Ruin dynamics: Architectural destruction and the production of sedentary space at the dawn of the Neolithic revolution

Abstract

Monumental architecture in Levantine sites such as Jerf el-Ahmar, Göbekli Tepe, or Jericho appears to play an important role in place-making practices and in the organization of a possibly hierarchical sociopolitical life at the very beginning of the Neolithic. This paper focuses on an underdeveloped aspect of this phenomenon: all these buildings were ritually destroyed in a highly spectacular and costly fashion. Their ruins were purposefully curated and accumulated. Far from being static remains, these structures are the meaningful result of the dynamic re-production of monumental space and of its inscription in the landscape. Understanding these actions calls for decentering the dominant vision of architectural valuation associated primarily with ideas of “creation” or “heritage.” Architectural destruction, I shall finally claim, may well be more significant than construction for understanding the Neolithic consolidation of sedentism in the Near East.

La perspective de la souris

“…Adopter ces perspectives longues implique de penser les ruines et l'abandon autant que les processus de fabrication initiaux des bâtiments, afin d'être attentifs à ce qui se défait et aux modalités de ces démontages relationnels autant que matériels (Stolz, dans ce volume). Cela demande aussi, et dans le même temps, de porter son regard sur ce qui perdure, ce qui est conservé, et surtout sur ce qui se refabrique là, et que les ruines engagent ou rendent possible (Buchli 2013 : 157-177 ;Hadad 2019 ;Demoule et al 2021). Enfin, déplier la question du temps des bâtiments et interroger le « quand » des constructions permet d'en resituer les ancrages singuliers dans des parcours de vie et des flux sociaux ou matériels multiples.…”

Ritual Closure: Rites De Passage and Apotropaic Magic in an Animate World

“…For example, scholars working in similar contexts containing burned houses beyond the Southwest such as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Middle East (e.g., Banning, 2011 ; Finlayson et al, 2011 ; Hadad, 2019 ; Hodder, 2006a , b ); the Burned House Horizon (Chapman, 2000 ; Chapman & Bisserka, 2007 ; Stevanović, 2002 ; Tringham, 2005 ); Neolithic Ireland (Smyth, 2006 ); Formative Mesoamerica (Flannery, 1976 :16–24); and Agro-pastoral Periods of northwest Argentina (Gordillo & Leiton, 2015 ; Nielsen & Walker, 1999 ) may encounter analogous manipulations of animate materials. While archaeologists seldom worry they will encounter witches, malignant spirits, ghosts, or transgress tabooed places that is not the case for most people in most cultures in the history of the world (Douglas, 1970 ; Kapur, 1983 ; Mair, 1976 ; Middleton & Winter, 1963 ; Simmons, 1974 ; Walker, 1970 ).…”

On n’échappe pas aux ruines, « c’est que l’homme s’assied où la cendre de l’homme repose1 »

“…Pourtant, eux aussi ont été rituellement condamnés et leurs restes ostensiblement préservés sur des sites qui continuaient à être habités 16 . Ainsi par exemple de la tour de Jéricho (fig.…”