Drawing on both the results of recent arhaeological research as well as anthropological theory, leading experts synthesize current thinking on the nature of and variation within Neolithic social arrangements. The authors analyze archaeological data within a range of methodological and theoretical perspectives to reconstruct key aspects of ritual practices, labor organization, and collective social identity at the scale of the household, community, and region.

Inhalt
Life in Neolithic Farming Communities.- Regional Issues, Settlement Practices, and Sedentism.- Early Sedentism in the Near East.- Hallan Çemi and Early Village Organization in Eastern Anatolia.- Households in Transition.- Organization of Social Relations: Mortuary Ritual, Social Differentiation, and Settlement Systems.- The Quick and the Dead.- Keeping the Peace.- Ritual and Social Structure at Neolithic 'Ain Ghazal.- Is Size Important?.- Villages on the Edge.- Social Relations and Material Culture: Symbolism and Meaning.- The Symbolic Foundations of the Neolithic Revolution in the Near East.- Çatal Höyük in Context.- The Pottery Neolithic Period.- Conclusion.- Near Eastern Neolithic Research.