- Neolithic Archaeology, Household Archaeology, Archaeology and Anthropology, Aegean Prehistory (Archaeology), Social Archaeology, Archaeological Theory, and 13 moreArchaeological Method & Theory, Neolithic Europe, Anatolian Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, Anthropology of Kinship, History of Archaeology, Social History, Archaeology of Kinship and the Family, Materiality, Prehistoric Archaeology, Prehistory, Space and Place, and Architectureedit
- Stella Souvatzi (PhD 2000, Cambridge) is Assist. Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Thessaly. ... moreStella Souvatzi (PhD 2000, Cambridge) is Assist. Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Thessaly. Her research focuses on the Neolithic archaeology of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean; the archaeology of household; space, time and history; theory of archaeology and anthropology; and cultural heritage and identity. She has held senior research fellowships and research projects in Greece, Turkey and Germany (DAAD Visiting Scholarship at Martin Luther University and the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, 2018; DAI-Berlin Invitation for Study Visit, 2020; British Institute at Ankara / Koç University Research Centre for Anatolian Civilizations, Istanbul, 2013-2014; Invited Visiting Scientist Fellowship, University of Thrace, Edirne, 2014-2015). She has taught archaeology in Britain, Greece, Cyprus, Germany and Turkey, has given seminars and invited lectures at higher institutions in Europe and has co-organised sessions and delivered keynote lectures at major international archaeological and anthropological conferences. She is the author of A Social Archaeology of Households in Neolithic Greece, An Anthropological Approach (Cambridge University Press, 2008) and leading editor of the volumes Space and Time in Mediterranean Archaeology (Routledge, 2014), and Time and History in Prehistory (Routledge, 2018).edit
- PhD Supervisor: Prof. Ian Hodderedit
“The idea of human prehistory, this volume argues, is ‘foggy and misleading’. What happened before written records deserves instead the unqualified status of history. The wide-ranging papers in Time and History in Prehistory start with... more
“The idea of human prehistory, this volume argues, is ‘foggy and misleading’. What happened before written records deserves instead the unqualified status of history. The wide-ranging papers in Time and History in Prehistory start with farming and end with the rise of cities. With breathtaking conceptual verve, they affirm that understanding time is central to archaeological endeavour. The editors must be congratulated on fashioning a global showcase for the last few millennia of deep human history.”
Clive Gamble, University of Southampton, UK
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Time and History in Prehistory explores the many processes through which time and history are conceptualised and constructed, challenging the perception of prehistoric societies as ahistorical. Drawing equally on contemporary theory and illustrative case studies and firmly rooted in material evidence, this book rearticulates concepts of time and history, questions the kind of narratives to be written about the past and underlines the fundamentally historical nature of prehistory.
From a range of multi-disciplinary perspectives, the authors of this volume address the scales at which archaeological evidence and narrative are interwoven, from a single day to deep history and from a solitary pot to a complete city. In doing so, they argue the need for a multi-scalar approach to prehistoric data that allows for the interplay between short and long term, and for analytical units that encourage us to move continuously between scales.
The growing interest in time and history in archaeology and across a wide range of disciplines concerned with human action and the human past highlights that these are exceptionally active fields. By juxtaposing varied viewpoints this volume bridges gaps in narrative, finds a place for inclusive histories and makes clear the benefit of integrative and interdisciplinary approaches, including different disciplines and types of data.
Clive Gamble, University of Southampton, UK
_________
Time and History in Prehistory explores the many processes through which time and history are conceptualised and constructed, challenging the perception of prehistoric societies as ahistorical. Drawing equally on contemporary theory and illustrative case studies and firmly rooted in material evidence, this book rearticulates concepts of time and history, questions the kind of narratives to be written about the past and underlines the fundamentally historical nature of prehistory.
From a range of multi-disciplinary perspectives, the authors of this volume address the scales at which archaeological evidence and narrative are interwoven, from a single day to deep history and from a solitary pot to a complete city. In doing so, they argue the need for a multi-scalar approach to prehistoric data that allows for the interplay between short and long term, and for analytical units that encourage us to move continuously between scales.
The growing interest in time and history in archaeology and across a wide range of disciplines concerned with human action and the human past highlights that these are exceptionally active fields. By juxtaposing varied viewpoints this volume bridges gaps in narrative, finds a place for inclusive histories and makes clear the benefit of integrative and interdisciplinary approaches, including different disciplines and types of data.
Research Interests: History, Sociology, African Studies, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, and 15 moreAnthropology, Philosophy, Social Anthropology, Historical Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, African History, Archaeological Method & Theory, Neolithic Archaeology, Philosophy of Time, Object Oriented Ontology, Time Perception, History of Archaeology, Philosophical Anthrpology, and Hyper-objects
“... With breathtaking conceptual verve, the wide ranging papers in Time and History in Prehistory start with farming and end with the rise of cities. they affirm that understanding time is central to archaeological endeavour. The editors... more
“... With breathtaking conceptual verve, the wide ranging papers in Time and History in Prehistory start with farming and end with the rise of cities. they affirm that understanding time is central to archaeological endeavour. The editors must be congratulated on fashioning a global showcase for the last few millennia of deep human history. Clive Gamble, University of Southampton”.
