voisine du Sahara était leur source d'influence la plus vraisemblable. Bien que certaines preuves existent de l'apparition de plantes et d'animaux domestiques dans le Désert occidental avant l'émergence de communautés produisant des aliments en Basse et Haute Egypte, de solides arguments émergent en faveur de l'introduction d'objets fabriqués et de technologies dans les communautés de la Vallée du Nil. L'exposé en question examine cet argument par rapport à la région du Désert occidental de l'Oasis de Dakhla (centre-sud de l'Egypte). Le but de cet exposé est de reconnaître le rôle de Dakhla dans le développement culturel de l'Egypte néolithique et pré-dynastique et de déterminer si oui ou non celui-ci peut clairement être identifié, de façon parallèle, au travers d'objets fabriqués.     

新郑唐户新石器时代遗址调查

新郑唐户新石器时代遗址的仰韶文化内涵丰富,依据采集的大量陶器的器物特征,可分为早、中、晚三期,这对于解决遗址性质、区分区域类型、排列文化谱系以及今后这一带新石器时代的考古发掘与研究,都具有重要的参考价值.众多文献记载,新郑是传说中的黄帝故里,该遗址的南部传为"黄帝口",其仰韶文化遗存又十分丰富,这可能与传说时代黄帝氏族的重要中心聚落有关.     

Current issues in Chinese Neolithic archaeology

Every year archaeologists in China discover numerous rich sites demonstrating significant regional variability in Neolithic cultures, primarily from about 6500 B.C. to 1900 B.C. This paper discusses a topic not covered in detail in current or forthcoming publications, the origins and development of agricultural systems. Recent fieldwork in both northern and southern China suggests that initial steps toward settled agricultural villages began circa 11,000 B.P. I review evidence for the cultivation of millet, rice, and other plants as well as animal husbandry in different regions of China. There are several later Neolithic sites in northern China with evidence for rice cultivation. I suggest how future research projects can investigate regional variation and change over time in subsistence and settlement during the Neolithic Period.     

黄河流域前期新石器时代墓葬的研究

我国前期新石器时代文化遗存（这里指公元前５０００年前的新石器文化遗存,或者说是仰韶时代以前的新石器时代文化遗存①）的发现,可以上溯到２０世纪３０年代②。到２０世纪５０～６０年代,这类文化遗存开始为老一代考古学家所关注。２０世纪７０年代后期,关于这类文化遗存的研究开始取得突破性进展。１９７６年河北武安磁山遗址③和河南新郑裴李岗遗址④的发现和发掘,磁山文化、裴李岗文化得到确认,以此为契机,我国前期新石器文化的发现和研究出现了第一个高潮。２０世纪８０年代末至９０年代初,以河北徐水南庄头⑤、湖南湾县彭头…     

淮河下游新石器时代的绚丽画卷──龙虬庄遗址与江淮地区古文化学术座谈会专家发言纪要

江淮东部是介于海岱地区和太湖地区之间的一个重要的考古学文化区。自５０年代初在江淮东部发现淮安青莲岗遗址并由此提出青莲岗文化的命名以来,江淮地区的考古工作始终受到考古学界的高度关注。而高邮龙虬庄遗址被评为１９９３年中国十大考古新发现之后,在考古学界也产生了较大的影响。围绕龙虬庄遗址的考古发现,探讨江淮东部原始文化和青莲岗文化,以及淮河流域古文化,对于推动中国考古学研究向纵深发展,有着积极的意义。在高邮召开的龙虬庄遗址与江淮地区古文化的座谈会上,来自北京和苏鲁豫皖浙的专家各抒己见,本刊将座谈会上有代表性的专家的发言经整理后以纪要的形式刊出,旨在对江苏乃至淮河流域的考古工作起到积极的推动作用。     

Chickpea domestication in the Neolithic Levant through the nutritional perspective

An alternative approach to the process of selection and domestication of grain crops in early history based on nutritional value is proposed. Selection by a long trial and error process among a number of wild large seeded legumes gave rise to a nutritionally superior domesticated chickpea among the selected “founder crops” of the Neolithic Near Eastern agriculture. We found considerably higher free tryptophan levels in cultivated stocks (44 desi and 29 kabuli types from 25 countries; 1.10 mg/g seed dry weight), compared with the wild progenitor Cicer reticulatum (15 accessions; 0.33 mg/g seed dry weight). Dietary tryptophan determines brain serotonin synthesis, which in turn affects certain brain functions and human behaviour. We suggest that these nutritive facts may explain the decision of prehistoric farmers to choose this rare species and struggle to keep such an agronomically complicated crop under domestication.     

The Use of Animal Hair in Ceramic Manufacturing at the Tytkesken-2 Neolithic Site,Western Siberia

The comb pottery found at Tytkesken-2 horizons 7, 6, 4A, and 4 reveals traces of animal hair. Hair was used as armature at the shaping stage: it was wound around the body of the vessel to prevent cracking during baking and drying (pastes were prepared without the use of hair). As the Tytkesken-2 ceramics demonstrate, using hair as armature was a local tradition, practiced in some measure from the Early to the Final Neolithic period.