Journal of Neolithic Archaeology
https://www.offa-journal.org/index.php/jna
<p>The Journal of Neolithic Archaeology provides a scientific information platform on the archaeology of the Neolithic period. The articles are mainly in German and English, and for all articles English summaries and figure captions are available.</p> <p>The Journal was originally founded in 1999 as a pioneering web-based open access online journal. Since 2003, the Journal has been edited by an international team of archaeologists.</p> <p>This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. There is no publication fee charged.</p>Institute of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology, CAU Kielen-USJournal of Neolithic Archaeology2364-3676<p>Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:<br><br></p> <p>– Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" target="_new">Creative Commons Attribution License</a> that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.</p> <p>– Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.</p> <p>– Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See <a href="http://opcit.eprints.org/oacitation-biblio.html" target="_new">The Effect of Open Access</a>).</p>Tappeh Moeinabad. A Late Neolithic Site in the Varamin Plain, Iran
https://www.offa-journal.org/index.php/jna/article/view/1245
<p>Tappeh Moeinabad is a high mound located in the middle of the Varamin Plain. In 2006, a systematic survey was conducted by the first author and team, followed in 2010 and 2014 by soundings and in 2018 by the investigation of a profile near these soundings. This report summarizes the results of these seasons of archaeological work, describes the remains of architecture identified, and assigns dates to the systematic survey grid. We also investigate the chronology of the soundings with reference to their pottery as well as on the basis of <sup>14</sup>C dates. We document a very long prehistoric occupation sequence, paralleling periods Sialk I to II at Tappeh Sialk. According to our analysis, connections between Moeinabad and Tappeh Sialk were particularly close during the Sialk I,3 phase.</p>Morteza HessariReinhard BernbeckNolwen RolSusan PollockLisa Wolff-Heger
Copyright (c) 2024 Morteza Hessari, Reinhard Bernbeck, Nolwen Rol, Susan Pollock, Lisa Wolff-Heger
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2024-02-132024-02-131–291–2910.12766/jna.2024.1Transmission of Lithic and Ceramic Technical Know-how in the Early Neolithic of Central-Western Europe: Shedding Light on the Social Mechanisms Underlying Cultural Transition
https://www.offa-journal.org/index.php/jna/article/view/1235
<div class="page" title="Page 1"> <div class="layoutArea"> <div class="column"> <p>Research on European neolithisation agrees that a process of colonisation throughout the sixth millennium BCE underlies the spread of agricultural ways of life on the continent. From Central to Central-Western Europe, this colonisation path is characterised by one single cultural entity, the so-called Linear Pottery Culture (LBK). At the transition between the sixth and fifth millennia BCE, the LBK breaks apart into a mosaic of “post-LBK” cultural groups through mechanisms that are not entirely understood. To contribute to a better understanding of the social processes underlying this transition, we conduct an integrated analysis of the lithic and ceramic technical subsystems attributed to the LBK and the post-LBK in Middle Belgium, a region with unrivalled material evidence. We use the technical actions carried out by the early farmers to produce their lithic tool blanks and ceramics as proxies to shed light on (i) the modalities of technical know-how in intergenerational transmission, (ii) the possible exogenous influences within the technical system, and (iii) the trajectories of the social groups involved in the LBK-Blicquy/Villeneuve-Saint-Germain (BQY/VSG) transition. Our results reveal that several overlapping mechanisms were at work during this cultural transition. While lithic and ceramic general technical trends are clearly transmitted from one period to another attesting to a clear filiation between the LBK and the post-LBK, both the lithic and ceramic detailed sequences of technical actions tend to hybridise after the transition. This reveals close and prolonged interactions between groups of producers from different learning networks, most likely stemming from population mobility during the cultural transition.</p> </div> </div> </div>Solène DenisLouise GomartLaurence Burnez-LanottePierre Allard
Copyright (c) 2024 Solène Denis, Louise Gomart, Laurence Burnez-Lanotte, Pierre Allard
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2024-05-032024-05-0331–6331–6310.12766/jna.2024.2Rituals and Practices of Megalith Building: An Archaeological and Ethnographic Study of Megaliths in Oinam Village in Manipur, Northeast India
https://www.offa-journal.org/index.php/jna/article/view/1376
