NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IN CENTRAL GERMANY

Summary. This paper investigates the changes in settlement patterns characteristic of early agricultural groups in the Middle Elbe/Saale region (DDR) from the fifth to the beginning of the second millennium bc. It uses the outstanding quantity of information available from this region on the distribution of prehistoric sites to describe the structure of settlement and to define the main contrasts over this period.     

ECONOMIC REGION NET MIGRATION PATTERNS IN THE USSR: 1979-89

This article investigates economic region net migration patterns in the USSR during the 1979-89 intercensal period. Net in-migration and net migration rate increases (compared to 1970-79) occurred in both the western and eastern portions of the Northern USSR region, while net out-migration and rate declines occurred throughout the Southern USSR. Net in-migration again occurred to Siberia, especially Tyumen' Oblast, and there was a reduced rate of net out-migration from the Nonchernozem Zone and Central Chernozem Region of European RSFSR.     

ANALYSIS OF SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS IN A MOUNTAIN REGION

In a continuing study of settlement systems using space imagery and aerial photography, systems of settlement and central places are analyzed on the basis of the intensity of transport movements between places. Central places are assigned to different categories according to the patterns of transport linkages in their tributary areas. Relationships between the maximum extent of zones of influence and the population of central places are discussed. The concept of developmental phase of a settlement system is introduced. For previous articles by the author, see S.G., Jan. 1975 and Oct. 1976. [The study area, though not identified, is in the Altay Mountains.]     

EARLY WOODLAND SETTLEMENT AND MOUND BUILDING IN THE UPPER TENSAS BASIN,NORTHEAST LOUISIANA

Abstract

Traditionally overlooked because it lacks hallmarks of material and cultural complexity, Early Woodland in the Southeast is an interval of significant transformation in material culture, settlement, and social organization. Investigations at four sites in northeast Louisiana provide insights into changes taking place at this time. These sites are situated on a crevasse splay created by flooding at the end of the Archaic. This flooding is associated with an occupation hiatus ca. 3000–2500 cal B.P. Evidence suggests a rapid colonization of the crevasse splay by people using Tchefuncte pottery, and there is no evidence at these sites of stratigraphic or cultural continuity from Poverty Point. The Early Woodland occupation in the study area dates ca. 2400–2100 cal B.P., which is later than dates associated with Early Woodland in the Pontchartrain Basin and contemporary with Lake Cormorant culture sites farther north. Early Woodland in northeast Louisiana is marked by a diagnostic Tchefuncte ceramic assemblage and the presence of a settlement system composed of small villages or hamlets nucleated around a conical mound that presumably served as a ceremonial/ritual center. This mound was erected very rapidly; radiocarbon dates suggest it was constructed in no more than 10 years. Although mound building has been suspected, this is the first conclusive evidence it was an aspect of Tchefuncte settlement and ceremonial practices. Data from these sites bear on the question of cultural and demographic continuity and change at the Archaic to Woodland transition. Previous models emphasize continuity of populations with ceramic technology and styles diffusing into the lower Mississippi Valley. In contrast, our data support a model of Early Woodland repopulation of the lower Mississippi Valley from the south and east following a prolonged period of regional abandonment.     

SHIFTING SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IN THE SOUTHERN JORDAN VALLEY AND DESERT FRINGES OF SAMARIA DURING THE EARLY BRONZE AGE I PERIOD

Abstract

This study deals with the unprecedented settlement activity during the Early Bronze Age I that has been recently recorded in the Jordan Valley and the desert fringes of Samaria. The increase in the number of sites primarily characterises the latter part of the period (Early Bronze Age IB), and is accompanied by two other important phenomena: population inroads into new regions, and the first appearance of fortified sites. A profound crisis at the end of the period resulted in the almost complete abandonment of the valley sites and the concentration of settlement along the eastern foothills of Samaria.     

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHIC PROBLEMS OF SETTLEMENT IN THE KMA

A paper devoted to demographic and labor-related issues in the development of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly focuses on the need to improve labor productivity and services provision (particularly health care) in emerging industrial nodes of the complex. Such measures are expected both to promote labor retention and reduce labor inputs necessary to achieve the same amount of work. A key element of future labor strategy, given current low levels of natural increase within the region, is the recruitment and retention of labor from outside the region and the planned development of settlement to reduce negative environmental impacts (translated by Andrew R. Bond).     

A MICROGEOGRAPHY OF SETTLEMENT IN THE PAMIR HIGHLANDS

Settlement patterns in the Pamir highlands, the “roof of the world,” adjoining Afghanistan, offer a striking contrast between the western deep valleys inhabited by sedentary Pamir ethnic groups related to the Tadzhiks, and the eastern plateau-like highland with a sparse population of nomadic Kirghiz herders. The evolution of Pamir settlement during the Soviet period is analyzed, and recommendations are offered for the removal of remote small places from high elevations and for the merger of settlements into more viable population centers. (Data for the mid-1960s have been partly updated by the Editor to the mid-1980s.)     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEOLITHIC AND COPPER AGE SETTLEMENT IN THE GREAT HUNGARIAN PLAIN PART II: SITE SURVEY AND SETTLEMENT DYNAMICS

Summary. Within the region of the Great Hungarian Plain (discussed in the first part of this article) the processes of settlement change can be followed in greater detail from site survey in the Szeghalom area. This central part of the Plain, drained by the Körös and Berettyó rivers, was a major focus of settlement in Neolithic times (6000-4000 BC), and its rising importance can be followed in the emergence of a series of wealthy 'supersites'. During the succeeding Copper Age, the character of sites altered as the role of the area in relation to the rest of the region began to change. Around 3500 BC a dramatic shift in settlement patterns coincided with the appearance of large tumuli of steppe type, which mark a new phase of land use in this region.     

THE SHEPHELAH IN THE IRON AGE: A NEW LOOK ON THE SETTLEMENT OF JUDAH

Abstract

The Shephelah was densely settled in the Late Bronze Age, but most of the settlements were gradually abandoned during the transition to the Iron I period. Only a few Iron I settlements existed in the eastern part of the region (excluding the Philistine sites at the northwestern edge of the Shephelah), forming a small Canaanite enclave. During the Iron II period the region was gradually resettled, and it became part of Judah. This process lasted until the 8th century BCE, when the region reached an unparalleled demographic peak. Sennacherib's campaign brought wide-scale destruction, and the region recovered only partially before being devastated by Nebuchadnezzar. After reconstructing the region's settlement history, the article reassesses its political and demographic history in comparison to the neighbouring regions of the Judean highlands and the southern coastal plain, it is concluded that the Shephelah had a lesser role in the history of Judah than some recent studies suggest.