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"Settlement patterns"
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Peopling South America's centre: the late Pleistocene site of Santa Elina
The earliest peopling of South America remains a contentious issue. Despite the growing amount of new evidence becoming available, and improved excavation and dating techniques, few sites have yet to be securely assigned to a period earlier than 12000 BP. The Santa Elina shelter in Brazil, located at the convergence of two major river basins, is one of them. The excavations at the site, including the results of various dating programmes, are described here along with reflections on the unique insights offered by Santa Elina into early migration routes into the Southern Cone.
Journal Article
Mixed harvest : stories from the human past
\"After millennia of wandering the earth with little impact, a universal, if inadvertent transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and pastoralism was complete within a period of a few thousand years. Mixed Harvest tells the story of the Sedentary Divide, the most significant event since modern humans emerged. Before the Sedentary Divide, humans followed their food; afterward, everything the human diet had abandoned wild foods by domesticating, and irrevocably changing, plants and animals, staying in one place and keeping them close. Agriculture was so successful that religious and social belief systems evolved to enforce social inequality, exploitation of resources, constrained gender relations, and increasingly devastating conflict\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Trypillia mega-sites: a social levelling concept?
Explanations for the emergence and abandonment of the Chalcolithic Trypillia mega-sites have long been debated. Here, the authors use Gini coefficients based on the sizes of approximately 7000 houses at 38 Trypillia sites to assess inequality between households as a factor in the rise and/or demise of these settlements. The results indicate temporarily reduced social inequality at mega-sites. It was only after several generations that increased social differentiation re-emerged and this may explain the subsequent abandonment of the mega-sites. The results indicate that increases in social complexity need not be associated with greater social stratification and that large aggregations of population can, for a time at least, find mechanisms to reduce inequality.
Journal Article
The urbanization of Rome and Latium Vetus : from the Bronze Age to the Archaic Era
\"This book focuses on urbanization and state formation in middle Tyrrhenian Italy during the first millennium BC by analyzing settlement organization and territorial patterns in Rome and Latium vetus from the Bronze Age to the Archaic Era. In contrast with the traditional diffusionist view, which holds that the idea of the city was introduced to the West via Greek and Phoenician colonists from the more developed Near East, this book demonstrates important local developments towards higher complexity, dating to at least the beginning of the Early Iron Age, if not earlier. By adopting a multidisciplinary and multitheoretical framework, this book overcomes the old debate between exogenous and endogenous by suggesting a network approach that sees Mediterranean urbanization as the product of reciprocal catalyzing actions\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Population Circulation and the Transformation of Ancient Zuni Communities
Because nearly all aspects of culture depend on the movement of bodies, objects, and ideas, mobility has been a primary topic during the past forty years of archaeological research on small-scale societies. Most studies have concentrated either on local moves related to subsistence within geographically bounded communities or on migrations between regions resulting from pan-regional social and environmental changes. Gregson Schachner, however, contends that a critical aspect of mobility is the transfer of people, goods, and information within regions. This type of movement, which geographers term \"population circulation,\" is vitally important in defining how both regional social systems and local communities are constituted, maintained, and--most important--changed.Schachner analyzes a population shift in the Zuni region of west-central New Mexico during the thirteenth century AD that led to the inception of major demographic changes, the founding of numerous settlements in frontier zones, and the initiation of radical transformations of community organization. Schachner argues that intraregional population circulation played a vital role in shaping social transformation in the region and that many notable changes during this period arose directly out of peoples' attempts to create new social mechanisms for coping with frequent and geographically extensive residential mobility. By examining multiple aspects of population circulation and comparing areas that were newly settled in the thirteenth century to some that had been continuously occupied for hundreds of years, Schachner illustrates the role of population circulation in the formation of social groups and the creation of contexts conducive to social change.
eBook
Tracing nomadic imprints in sedentary settings: a case study on the housing and settlement patterns of the Bede community
This study aims to trace nomadic imprints in the sedentary settings of the Bede community through a comprehensive survey of their housing and settlement patterns. Bede are known primarily for their nomadic lifestyle and trading profession. These people are found living in scattered groups of boats near the river. Locals often identify the term ‘Bede’ with a woman (Bedeni) recognisable by her attire: a vibrant Saree, a child in her arms, a wooden box balanced atop her head, and a bag filled with various products, calling out to see if anyone is interested in watching snake charms, buying healing amulets, or herbal medicines. However, there is more depth to the term ‘Bede.’ Although they have lived alongside the mainstream community for a significant amount of time, insufficient information about their community and settlements is available. Thus, this study briefly describes the architectural features, cultural heritage, and indigenous practices that are often concealed in the Bede community’s built forms from the outside world. This study was primarily conducted in Kharia Gucchagram, where the Bede have lived for several generations. This sedentary settlement exemplifies the Bede’s transition from nomadism to sedentism. This study discusses indigenous architectural practices and cultural identities through a descriptive analysis of the housing and settlement patterns of Kharia Gucchagram. Moreover, the study examines some of their nomadic and static sedentary life characteristics. Next, the study findings concerning the architectural characteristics of sedentary Bede settlements are compared to those concerning their nomadic lifestyles. Furthermore, this study discusses why the community chose to hold on to indigenous housing forms during the shift from nomadism to sedentism, how these helped them adapt to social and environmental challenges, and how thoughtful architectural strategies can support their resilience and future sustainability.
Journal Article