Drawing on both the results of recent arhaeological research as well as anthropological theory, leading experts synthesize current thinking on the nature of and variation within Neolithic social arrangements. The authors analyze archaeological data within a range of methodological and theoretical perspectives to reconstruct key aspects of ritual practices, labor organization, and collective social identity at the scale of the household, community, and region.

"The book should be required reading for anyone interested in the Neolithic."
(Antiquity, 75:289, 2001)
"The list of participants is an impressive "who's who" of research on the Neolithic Near East. This collection of articles presents a fair and clear picture of the research currently being carried out in the discipline, and it is convenient to have them together in the same volume. Scholars and students will find the data presented about various sites and the comprehensive discussions very useful."
(American Antiquity, 66:4, 2001)
"With this volume, Kuijt and his colleagues have succeeded in bringing fully into the light of academic enquiry the debate about the significance of social and symbolic elements in the Neolithic transformation. Future considerations of this episode that focus exclusively on economic and environmental issues will subsequently fall significantly short of the mark."
(Roger Matthews, Institute of Archaeology, University College London; Journal of Anthropological Research, 58, 2002)

 

"The editor has brought together a distinguished line-up of regional specialists. There is much here to stimulate thought." (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 9:3)