ASB 222 Buried Cities and Lost Tribes Exam #2 Preparation
– Part B
Dr. Kostalena Michelaki Spring 2020
Agriculture – What is it? Why did we do it?
What evidence of
domestication do we see
at Aşıklı Höyük?
Rise of agriculture among
the Natufians hypotheses
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Domestication changes in the genotype and physical characteristics of plants and animals
Cultivation/herding requiring a deliberate change in the relationship between humans plants and animals
Agriculture the new relationship between humans, plants, and animals
Pathways to farming
1) farming arose independently
2) farming depended on crops and animals domesticated elsewhere
3) farming began with abrupt arrivals of foreign people, with foreign crops and animals
Plants Seed size: larger seeds develop early and provide more food
Thickness of seed coat: thinner coat = easier to process
Seed dispersal mechanisms: seeds dispersed across the plant with a variety of attachments to max dispersal
ASB 222 Buried Cities and Lost Tribes Exam #2 Preparation
– Part B
Dr. Kostalena Michelaki Spring 2020
Geographical dispersal: humans take plants into habitat they wouldn’t naturally appear and protect then, so
they can propagate more readily
Animals
Animal size: smaller (cattle)
Population characteristics: hunting profiles random. favor young males and older females
Osteological characteristics: less mobile, less arduous life
Geographical distribution: humans take animals into areas they do not naturally appear where they can
produce new traits
Why did agriculture
arise?
- agriculture was impossible before 10,000 years BP
- farming had far-reaching consequences on human populations
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How was farming
different?
- Sedentary mobility
- Permanent shelter
- Shorter birth spacing
ASB 222 Buried Cities and Lost Tribes Exam #2 Preparation
– Part B
Dr. Kostalena Michelaki Spring 2020
- greater environmental impact
- specialized diet
- heavy material culture
- storage
- very common specialization
- very common cemeteries
- hierarchical political organization
Neolithic – SW Asia (Levant, Mesopotamia, Anatolia)
What is the “agricultural
revolution”?
Why is Faynan considered
one of the most
significant sites?
Male and female social
ASB 222 Buried Cities and Lost Tribes Exam #2 Preparation
– Part B
Dr. Kostalena Michelaki Spring 2020
roles at Çatalhöyük
Younger Dryas short colling every between 10,800 - 9,600 BC
Neolithic in SW Asia
● large, long-lasting settlements
● closely packed, mud-brick, rectangular shaped houses
● non-hierarchial social structures
● dead burried in settlement
● some skulls removed and plastered and the buried again chaces
● sickles, mortar, and pestles, querns, and grinders
● weapons
● transition to agriculture
Why did the Neolithic -
ASB 222 Buried Cities and Lost Tribes Exam #2 Preparation
– Part B
Dr. Kostalena Michelaki Spring 2020
start in SW Asia? -
What do we know about
domestication at Abu
Hureyra?
1st domestication of rye, management of wild sheep
What do we know about
environmental
degradation at Ain
Ghazal?
environmental degradation, plastered statues
Çatalhöyük most burials fond under the floors of houses
Why did people moved to
smaller sites during the
Ceramic Neolithic?
soil erosion
Neolithic Europe – Balkans & Mediterranean
What are five (5) general
characteristics of the
spread of farming to
Europe?
1) movement likely took many forms
2) little evidence for planned mass migration
3) small movement
ASB 222 Buried Cities and Lost Tribes Exam #2 Preparation
– Part B
Dr. Kostalena Michelaki Spring 2020
4) movements slow down when they encounter different environments
5) depended on their ecological and social needs and desires
Explain what is meant by
“the spread of the
Neolithic in Europe was
‘patchy’?”
Europe was not occupied in an even way by complex hunter-gathers previously
diverse continent (climate and conditions)
ASB 222 Buried Cities and Lost Tribes Exam #2 Preparation
– Part B
Dr. Kostalena Michelaki Spring 2020
In general, how did
farming spread across
Europe chronologically?
(in terms of ‘timing’)
How was the spread of
farming in Europe a
“mosaic?”
(Did the spread of
agriculture across Europe
involve the spread of
farming groups, or the
rapid enclave migration of small groups and local forager acculturation
ASB 222 Buried Cities and Lost Tribes Exam #2 Preparation
– Part B
Dr. Kostalena Michelaki Spring 2020
adoption of farming by
indigenous hunter-
gatherer populations?)
What were the
characteristics of the
Mediterranean
Mesolithic as exemplified
by Franchthi Cave in
Greece?
- 35,000 - 3,000 BCE
- Virtually sedentary
- wild elk, deer, and boar
- wild barley, lentils, pistachio, almonds, etc
- andesite querns - used for food processing
- increasing reliance on the sea
What are the general
characteristics of the
Initial Neolithic ~7000
BCE in Mediterranean
Europe?
- the abundant appearance of domestic sheep/goat
- the abundant appearance of domestic wheat, barley, and lentil
- reduction in the importance of tuna and red deer
- reduction in the importance of wild oats and pistachios
- the appearance of polished stone tools and sickles
- the sudden and dramatic change in the economy and non-local domesticates
What are the general
characteristics of Early
- farming begins around 6500 BC
ASB 222 Buried Cities and Lost Tribes Exam #2 Preparation
– Part B
Dr. Kostalena Michelaki Spring 2020
Neolithic Settlements in
Northern Greece and the
Balkans?
- little evidence for indigenous hunter-gatherers
- light easily worked soils watered by spring floods yearly
- long occupations at settlements
- houses constructed of mud-brick and clay daub
What are the
architectural
characteristics of houses
at Nea Nikomedeia?
● near a lake/lagoon
● separate, small, rectangular, houses
○ painted walls
○ steeply pitched roofs
○ rectangular opening for doors and windows
○ wattle and daub (sticks and mud)
What forms of symbolic
expression accompany
the Neolithic transition in
SE Europe?
Portable Art:
● figures (mostly female, some male, several genderless)
● emphasis on hips, breasts and belly
● many animals and houses
ASB 222 Buried Cities and Lost Tribes Exam #2 Preparation
– Part B
Dr. Kostalena Michelaki Spring 2020
Pottery:
● thin-walled pottery
● painted
● technology probably brought ready from SW Asia
Why is the site of
Lepenski Vir (7000-4800
BCE) so important to
understanding the
Mesolithic-Neolithic
transition in Europe?
- hunter-gatherers were amongst farmers
- spans mesolithic - neolithic
- seven phases 7000 - 48000 BCE
- initially: small, 4-5 families
- later: larger, socio-economically complex
What were the general
characteristics of the
spread of farming across
the Mediterranean coast?
- domesticated plants and animals by 6000 BCE
- possibly brought in by Balkan farmers
ASB 222 Buried Cities and Lost Tribes Exam #2 Preparation
– Part B
Dr. Kostalena Michelaki Spring 2020
- settlements focused on areas other than where mesolithic sites are
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