Ken Binmore
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195178111
- eISBN:
- 9780199783670
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195178111.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Microeconomics
This book attempts to create an evolutionary theory of fairness. Sharing food is commonplace in the animal kingdom because it insures animals that share against hunger. Anthropologists report that ...
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This book attempts to create an evolutionary theory of fairness. Sharing food is commonplace in the animal kingdom because it insures animals that share against hunger. Anthropologists report that hunter-gatherer societies which survived into the 20th century shared on a very egalitarian basis. What can such information tell us about the sense of fairness with which modern man is born? Using game theory as a basic tool, the book argues that fairness norms should be seen as a device for selecting an efficient equilibrium in the human game of life. Evolutionary arguments are then used to argue that the deep structure of this device resembles the original position formulated by John Rawls in his Theory of Justice. Such an evolutionary framework allows problems over welfare comparison and norm enforcement to be tackled in a manner that resolves the long debate between utilitarianism and egalitarianism.Less
This book attempts to create an evolutionary theory of fairness. Sharing food is commonplace in the animal kingdom because it insures animals that share against hunger. Anthropologists report that hunter-gatherer societies which survived into the 20th century shared on a very egalitarian basis. What can such information tell us about the sense of fairness with which modern man is born? Using game theory as a basic tool, the book argues that fairness norms should be seen as a device for selecting an efficient equilibrium in the human game of life. Evolutionary arguments are then used to argue that the deep structure of this device resembles the original position formulated by John Rawls in his Theory of Justice. Such an evolutionary framework allows problems over welfare comparison and norm enforcement to be tackled in a manner that resolves the long debate between utilitarianism and egalitarianism.
Gordon Campbell, Thomas N. Corns, John K. Hale, and Fiona J. Tweedie
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199296491
- eISBN:
- 9780191711923
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296491.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Milton Studies
This chapter covers the discovery of the manuscript, its initial attribution, the controversy that this provoked, and the controversy which developed towards the end of the last century.
This chapter covers the discovery of the manuscript, its initial attribution, the controversy that this provoked, and the controversy which developed towards the end of the last century.
Wallace Matson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199812691
- eISBN:
- 9780199919420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812691.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Organic Darwinian evolution is over, having been brought to an end by the vast explosion of technology that enables people to determine which species shall survive and which perish. This includes the ...
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Organic Darwinian evolution is over, having been brought to an end by the vast explosion of technology that enables people to determine which species shall survive and which perish. This includes the evolution of people themselves. Though we live now in groups of many millions, the evolutionary stage at which we are stuck is that of the forty-member hunter-gatherer band. Edifying high beliefs, providentially there already when agriculture and civilization began, took on vastly enhanced importance as the social glue making cities and states and empires possible. And instead of the individual shaman of the band, civilization required and produced a class of professional priests, whose prestige and livelihood was bound up with the preservation of high beliefs.Political units in Egypt and the East were huge, whereas in the West they seldom exceeded the bounds of individual cities. This difference had a profound effect on the conceptions of the universe current in them.Less
Organic Darwinian evolution is over, having been brought to an end by the vast explosion of technology that enables people to determine which species shall survive and which perish. This includes the evolution of people themselves. Though we live now in groups of many millions, the evolutionary stage at which we are stuck is that of the forty-member hunter-gatherer band. Edifying high beliefs, providentially there already when agriculture and civilization began, took on vastly enhanced importance as the social glue making cities and states and empires possible. And instead of the individual shaman of the band, civilization required and produced a class of professional priests, whose prestige and livelihood was bound up with the preservation of high beliefs.Political units in Egypt and the East were huge, whereas in the West they seldom exceeded the bounds of individual cities. This difference had a profound effect on the conceptions of the universe current in them.
Wallace Matson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199812691
- eISBN:
- 9780199919420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812691.003.0025
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Humankind, still adapted to the hunter-gatherer life, has moved with astonishing speed into an utterly different lifestyle, offering numerous advantages but also multiplying dangers: civilization. ...
