Regional Approaches to Society and Complexity - Alex R. Knodell
5. Continent, Region, Micro-Region, Site: Settlement Nucleation in the European Neolithic
Regional Approaches to Society and Complexity - Alex R. Knodell
William A. Parkinson [+]
University of Illinois
Description
European archaeology is historically schizophrenic. Grand syntheses of the entire continent are created through the narrow perspective offered through the excavation of individual sites. While such macro-scale syntheses are essential for the discipline of archaeology, they need to be tethered to specific regional and micro-regional studies. This chapter builds upon two themes that pervade John Cherry’s many contributions to archaeology: regional-scale studies and the development of complex economic and political systems. By comparing and contrasting regional studies in two distantly related parts of the European continent — the Carpathian Basin and the Aegean — the author discusses the long history of systematic, intensive, regional studies and how earlier survey projects have facilitated the more recent, micro-regional studies that incorporate the cutting-edge research techniques that only recently have become available. The integration of these micro-regional datasets is the new frontier for regional studies.