AEA_30 Europe in the Neolithic and Aeneolithic

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2014
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Inna Mateiciucová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Jan Kolář, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Zdeněk Měřínský, CSc.
Department of Archaeology and Museology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jitka Šibíčková
Supplier department: Department of Archaeology and Museology – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 12:30–14:05 K12 nerezervovat
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course is proceeding on the Neolithic and Aeneolithic of Central Europe and it will enable the students to extend their factographic knowledge of the Neolithic and Aeneolithic periods from an all-European view. It is focused on the rise and development of the Neolithic and Aeneolithic in Europe with special regard to the origins of the Neolithic in the Near East (ca 12 300 – 2 500 BC). Special attention is paid to Epipalaeolithic and Mesolithic hunters and gatherers in the time of climatic changes at the end of the Ice Age, and to the beginnings of the domestication of man, animal and plant. An enhanced attention is also paid to the development of the Neolithic in SE Europe, which is confronted with the onset of the Neolithic in Central Europe. A larger space is also granted to megalithic buildings in West Mediterranean and NW Europe in the 4th-3rd mill. BC and their significance. In particular lectures the students will get acquainted with the material culture and way of life of postglacial hunters and gatherers and early farmers in various parts of Europe and in the Near East. Emphasis is also placed on new radiocarbon dates and synchronisation between particular European regions. At the end of the lecture course the students should: 1) gain a solid knowledge of the Neolithic and Aeneolithic in various parts of Europe; 2) be able to evaluate the Neolithic and Aeneolithic development of particular regions within a wider European social and cultural context; 3) be able to orientate themselves critically in the most important scientific hypothesises; 4) have the basic overview of the most important literature about this period.
Syllabus
  • 1. Beginnings of the Neolithic in the Near East. Epipalaeolithic hunters and gatherers, and the beginnings of domesticating animals and plants. Pre-Pottery Neolithic and the beginnings of manufacturing pottery. Monumental architecture. 2. Neolithic of the East Mediterranean (Cyprus, Crete, Cyclades, Mainland Greece - Franchthi Cave). 3. Neolithic of the West Mediterranean. Excursion: Temples of Malta. 4. Neolithic of SE Europe. Problems of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. Iron Gate. Tell settlements and their significance for the synchronisation of regions (Karanovo, Sesklo, Starčevo, Vinča). 5. Neolithic of Central Europe (complex Starčevo-Körös-Criş, Linear Pottery Culture and contemporaries, Lengyel Culture, complex of Stroked Pottery cultures). 6. Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic in North Europe and their specific development (Ertebølle – Ellerbek Culture and contemporaries). 7. Late Neolithic of SE Europe (Dimini, Gumelnica, Cucuteni-Tripolje, Vinča, Varna). 8. Early and Middle Aeneolithic of Central Europe (Epi-Lengyel cultures, Baden sphere). 9. 10. Lake dwellings and the Neolithic in SW Europe (Switzerland, France, N Italy, S Germany and W Austria). 11. Megalithic buildings in West and NW Europe in European context. 12. Late Aeneolithic of Europe (Bell Beaker Culture and Corded Ware cultures). 13. Ötzi and his world.
Literature
  • Ammermann, A. J. - Cavalli-Sforza, L. L. 1984: The Neolithic transition and the genetics of populations in Europe. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  • Bailey, D. W. 2000: Balkan Prehistory: Exclusion, Incorporation and Identity. London.
  • Bogucki, P. 1996: The spread of early farming in Europe. American scientist 84, 242-53.
  • Buchvaldek, M. - Košnar, L. – Lippert, A. 2007: Archeologický atlas pravěké Evropy. 2 svazky. Praha: Karolinum.
  • Hartz, S. - Heinrich, D. - Lübke, H. 2000: Frühe Bauern an der Küste. Neue C14 Daten und aktuelle Aspekte zum Neolithisierungsprozeß im Norddeutschen Ostseeküstengebiet. Prähist. Zeitschr. 75.
  • Karanovo : österreichisch-bulgarische Ausgrabungen und Forschungen in Karanovo. Edited by Stefan Hiller - Vasil Atanasov Nikolov. Wien: Phoibos, 2000, 437 s. ISBN 3901232192. info
  • Kozłowski, J. K. – Raczky, P. (ed.) 2007: The Lengyel, Polgár and related cultures in Central Europe. Kraków.
  • Lenneis, E. – Neugebauer-Maresch, Ch. – Ruttkay, E. 1995: Jungsteinzeit im Osten Österreichs. St.Pölten – Wien.
  • Lüning, J. 1982: Research into the bandkeramik settlement of the Aldenhovener Platte in the Rhineland. Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia 15, 1-29.
  • Lüning, J. - Kloos, U. - Albert, S. 1989: Die Keramikgruppen La Hoguette und Limburg. Germania 67/2, 355-420.
  • Mithen, S. 2006: Konec doby ledové. Dějiny lidstva od r. 20 000 do r. 5000 př. Kr.
  • Newell, R.R. - Constandse-Westermann, T. 1988: The significance of Skateholm 1 and Skateholm 2 to the mesolithic of western Europe (Amsterdam, I.P.P. 1988).
  • Perlès, C. 2001: The Early Neolithic in Greece. The First Farming Communities in Europe. Series: Cambridge World Archaeology.
  • Whittle, A. 1996: Europe in the Neolithic. The creation of new worlds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Whittle, A. W. R. and Bickle, P. eds. 2013. The first farmers of central Europe: diversity in LBK lifeways. Cardiff Studies in Archaeology. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
  • Zilhao, J. 1993 The spread of agro-pastoral economies acrosss Mediterranean Europe: View from the far west. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 6: 5-63.
Teaching methods
lectures and documentary films, class discussion
Assessment methods
Oral examination Requirements for the examination: a sound orientation in the issues of the European Neolithic and Aeneolithic; knowledge of the terminology and chronology of the individual groups of relics incl. the relevant literature. Å knowledge of the material culture sources of the studied period and territory.
Language of instruction
Czech
Follow-Up Courses
Further Comments
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2001, Spring 2002, Spring 2004, Spring 2006, Spring 2008, Spring 2010, Spring 2012, Spring 2016, Spring 2018, Spring 2020, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2014, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2014/AEA_30