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Humankind, still adapted to the hunter-gatherer life, has moved with astonishing speed into an utterly different lifestyle, offering numerous advantages but also multiplying dangers: civilization. The Milesians added science, which translated into advanced technologies. Is this progress? Certainly, in a way. But on the whole, and sub specie aeternitatis, a good thing for animals like us? Alas, probably not. Having attained a glimpse of The Grand Unified Theory of Everything is the highest achievement of the human spirit, but …Less
Humankind, still adapted to the hunter-gatherer life, has moved with astonishing speed into an utterly different lifestyle, offering numerous advantages but also multiplying dangers: civilization. The Milesians added science, which translated into advanced technologies. Is this progress? Certainly, in a way. But on the whole, and sub specie aeternitatis, a good thing for animals like us? Alas, probably not. Having attained a glimpse of The Grand Unified Theory of Everything is the highest achievement of the human spirit, but …
Nicholas P. Cushner
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195307566
- eISBN:
- 9780199784936
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195307569.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
The purpose of this book is to explain how Christianity replaced Native American belief systems in 16th-century America. The use of the confessionario was important in Christian evangelization but ...
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The purpose of this book is to explain how Christianity replaced Native American belief systems in 16th-century America. The use of the confessionario was important in Christian evangelization but coercion, the Devil, and Agriculturalist vs. Hunter-Gatherer societies were major elements in the replacement.Less
The purpose of this book is to explain how Christianity replaced Native American belief systems in 16th-century America. The use of the confessionario was important in Christian evangelization but coercion, the Devil, and Agriculturalist vs. Hunter-Gatherer societies were major elements in the replacement.
David Wengrow
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691159041
- eISBN:
- 9781400848867
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691159041.003.0003
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology
This chapter examines composite animals as counterfactual images by focusing on a school of evolutionary psychology called the “epidemiology of culture.” Experimental studies show that the cognitive ...
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This chapter examines composite animals as counterfactual images by focusing on a school of evolutionary psychology called the “epidemiology of culture.” Experimental studies show that the cognitive processing of animal forms is highly sensitized to part-whole relations, such that a total presence may be inferred from quite limited visual cues. Pictures of animals—even when jumbled, distorted, or incomplete—may therefore activate neural pathways attuned to the recognition and differentiation of living kinds. Such observations make it possible to build bridges between the cognition of images and theories of cultural transmission. The chapter introduces a number of comparative observations on the status of composites in the visual arts of hunter-gatherers.Less
This chapter examines composite animals as counterfactual images by focusing on a school of evolutionary psychology called the “epidemiology of culture.” Experimental studies show that the cognitive processing of animal forms is highly sensitized to part-whole relations, such that a total presence may be inferred from quite limited visual cues. Pictures of animals—even when jumbled, distorted, or incomplete—may therefore activate neural pathways attuned to the recognition and differentiation of living kinds. Such observations make it possible to build bridges between the cognition of images and theories of cultural transmission. The chapter introduces a number of comparative observations on the status of composites in the visual arts of hunter-gatherers.
David Wengrow
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691159041
- eISBN:
- 9781400848867
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691159041.003.0004
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology
This chapter considers the case for a much earlier beginning to the composite's story, among the hunter-gatherers and villagers of remote prehistory. It has been suggested that “imaginary animals,” ...
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This chapter considers the case for a much earlier beginning to the composite's story, among the hunter-gatherers and villagers of remote prehistory. It has been suggested that “imaginary animals,” “monsters,” and composite figures are found throughout the Upper Paleolithic art tradition that flourished among hunter-gatherers of the last Ice Age, between around 40,000 and 10,000 years ago. That tradition, or better complex of traditions, is most richly documented across a broad swath of southern Europe, on what were then the fringes of a vast steppe bordering the zone of maximum glaciation. The chapter first examines the frequency of composites among the surviving corpus of Paleolithic art, along with the significance of such images in the ritual life of prehistoric societies, before discussing the development of pictorial art in the later Neolithic of the Near East. It also describes animal figures in predynastic Egypt.Less
This chapter considers the case for a much earlier beginning to the composite's story, among the hunter-gatherers and villagers of remote prehistory. It has been suggested that “imaginary animals,” “monsters,” and composite figures are found throughout the Upper Paleolithic art tradition that flourished among hunter-gatherers of the last Ice Age, between around 40,000 and 10,000 years ago. That tradition, or better complex of traditions, is most richly documented across a broad swath of southern Europe, on what were then the fringes of a vast steppe bordering the zone of maximum glaciation. The chapter first examines the frequency of composites among the surviving corpus of Paleolithic art, along with the significance of such images in the ritual life of prehistoric societies, before discussing the development of pictorial art in the later Neolithic of the Near East. It also describes animal figures in predynastic Egypt.
