Settlement and Economy in the Paleolithic and the Mesolithic

Pre-requisites: None

Course objectives: Familiarization with the archaeological record regarding the settlement system and provisioning with resources in the Paleolithic and the Mesolithic.

Course description: The course covers the reconstruction and a wider interpretation of the settlement system and the way of making provisions in the Paleolithic and the Mesolithic. This entails: a.) A general insight in the way of life of hunter gatherers b.) An insight into the theoretical and methodological frameworks used in the study of economy and settlement c.) An overview of the state of conservation and the amount of excavations at certain sites representing different periods, d.) Analyzing archaeological and paleoecological data necessary for an overview of the activities of human groups in their settlement and its surroundings, e.) Discussing the character and reason for changes which happened in the Paleolithic and the Mesolithic.

Learning Outcomes: Esssay and oral examination.

Settlement and Economy in the Paleolithic and the Mesolithic

Pre-requisites: None

Course objectives: Familiarization with the archaeological record regarding the settlement system and provisioning with resources in the Paleolithic and the Mesolithic.

Course description: The course covers the reconstruction and a wider interpretation of the settlement system and the way of making provisions in the Paleolithic and the Mesolithic. This entails: a.) A general insight in the way of life of hunter gatherers b.) An insight into the theoretical and methodological frameworks used in the study of economy and settlement c.) An overview of the state of conservation and the amount of excavations at certain sites representing different periods, d.) Analyzing archaeological and paleoecological data necessary for an overview of the activities of human groups in their settlement and its surroundings, e.) Discussing the character and reason for changes which happened in the Paleolithic and the Mesolithic.

Learning Outcomes: Esssay and oral examination.

Literature/Reading:

• G. Bailey (ed.) 1983, Hunter-gatherer Economy in Prehistory – a European perspective, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
• L. R. Binford 1983, In Pursuit of the Past – Decoding the Archaeological Record, Thames and Hudson, New York, 33-76.
• Bonsall, C., Lennon, R., McSweeney, K., Stewart, C., Harkness, D., Boroneant, V., Bartosiewicz, L., Payton, R. and Chapman, J. (1997): Mesolithic and Early Neolithic in the Iron Gates: a paleodietary
• C. Butzer 1982, Archaeology as Human Ecology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
• D. Clarke 1978, Mesolithic Europe: the Economic Basis, Duckworth, London
• L. Freeman 2001, Were There Scavangers at Torralba, u D. West (ed.) Proceedings of the International Conference on Mammoth Site Studies, Publications in Archaeology 22, University of Kansas, Lawrence,
• C. Gamble 1986, The Palaeolithic Settlement of Europe, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 28-68.
• C. Gamble 1999, The Palaeolithic Societies of Europe, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 68-80.
• C. S. Gamble, W. A. Boismier (eds.) Etnoarchaeological Approach to Mobile Campsites, International Monographs in Prehistory, Etnoarchaeological Series 1, Ann Arbor – Michigan 1991
• Hodder, C. Orton 1976, Spatial Analysis in Archaeology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
• M.A. Jochim 1976, Hunter-gatherer Subsistence and Settlement – A Predictive Model, Academic Press, New York – Sanf Francisco – London
• I. Radovanović, The Iron Gates Mesolithic, International Monographs in Prehistory, Ann Arbor – Michigan, 1996.
• M. P. Richards, P. B. Pettitt, E. Trinkaus, F. H. Smith, M. Paunović 2000, Neanderthal diet at Vindija and Neanderthal predation: The evidence from stable isotopes, Proceedings of the National Ac
• M. Sahlins 1974, Stone Age Economics, Tavistock Publications Ltd, London
• O. Soffer1985, The Upper Palaeolithic of the Central Russian Plain, Academic Press inc., San Diego