{"title":"Relationality, Immanence, Hierarchy: The Nature and Culture of Being(s) at Göbekli Tepe","authors":"Marc Verhoeven","doi":"10.1017/s0959774325000113","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774325000113","url":null,"abstract":"This paper deals with symbolic and ontological human–animal relationships at the Early Neolithic (PPNA) site of Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey. Here a series of megalithic round stone buildings, built by hunter-gatherers, were embellished by large stone pillars with depictions of animals, particularly predators. On the basis of an analysis of the pillar iconography and of recent anthropological and archaeological insights about alterity and perceptions of nature and culture, it will be argued that human–animal relationships at Göbekli Tepe were part of an ontology marked by both immanence and hierarchy. Imagistic ritualization in evocative architectural contexts, probably directed by shamans, served to express such relations. The internal logic of this is exemplified in a model of the world of Göbekli Tepe, based on a novel approach with so-called referential relations and compositional hierarchy as ways to explore and interpret relations between beings and things.","PeriodicalId":47164,"journal":{"name":"CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL","volume":"10 1","pages":"1-18"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144290181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ochre and Identity: An Exploration of Perinatal Mortality, Personhood and Social Acknowledgement at Khok Phanom Di, Central Thailand","authors":"Sarah Elizabeth Paris","doi":"10.1017/s0959774325100097","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774325100097","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The use of ochre in burials at the Neolithic site of Khok Phanom Di, Thailand, was a broadly inclusive practice; however, ∼18 per cent of burials did not contain powdered ochre pigment. On closer examination it was found that the majority of those without ochre were perinates. When compared to other burials in the cemetery non-ochred perinate burials were typically shallow scoop cuts, without grave goods. However, not all perinates were buried in this manner; ∼38 per cent of perinate burials contained ochre and were more similar in type and contents to the rest of the cemetery. This paper examines the differences between perinate burials with and without ochre, considering the wider bioarchaeological context. The findings show that perinates without ochre were on average smaller skeletally than those with pigment. This along with comparisons to other sites directs the focus to ‘the point of mortality’—whether the individuals were stillborn or neonatal deaths. This is explored through comparative data and a cross-cultural discussion of perinatal personhood and social acknowledgement. The interment of non-ochred individuals within the community cemetery demonstrates community inclusion but an exclusion from ‘normal’ burial rites (ochre, grave goods, etc.), demonstrating a lack of individual acknowledgement—a grey area between inclusion and exclusion.</p>","PeriodicalId":47164,"journal":{"name":"CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL","volume":"59 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144238105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From Monumental Realism to Denatured Beast: The Transformation of the Elk Image in Rock Art of the Altai Mountains (Mongolia) and its Cultural Implications","authors":"Esther Jacobson-Tepfer","doi":"10.1017/s0959774325000137","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774325000137","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The prehistoric rock-art record of the Altai Mountains (western Mongolia) extends from the late Palaeolithic (<span>c.</span> 12,000 <span>bp</span>) through the end of the Bronze Age (<span>c.</span> 2800–800 <span>bp</span>) and into the early centuries of the Iron Age (late first millennium <span>bce</span>). Within that ancient tradition, the image of the elk (<span>Cervus elaphus sibiricus</span>) had the longest duration of any animal imagery; but over the millennia it underwent radical change. Beginning as an image reflecting a primitive, monumental realism, it was transformed into an expression of vital naturalism in the Bronze Age. By the end of the Bronze Age, the image began to shift into a highly stylized emblem of status, clan identity, or perhaps gender, finally degenerating into a wolf-like beast. Its transformations may be correlated with regional environmental change and resulting social adaptations. This essay presents the history of the elk image in Altai rock art and seeks to understand its transformation at the interface of north and central Asia. While focused on one pictorial tradition from one geographical region, this analysis demonstrates how materials derived from the expressive record of human culture offer critical insight into the manner in which societies evolve psychologically and not just archaeologically in response to extended environmental change.</p>","PeriodicalId":47164,"journal":{"name":"CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144218671","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marianne Hem Eriksen, Katherine Marie Olley, Brad Marshall, Emma Tollefsen