Ken Binmore
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195178111
- eISBN:
- 9780199783670
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195178111.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Microeconomics
This chapter reviews the relevant anthropology, starting with the apparent universality of the golden rule — do as you would be done by — in hunter-gatherer societies. It points out that all pure ...
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This chapter reviews the relevant anthropology, starting with the apparent universality of the golden rule — do as you would be done by — in hunter-gatherer societies. It points out that all pure foraging societies have two properties: they do not tolerate bosses, and they share very fairly. A putative explanation of the first property is offered that appeals to the game theory discipline of mechanism design. The second property is explained as an evolutionary consequence of the implicit insurance contracts that are common in animals as ahedge against hunger and starvation. If so, then we have an argument in support of the contention that Rawls' original position captures the deep structure of fairness norms wired into our brains. The analogy with Chomsky's deep structure of language is close.Less
This chapter reviews the relevant anthropology, starting with the apparent universality of the golden rule — do as you would be done by — in hunter-gatherer societies. It points out that all pure foraging societies have two properties: they do not tolerate bosses, and they share very fairly. A putative explanation of the first property is offered that appeals to the game theory discipline of mechanism design. The second property is explained as an evolutionary consequence of the implicit insurance contracts that are common in animals as ahedge against hunger and starvation. If so, then we have an argument in support of the contention that Rawls' original position captures the deep structure of fairness norms wired into our brains. The analogy with Chomsky's deep structure of language is close.
Peter Carruthers
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199207077
- eISBN:
- 9780191708909
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207077.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This chapter sketches a modularist account of the human capacity for abduction (or ‘inference to the best explanation’), which Fodor has argued must provide a decisive stumbling block to progress in ...
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This chapter sketches a modularist account of the human capacity for abduction (or ‘inference to the best explanation’), which Fodor has argued must provide a decisive stumbling block to progress in cognitive science for the foreseeable future. It first isolates the main cognitive ingredients in scientific ability, which include a capacity for creative hypothesis formation and for flexible System 2 reasoning in addition to abduction. It argues that these are all displayed by contemporary (and presumably ancestral) hunter-gatherers in their tracking of prey animals while hunting, but that they are not displayed in human infants, contrary to what has been claimed by many developmental psychologists. The chapter suggests that abduction may piggy-back on capacities that evolved for the evaluation of linguistic testimony, and on preferences that evolved to govern efficiency and relevance in communication.Less
This chapter sketches a modularist account of the human capacity for abduction (or ‘inference to the best explanation’), which Fodor has argued must provide a decisive stumbling block to progress in cognitive science for the foreseeable future. It first isolates the main cognitive ingredients in scientific ability, which include a capacity for creative hypothesis formation and for flexible System 2 reasoning in addition to abduction. It argues that these are all displayed by contemporary (and presumably ancestral) hunter-gatherers in their tracking of prey animals while hunting, but that they are not displayed in human infants, contrary to what has been claimed by many developmental psychologists. The chapter suggests that abduction may piggy-back on capacities that evolved for the evaluation of linguistic testimony, and on preferences that evolved to govern efficiency and relevance in communication.
Alasdair Whittle and Vicki Cummings (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264140
- eISBN:
- 9780191734489
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264140.001.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
The processes involved in the transformation of society from Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to Neolithic farmers were complex. They involved changes not only in subsistence but also in how people ...