Time and History in Prehistory explores the many processes through which time and history are conceptualised and constructed, challenging the perception of prehistoric societies as ahistorical. Drawing equally on contemporary theory and illustrative case studies and firmly rooted in material evidence, this book rearticulates concepts of time and history, questions the kind of narratives to be written about the past and underlines the fundamentally historical nature of prehistory.
Time and History in Prehistory explores the many processes through which time and history are conceptualised and constructed, challenging the perception of prehistoric societies as ahistorical. Drawing equally on contemporary theory and illustrative case studies and firmly rooted in material evidence, this book rearticulates concepts of time and history, questions the kind of narratives to be written about the past and underlines the fundamentally historical nature of prehistory.
Research Interests: Social Theory, Prehistoric Archaeology, Social Anthropology, Architecture, Material Culture Studies, and 8 moreArchaeological Method & Theory, Neolithic Archaeology, Anthropology of Kinship, Time Perception, Household Archaeology, Archaeology and Anthropology, History, Prehistory and Archaeology, and Time
'This is a useful book that adds much to our current understandings of the household. It will be of interest to those studying the Neolithic and to those interested in the variable nature of housing and households more generally.' Bryn... more
'This is a useful book that adds much to our current understandings of the household. It will be of interest to those studying the Neolithic and to those interested in the variable nature of housing and households more generally.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review.
Description: The study of households and everyday life is increasingly recognized as fundamental in social archaeological analysis. This volume addresses the household as a process and as a conceptual and analytical means through which we can interpret social organization from the bottom up. Using detailed case studies from Neolithic Greece, Stella Souvatzi examines how the household is defined socially, culturally and historically; she discusses household and community, variability, production and reproduction, individual and collective agency, identity, change, complexity and integration. Her study is enriched by an in-depth discussion of the framework for the household in the social sciences and the synthesis of many anthropological, historical and sociological examples. It reverses the view of the household as passive, ahistorical and stable, showing it instead to be active, dynamic and continually shifting.
Description: The study of households and everyday life is increasingly recognized as fundamental in social archaeological analysis. This volume addresses the household as a process and as a conceptual and analytical means through which we can interpret social organization from the bottom up. Using detailed case studies from Neolithic Greece, Stella Souvatzi examines how the household is defined socially, culturally and historically; she discusses household and community, variability, production and reproduction, individual and collective agency, identity, change, complexity and integration. Her study is enriched by an in-depth discussion of the framework for the household in the social sciences and the synthesis of many anthropological, historical and sociological examples. It reverses the view of the household as passive, ahistorical and stable, showing it instead to be active, dynamic and continually shifting.
Research Interests:
"This is a remarkable contribution worth reading by all those interested in theoretical issues dealing with the two chief dimensions of human perception: space and time. It is a bold and thought-provoking attempt to overcome the... more
"This is a remarkable contribution worth reading by all those interested in theoretical issues dealing with the two chief dimensions of human perception: space and time. It is a bold and thought-provoking attempt to overcome the conceptual limitations of current discussions on the space-time relationships in the prehistoric past. In short, it really contributes to setting a comparative and integrative framework which transcends boundaries (both political and disciplinary) and rearticulates our understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics of social phenomena in the past, yielding more sound and nuanced narratives." -Antonio Blanco-Gonz´alez, University of Valladolid, Spain.
Description:
Space and Time in Mediterranean Prehistory addresses these two concepts as interrelated, rather than as separate categories, and as a means for understanding past social relations at different scales. It focuses on the active and interactive role of space and time in the production of any social environment, drawing equally on contemporary theory and on case-studies from Mediterranean prehistory.
The volume is a response to the dissatisfaction with traditional views of space and time in prehistory and revisits these concepts to develop a timely integrative conceptual and analytical framework for the study of space and time in archaeology.
Description:
Space and Time in Mediterranean Prehistory addresses these two concepts as interrelated, rather than as separate categories, and as a means for understanding past social relations at different scales. It focuses on the active and interactive role of space and time in the production of any social environment, drawing equally on contemporary theory and on case-studies from Mediterranean prehistory.
The volume is a response to the dissatisfaction with traditional views of space and time in prehistory and revisits these concepts to develop a timely integrative conceptual and analytical framework for the study of space and time in archaeology.
Research Interests:
The paper explores and compares the ways in which Neolithic heritage in Greece and Turkey-two archaeologically and historically influential cases-has been used at the level of the state and the diverse meanings, values and histories... more
The paper explores and compares the ways in which Neolithic heritage in Greece and Turkey-two archaeologically and historically influential cases-has been used at the level of the state and the diverse meanings, values and histories ascribed to it by local communities and public discourse. Using four very representative examples as case studies, including the World Heritage sites of Çatalhöyük and Göbekli Tepe in Turkey as well as Dimini and Dispilio in Greece, the paper demonstrates how Neolithic spaces are used by different agents to install a certain image of history and to form a collective memory, but also to emphasize difference and discontinuity. The main aim is to explore the relationship between heritage, space and history. Special emphasis is placed on the politics of history or historiography and identity at all levels and on the placement of the debates into a larger historical and discursive context.
