Balkan Prehistory

<p>Douglass Bailey's volume fills the huge gap that existed for a comprehensive synthesis, in English, of the archaeology of the Balkans between 6,500 and 2,000 BC; much research on the prehistory of Eastern Europe was inaccessible to a western audience before now, because of linguistic barriers.<br> Bailey argues against traditional interpretations of the period, which focus on the origins of agriculture and animal breeding. He demonstrates that this was a period when monumental social and material changes occurred in the lives of the people in this region, with new technologies and ways of displaying identity.<br><em>Balkan Prehistory</em> will be required reading for everyone studying the Neolithic, Copper and early Bronze Ages of Eastern Europe.</p> Introduction: Balkan prehistory (6500–2500 BC): fundamental changes in human behaviour 1 Setting the scene: the Balkans before 6500 BC 2 Building social environments (6500–5500 BC) 3 New dimensions of material culture: pottery containers and other forms of expression (6500–5500 BC) 4 Continuity or change? Burials, lithics, plants and animals (6500–5500 BC) 5 Continuities, expansion and acceleration of building and economy (5500–3600 BC) 6 Burial and expressive material culture (5500–3600 BC) 7 Transitions to new ways of living: the Balkans after 4000 BC 8 The Balkans (6500–2500 BC): exclusion, incorporation and projection