Prehistoric household archaeology

Scheme 1. Four-section model of prehistoric
household archaeology

A. Branches

Economic

Social

Symbolic

Theoretical

B. Research fields

Enculturation

Socialization

Behavior

Social
practices

C. Main sources

Environmental
archaeology (landscape /
resources)

Settlement archaeology

Archaeology of mortuary
pattern

Archaeology of rituals
and entertainment

D. Context of
interaction

Individual

Social group

Culture

Political
organization

Internal links:
Living well together?
Household archaeology undressed

IIA' favorite website: Free iTune lecture by Professor Douglass W Bailey

Scheme 2. Towards destructuring the prehistoric household (according to the
arguments of Stella Souvatzi, Living well together, pp. 17-25).

Household variability

Household
morphology

Household activity

Household ideology

Landscape
Settlement pattern
Ritual pattern
Burial pattern

House pattern
Activity diversity
Social entities
Social units
Descent lines and kin bond
Kinship as a social practices’ constructor
(maintenance of corporations, conduct,
cross-cutting activities and social rules)

Diversity
Cooperation
Community-wide concerns

Socialization and social equality/inequality
Physical and social reproductive strategies
(domestic rituals)
Social identity
Symbolic pattern

Scheme 3. Pottery production and cultural pattern in Balkan Prehistory
(arguments of Michela Spataro for the conservative painted pottery style in
Transylvania, Living well together).

Archaeological argument

Conservative
manufacturing technology
of Neolithic pottery

Cultural alternative or complimentary
explanations

Deeply conservative society

Extremely well suited recipe (e.g.
organic temper)

Particular members of society
transmitted the technological
knowledge / a specialized class of
artisans

Scheme 4. Pits as living structures (particular characteristics suggested by
Haskel J Greenfield and Tina Jungsma, Living well Together, p. 115)

Pit as a living structure

Evidence of being covered

A definable shape

A slight hump of soil
around the outside edges

Material lying in situ on the
floor

Some kind of soil bench
around the edge