Making space in the late Mesolithic of Britain
McFadyen, Lesley (2011) Making space in the late Mesolithic of Britain. In: Cannon, A. (ed.) Structured Worlds: The Archaeology of Hunter-Gatherer Thought and Action. Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology. Sheffield, UK: Equinox. ISBN 9781845530808.
Abstract
Book synopsis: The book demonstrates the critical role of cosmology, values, and perceptions in the archaeological histories of hunter-fisher-gatherers. It serves as a complement to prevailing views of foraging cultures as closely constrained by environment and technology. Examples from Mesolithic Europe, Siberia, Jomon Japan, and the Northwest Coast, northern Plains, and High Arctic of North America show the role of conceptual frameworks in the configuration of subsistence and settlement, technology, mobility, migration, demography, and social organization. They also show the structuring influence of perception and belief in shaping everyday actions and longer-term responses to change, and further illustrate how structures of thought and action mutually define one another as they shape developments over time. The volume examines cultures dating from the early Holocene to the present day and uses information drawn from archaeology, ethnoarchaeology, and ethnography to illustrate the active role of beliefs, ritual, and social values in how foragers perceive and interact with the physical and social landscape. Individual studies use the evidence of artifacts, animal bones, features, and settlement patterns to show how these remains and the systems of behaviour they represent were shaped as much by cultural conceptions as by material need and environmental opportunity.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies |
| Research Centres and Institutes: | Architecture, Space and Society, Centre for |
| Depositing User: | Lesley McFadyen |
| Date Deposited: | 03 Aug 2012 15:01 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 16:58 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/5002 |
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