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The processes involved in the transformation of society from Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to Neolithic farmers were complex. They involved changes not only in subsistence but also in how people thought about themselves and their worlds, from their pasts to their animals. Two sets of protagonists have often been lined up in the long-running debates about these processes: on the one hand incoming farmers and on the other indigenous hunter-gatherers. Both have found advocates as the dominant force in the transitions to a new way of life. North-west Europe presents a very rich data set for this fundamental change, and research has both extended and deepened our knowledge of regional sequences, from the sixth to the fourth millennia bc. One of the most striking results is the evident diversity from northern Spain to southern Scandinavia. No one region is quite like another; hunter-gatherers and early farmers alike were also varied and the old labels of Mesolithic and Neolithic are increasingly inadequate to capture the diversity of human agency and belief. Surveys of the most recent evidence presented here also strongly suggest a diversity of transformations. Some cases of colonization on the one hand and indigenous adoption on the other can still be argued, but many situations now seem to involve complex fusions and mixtures. This wide-ranging set of papers offers an overview of this fundamental transition.Less
The processes involved in the transformation of society from Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to Neolithic farmers were complex. They involved changes not only in subsistence but also in how people thought about themselves and their worlds, from their pasts to their animals. Two sets of protagonists have often been lined up in the long-running debates about these processes: on the one hand incoming farmers and on the other indigenous hunter-gatherers. Both have found advocates as the dominant force in the transitions to a new way of life. North-west Europe presents a very rich data set for this fundamental change, and research has both extended and deepened our knowledge of regional sequences, from the sixth to the fourth millennia bc. One of the most striking results is the evident diversity from northern Spain to southern Scandinavia. No one region is quite like another; hunter-gatherers and early farmers alike were also varied and the old labels of Mesolithic and Neolithic are increasingly inadequate to capture the diversity of human agency and belief. Surveys of the most recent evidence presented here also strongly suggest a diversity of transformations. Some cases of colonization on the one hand and indigenous adoption on the other can still be argued, but many situations now seem to involve complex fusions and mixtures. This wide-ranging set of papers offers an overview of this fundamental transition.
Andrew R. Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195321289
- eISBN:
- 9780199869855
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195321289.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
In his noted book Culture Wars, James Davison Hunter referred to a series of linked disputes in late 20th‐century American society, disputes that involve government but are at their root about ...
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In his noted book Culture Wars, James Davison Hunter referred to a series of linked disputes in late 20th‐century American society, disputes that involve government but are at their root about fundamentally conflicting moral worldviews. This chapter explores the role played by the jeremiad in the American culture wars. It opens by considering two participants in these culture wars—Pat Buchanan and Bill Moyers—and then moves on to a consideration of the ways that cultural politics provide compelling plots for American Jeremiahs to organize their narratives of decline and renewal.Less
In his noted book Culture Wars, James Davison Hunter referred to a series of linked disputes in late 20th‐century American society, disputes that involve government but are at their root about fundamentally conflicting moral worldviews. This chapter explores the role played by the jeremiad in the American culture wars. It opens by considering two participants in these culture wars—Pat Buchanan and Bill Moyers—and then moves on to a consideration of the ways that cultural politics provide compelling plots for American Jeremiahs to organize their narratives of decline and renewal.
Philip Lambert
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195390070
- eISBN:
- 9780199863570
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195390070.003.0009
- Subject:
- Music, Theory, Analysis, Composition, Popular
This final chapter surveys the separate professional lives of Bock and Harnick since their partnership dissolved in the early 1970s. Jerry Bock has worked as his own lyricist and written songs for ...
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This final chapter surveys the separate professional lives of Bock and Harnick since their partnership dissolved in the early 1970s. Jerry Bock has worked as his own lyricist and written songs for concept albums and a feature film (Sidney Lumet’s A Stranger Among Us). He has worked on two major musicals that were never fully staged, one a murder-mystery (with author Evan Hunter), the other based on the tax code (with Jerry Sterner). He also wrote a successful series of musicals for young audiences (with Sidney Berger). Sheldon Harnick has branched out into opera (with composers Jack Beeson and Henry Mollicone) and translations (of Ravel, Bizet, and Lehár). His activities in the musical theater since the 1970s include writing lyrics with Richard Rodgers (Rex), book and lyrics with Michel Legrand (A Christmas Carol) and Joe Raposo (A Wonderful Life), and book, music, and lyrics for Dragons, based on Yevgeny Schwartz’s political fable.Less
This final chapter surveys the separate professional lives of Bock and Harnick since their partnership dissolved in the early 1970s. Jerry Bock has worked as his own lyricist and written songs for concept albums and a feature film (Sidney Lumet’s A Stranger Among Us). He has worked on two major musicals that were never fully staged, one a murder-mystery (with author Evan Hunter), the other based on the tax code (with Jerry Sterner). He also wrote a successful series of musicals for young audiences (with Sidney Berger). Sheldon Harnick has branched out into opera (with composers Jack Beeson and Henry Mollicone) and translations (of Ravel, Bizet, and Lehár). His activities in the musical theater since the 1970s include writing lyrics with Richard Rodgers (Rex), book and lyrics with Michel Legrand (A Christmas Carol) and Joe Raposo (A Wonderful Life), and book, music, and lyrics for Dragons, based on Yevgeny Schwartz’s political fable.
