The Neolithic Revolution in the Near East

The Neolithic Revolution in the Near East PDF Author: Alan H. Simmons
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816501270
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book

Book Description
One of humanity's most important milestones was the transition from hunting and gathering to food production and permanent village life. This Neolithic Revolution first occurred in the Near East, changing the way humans interacted with their environment and each other, setting the stage, ultimately, for the modern world. Based on more than thirty years of fieldwork, this timely volume examines the Neolithic Revolution in the Levantine Near East and the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Alan H. Simmons explores recent research regarding the emergence of Neolithic populations, using both environmental and theoretical contexts, and incorporates specific case studies based on his own excavations. In clear and graceful prose, Simmons traces chronological and regional differences within this land of immense environmental contrasts—woodland, steppe, and desert. He argues that the Neolithic Revolution can be seen in a variety of economic, demographic, and social guises and that it lacked a single common stimulus. Each chapter includes sections on history, terminology, geographic range, specific domesticated species, the composition of early villages and households, and the development of social, symbolic, and religious behavior. Most chapters include at least one case study and conclude with a concise summary. In addition, Simmons presents a unique chapter on the island of Cyprus, where intriguing new research challenges assumptions about the impact and extent of the Neolithic. The Neolithic Revolution in the Near East conveys the diversity of our Neolithic ancestors, providing a better understanding of the period and the new social order that arose because of it. This insightful volume will be especially useful to Near Eastern scholars and to students of archaeology and the origins of agriculture.

The Neolithic Revolution in the Near East

The Neolithic Revolution in the Near East PDF Author: Alan H. Simmons
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816501270
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book

Book Description
One of humanity's most important milestones was the transition from hunting and gathering to food production and permanent village life. This Neolithic Revolution first occurred in the Near East, changing the way humans interacted with their environment and each other, setting the stage, ultimately, for the modern world. Based on more than thirty years of fieldwork, this timely volume examines the Neolithic Revolution in the Levantine Near East and the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Alan H. Simmons explores recent research regarding the emergence of Neolithic populations, using both environmental and theoretical contexts, and incorporates specific case studies based on his own excavations. In clear and graceful prose, Simmons traces chronological and regional differences within this land of immense environmental contrasts—woodland, steppe, and desert. He argues that the Neolithic Revolution can be seen in a variety of economic, demographic, and social guises and that it lacked a single common stimulus. Each chapter includes sections on history, terminology, geographic range, specific domesticated species, the composition of early villages and households, and the development of social, symbolic, and religious behavior. Most chapters include at least one case study and conclude with a concise summary. In addition, Simmons presents a unique chapter on the island of Cyprus, where intriguing new research challenges assumptions about the impact and extent of the Neolithic. The Neolithic Revolution in the Near East conveys the diversity of our Neolithic ancestors, providing a better understanding of the period and the new social order that arose because of it. This insightful volume will be especially useful to Near Eastern scholars and to students of archaeology and the origins of agriculture.

The Neolithic Revolution in the Near East

The Neolithic Revolution in the Near East PDF Author: Alan H. Simmons
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816529663
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 359

Get Book

Book Description
One of humanity's most important milestones was the transition from hunting and gathering to food production and permanent village life. This Neolithic Revolution first occurred in the Near East, changing the way humans interacted with their environment and each other, setting the stage, ultimately, for the modern world.ÊÊÊ Ê Based on more than thirty years of fieldwork, this timely volume examines the Neolithic Revolution in the Levantine Near East and the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Alan H. Simmons explores recent research regarding the emergence of Neolithic populations, using both environmental and theoretical contexts, and incorporates specific case studies based on his own excavations. In clear and graceful prose, Simmons traces chronological and regional differences within this land of immense environmental contrastsÑwoodland, steppe, and desert. He argues that the Neolithic Revolution can be seen in a variety of economic, demographic, and social guises and that it lacked a single common stimulus.ÊÊÊÊ Ê Each chapter includes sections on history, terminology, geographic range, specific domesticated species, the composition of early villages and households, and the development of social, symbolic, and religious behavior. Most chapters include at least one case study and conclude with a concise summary. In addition, Simmons presents a unique chapter on the island of Cyprus, where intriguing new research challenges assumptions about the impact and extent of the Neolithic.ÊÊÊÊ Ê The Neolithic Revolution in the Near East conveys the diversity of our Neolithic ancestors, providing a better understanding of the period and the new social order that arose because of it. This insightful volume will be especially useful to Near Eastern scholars and to students of archaeology and the origins of agriculture.