<p>Despite some reports of the living tradition of megalith building among a few communities in Northeast India, the rituals and practices involved in such undertakings have not been studied in detail. In this paper, I present the outcomes of an archaeological and ethnographic study of megaliths in Oinam, a village inhabited by the Poumai Naga tribe (a Tibeto-Burman ethnic community) in India’s northeastern state of Manipur. The practice of the erection of megaliths, albeit in modified forms, is also a living tradition in this village, offering avenues for multidisciplinary investigations. My survey documented and mapped 407 megaliths around Oinam, including 374 menhirs, 5 fallen menhirs, 2 slab graves, and 26 stone circles in the habitation areas and pathways descending from the village to the paddy fields. I also interviewed residents and documented the associated rituals and practices in megalith building. The study reveals that the motives behind the construction of megaliths and hosting feasts by sponsors are associated with ritual fulfilments and personal gratifications. However, while such endeavours are costly, they also bear features of economic redistribution of wealth in society and can be seen as an expression of the identity of Poumai Nagas of Oinam.</p>Oinam Premchand Singh
Copyright (c) 2024 Oinam Premchand Singh
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2024-05-032024-05-0365–8665–8610.12766/jna.2024.3Vasagård – Causewayed and Palisade Enclosures of the Middle Neolithic TRB Culture on Bornholm
https://www.offa-journal.org/index.php/jna/article/view/1451
<p><br />At the site Vasagård on the island of Bornholm a double causewayed enclosure dating from EN II to MN AIII is superseded by palisade enclosures constructed from the beginning of MN AV and covering a larger area. The transition from MN AIII to MN AV is dated to ca. 2900 BCE, without allowing for an intermediate period ‘MN AIV’, and regarded as a significant change in terms of artefact composition, ritual activities and possibly social organization. Within the palisade enclosures seven post circles were investigated. The material found in the postholes indicates that they are remains of cult houses, and that the rituals that took place there included destruction by burning of flint implements and other objects. Burnt, decorated daub from house walls emphasizes the special character of these buildings. The finds from Vasagård include hundreds of ‘sun stones’, small slabs of shale most of which are decorated with sun motives. Two stones with cup marks were found in contexts dating to respectively MN AIII and MN AV, indicating for the first time that cup marks were carved into stones as early as during the TRB Culture. Activities at the palisade enclosures came to an end ca. 2800BCE. On Bornholm, MN AV is followed by a later and final stage of the TRB Culture in MN BI, which is represented by the settlements Limensgård and Nordre Grødbygård and to some degree also Rispebjerg, the second site with palisade enclosures found on Bornholm.</p>Poul Otto NielsenFinn Ole Sonne NielsenMichael S. Thorsen
Copyright (c) 2024 Poul Otto Nielsen, Finn Ole Sonne Nielsen, Michael S. Thorsen
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2024-07-052024-07-0587–11487–11410.12766/jna.2024.4Everything Was Better in the Good Old Days: On the End of the LBK and the Emergence of Lengyel Culture Figurines
https://www.offa-journal.org/index.php/jna/article/view/1332
<p>The beginning of the 5<sup>th</sup> millennium cal BC saw profound changes, with the disintegration of the Linear Pottery culture (LBK) into smaller post-LBK cultural phenomena. The discussion about what brought about this shift is still ongoing, but it is clear that, although with regional variations, all aspects of society were affected, such as population density, house construction, pottery, flint distribution and other aspects. Violent events resulting in the deaths of numerous individuals also occurred. In this article, we seek to shed light on anthropomorphic figurines at the end of the LBK, which are similarly affected by changes: in the west, their use ceases, whilst in the east, especially in the Lengyel culture, the numbers of finds of these figurines increase dramatically. Lengyel figurines are, however, not just a simple continuation of LBK figurines. They show influences from the neighbouring Vinča culture, but also include traits that are reminiscent of the Starčevo culture several hundred years earlier, such as distorted body proportions and accentuated hips and buttocks, as well as typical and standardized breakage patterns. It seems that, in an attempt to cope, the post-LBK communities adopted different strategies: the west stopped using figurines, whereas the east hoped to manage the circumstances better with more figurines than ever before, thus returning to earlier practices.</p>Valeska BeckerCorina FiutakRebecca BristowRune Iversen
Copyright (c) 2024 Valeska Becker, Corina Fiutak, Rebecca Bristow, Rune Iversen
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2024-11-132024-11-13115–145115–14510.12766/jna.2024.5Population Dynamics and Socio-ecological Trajectories Explain the Emergence of Farming in Late Neolithic Southeast Norway
https://www.offa-journal.org/index.php/jna/article/view/1562
<p>This paper examines the emergence of farming in Late Neolithic Southeast Norway. A summed probability distribution of radiocarbon dates is used to infer population dynamics and together with a chronological model using dated samples from post-built houses, cultivation layers and cereal grains, it is argued that the introduction of farming was swift and caused by incoming farmers. It is further explored how a low population during the Middle Neolithic period, cause by shifting environmental conditions, was central to the rapid population shift and economic change seen in the Late Neolithic, from ca. 2200 cal BC.</p>Steinar Solheim
Copyright (c) 2024 Steinar Solheim
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2024-11-202024-11-20147–164147–16410.12766/jna.2024.6