Tribe and Polity in Late Prehistoric Europe: Demography, Production, and Exchange in the Evolution of Complex Social Systems PDF
Preview Tribe and Polity in Late Prehistoric Europe: Demography, Production, and Exchange in the Evolution of Complex Social Systems
poutv tRIB€ anö In late pcerustomc €UROP€ ano poutv tRIB€ In tate pcetustomc €UROP€ öemocnapbv, pnoöucnon, ano exchance In the €volutlon o~ comptex secrat Systems eorteö By b. BlalJ~ (jIBson University 0/California, LosAngeles Los Angeles, California, California anö rmchaet n. qeseiowrtz Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts Springer Science+Business Media, LLC Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Tribe and polityinlateprehistoricEurope: dernography, production, and exchangein the evolution of complex social systems / edited by Michael N. Geselowitz and D.BlairGibson. p. cm. Basedon the proceedings of a symposium heldat the52ndAnnual Meetingof the SocietyforAmericanArchaeologyinToronto,May9,1987. Includesbibliographiesandindex. I. Iron age-Europe-Congresses. 2. Bronze age-Europe-Congresses. I. Geselowitz, Michael N. II. Gibson, D. Blair. III.Societyfor American Archaeology. Meeting(52nd:1987:Toronto,Ont.) GN780.2.AIT75 1988 88-9940 936-dc19 CIP Basedon the Proceedings of aSocietyfor American Archaeology symposium on Demography, Production, and Exchange inthe Evolution of Complex SocialOrganizationin Late PrehistoricEurope, heldMay9, 1987,inToronto, Canada ISBN978-1-4899-0779-0 ISBN978-1-4899-0777-6(eBook) DOI10.1007/978-1-4899-0777-6 © 1988SpringerScience+BusinessMediaNewYork OriginallypublishedbyPlenumPress,NewYorkin1988. Softcoverreprintofthehardcover1stedition1988 Allrights reserved No part of thisbook maybereproduced, stored ina retrieval system,or transmitted inany form or byanyrneans, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher To Emily Schneider and John C. and Gertrude H. Gibson ~OR€WORb When we first began to discuss the possibility of a symposium on later European prehistory, our motives were entirely pragmatic rather than theoretical. There seemed to be a very limited number of forums in which we could present our own data, as weIl as to hear that of our colleagues with similar interests. While there are a number of American archaeologists who study European prehistory, the vast majority of them are concerned with the origins of agriculture and even earlier events,and these seemed to be the topics that dominated European sessions at meetings of the Society for American Archaeology. Those colleagues who, like ourselves, were interested in issues involving the later prehistory and protohistory of that continent seemed always to end up giving papers at some random session where few members of the audience were interested in the specific data. As a result, many of these colleagues no longer bothered to submit papers for presentation at the SAAs, and some had given up attending the meetings on a regular basis. We feIt that the time was ripe for a symposium purposefully bringing together scholars interested in the late prehistory and early protohistory of Europe, a time period that is considered to cover roughly the first millennia B.G. and A.D. As we began to actually organize such a symposium, we realized that it was not enough just to bring these people together; it was essential that a coherent theme be chosen to hang the session together and to produce meaningful and interesting ideas that might have long-Iasting value. As we reviewed the works of potential contributors, it became clear that the overriding concern of recent research by American archaeologists with respect to the later prehistory of Europe matched our own principal interest: the development of social complexity. This area of study is an obvious one, as Europe at that time developed several sociopolitical institutions that were new to the region, but would characterize western society up until modern times. As an example, European feudalism, a sociopolitical form that has had great prominence in social theory since at least the time of Karl Marx, had its roots, if not its actual origins in this period. The foundations of the notion of democracy may be traceable to the tribal assemblies and councils of the Gauls, Germans, and other Indo-European peoples. Likewise, the possibly special nature of the western European capitalist "world system" that was to emerge out of feudalism undoubtedly had its roots in the dynamic structure of the early European states. vii There has also been great interest, since at least the earliest of the works of V. Gordon Childe, in the role that interaction with the classical worlds of the Mediterranean and Near East played in the formation of European society. Gonversely, some scholars are beginning to consider how the European "periphery" may in turn have influenced these dynamic "centers." It became apparent to us then, that colleagues in the fields of history and classics could add valuable insight to the discussion. So, we set out to organize the symposium, "Demography, Production and Exchange in the Evolution of Complex Social Systems in Late Prehistoric Europe," which was held May 9, 1987 at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Toronto. Participating were, besides the authors; Garole Grumley, Stephen L. Dyson, Bettina Arnold, Matthew Murray, and Kathleen Biddick. We attempted also to get a few of our European colleagues to attend, but none of them were able to, due to cost and time constraints. However, Janusz Ostoja Zag6rski generously submitted a paper which was read in his absence. The discussant was Bernard Wailes. Peter S. Wells could not attend, but read all of the papers in advance and submitted a discussion paper which Wailes read and then expanded upon. Afterward, the floor was opened for questions, and a lively discussion ensued. There was a general feeling that an attempt should be made to publish expanded versions of the papers of that symposium, and that our European colleagues should be reinvited to contribute in order to balance the presentation. This volume is the result. As the work of organizing the volume commenced, it became clear to us that, while some of the papers dealt with methodologies for studying social evolution in late prehistoric Europe, the majority were concerned with developing a theoretical perspective that was applicable to this particular milieu. Therefore, we decided to co-author an introduction in