The Early Neoloithic In Greece The First Farming Communities In Europe

Farmers made a sudden and dramatic appearance in Greece around 7000 BC, bringing with them new ceramics and crafts, and establishing settled villages. Their settlements provide the link between the first agricultural Near Eastern communities and the subsequent spread of the new technologies to the Balkans and Western Europe. Drawing on evidence from a wide range of archaeological sources, including often neglected "small finds", the author introduces daring new perspectives on funerary rituals and the distribution of figurines, and constructs a complex and subtle picture of early Neolithic societies.

Catherine Perlès is Professor in the Department of Ethnology at the University of Paris. Her recent publications include Préhistoire du feu (1977), Les industries lithiques taillées de Franchthi (3 vols., 1987, 1990, in press) and 'Greek Neolithic: a new review' (co-authored with J.-P. Demoule, 1993).