Review of sections on the transition to agriculture in European prehistory
by
K. Fewster
NB: I wrote this review as if I were searching for a list of theories which have been put forward to explain the origins of agriculture in Europe.
Steve Mithen (213-4) gives an excellent summary of the Mesolithic in Europe, given the shortage of space. Mithen discusses the ways in which the Mesolithic Period has been characterised throughout the history of the discipline, from its original inception as an anomalous hiatus, to the later emphasis on material continuities. He ends with the onset of the Neolithic Period and the gradual transition to agriculture in many regions. It would have been useful to have had an outline of the various theories which have been put forward to explain the transition to agriculture at this point.
Chris Scarre's version of the Neolithic in Europe (215-6) is disappointing, given the excellent start in the preceding section. Theories on the origins and spread of agriculture are again neglected as a result of Scarre's region-by-region analysis of the data. The reader is referred to pages 225 to 227, which include a discussion of the archaeological identification of the domestication in animals. The implications of this are not examined with reference to Mithen's contribution -- exploring the possibility that food production and domestication were processes that began in Europe during the Mesolithic Period.
Mark Nesbitt (19-21) takes a global view of the origins of agriculture and, as such, theories relating specifically to Europe are not discussed, though there is mention of such issues as agriculture and sedentism and agricultural intensification. Again, the reader is referred elsewhere: to pages 491 to 494 and Thomas Levy on the origins of agriculture in the Near East. There one finds a good summary of the regional data. Some discussion of theories on the origins of agriculture is included, but, as is appropriate to the region, and thus is heavily biased toward Childe's 'Neolithic Revolution' and Sherratt's 'Secondary Products Revolution'. From this brief survey of the relevant entries, I was led to assume that theories on the origins of agriculture are discussed region by region, and I gave up looking for a handy 'list' of general theories. Most of the individual entries in the Companion are of the highest quality, but the cross-referencing is time-consuming for the reader, and occasionally confusing.
About the reviewer
Kathy Fewster recently obtained her PhD from the Department of Archaeology and Prehistory at the University of Sheffield and she has just
spent a year lecturing in Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Durham. Her research interests include ethnoarchaeology and
the origins of agriculture.
Copyright © 1998
Copyright © assemblage 1998