{"title":"Womb Politics: The Pregnant Body and Archaeologies of Absence","authors":"Marianne Hem Eriksen, Katherine Marie Olley, Brad Marshall, Emma Tollefsen","doi":"10.1017/s0959774325000125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774325000125","url":null,"abstract":"Pregnancy encompasses core socio-political issues: kinship, demography, religion, gender and more. In any society, the ontology of the pregnant body and the embryo-fetus holds core existential concerns. Is a pregnant body one or two beings? When does personhood begin? Yet pregnancy is still a marginal topic in archaeology and its onto-political consequences have scarcely been raised. It would be ludicrous to claim that pregnancy or childbirth is part of the grand narratives of prehistory. Also in scholarship centring theoretical perspectives on the body and personhood the pregnant body is <jats:italic>absent</jats:italic>. This article poses fundamental questions of the body-politics of pregnancy. We develop concepts from material feminism, medical ethics and philosophy to interrogate pregnancy and provide a case study to demonstrate how these concepts can work in practice from the Viking Age. The questions posed, however, are not limited to the Viking period. Our overall objective is to centre pregnancy as a philosophical and political concern in archaeology <jats:italic>writ large</jats:italic>. We develop new thinking and language to this end, which can be used to examine the politics of pregnancy in other periods and regions. Ultimately, we discuss the <jats:italic>absence-making</jats:italic> of pregnant bodies from our sources as well as from archaeological discourse.","PeriodicalId":47164,"journal":{"name":"CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL","volume":"51 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143940628","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Neil Carlin, Jessica Smyth, Catherine J. Frieman, Daniela Hofmann, Penny Bickle, Kerri Cleary, Susan Greaney, Rachel Pope
{"title":"Social and Genetic Relations in Neolithic Ireland: Re-evaluating Kinship","authors":"Neil Carlin, Jessica Smyth, Catherine J. Frieman, Daniela Hofmann, Penny Bickle, Kerri Cleary, Susan Greaney, Rachel Pope","doi":"10.1017/s0959774325000058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774325000058","url":null,"abstract":"This paper re-evaluates recent kinship studies in Neolithic Ireland through a close analysis of biomolecular and fine-grained archaeological data. It outlines the rich possibilities these datasets offer when interwoven to enhance our understanding of diverse webs of social relationships. We synthesize a range of archaeological and scientific data to form a new model of kinship and its relationship to shifting traditions of megalith building and funerary and cosmological practices. This model is put in dialogue with recently published genetic data and used to test a variety of explanations for the patterns of biological relatedness revealed using these methods. We argue that the detected genetic patterning is best interpreted as reflecting a reconfiguration of social relations after 3600 <jats:sc>bc</jats:sc> linked to the consolidation of emergent social and religious communities.","PeriodicalId":47164,"journal":{"name":"CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL","volume":"58 1","pages":"1-21"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143757897","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reframing the Uruk Expansion: Glocalization and Local Dynamics in the Late Chalcolithic Adhaim-Sirwan Drainage Basin, Iraqi Kurdistan","authors":"Michael P. Lewis","doi":"10.1017/s0959774324000404","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774324000404","url":null,"abstract":"Within this paper, glocalization is presented to explain the heterogeneity of the Uruk Expansion/Phenomenon, a process which saw extensive interactions and cultural integration across Mesopotamia during the fourth millennium <jats:sc>bce</jats:sc>, characterized by the spread of southern Mesopotamian material culture and cultural practices. Through close examination of archaeological data from the Adhaim-Sirwan Drainage Basin, southern Iraqi Kurdistan, a region which is emerging as a focus of intense culture-contact during the Uruk Phenomenon, I contend that a glocalized perspective of this phenomenon better illuminates its regional nuances and complexities, as well as the interactions between local and Uruk communities within the Adhaim-Sirwan. By employing a glocalizing framework, this paper demonstrates that cultural interactions led to varied adaptations of the Uruk Phenomenon and illustrates the dynamic interplay between global influences and local responses. Ultimately, this paper advocates for a nuanced understanding of the Uruk Phenomenon, highlighting its regional variability and the importance of local agency in shaping cultural outcomes, thereby framing it as a distinctly glocalized process rather than an expression of globalization.","PeriodicalId":47164,"journal":{"name":"CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143702659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Queer Feminist Perspective on the Early Neolithic Urfa Region: The Ecstatic Agency of the Phallus","authors":"Emre Deniz Yurttaş","doi":"10.1017/s0959774325000083","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774325000083","url":null,"abstract":"The archaeological settlements of the Early Neolithic Urfa region in Türkiye have garnered academic and public interest since the 1990s due to their large-scale stone architecture and rich iconography, particularly featuring phallic imagery. While mainstream narratives