Alasdair Whittle and Vicki Cummings
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264140
- eISBN:
- 9780191734489
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264140.003.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the significance of the transition from hunter-gatherer existence to farming society. It raises the following question: What if we started ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the significance of the transition from hunter-gatherer existence to farming society. It raises the following question: What if we started with the radical premise that most or all societies in the post-glacial period – whatever their subsistence or technological base – were normally in a state of transformation, which would offer a quite different perspective on the holy grail of finding moments of Mesolithic–Neolithic transition? The chapter then sets out the focus of the book, namely the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the significance of the transition from hunter-gatherer existence to farming society. It raises the following question: What if we started with the radical premise that most or all societies in the post-glacial period – whatever their subsistence or technological base – were normally in a state of transformation, which would offer a quite different perspective on the holy grail of finding moments of Mesolithic–Neolithic transition? The chapter then sets out the focus of the book, namely the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe.
Alan Barnard
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264140
- eISBN:
- 9780191734489
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264140.003.0002
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
This chapter begins by outlining two proposed modes of thought, which are characterized by opposite perceptions in at least four domains: saving versus consumption (which reflect notions of time and ...
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This chapter begins by outlining two proposed modes of thought, which are characterized by opposite perceptions in at least four domains: saving versus consumption (which reflect notions of time and work); decision-making and political hierarchy; degree and kind of kin category extension; and notions of land, place, and settlement. All of these have implications for understanding group structure, transhumance, migration, and so on. The chapter then addresses the question of whether Mesolithic thought persisted into the Neolithic. It argues that mode of thought is much slower to change than mode of production. Social relations retain the structures of hunter-gatherer times if these are deeply rooted in cultural understandings of sociality. The existence nearby of agro-pastoralists does not make former hunter-gatherers think more like agro-pastoralists; it may even accentuate the differences in their thinking by making each side more aware of what makes them, say, Mesolithic or Neolithic.Less
This chapter begins by outlining two proposed modes of thought, which are characterized by opposite perceptions in at least four domains: saving versus consumption (which reflect notions of time and work); decision-making and political hierarchy; degree and kind of kin category extension; and notions of land, place, and settlement. All of these have implications for understanding group structure, transhumance, migration, and so on. The chapter then addresses the question of whether Mesolithic thought persisted into the Neolithic. It argues that mode of thought is much slower to change than mode of production. Social relations retain the structures of hunter-gatherer times if these are deeply rooted in cultural understandings of sociality. The existence nearby of agro-pastoralists does not make former hunter-gatherers think more like agro-pastoralists; it may even accentuate the differences in their thinking by making each side more aware of what makes them, say, Mesolithic or Neolithic.
Ian Simmons
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262863
- eISBN:
- 9780191734076
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262863.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Population and Demography
The domestication of the earth entails the enfolding of ‘nature’ into human life and society. This chapter focuses on the millennia of the Holocene, when human societies consisted of food collectors ...
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The domestication of the earth entails the enfolding of ‘nature’ into human life and society. This chapter focuses on the millennia of the Holocene, when human societies consisted of food collectors and agriculturalists who essentially lived off recently fixed solar energy. In the course of its last 100 years, geography has from time to time taken in, and focused its attention on, diverse approaches to its subject matter. But as a ground bass to these variations, the relation between humans and the environment has persisted, though sometimes virtually at sotto voce level. In part, geography's attention has concentrated on landscapes as visible demonstrations, past and present, of these interrelations, but it has also taken an approach based explicitly on late-twentieth-century ecological theory. This chapter examines humans as hunter-gatherers during prehistoric times, along with the emergence of agriculture in Britain.Less
The domestication of the earth entails the enfolding of ‘nature’ into human life and society. This chapter focuses on the millennia of the Holocene, when human societies consisted of food collectors and agriculturalists who essentially lived off recently fixed solar energy. In the course of its last 100 years, geography has from time to time taken in, and focused its attention on, diverse approaches to its subject matter. But as a ground bass to these variations, the relation between humans and the environment has persisted, though sometimes virtually at sotto voce level. In part, geography's attention has concentrated on landscapes as visible demonstrations, past and present, of these interrelations, but it has also taken an approach based explicitly on late-twentieth-century ecological theory. This chapter examines humans as hunter-gatherers during prehistoric times, along with the emergence of agriculture in Britain.