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Research Interests: History, Cultural History, Sociology, Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, and 13 morePrehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Historical Archaeology, Social Sciences, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Archaeological Method & Theory, Neolithic Archaeology, Theoretical Archaeology, Philosophy of Time, Social History, Time Perception, Cultural Anthropology, and Philosphy
Research Interests: History, Cultural History, Sociology, Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, and 14 morePrehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Historical Archaeology, Social Sciences, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Archaeological Method & Theory, Neolithic Archaeology, Theoretical Archaeology, Philosophy of Time, Social History, Time Perception, Cultural Anthropology, Routledge, and Philosphy
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This article attempts to draw attention to the social choices of the earliest farming societies, evaluating new and old settlement data from the Early Neolithic of Thessaly in Greece. We examine the inhabitation of landscapes, the... more
This article attempts to draw attention to the social choices of the earliest farming societies, evaluating new and old settlement data from the Early Neolithic of Thessaly in Greece. We examine the inhabitation of landscapes, the organisation of the inhabited spaces and the human–landscape interaction as a framework for the creation of a socialised environment. Taking into account aspects such as settlement location, duration, architecture and intra- and intersite arrangements, this study shows that the observed diversity in space and time reflects alternative modes of settlement and land use, variations in notions of permanence and continuity and different modalities of the adoption and meaning of new socioeconomic practices. This evidence challenges traditional interpretations of simplicity, homogeneity and change as being induced from outside and calls for a new reading of the Early Neolithic. We argue that the model of a single and uniform development, deriving from concepts of...
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The prehistory of the Aegean, Balkans, and Carpathian Basin has changed dramatically in the last two decades. This review covers five aspects of these changes: (a) the development of theoretical approaches, in which diversification from... more
The prehistory of the Aegean, Balkans, and Carpathian Basin has changed dramatically in the last two decades. This review covers five aspects of these changes: (a) the development of theoretical approaches, in which diversification from cultural archaeology has seen the spread of processual, postpro-cessual and later approaches; (b) the acquisition of data, with the key major development being the proliferation of large-scale infrastructure projects; (c) the synthesis of data, the most significant challenge being to make sense of the massive increase in paleo-environmental research, materials science, regional surveys, and site monographs; (d) thematic questions, whose very diversity underscores the discipline's growth in these regions; and (e) emergent trends, such as the creation of new forms of synthesis at the local, regional , and interregional scales, the theorizing and differentiation of new ways of relating people, places, plants, and animals and objects, and continuing diversification in the application of scientific techniques. 123 Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2020.49:123-140. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org by stellasouvatzi@hotmail.com on 11/16/20. For personal use only.
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Research Interests: Cultural History, Prehistoric Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Settlement Patterns, Neolithic Archaeology, and 9 moreSocial Archaeology, Anthropology of Kinship, Prehistoric Settlement, Space and Time (Philosophy), Time Perception, Neolithic Europe, Territoriality, Land Use, and Biography of Objects
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Kinship is a most significant organizing principle of human grouping, the basic matter of social categories in archaeological and ethnographic societies, and an important concept universally. However, its significance has rarely been... more
Kinship is a most significant organizing principle of human grouping, the basic matter of social categories in archaeological and ethnographic societies, and an important concept universally. However, its significance has rarely been adequately incorporated within archaeology's theoretical and interpretative practice. This article aims to not only show the potential of bringing kinship into social archaeology, but also argue that archaeology can make important contributions to wider social research. Grounded on prehistoric data, spanning from the 8th to the 4th millennium bc, and drawing on cross-cultural discussions, it explores how understandings and practices of kinship might have been constructed and enacted in the first farming communities through architecture, time, material products, burials, and rituals. In doing so, the article addresses key issues of common interest in archaeology and anthropology, inviting interdisciplinary dialogue.
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Traditional models of the introduction, spread and impact of the Neolithic way of life tend to assume that novel reorientations and developments are something that happens elsewhere to which people merely respond – for example, by... more
Traditional models of the introduction, spread and impact of the Neolithic way of life tend to assume that novel reorientations and developments are something that happens elsewhere to which people merely respond – for example, by adopting agriculture, settling down and creating permanent houses. This chapter suggests that we need to investigate the deeper structure of these pioneering societies and to reconceptualise the Neolithic house as an active social framework for life, as a context for the transformations that occur. Indeed, it is in the continually shifting relationships within and between social groups that wider developments can be best understood. This view is explored through an examination of the different manifestations of early settlement in Greece, the role and forms of houses, the interplay between the different scales of space and time at which all this happened and the range of relationships that it involved.