The Evolution of Complex Society in Late Prehistoric Europe: Toward a Paradigm

Gibson, David; Geselowitz, Michael

doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-0777-6_1

Cited by 25 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…), the luxury nature of grave goods and a strongly sustained long distance trade. All these characteristics already existed in embryonic form at the time of the transition from simple to complex chiefdoms (Gibson and Geselowitz 1988). On the basis of this evidence it is no easy task to establish the level of social evolution attained by nomadic shepherds in Eurasia.…”

Section: Pastoral Nomadismmentioning

confidence: 95%

An Archaeology of the Nomadic Groups of the Eurasian Steppes between Europe and Asia

Genito¹

2020

Competing Narratives Between Nomadic People and Their Sedentary Neighbours

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Section: Pastoral Nomadismmentioning

confidence: 95%

An Archaeology of the Nomadic Groups of the Eurasian Steppes between Europe and Asia

Genito¹

2020

Competing Narratives Between Nomadic People and Their Sedentary Neighbours

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“…Among the subjects to be re-evaluated and investigated in the new key were of course the goods produced in the workshops of Archaic Greece retrieved from the funerary assemblage contexts of early Iron Age temperate Europe. The starting point was the concept of 'chiefdom' as defined in the neo-evolutionary approach in social anthropology (Gibson and Geselowitz 1988). The concept of social evolution through defined stages of band, tribe, chiefdom and state gained wide popularity among archaeologists during the 1970s and has been applied ever since.…”

Section: Centre and Peripherymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…What is more, in the region of Glasinac this transition is almost unnoticeable in respect to all the aspects of the material culture, stressed by the fact that the cemeteries were used continually (Čović 1963:51, 1987). If we bear in mind the importance of affiliation to a certain kin group claiming the right to direct descent from the founder, considered typical of chiefdoms (Gibson and Geselowitz 1988;Peebles and Kus 1977), the need to emphasize the line of descent by all available means need not come as a surprise. Kinship relations and status inheritance are strongly indicated in the case of the central Balkan princely graves, indicating that this was in fact the decisive mechanism in the ascribing and maintenance of social positions (Babić 1995(Babić , 2001).…”

Section: Chiefdom and Polismentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Princely graves’ of the central Balkans – A critical history of research

Babić

2002

Eur. j. archaeol.

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This article critically explores the century-long history of research into a particular set of archaeological finds. The ‘princely graves’ – funerary assemblages dated to the early Iron Age (seventh to fifth centuries BC) containing, among other things, luxurious objects produced in Archaic Greek workshops – are known from various parts of temperate Europe, and were first recorded in the central Balkans region by the end of the nineteenth century. By their very nature, these finds pose several important theoretical and methodological problems, one of them being the need to bridge the divide between the procedures of prehistoric and classical archaeologies. The first attempts to account for these exceptional finds, in Europe as well as in the Balkans, were guided by the culture-historical procedure, typical of the archaeological investigation of the time. During the 1960s New Archaeology brought about the notion of chiefdom as a tool to account for the Iron Age societies. The concept was introduced into research on the central Balkan finds, proving successful in overcoming the shortcomings of the previous explanations, but at the same time creating new ones, encapsulated in the critique of the evolutionary approach. This review of research into the ‘princely graves’ concludes in proposing several new lines of inquiry, already introduced in the European archaeological theory: issues of group identity and individual actors, and phenomenological approaches to time and space.

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“…The exchange of craft and ritual items is thought to establish and maintain social ties among societies that can be called upon periodically to gain access to food in times of scarcity. In addition, it is thought that durable items may be exchanged directly for food when necessary (Ford 1972a(Ford , 1972b(Ford , 1974Blakeslee 1975;Braun and Plog 1982;E Plog 1984;Dean et al 1985;Braun 1986;Spielmann 1986;Douglass 1988;Gibson and Geselowitz 1988). Note, however, that environmental data analyzed by Dean et al ( 198 5) for the Colorado Plateaus in the Southwest indicate that the utility of spatial averaging mechanisms such as exchange can vary over time as the degree of spatial variation in climatic factors changes.…”

Section: Interaction Among Prehistoric Societiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Farmers, Hunters, and Colonists: Interaction between the Southwest and the Southern Plains

Kohler¹,

Spielmann²

1992

American Antiquity

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People follow the cows {bison/, hunting them and tanning their skins to take to the settlements in the winter to sell, since they go there to pass the winter.-CASTANEDA, CHRONICLER OF THE CORONADO EXPEDITION In 1540 the first expedition to explore the Southwest, that of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, witnessed the exchange between eastern border Pueblo and southern Plains populations documented by Castaneda (Winship 1896 1 279). Later expeditions in the sixteenth century, and colonists in the seventeenth, also noted an ongoing Plains-Pueblo trade in foodstuffs and manufactured items. In the twentieth century, historians have analyzed the changes in Plains-Pueblo interaction that resulted from the presence of Spanish colonists and access to their goods, while archaeologists have produced evidence of prehistoric Plains-Pueblo interaction. Although myriad data exist concerning relations between these two regions, no attempt has been made to synthesize this information and to develop evolutionary models of changing Plains-Pueblo interaction over time. Recently, however, Jim Judge and Patty Crown provided the opportunity to bring together a variety of scholars concerned with Plains-Pueblo interaction. At their invitation I organized a conference on this topic involving both archaeologists and historians, Plains scholars and Pueblo scholars. The meeting was held at the Fort Burgwin

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The Evolution of Complex Society in Late Prehistoric Europe: Toward a Paradigm

Cited by 25 publications

References 31 publications

An Archaeology of the Nomadic Groups of the Eurasian Steppes between Europe and Asia

An Archaeology of the Nomadic Groups of the Eurasian Steppes between Europe and Asia

‘Princely graves’ of the central Balkans – A critical history of research

Farmers, Hunters, and Colonists: Interaction between the Southwest and the Southern Plains

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