The shaping of social and symbolic capital during the transition to farming in the Western Mediterranean: Archaeological network analyses of pottery decorations and personal ornaments

Abstract

Storing information and circulating it between individuals and groups is a critical behaviour that signals a tipping point in our evolutionary history. Such practices enabled the preservation and consolidation of knowledge over extended periods, facilitating the accumulation of cultural innovations across generations. In this study, we used Social Network Analysis methods to explore how knowledge circulated during the transition to agriculture in the Western Mediterranean region. Previous studies have shown that specific elements of the material culture reveal distinct patterns of cultural interaction among early farming communities. Here, we investigated if two archaeological proxies, personal ornaments and pottery decorations, both with an exclusively symbolic function, reveal different network structures, and if the different degree of connexions acted equally on the transmission of styles, symbols, and network changes over time. Our results relied on cultural data recorded from 77 archaeological occupations covering Italy, France, and Spain, spanning over 1,500 years (ca. 7950~6450 cal BP). By utilizing a chronological dataset comprising 114 radiocarbon dates, we revealed that pottery decorative techniques networks exhibited stronger connexions over space and time, with nodes organized in clear cluster, when compared to personal ornaments networks. The findings highlight the regionalization and fragmentation of cultural networks during the Early Neolithic, and that the transmission of cultural traits within each category of artefact operated through varying cultural and social mechanisms. Pottery expressed a dynamic regional identity, continuously shaped by geographical and chronological proximity, while bead-type associations contributed to enduring identities shared across vast geographical scales. These networks shed light on the multifaceted shaping of social and symbolic capital among the Mediterranean’s early farmers, emphasizing the strength and quality of social ties that existed between communities and the level of reciprocity and cooperation required to foster these diverse social, economic, and cultural development strategies.

Weaving social networks from cultural similarities on the neolithisation process in the Western Mediterranean: Evolutionary trajectories using projectile tools

“…The selection of geometric projectiles has provided a suitable proxy for comparing the entire temporal range considered. For the first time at this regional and temporal scale, we point to these objects to explore culture variation from SNA, as has also recently been applied to pottery decoration patterns, and/or ornament assemblages [ 63 , 64 , 66 ].…”

“…In addition, it constitutes a proposal that introduces, for the first time, geometric projectiles as a good proxy for exploring variability considering SNA in the context of the neolithisation process from a Mediterranean perspective. Other approaches pointing to these issues have used pottery and/or ornaments, producing interesting questions when comparing results [ 63 , 64 , 66 ]. Although unequal geographic and temporal scales hinder direct comparison, it is possible to stress some relevant aspects.…”

“…First of all, when we compare the aforementioned SNA works accounting for ornaments, pottery decoration techniques, and in our case, geometric projectile types, results have referred to different evolutionary stories. For ornaments, both the Mesolithic [ 63 ] and Neolithic [ 64 ] revealed more spatially homogeneous patterns and temporal persistence. In contrast, pottery decorative techniques show a more heterogeneous variability through time, conforming to some kind of regional identity patterns [ 64 ] that fit well with several explaining evolutionary hypotheses about Neolithic spread and consolidation.…”

“…For ornaments, both the Mesolithic [ 63 ] and Neolithic [ 64 ] revealed more spatially homogeneous patterns and temporal persistence. In contrast, pottery decorative techniques show a more heterogeneous variability through time, conforming to some kind of regional identity patterns [ 64 ] that fit well with several explaining evolutionary hypotheses about Neolithic spread and consolidation. Accounting for pottery records, and considering a similar geographic and temporal scope (The Central and Western Mediterranean), Pardo-Gordó and colleagues [ 95 ] have obtained slightly different results based on cultural distance matrices and cladistics.…”

“…We decided to keep samples from the same site and different cultural levels separate -even when they fall in the same chronological unit, to capture differences in the diachronic history of the site itself. In any case, we think that this assumption allows us to build more high-resolution time bins in comparison with other approaches referring to larger intervals (1500 to 500 years) considering our temporal and contextual range [ 63 , 64 ]. The next step was to build, according to the previous classification, contingency tables with information on the frequency at which every type appeared in each unit.…”