which we summarize the past and current states of evolutionary social theory in European archaeology, and then present the paradigm that we feel best addresses the issues raised in the symposium. It must be stressed that while this theoretical construct is not, as the reader shall see, particularly novel, it is, in the context of this volume solely our own opinion, and shouldnot be assumed to reflect the point of view of any of the other authors. The volume is organized as follows: after this first introductory chapter, the papers are presented in groups by area. The second through fourth chapters are on western and northern Europe: Ireland (Gibson), England (Colin Haselgrove), and Sweden (Larsson) . The paper by Blair Gibson explores the topic of divergence in the trajectories of social evolution through the description and analysis of the link between an agro-pastoralist subsistence base and the development of complex political systems in Late Iron Age (Early Historie) Ireland. Colin Haselgrove provides a thorough assessment of the potential and pitfalls of utilizing the Geltic coin issues of Late Iron Age southern England and Gaul as a tool for gauging the comparative degree of political centralization within polities of this period. Thomas Larsson expounds on what the evidence of settlements, rock art, and mortuary sites may connote with regard to periods of social and economic reorganization from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age in Gentral Sweden. The fifth through seventh chapters are on east central Europe (Ostoja Zag6rski on Poland; Geselowitz, Murrayon Yugoslavia). All of these contributions are concerned with the crucial Hallstatt Period, a time when northwestern Yugoslavia was witnessing the growth of Europe's first towns, while the Lusatian areas of Poland in the basins of the Oder and Vistula viii basins were undergoing a demographic and social decline. Janusz Ostoja Zagorski studies this transformation through the combination of demographic evidence from cemeteries, and the role of the organization of subsistence through catchment analyses of the micro-regions surrounding the Lusatian settlement sites. Michael Geselowitz and Matthew Murray each evaluate different aspects of the appearance of nucleated communities in Slovenia. Geselowitz examines the question of the consequences of the adoption of a novel technology, iron production, to the economy and society in this region, while Murray explores the potential of bone chemistry for gaining insight into early diet and social stratification. The eighth and ninth chapters are on west central and southern Europe; Germany (Arnold) and Italy (Dyson) respectively. These last two chapters both express an interest in the role of the burgeoning classical world in developments in temperate Europe. Bettina Arnold explores the evidence and methodologies marshalled to identify slaves and the slave trade in Late Iron Age northern Europe. Stephen Dyson critically evaluates current and past paradigms, ideas, and methodologies which have been brought to bear in the analysis of the social constitution of the Roman state. The last two chapters, ten and eleven, are summaries by Wells and Wailes respectively on their views of the overarching theoretical signifi cance of the papers assembled here. Wells chooses to emphasize the signifi cance of craft production and the symbolic aspects of craft goods in the development of social networks, and in the establishment of some of the earliest urban centers of Europe. Wailes provides a level-headed assess ment of the potentialities and limitations of the archaeological record for providing inquiring scholars information on the social organization of past peoples. Time will tell whether or not the positions advocated in this volume will have any significant impact on the field of European archaeology. However, a great measure of success can be claimed by virtue of the mere fact of very existence of this work. The degree of intellectual ferment present in European archaeology is amply attested by the diversity of stances taken by the authors within these covers. In a small way, this book bears witness to a tangible awakening in the minds of European scholars as they confront the potentialities of their rich data base for approaching some of the great questions of social and cultural behavior. It represents a statement of not only ho~ far we as a profession have come, but also the tremendous distances we have yet to travel. D.B.G. M.N.G. ACKNOWLEDGEHENTS Initially when setting up the symposium the editors benefited greatly from the advice and expertise of Peter S. Wells and Timothy K. Earle, and we would like to thank them here for their assistance. The maps preceding each section were commissioned from Chase Langford, the cartographer of the Geography Department, UCLA. The editors also wish to thank Calvin Domier of the Electrical Engineering Department, UCLA for his invaluable technical guidance in the production aspects of the manuscript. ix contents INTRODUCTION The Evolution of Complex Society in Late Prehistoric Europe: Toward a Paradigm '.' .............................. 3 D.B. Gibson and M.N. Geselowitz NORTHERN AND WESTERN EUROPE Agro-pastoralism and Regional Social Organization in Early Ireland ... 41 D.B. Gibson Coinage and Complexity: Archaeological Analysis of Socio-political Change in Britain and Non-Mediterranean Gaul during the Later Iron Age 69 C. Haselgrove A Spatial Approach to Socioeconomic Change in Scandinavia: Central Sweden in the.First Millennium B.C 97 T.B. Larsson EAST CENTRAL EUROPE Demographie and Economic Changes in the Hallstatt Period of the Lusatian Culture 119 J . Ostoja-Zagorski Technology and Social Change: Ironworking in the Rise of Social Complexity in Iron Age Central Europe 137 M.N. Geselowitz Diet, Status, and Complex Social Structure in Iron Age Central Europe: Some Contributions of Bone Chemistry 155 M.L. Murray and M.J. Schoeninger xi WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN EUROPE Slavery in Late Prehistoric Europe: Recovering the Evidence for Social Structure in Iron Age Society 179 B. Arnold Rise of Complex Societies in Italy: Historical versus Archaeological Perspectives 193 S.L. Dyson CONCLUSIONS Industry and Society in Late Prehistoric Europe 207 P.S. WeHs Some Comments on Method and Interpretation 219 B. Wailes Contributors 229 Index 231 xii
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