Concluding the Neolithic

Concluding the Neolithic PDF Author: Arkadiusz Marciniak
Publisher: Lockwood Press
ISBN: 1937040844
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 341

Get Book

Book Description
The second half of the seventh millennium BC saw the demise of the previously affluent and dynamic Neolithic way of life. The period is marked by significant social and economic transformations of local communities, as manifested in a new spatial organization, patterns of architecture, burial practices, and in chipped stone and pottery manufacture. This volume has three foci. The first concerns the character of these changes in different parts of the Near East with a view to placing them in a broader comparative perspective. The second concerns the social and ideological changes that took place at the end of Neolithic and the beginning of the Chalcolithic that help to explain the disintegration of constitutive principles binding the large centers, the emergence of a new social system, as well as the consequences of this process for the development of full-fledged farming communities in the region and beyond. The third concerns changes in lifeways: subsistence strategies, exploitation of the environment, and, in particular, modes of procurement, consumption, and distribution of different resources.

The Origins of Agriculture in the Ancient Near East

The Origins of Agriculture in the Ancient Near East PDF Author: Shahal Abbo
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108493645
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Get Book

Book Description
Rapid and knowledge-based agricultural origins and plant domestication in the Neolithic Near East gave rise to Western civilizations.

The Neolithic Revolution

The Neolithic Revolution PDF Author: Susan Meyer
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
ISBN: 1499463243
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 66

Get Book

Book Description
The dawn of the Neolithic Era ushered in major changes in the way people lived. In fact, these changes were so sweeping that the transition from the Mesolithic Era to the Neolithic Era is referred to as the Neolithic Revolution. The beginnings of agriculture and the domestication of animals both date from this period. These changes to the food supply led people to settle in permanent communities, which, in turn, led to organized societies and social hierarchy. This book examines the factors that could have led to this revolution and the archaeological evidence of which changes happened where and when.

Life in Neolithic Farming Communities

Life in Neolithic Farming Communities PDF Author: Ian Kuijt
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0306461226
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 331

Get Book

Book Description
Drawing on both the results of recent archaeological research and anthropological theory, leading experts synthesize current thinking on the nature of and variation within Neolithic social arrangements. The authors analyze archaeological data within a range of methodological and theoretical perspectives to reconstruct key aspects of ritual practices, labor organization, and collective social identity at the scale of the household, community, and region.

Ancient Civilizations

Ancient Civilizations PDF Author:
Publisher: DMB Academics
ISBN: 1578686504
Category : Civilization, Ancient
Languages : en
Pages : 98

Get Book

Book Description


The Early History of the Ancient Near East, 9000–2000 B.C.

The Early History of the Ancient Near East, 9000–2000 B.C. PDF Author: Hans J. Nissen
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022618269X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 230

Get Book

Book Description
Hans J. Nissen here provides a much-needed overview of 7000 years of development in the ancient Near East from the beginning of settled life to the formation of the first regional states. His approach to the study of Mesopotamian civilization differs markedly from conventional orientations, which impose a sharp division between prehistoric and historic, literate, periods. Nissen argues that this approach is too rigid to explain the actual development of that civilization. He deemphasizes the invention of writing as a turning point, viewing it as simply one more phase in the evolution of social complexity and as the result of specific social, economic, and political factors. With a unique combination of material culture analysis written data, Nissan traces the emergence of the earliest isolated settlements, the growth of a network of towns, the emergence of city states, and finally the appearance of territorial states. From his synthesis of the prehistoric and literate periods comes a unified picture of the development of Mesopotamian economy, society, and culture. Lavishly illustrated, The Early History of the Ancient Near East, 9000-2000 B.C. is an authoritative work by one of the most insightful observers of the evolution and character of Mesopotamian civilization.

Neolithic

Neolithic PDF Author: Susan McCarter
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134220405
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Get Book

Book Description
This excellent introductory textbook describes and explains the origins of modern culture– the dawn of agriculture in the Neolithic area. Written in an easy-to-read style, this lively and engaging book familiarises the reader with essential archaeological and genetic terms and concepts, explores the latest evidence from scientific analyses as varied as deep sea coring, pollen identification, radiometric dating and DNA research, condensing them into an up-to-date academic account, specifically written to be clear even the novice reader. Focusing primarily on sites in southwest Asia, Neolithic addresses questions such as: Which plants and animals were the first to be domesticated, and how? How did life change when people began farming? What were the first villages like? What do we know about the social, political and religious life of these newly founded societies? What happened to human health as a result of the Neolithic Revolution? Lavishly illustrated with almost a hundred images, this enjoyable book is an ideal introduction both for students of archaeology and for general readers interested in our past.

Neolithic Revolution

Neolithic Revolution PDF Author: E. J. Peltenburg
Publisher: Council for British Research in the Levant
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 216

Get Book

Book Description
The move towards a sedentary way of life had a profound effect on the human way of life: the development of complex societies can be directly attributed to the beginnings of farming in place of a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle. When Gordon Childe coined the term 'Neolithic revolution' he meant it to reflect these vast changes that had occurred in the near east. This book extends the reach of these changes to include Cyprus, presenting new evidence that shows that the island played host to settled farming communities at the same time as the mainland, pushing its habitation back by 2000 years.