This book explores the dynamics of small-scale societies in the ancient Near East by examining the ways in which particular communities functioned and interacted and by moving beyond the broad neo-evolutionary models of social change which have characterised many earlier approaches. By focusing on issues of diversity, scale, and context, it considers the ways in which economy, crafts, technology, and ritual were organised; the roles played by mortuary practices and households in the structure and development of ancient societies; and the importance of agency, identity, ethnicity, gender, community and cultural interaction for the rise of socio-economic complexity. The contributors to this volume are well-known archaeologists in the field of Near Eastern studies; all are currently engaged in fieldwork or research in Cyprus, the Levant, or Turkey. The variety and depth of the research they present here reflect the richness of the archaeological record in the 'cradle of civilisation' and convey the vibrancy of current interpretive approaches within the field of Near Eastern prehistory today.
Introduction
1. The development of pre-state communities in the ancient Near East (Diane Bolger and Louise C. Maguire)
Part 1: Social organisation and complexity in pre-state communities
2. Social complexity and archaeology: A contextual approach (Marc Verhoeven)
3. Late Neolithic architectural renewal: The emergence of round houses in the northern Levant, c. 6500-6000 BC (Peter M. M. G. Akkermans)
4. Abandonment processes and closure ceremonies in prehistoric Cyprus: In search of ritual (Demetra Papaconstantinou)
5. A different Chalcolithic: A central Cypriot scene (David Frankel)
6. Thoughts on the function of ‘public buildings’ in the Early Bronze Age southern Levant (Hermann Genz)
Part 2: Early urban communities and the emergence of the state
7. The tell: Social archaeology and territorial space (Tony Wilkinson)
8. Rethinking Kalopsidha: From specialisation to state marginalisation (Lindy Crewe)
9. From kin to class – and back again! Changing paradigms of the early polity (Anne Porter)
10. Different models of power structuring at the rise of hierarchical societies in the Near East: Primary economy versus luxury and defence management (Marcella Frangipane)
11. States of hegemony: Early forms of political control in Syria during the 3rd millennium BC (Lisa Cooper)
Part 3: Technology, Economy and Society
12. A household affair? Pottery production in the Burnt Village at Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad (Olivier Nieuwenhuyse)
13. Late Cypriot ceramic production: Heterachy or hierarchy? (Louise Steel)
14. The domestication of stone: Early line plaster technology in the Levant (Gordon Thomas)
