Proceedings of the XV World Congress UISPP (Lisbon, 4-9 September 2006), Volume 48, Session C35

This book includes papers from Session C35, Neolithic and Chalcolithic Archaeology in Eurasia: Building Techniques and Spatial Organisation, presented at the XV UISPP World Congress, Lisbon, 4-9 September 2006.

The present volume is mainly the result of two symposia held at the European Archaeological Association meetings in Krakow (2006) and Zadar (2007), respectively, which gathered studies on the function, morphology, materiality, technology, ritual, function and context of figurines, whether made of clay, wood, metal, stone, bone or shell. Contents: Introduction: Small Worlds (Dragos Gheorghiu and Ann Cyphers); 1) Beyond Venus figurines: technical production and social practice in Pavlovian portable art (Rebecca A. Farbstein); 2) Dissentions: magnitude, usability and the oddness of Neolithic...

The present book explores the complexity of the past, by analysing the relationships between place, territory, the material value of objects and landscapes, time and ritual, during archaeological investigations. It presents the archaeology of place as a series of interconnecting and interactive relationships. It is clear that things and places do not emerge without some form of agency, usually through the concept of material manipulation, coupled with elaboration, innovation and time. Depending on the raw material used and the process of manipulation and its relationship with the environment,...