The Early Neolithic LBK Communities in the Tusznica River Valley. Social Aspects of Settlement Changes

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

A group of LBK settlements located in a valley of the Tusznica river is one of the best recognized settlement complexes in Central Europe. Settlements that are a part of it are characterized by a quite differentiated built-up area arrangement and houses changeability over time, which I will interpret referring to social changes. The more complex interpretation of the phenomenon of changing the built environment requires a different look at what houses and households in the LBK were. To me, a vision of a house inhabited by only one generation by a nuclear family suited the concept of LBK communities as peaceful farmers. Discoveries of objects that testify to armed conflicts within the LBK, and results of the research on diet, finally invalidated this picture. The latest research also showed that the potential reasons for conflict could have been rivalry and inequality between the households relating to access to the most valuable agricultural areas. We gain additional interpretation possibilities of this phenomenon while looking from the above perspective at changeability in the LBK built environment. Therefore, we can look at the changing picture of LBK village built-up areas as an arena of rivalry between households and its changeable effects.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25345