Small-scale transport of early Neolithic pottery in the west Mediterranean

Abstract

The early Neolithic of the west Mediterranean The archaeological complex known as the early Neolithic in the west Mediterranean represents the arrival of Neolithic traits in western Europe. Dating to around 5000 BC (Evin 1987), this complex is marked by the appearance of pottery, ground stone tools, and transvcrse projectile points. It continues for about a millennium until middle Neolithic villages, such as Villeneuve-Toulousane, begin to appear. The early Neolithic is characterized by a transitional agricultural subsistence economy. At Aude Valley cave sites, domesticated sheep first appear in aceramic Mesolithic layers with typical Tardenoisian tool assemblages and fauna (Geddes 1983). Examination of these sheep remains show that this strain originated in the Near East (Geddes 1985). Early Neolithic deposits (as defined by the presence of ceramics) are found at many of the same Mesolithic sites and contain similar lithic assemblages as well as a continuation of mixed hunted and domesticated fauna. The presumably novel open-air coastal sites of this period, such as Leucate-Corrège (Guilaine et al. 1984), also appear to represent a mixed economy. Since there is no sudden apparent shift in settlement pattern or economy associated with the early Neolithic, this period appears to be best characterized as a time of gradual transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture.

Practical and prestige technologies: The evolution of material systems

“…The clearest examples come from the first pottery horizons in Colombia (Pratt, 1998), in coastal Chiapas, (Clark and Blake, 1994;Clark and Gosser, 1995, p. 214), in the Central American isthmus (Hoopes, 1995), in Neolithic western Europe (Sherman, 1986, p. 135;Thomas, 1991, p. 102;Barnett, 1990), in the eastern Mediterranean (Vitelli, 1989;Perl~s, 1992a), and in the Near East (Schmandt-Besserat, 1977), to name but a few locations. For a more detailed review of this topic, see Hoopes and Barnett (1995) and Hayden (1995b).…”

Rock art as an archaeological and social indicator: The neolithisation of the Iberian Peninsula

“…For instance, these models admit that the incoming Neolithic populations (by definition, isolated in certain coastal Mediterranean enclaves) would have created complex, long distance exchange networks from this moment on (Orozco Kö hler, 2000). This does not consider the possibility of previously existing exchange-networks among the local Mesolithic communities, which in fact would be a better explanation for the rapid diffusion of 'Neolithic' items such as the first domesticates or decorated pottery (Barnett, 1990;Vicent García, 1997;Rodríguez et al, 1995;Hernando Gonzalo, 1999). Another disputed topic are genetic and isotopic analyses.…”

La Función Social Del Adorno Personal en El Neolítico De La Península Ibérica

“…Recientes análisis cerámicos llevados a cabo sobre vasijas con decoración impresa cardial e impresa de otro tipo procedentes de yacimientos situados en el sureste francés (Barnett, 1990), han permitido determinar una serie de áreas de producción desde donde llegarían a distancias de hasta 70 km. Partiendo de la consideración general de que estas primeras vasijas tienen un carácter no utilitario, se señala su transporte en ciclos estacionales como elementos de relieve social que servirían para ser depositados como ofrenda en enterramientos, por ejemplo.…”

“…Uno de los fragmeiuos cerámicos cardiales hallado en la Balma Margineda (Andorra), yacimiento contemplado en el estudio antes citado (Barnett, 1990), no tiene origen local, ni tampoco en ninguna de las áreas determinadas por el estudio petrográfico, por lo que se ha sugerido su llegada a partir de algún yacimiento español. Los estudios cerámicos existentes en la Península han venido señalando fabricaciones locales, por lo que de momento es imposible probar movimientos más amplios (Gallart, 1980y Gallare y López, 1988.…”