The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe

The Neolithic - a period in which the first sedentary agrarian communities were established across much of Europe - has been a key topic of archaeological research for over a century. However, the variety of evidence across Europe and the way research traditions in different countries (and languages) have developed makes it very difficult for both students and specialists to gain an overview of continent-wide trends.

The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe provides the first comprehensive, geographically extensive, thematic overview of the European Neolithic - from Iberia to Russia and from Norway to Malta - offering both a general introduction and a clear exploration of key issues and current debates surrounding evidence and interpretation. Chapters written by leading experts in the field examine topics such as the movement of plants, animals, ideas, and people (including recent trends in the application of genetics and isotope analyses); cultural change (from the first farming to the first metal artefacts); domestic architecture; subsistence; material culture; monuments; and burial and other treatments of the dead. In doing so, the volume also considers the history of research and sets out agendas and themes for future work in the field.

Chris Fowler, Senior Lecturer in Prehistoric Archaeology, Newcastle University,Jan Harding, Senior Lecturer in Prehistoric Archaeology, Newcastle University,Daniela Hofmann, Junior Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology, Hamburg University

Chris Fowler, Senior Lecturer in Prehistoric Archaeology, Newcastle University.


Jan Harding, Senior Lecturer in Prehistoric Archaeology, Newcastle University.

Daniela Hofmann, Junior Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology, Hamburg University.

Part I: Introduction
1. Defining the 'Neolithic in Europe': Diverse and Contemporaneous Communities, c. 6500-2500 BC, Chris Fowler, Jan Harding, and Daniela Hofmann
Part II: Mobility, Change, and Interaction at the Large Scale
2. Environments and Landscape Change, Tony Brown, Geoff Bailey, and Dave Passmore
Movement of Plants, Animals, Ideas, and People
3. South-East Europe, Joannes Muller
4. The Neolithization of Mediterranean Europe: Mobility and Interactions from the Near East to the Iberian Peninsula, Jean Guilaine
5. Central and Eastern Europe, Wolfram Schier
6. Moving Animals and Plants in the Early Neolithic of North-Western Europe, Anne Tresset
7. Language, Genes, and Cultural Interaction, Stephen Shennan
Sequences of Cultural Interaction and Cultural Change
8. South-East Europe, John Chapman
9. The Neolithic in Mediterranean Europe, Caroline Malone
10. Central and Eastern Europe, Detlef Gronenborn and Pavel Dolukhanov †
11. Northern and Western Europe, Nick Thorpe
Part III: Neolithic Worlds and Neolithic Lifeways
Houses, Habitation, and Community
12. Tells and Settlements in South-East Europe, Pal Raczky
13. Domestic Space in the Mediterranean, Demetra Papaconstantinou
14. Longhouse Lifestyles in the Central European Neolithic, Jonathan Last
15. Lakeside Dwellings of the Circum-Alpine Region, Francesco Menotti
16. Households and Communities in Neolithic France, Anick Coudart
17. Houses, Halls, and Occuptation in Britain and Ireland, Kenneth Brophy
18. Places of Settlement in Southern Scandanavia, Mats Larsson
Subsistence and Social Routine
19. Stable Isotopes and Neolithic Subsistence: Pattern and Variation, Rich Schulting
20. Subsistence Practices and Social Routine in Neolithic Southern Europe, Amy Bogaard
21. Subsistence Practices in Central and Eastern Europe, Laszlo Bartosiewicz and Malcolm Lillie
22. Subsistence Practices in Western and Northern Europe, Tony Legge † and Peter Rowley-Conwy
23. The Neolithic Year, Dimitrij Mlekuž
24. Religious Routine and Pilgrimage in the British Isles, Roy Loveday
Materiality and Social Relations
25. Invention and European Knapping Traditions, Marjorie de Grooth
26. Shared Labour and Large Scale Action: European Flint Mining, Pedro Diaz-del-Rio and Mara Capote
27. Stone and Flint Axes in Neolithic Europe, Gabriel Cooney
28. Pottery of South-East Europe, Mihael Budja
29. Linearbandkeramik Pottery and Society, Joachim Pechtl
30. Ceramics and Society in Northern Europe, Rick Peterson and Johannes Muller
31. Bell Beaker Pottery and Society, Marc Vander Linden
32. A Miniature World: Models and Figurines in South-East Europe, Stratos Nanoglou
33. Spondylus and Shell Ornaments, John Chapman and Bisserka Gaydarska
34. Amber, Tony Axelsson, Morten Ramstad, and Anders Strinnholm
35. The First Metalwork and Expressions of Social Power, Volker Heyd and Katherine Walker
36. Early Metallurgy in Iberia and the Western Mediterranean, Mark Pearce and Martin Bartelheim
37. Early Metallurgy in Western and Northern Europe, Ben Roberts and Catherine Frieman
38. Deposition in Pits, Duncan Garrow
39. Animals and Social Relations, Arkadiusz Marciniak and Joshua Pollard
Monuments, Rock Art, and Cosmology
40. Central European Enclosures, Jorg Petrasch
41. Italian Enclosures, Robin Skeates
42. Causewayed Enclosures in Northern and Western Europe, Niels Andersen
43. Chambered Tombs and Passage Graves of Northern and Western Europe, Vicki Cummings, Magdalena Midgeley †, and Chris Scarre
44. Rock Carvings in Iberia, Sara Fairen-Jiminez
45. Rock Carvings in South Central Europe, Angelo Fossati
46. Rock Carvings in Northern Europe, Andrew Cochrane, Andrew Jones, and Kalle Sognnes
47. Underground Religion in the Central Mediterranean Neolithic, Robin Skeates
48. A Place in the Cosmos: Monuments and Celestial Bodies, Michael Hoskin
Death, Bodies, and Persons
49. Mortuary Practices, Bodies, and Persons in the Neolithic and Early-Middle Copper Ages of South-East Europe, Dušan Borić
50. Burial and Human Body Representations in the Central Mediterranean Neolithic, John Robb
51. Mortuary Practices, Bodies, and Persons in Central Europe, Daniela Hofmann and Jorg Orschiedt
52. Mortuary Practices, Bodies, and Persons in North-East Europe, Karl-Goran Sjogren
53. Mortuary Practices and Bodily Representations in North-West Europe, Chris Fowler and Chris Scarre
Part IV: Conclusion: Debates in Neolithic Archaeology
54. Unexpected Histories? South-East and Central Europe, Alasdair Whittle
55. What Do We Mean By 'Neolithic Societies'?, Julian Thomas
56. The Decline of the Neolithic and the Rise of the Bronze Age Society, Kristian Kristiansen