Beyond the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B interaction sphere - University of ...

90 J World Prehist (2006) 20:87–126
Fig. 2 The ‘‘PPNB interaction sphere’’ (redrawn after Bar-Yosef, 2001a)
(albeit loosely unified) cultural phenomenon. These include lithic technology, the ubiquitous
presence of rectangular architecture, the widespread occurrence of ‘‘skull cult’’
rituals and the gradual consolidation of agropastoral economies (Bar-Yosef & Belfer-
Cohen, 1989; Cauvin, 2000; Harris, 2002; Kuijt & Goring-Morris, 2002; Verhoeven,
2002a). The challenge that emerges is how to interpret then the PPNB. What gave rise to
this phenomenon? At a more theoretical level this question poses a further challenge: how
to integrate the observed areal and sub-regional variation without at the same time disrupting
the potential of composing regionally meaningful narratives. I will suggest in this
article that currently established theoretical approaches such as centres of origins/core
areas, interaction spheres, polycentric and core-periphery models, are unlikely to provide
satisfactory insights into a Neolithic world, where various socio-economic interactions,
acculturation and demic diffusion were all active at different temporal and spatial scales. I
will argue that an alternative approach should aim at identifying more precisely the specific
local socio-economic contexts of inter- and intra-group interactions and population
movements. This approach focuses on the nature of Early Neolithic social organization
and, in relation to it, the operation of exchange as a socially situated process, which was
integrally related to the negotiation and reproduction of group identities. I suggest that such
a theoretical and working framework may open avenues for a more in-depth understanding
of the historical dynamics of Early Neolithic societies compared to earlier approaches
which have been overwhelmingly inspired by the culture-history paradigm.
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