Tracking the Neolithic in the Near East: Lithic Perspectives on Its Origins, Development and Dispersals - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9464260807 ISBN 13: 9789464260809

Publisher: Sidestone Press, 2022

Synopsis

This volume combines the most up-to-date discoveries and perspectives of Near Eastern Neolithic lithics by leading international archaeologists. It presents the proceedings of the 9th International Conference of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Chipped and Ground Stone Industries of the Near East, hosted at the University of Tokyo, Japan in 2019 (PPN9-Tokyo). The book places emphasis on regional perspectives to evaluate the Near Eastern Neolithic. Current research indicates that the earliest farming societies of the Near East developed in interaction with neighbouring hunter-gatherer societies, that either coexisted with them for long periods or soon assimilated to the Near Eastern farmers. Understanding these contrasting processes sheds new light on identifying the Neolithisation practices of the 'core' regions in the Near East itself. The 39 papers in this volume include contributions on the Iranian Zagros, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, a region whose Neolithic archaeological records are far less well understood but which enrich our understanding of the first farming societies of the Near East.

About this title

About the Author

Yoshihiro Nishiaki received his BA and MA from the University of Tokyo, and Ph.D. from University College London. He has been a full professor of prehistoric archaeology at the University of Tokyo since 2006 and Director of the University of Tokyo Museum since 2020. His major research interest is concerned with the prehistory of West and Central Asia.

Osamu Maeda received his BA and MA degrees from the University of Tsukuba and Ph.D. from the University of Manchester, UK. He has been a researcher at University of Tsukuba since 2015 and currently is an associate professor in the archaeology course and a head of the archaeology division of the Research Center for West Asian Civilization. He recently conducted international collaborative research as a member of the Manchester Obsidian Laboratory.

Makoto Arimura is a Professor at Tokai University, Japan. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Archaeology from the University of Tsukuba, Japan and his PhD in Archaeology from the Université Lumière Lyon 2, France.

From the Back Cover

This book combines the latest studies of Near Eastern Neolithic lithics by leading international archaeologists to develop their analytical potential and advance our understanding of the world oldest farming societies of the Near East in human history.

This volume presents the proceedings of the 9th International Conference of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Chipped and Ground Stone Industries of the Near East, hosted at the University of Tokyo, Japan, from November 12 to 16, 2019 (PPN9-Tokyo).

A unique point of the volume, while referring to the origins and development as in the proceedings of the previous conferences, is a greater emphasis on regional perspectives to evaluate the Near Eastern Neolithic. The current research indicates that the earliest farming societies of the Near East developed in interaction with neighbouring hunter-gatherer societies, that either coexisted with them for long periods or soon assimilated to the Near Eastern farmers. Understanding these contrasting processes would shed new light on identifying the Neolithisation practices of the “core” regions in the Near East itself. A similar attempt was made at the PPN2-Warsaw in 1995, but the present volume provides the most up-to-date discoveries and perspectives after a quarter century.

The 39 papers in this volume include contributions on the Iranian Zagros, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, a region whose Neolithic archaeological records are far less well understood but that we believe will enrich our understanding of the first farming societies of the Near East.

Edition details

• Publisher: Sidestone Press
• Publication date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9464260807
• ISBN 13: 9789464260809
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 600
• Editor: Nishiaki Yoshihiro, Maeda Osamu, Arimura Makoto