The Final Neolithic period on the Greek mainland is a period of significant cultural change which nevertheless remains very poorly understood. Previous study has been made difficult both by a general lack of stratified archaeological deposits and by a relative lack of published Final Neolithic material. However, with increasing volumes of data being generated by survey and excavation and with cultural features considered prototypical of the Early Bronze Age now recognised during the preceding period, there exists a pressing need for a comprehensive analysis of the nature of cultural change during this phase and the processes through which it was enacted.
Complexity discourse has moved beyond the binary categories of simplicity and complexity or egalitarianism and hierarchy (see Wynne-Jones and Kohring 2007). In its place is a more flexible understanding of the interrelationships and tensions between contemporary and complimentary social and economic processes conducted across multiple scales. At the same time, the idea of ‘emergence’ in complex systems has been used to explain the seemingly spontaneous appearance of new cultural phenomena. Drawing upon recent network-thinking and complexity ideas, this paper will examine the emergence and maintenance of social and economic networks during the Final Neolithic period on the Greek mainland and the visibility of shared identities between local and inter-regional groups. Importantly, it will make clear the role of these discrete regional and inter-regional networks in diachronic social and cultural innovation, when and where such processes took place and also how these components were manipulated to both frame and negotiate social identity in traditionally ‘peripheral’ areas.
Communities, Landscapes, and Interaction in Neolithic Greece
International conference 29-30 May 2015