Grégor Marchand
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264140
- eISBN:
- 9780191734489
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264140.003.0012
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
This chapter considers the Neolithic transition of western France through the relationships between communities of hunter-gatherers and those of farmers. The intention is not so much to place farming ...
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This chapter considers the Neolithic transition of western France through the relationships between communities of hunter-gatherers and those of farmers. The intention is not so much to place farming pioneers and natives in opposition, but rather to reflect on the traces left by the interactions between technical systems during the ‘availability’ phase. The area considered stretches from the Seine to the Garonne, during the period in broad terms from 5500 to 4700 cal bc. The meeting of the two main currents of the west-European Neolithic expansion, coupled with the continued existence (chronologically ill defined) of Mesolithic groups, created a mosaic process that we are only beginning to analyse, region by region.Less
This chapter considers the Neolithic transition of western France through the relationships between communities of hunter-gatherers and those of farmers. The intention is not so much to place farming pioneers and natives in opposition, but rather to reflect on the traces left by the interactions between technical systems during the ‘availability’ phase. The area considered stretches from the Seine to the Garonne, during the period in broad terms from 5500 to 4700 cal bc. The meeting of the two main currents of the west-European Neolithic expansion, coupled with the continued existence (chronologically ill defined) of Mesolithic groups, created a mosaic process that we are only beginning to analyse, region by region.
Chris Scarre
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264140
- eISBN:
- 9780191734489
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264140.003.0013
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
The suggestion that monuments were not a feature of the initial Neolithic poses anew the question of the Mesolithic contribution to the earliest Neolithic of Atlantic Europe. Put bluntly, are these ...
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The suggestion that monuments were not a feature of the initial Neolithic poses anew the question of the Mesolithic contribution to the earliest Neolithic of Atlantic Europe. Put bluntly, are these monuments the consequence of contact and acculturation between incoming farmers and indigenous hunter-gatherers, as was envisaged twenty years ago? If so, what was the nature of the Mesolithic contribution? Was it the forms of the monuments themselves, or did it lie more generally in attitudes to materials, places, and landscape? This chapter suggests that the craggy landscapes of Atlantic Europe may have inspired the construction of megalithic monuments. The new monumentality could as well have been the response of incoming farming communities to these landscapes, however, as a transformation in the behaviour of indigenous foraging groups, who may have envisaged these landscapes in entirely different ways. The landscape beliefs of Mesolithic communities might have played a role in the inception of megaliths, but the scarcity of Mesolithic monuments and the presence of a ‘premonument’ Neolithic suggests that it was the advent of farming groups or farming ideologies that laid the crucial foundations.Less
The suggestion that monuments were not a feature of the initial Neolithic poses anew the question of the Mesolithic contribution to the earliest Neolithic of Atlantic Europe. Put bluntly, are these monuments the consequence of contact and acculturation between incoming farmers and indigenous hunter-gatherers, as was envisaged twenty years ago? If so, what was the nature of the Mesolithic contribution? Was it the forms of the monuments themselves, or did it lie more generally in attitudes to materials, places, and landscape? This chapter suggests that the craggy landscapes of Atlantic Europe may have inspired the construction of megalithic monuments. The new monumentality could as well have been the response of incoming farming communities to these landscapes, however, as a transformation in the behaviour of indigenous foraging groups, who may have envisaged these landscapes in entirely different ways. The landscape beliefs of Mesolithic communities might have played a role in the inception of megaliths, but the scarcity of Mesolithic monuments and the presence of a ‘premonument’ Neolithic suggests that it was the advent of farming groups or farming ideologies that laid the crucial foundations.
Philippe Crombé and Bart Vanmontfort
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264140
- eISBN:
- 9780191734489
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264140.003.0014
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
This chapter focuses on the neolithization process in two different landscape zones of the Scheldt basin extending over western Belgium: first, the northern coversand lowland bordering the Atlantic ...
