Tracking the Neolithic House in Europe

The Neolithic period is noted primarily for the change from hunter-gatherer societies to agriculture, domestication and sedentism. This change has been studied in the past by archaeologists observing the movements of plants, animals and people. But has not been examined by looking at the domestic architecture of the time. Along with tracking the movement of sedentism, Neolithic houses are also able to show researchers the beginnings of cultural identity, group representation through the construction and decoration of these structures. Additionally as agriculture moved west and north in this era, the architecture and material culture shows this change and its significance. Chapters are arranged chronologically so that authors can address differences and similarities of their region to neighboring ones. To ensure continuity, authors have framed the chapters around the following considerations: construction materials and architectural characteristics; how houses facilitated or perpetua

This book traces the beginnings of cultural identity and group representation through the construction and decoration of Neolithic structures. The authors cast new light on the societal transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and domestic life.

Unique approach to studying the change in society in the Neolithice

1. Introduction: Dwelling, materials, cosmology - transforming houses in the Neolithic Daniela Hofmann and Jessica Smyth.-2. Houses and households: Near Eastern perspective Nigel Goring-Morris and Anna Belfer-Cohen.-3. Diversity, uniformity and the transformative properties of the house in Neolithic Greece Stella Souvatzi.-4. Embodied houses: the social and symbolic agency of Neolithic architecture in the Republic of Macedonia.-Goce Naumov.-5. Houses in the archaeology of the Tripillia - Cucuteni groups.-Natalia Burdo, Mikhail Videiko, John Chapman and Bisserka Gaydarska.-6. Tracing the beginning of sedentary life in the Carpathian Basin. The formation of the LBK house.-Eszter Bánffy7. Of time and the house: the Early Neolithic communities of the Paris Basin and their domestic architecture Penny Bickle.-8. Change and continuity in the Danubian longhouses of lowland Poland Joanna Pyzel.-9. Living by the lake. Domestic architecture in the Alpine forelandDaniela Hofmann.-10. Home is when you build it. Characteristics of building and occupation in the Lower Rhine Area wetlands (5500-2500 cal BC)Luc Amkreutz.-11. The end of the longhouse Jonathan Last.-12. Early Neolithic habitation structures in Britain and Ireland: a matter of circumstance and context.-Alison Sheridan13. Tides of change? The house through the Irish Neolithic.-Jessica Smyth14. Lost and found. Houses in the Neolithic of southern ScandinaviaLars Larsson and Kristian Brink.-15. From diffusion to structural transformation: the changing roles of the Neolithic house in the Middle East, Turkey and Europe Ian Hodder.-16. House, household, homeLesley McFadyen.-17. Transformations in the art of dwelling: some anthropological reflections on Neolithic houses Roxana Waterson.