The earliest settled communities preceded the development of agriculture - Ian Hodder

by archaeologist Ian Hodder - 2006
http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/0606/0606_feature_lowres.html

"Every summer since 1993 I have returned to central
Turkey to work on the archaeological excavation of a
mound nearly seventy feet high."

"The archaeological site made up of the two mounds
is still no more than 5 percent exposed."

"But why such a large settlement should flourish
precisely when and where it did still eludes us.
Perhaps it enabled people to build up a network
of relationships that would serve to control access
to resources. Living close together meant that those
relationships could be continually reinforced and
monitored. By joining with others at the one site,
each household could also better promote its own
interests: finding marriage partners for its young
people, developing exchange alliances, cementing
links through ancestry, and so on.

But then again, we know that some evidence could
suddenly emerge to suggest a quite different
explanation. And so our excavations, and our
informed speculations, will continue."

Causes of the Neolithic Revolution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic_revolution#Causes_of_the_Neolithic_Revolution

"Harlan, examining the causes for the Neolithic
Revolution, suggests 6 principal reasons which can
be summarised to 3 principal categories:

1. Domestication for religious reasons

2. Domestication by crowding and as a
consequence of stress

3. Domestication resulting from discovery, based
upon the perceptions of food gatherers

With regard to the first explanation, Ian Hodder, who
directs the excavations at Çatalhöyük, has said that
the earliest settled communities, and the Neolithic
revolution they represent, actually preceded the
development of agriculture. He has been developing
the ideas first expressed by Jacques Cauvin, the
excavator of the Natufian settlement at Mureybet
in northern Syria. Hodder believes that the Neolithic
revolution was the result of a revolutionary change
in the human psychology, a 'revolution of symbols'
which led to new beliefs about the world and shared
community rituals embodied in corpulent female
figurines and the methodical assembly of aurochs horns."

...

David Christainsen
.

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