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This chapter focuses on the neolithization process in two different landscape zones of the Scheldt basin extending over western Belgium: first, the northern coversand lowland bordering the Atlantic coast; and second, the southern loess area of Middle Belgium. Although the neolithization of both areas seems to have had a different course, there is evidence of continuous and increasing contact and interaction between population groups occupying each region. In the loess hill land, neolithization can be distinguished in two phases, separated by an archaeological hiatus of several centuries. The first phase is related to the arrival of the Linearbandkeramik (LBK) and the Groupe de Blicquy (BQY), while the second is connected with the Michelsberg culture (MK) occupation of the area. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine the place of local hunter-gatherers in this process. In the sandy lowland, on the other hand, Mesolithic hunter-gatherers culturally belonging to the Swifterbant culture seem to have survived much longer, probably until the end of the fifth millennium cal bc.Less
This chapter focuses on the neolithization process in two different landscape zones of the Scheldt basin extending over western Belgium: first, the northern coversand lowland bordering the Atlantic coast; and second, the southern loess area of Middle Belgium. Although the neolithization of both areas seems to have had a different course, there is evidence of continuous and increasing contact and interaction between population groups occupying each region. In the loess hill land, neolithization can be distinguished in two phases, separated by an archaeological hiatus of several centuries. The first phase is related to the arrival of the Linearbandkeramik (LBK) and the Groupe de Blicquy (BQY), while the second is connected with the Michelsberg culture (MK) occupation of the area. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine the place of local hunter-gatherers in this process. In the sandy lowland, on the other hand, Mesolithic hunter-gatherers culturally belonging to the Swifterbant culture seem to have survived much longer, probably until the end of the fifth millennium cal bc.
Steven Mithen, Anne Pirie, Sam Smith, and Karen Wicks
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264140
- eISBN:
- 9780191734489
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264140.003.0025
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
Although both the Mesolithic and Neolithic of western Scotland have been studied since the early 20th century, our knowledge of both periods remains limited, as does our understanding of the ...
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Although both the Mesolithic and Neolithic of western Scotland have been studied since the early 20th century, our knowledge of both periods remains limited, as does our understanding of the transition between them – whether this is entirely cultural in nature or involves the arrival of new Neolithic populations and the demise of the indigenous Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. The existing data provide seemingly contradictory evidence, with that from dietary analysis of skeletal remains suggesting population replacement and that from settlement and technology indicating continuity. After reviewing this evidence, this chapter briefly describes ongoing fieldwork in the Inner Hebrides that aims to gain a more complete understanding of Mesolithic settlement patterns, without which there can only be limited progress on understanding the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition.Less
Although both the Mesolithic and Neolithic of western Scotland have been studied since the early 20th century, our knowledge of both periods remains limited, as does our understanding of the transition between them – whether this is entirely cultural in nature or involves the arrival of new Neolithic populations and the demise of the indigenous Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. The existing data provide seemingly contradictory evidence, with that from dietary analysis of skeletal remains suggesting population replacement and that from settlement and technology indicating continuity. After reviewing this evidence, this chapter briefly describes ongoing fieldwork in the Inner Hebrides that aims to gain a more complete understanding of Mesolithic settlement patterns, without which there can only be limited progress on understanding the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition.
Sönke Hartz, Harald Lübke, and Thomas Terberger
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264140
- eISBN:
- 9780191734489
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264140.003.0027
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
The border between the Mesolithic and the Neolithic in Central Europe is traditionally defined on the basis of subsistence strategy. It is the development from hunter-gatherer groups in the forests ...
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The border between the Mesolithic and the Neolithic in Central Europe is traditionally defined on the basis of subsistence strategy. It is the development from hunter-gatherer groups in the forests of the early Holocene to the first farmers. The debate on the character of this process has been going on for over 100 years. This chapter presents results of new research on this subject, with an emphasis on northern Germany.Less
The border between the Mesolithic and the Neolithic in Central Europe is traditionally defined on the basis of subsistence strategy. It is the development from hunter-gatherer groups in the forests of the early Holocene to the first farmers. The debate on the character of this process has been going on for over 100 years. This chapter presents results of new research on this subject, with an emphasis on northern Germany.
