Post-marital residence patterns are an important aspect of human social organization. However, identifying such patterns in prehistoric societies is challenging since they leave almost no direct traces in archaeological records. Cross-cultural researchers have attempted to identify correlates of post-marital residence through the statistical analysis of ethnographic data. Several studies have demonstrated that, in agricultural societies, large dwellings (over ca. 65 m 2) are associated with matrilocality (spouse resides with or near the wife's family), whereas smaller dwellings are associated with patrilocality (spouse resides with or near the husband's family). In the present study, we tested the association between post-marital residence and dwelling size (average house floor area) using phylogenetic comparative methods and a global sample of 86 pre-industrial societies, 22 of which were matrilocal. Our analysis included the presence of agriculture, sedentism, and durability of house construction material as additional explanatory variables. The results confirm a strong association between matrilocality and dwelling size, although very large dwellings (over ca. 200 m 2) were found to be associated with all types of post-marital residence. The best model combined dwelling size, post-marital residence pattern, and sedentism, the latter being the single best predictor of house size. The effect of agriculture on dwelling size becomes insignificant once the fixity of settlement is taken into account. Our results indicate that postmarital residence and house size evolve in a correlated fashion, namely that matrilocality is a predictable response to an increase in dwelling size. As such, we suggest that reliable inferences about the social organization of prehistoric societies can be made from archaeological records.
Slavery is difficult to ascertain in the archaeological record, especially because of the lack of material evidence. Using the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample of 186 societies, our aim was to find indirect and easily identifiable indicators of the presence of slavery. The results show links between slavery and the expected and familiar domains (e.g., warfare, polygyny, social and political integration) as well as its relationship to metallurgy, which can be considered an innovative finding. This text attempts to explain and give context to the metallurgy relationship with historical examples related to the exploitation of slaves during various stages of the operational chain of metal production. These include raw material extraction, production of charcoal, and construction or reconstruction of smelting furnaces.
Cílem této práce je přispět k debatě o existenci otroctví v minulosti a představit možnosti jeho archeologického poznání. Základní aplikovanou metodou je mezikulturní výzkum neboli srovnávací analýza etnografických dat, pro niž byl vybrán vzorek 186 světových kultur, tzv. Standard Cross-Cultural Sample. V principu jde o hledání korelací mezi otroctvím a specifickou skupinou kulturních indikátorů. Výsledky ukázaly jednak vazbu otroctví na očekávané a známé domény (např. válčení, polygynie, společenská a politická integrace), jednak jeho vztah k metalurgii, což je možné považovat za inovativní zjištění. V textu je učiněn pokus o validaci této souvislosti. Konečná interpretace pak vychází z prokázané skutečnosti využívání otroků v průběhu různých etap operačního řetězce výroby kovů, z nichž na prvním místě byla těžba surovin.
The function of sunken rectangular features in the Late Neolithic has been a subject of interest in Central Europe for many years. This type of pit is not found very often. One of the latest examples is a square Lengyel feature in the village of Střelice near Brno. A study of the microstratigraphy of the fill has made it possible to qualitatively move the debate to a new level. The qualitative assessment of bone micro-fragments is also innovative for the method of micromorphology in the archaeological context. The study also includes an analysis of artefacts in the actual fill of feature 562, especially the deposits of fragments of “other lithic industry”, pottery and parts of an animal’s body. The discovered situation is then interpreted in the context of other known contemporary features of this type. The presence of excrement with digested bone micro-fragments in the lower layer and the absence of a floor treatment, tread horizon or bedding can be interpreted in the context of ethnohistorical analogies, e. g., as the short-term use of a faecal pit for an omnivorous or carnivorous species (bear) with a subsequent ritual ending.
There is a popular idea that archaic humans commonly used wooden clubs as their weapons. This is not based on archaeological finds, which are minimal from the Pleistocene, but rather on a few ethnographic analogies and the association of these weapons with simple technology. This article presents the first quantitative cross-cultural analysis of the use of wooden clubs and throwing sticks for hunting and violence among foragers. Using a sample of 57 recent hunting-gathering societies from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample, it is shown that the majority used clubs for violence (86%) and/or hunting (74%). Whereas in hunting and fishing the club usually served only as a secondary tool, 33% of societies used the club as one of their main fighting weapons. The use of throwing sticks was less frequent among the societies surveyed (12% for violence, 14% for hunting). Based on these results and other evidence, it is argued that the use of clubs by early humans was highly probable, at least in the simplest form of a crude stick. The great variation in the forms and use of clubs and throwing sticks among recent hunter-gatherers, however, indicates that they are not standardized weapons and that similar variation may have existed in the past. Many such prehistoric weapons may therefore have been quite sophisticated, multifunctional, and carried strong symbolic meaning.
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