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Journal article
Deconstructing the Neolithic Myth: The Implications of Continuity for European Late Prehistory
Anthropological notebooks, (XIX, Supplement; Ancient Cosmologies and Modern Prophets: Proceedings of the European Society for Astronomy in Culture), pp.223-235
2013
Abstract
The Neolithic has traditionally been characterized by the arrival of Near Eastern farmers to Europe, replacing the indigenous foragers. This view postulates a cultural, genetic and linguistic discontinuity that allows the Neolithic archaeological record to be analyzed and interpreted outside of its diachronic context. However, there is now a wealth of information supporting continuity since the preceding Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods, revealing a slow and gradual adoption of Neolithic elements by local indigenous populations. This is especially true for Atlantic Europe, the very same area that becomes populated with megaliths during the subsequent Neolithic and Early Bronze ages. The totality of this evidence forms a new interpretative paradigm, the 'Continuity Paradigm', which doesn't allow for loose interpretations or the 'blank slate approach'. Instead it calls for an evaluation of the local Mesolithic as a preliminary to understanding the Neolithic: to see the world through Mesolithic eyes in order to understand the transformations that took place during the Neolithic. The importance of cosmology and ideology is thus brought to the forefront of archaeological interpretation. This paper showcases the evidence for continuity in Atlantic Europe, reviews its implications for the interpretation of Neolithic archaeological remains and highlights certain readings and approaches that impact the study of the archaeoastronomies of the period.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Deconstructing the Neolithic Myth: The Implications of Continuity for European Late Prehistory
- Creators
- Fabio SilvaRoslyn M Frank - University of Iowa, Spanish and Portuguese
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Anthropological notebooks, (XIX, Supplement; Ancient Cosmologies and Modern Prophets: Proceedings of the European Society for Astronomy in Culture), pp.223-235
- Publisher
- Slovene Anthropological Society
- ISSN
- 1408-032X
- eISSN
- 2232-3716
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2013
- Academic Unit
- Spanish and Portuguese
- Record Identifier
- 9984105060902771
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