suggest a male-centred society in the region, feminist and queer theory approach such interpretations with a critical eye. By challenging traditional ‘male-centred society’ narratives through the lens of queer and feminist theories, this study offers a critique of existing methodologies that fail to historicize archaeological data. By recontextualizing the phallic iconography through the lens of sexuality, this study proposes a new interpretation: the phallus was not a symbol of male power, but an agent facilitating spiritual transcendence, enabling ecstatic experiences and serving as a conduit between the material and spiritual realms.","PeriodicalId":47164,"journal":{"name":"CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL","volume":"183 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143702858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anders Högberg, Kristian Brink, Torbjörn Brorsson, Helena Malmström
{"title":"Transdisciplinary Theoretical Approaches to Migration Studies in Archaeology","authors":"Anders Högberg, Kristian Brink, Torbjörn Brorsson, Helena Malmström","doi":"10.1017/s0959774325000046","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774325000046","url":null,"abstract":"Migration is an established topic in archaeology, approached by researchers in multiple ways. We argue, however, that new ways of thinking are needed to understand migration in new ways in relation to new results coming from ancient DNA studies and other archaeometric analysis. We apply a transdisciplinary approach and engage with (critical) migration studies, critical heritage studies and archaeology to unwrap essential theoretical aspects of migration. Based on our results, we propose a conceptual/theoretical framework as our contribution to migration studies in archaeology.","PeriodicalId":47164,"journal":{"name":"CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL","volume":"215 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143702658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Katharina Rebay-Salisbury, Margit Berner, Karin Wiltschke-Schrotta, Ana Mercedes Herrero Corral, Michael Wolf, Fabian Kanz
{"title":"More Error than Minority: Gendered Burial Practices Align with Peptide-based Sex Identification in Early Bronze Age Burials in Central Europe","authors":"Katharina Rebay-Salisbury, Margit Berner, Karin Wiltschke-Schrotta, Ana Mercedes Herrero Corral, Michael Wolf, Fabian Kanz","doi":"10.1017/s095977432500006x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s095977432500006x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (<span>c.</span> 2900–1600 <span>bc</span>) of Central Europe are characterized by burial practices that strongly differentiate between men and women through body placement and orientation in the grave, as well as through grave goods. The osteological sex estimation of the individuals from the cemeteries of Franzhausen I and Gemeinlebarn F corresponds to the gender expressed in the funerary practice in 98 per cent of cases. In this study, we investigate the remaining minority by applying ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS) to identify sex-specific peptides in the dental enamel of 34 individuals, for which the published osteological sex estimation did not fit the gendered burial practice. The results reveal sex estimation and transcription errors, demonstrating that the chromosomal sex of the individuals usually aligns with the gendered burial treatment. We found burials with internally inconsistent gendered patterns (‘mixed-message burials’), but there is no evidence to suggest that a biologically male individual was deliberately buried as a woman or a biologically female individual was buried as a man.</p>","PeriodicalId":47164,"journal":{"name":"CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL","volume":"123 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143695349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
David Wengrow, Brenna Hassett, Haluk Sağlamtimur, William Marsh, Selina Brace, Suzanne E. Pilaar Birch, Emma L. Baysal, Metin Batıhan, İnan Aydoğan, Öznur Özmen Batıhan, Ian Barnes
{"title":"Inequality at the Dawn of the Bronze Age: The Case of Başur Höyük, a ‘Royal’ Cemetery at the Margins of the Mesopotamian World","authors":"David Wengrow, Brenna Hassett, Haluk Sağlamtimur, William Marsh, Selina Brace, Suzanne E. Pilaar Birch, Emma L. Baysal, Metin Batıhan, İnan Aydoğan, Öznur Özmen Batıhan, Ian Barnes","doi":"10.1017/s0959774324000398","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774324000398","url":null,"abstract":"On the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates, archaeologists encounter evidence that challenges conventional understandings of early state formation as a transition from ‘small-scale, egalitarian’ to ‘large-scale, stratified’ societies. One such location is the Early Bronze Age cemetery of Başur Höyük, which presents evidence of grand funerary rituals—including ‘retainer burials’ and spectacular deposits of metallic wealth—in an otherwise small-scale, egalitarian setting. A further, puzzling feature of this cemetery is the preponderance of teenagers in the richest tombs. Here we describe the combined results of archaeological and anthropological analysis at Başur Höyük, including ancient DNA, and consider the challenges they pose to traditional accounts of early state formation.","PeriodicalId":47164,"journal":{"name":"CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143635774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}