Cover -- Half-title -- Series-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- CONTENTS -- FIGURES -- TABLES -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- CHAPTER 1 THE LAND AND ITS RESOURCES: THE GEOGRAPHIC CONTEXT -- Topography -- Soils -- Climate -- Vegetation -- Natural resources: plants and animals -- Mineral resources -- CHAPTER 2 THE MESOLITHIC BACKGROUND -- An elusive Mesolithic: absence of evidence or evidence of absence? -- Early Holocene Greece: a difficult environment for hunter-gatherers? -- The cultural originality of the Greek Mesolithic -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER 3 THE INTRODUCTION OF FARMING: LOCAL PROCESSES, DIFFUSION OR COLONIZATION? -- Indigenist models and the claims for the local domestication of plants and animals -- A long-lasting misinterpretation: the local domestication of plants at Franchthi -- The claims for animal domestication in Europe -- Can the Neolithic spread by 'cultural diffusion'? -- The exchange of livestock, seeds and techniques: an encyclopedic knowledge -- Local processes: the demographic problems -- An inescapable hypothesis: the presence of foreign colonists -- Interactions between farmers and local hunter-gatherers -- Continuity and discontinuity of occupation at Franchthi -- The evidence from Sidari -- The role of Mesolithic groups in the development of farming -- CHAPTER 4 FOREIGN COLONISTS: WHERE FROM? -- The 'random' parallels between Greece and the Near East -- Farming expansion and the loss of cultural identity -- The colonization of Greece: an insular model -- Of multicultural pioneer groups -- CHAPTER 5 THE EARLIEST NEOLITHIC DEPOSITS: 'ACERAMIC','PRE-POTTERY' OR 'CERAMIC'? -- A biased debate -- The sites and excavations -- Knossos -- Gediki -- Soufli Magoula -- Sesklo -- Argissa -- Achilleion -- Franchthi -- Dendra -- Characterization and homogeneity of the 'pre-pottery'deposits -- The economic basis.

Architectural remains -- Bone and stone artefacts -- A 'Ceramic' Neolithic: baked clay figurines and artefacts -- The uncertain status of the 'pre-pottery' sherds -- 14C dates: arguments for a discrete phase -- Archaeological contexts and internal consistency with in each site -- Consistency among the different laboratories. -- Internal consistency of the 'pre-pottery' dates -- Comparisons with the Mesolithic dates -- Comparison with the Early Neolithic dates -- From chronology back to pot production: Greece and the Near East -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER 6 THE SPREAD OF THE EARLY NEOLITHIC IN GREECE: CHRONOLOGICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL ASPECTS -- The definitions of the Early Neolithic in Greece -- Chronology and duration of the Early Neolithic -- Dates seemingly too old -- Dates seemingly too young -- The central dates -- Early Neolithic subphases and facies -- Human implantation and settlement patterns: a contrasted distribution -- Hills and sedimentary basins -- The east/west contrasts -- North-south contrasts -- CHAPTER 7 A CASE STUDY IN EARLY NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT PATTERNS: EASTERN THESSALY -- The geology of the Larissa plain -- The representativeness of the distribution of sites -- The settlement-rich zone -- The settlement-void zone -- The problems of chronological attributions -- EN1 settlements -- EN2 settlement patterns -- Regional distribution of the sites -- Distance of each site to its nearest neighbour -- A non-random distribution -- Theoretical 'areal' territory. -- Thiessen polygons -- Regional variations -- Synthesis -- The contemporaneity of the sites -- From environmental to socioeconomic factors -- The EN3 facies -- The abandonment of EN2/EN3 settlements -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER 8 EARLY NEOLITHIC SUBSISTENCE ECONOMY: THE DOMESTIC AND THE WILD -- The cultivated plants -- The exploitation of wild plant resources -- Agricultural system.

Animal husbandry -- The exploitation of wild animals -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER 9 THE EARLY NEOLITHIC VILLAGE -- The nature of the settlements: mound settlements or flat sites? -- Village size and population -- The general layout of the village -- The architecture of the buildings -- A first stage: pit-houses? -- The typical EN buildings: plans and dimensions -- Raw materials and building techniques -- Internal features -- Around the houses -- 'Storage pits', or clay-digging pits? -- Outdoor work-areas -- Hearths, fire-pits and 'ovens' -- The variability of Early Neolithic architecture in Greece: a few remarks -- CHAPTER 10 CRAFT SPECIALIZATION: THE CONTRASTING CASES OF CHIPPED-STONE TOOLS, POTTERY AND ORNAMENTS -- The production of chipped stone tools -- The raw materials -- Techniques of production -- Formal and informal tools -- The organization of raw material procurement -- The organization of production -- The ceramic production -- Manufacture of pots -- Rate and organization of production -- The use of pots -- Pottery and group identity -- The circulation of pottery -- Ornaments and carved stone artefacts -- Carved stone and shell artefacts -- Beads: discussions around a specialized workshop at Franchthi -- CHAPTER 11 A VARIETY OF DAILY CRAFTS -- War weapons or shepherds' implements? The ubiquitous sling bullets -- Forest clearance or multipurpose tools: the polished stone blades -- Raw materials -- Axes, adzes and chisels -- Diachronic perspective -- Bone: a versatile raw material -- The selection of species and anatomical parts -- Manufacturing techniques -- Shell tools -- Grinding, pounding and polishing -- Matting and basketry -- Spinning and spindle whorls -- Weaving: of elusive loom-weights, bobbins and sherd-dics -- Seals or textile stamps? -- CHAPTER 12 RITUAL INTERACTION? THE MINIATURE WORLD OF 'DOLLS OR DEITIES'.

The anthropomorphic figurines -- The emergence of the human figure -- Distribution between sites and regions -- Context of recovery and modalities of use -- Human representations on vessels -- Zoomorphic .gurines -- Miniatures and replicas -- Collective ritual buildings? -- CHAPTER 13 INTERACTING WITH THE DEAD: FROM THE DISPOSAL OF THE BODY TO FUNERARY RITUALS -- The norm? Burial ground and cremations at Soufli -- Accounting for the exceptions: intra-settlement pit-burials -- Ossuaries, secondary burials or ancestor cults? -- Discussion -- CHAPTER 14 INTERACTIONS AMONG THE LIVING -- The status of the individual -- Interaction within the village community -- Interaction between communities -- Trade or warfare? -- Trade and exchange -- Conclusion -- CONCLUSION -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX.