Showing papers by "Stephen Shennan published in 2018"

The First Farmers of Europe: An Evolutionary Perspective

Abstract: Knowledge of the origin and spread of farming has been revolutionised in recent years by the application of new scientific techniques, especially the analysis of ancient DNA from human genomes. In this book, Stephen Shennan presents the latest research on the spread of farming by archaeologists, geneticists and other archaeological scientists. He shows that it resulted from a population expansion from present-day Turkey. Using ideas from the disciplines of human behavioural ecology and cultural evolution, he explains how this process took place. The expansion was not the result of 'population pressure' but of the opportunities for increased fertility by colonising new regions that farming offered. The knowledge and resources for the farming 'niche' were passed on from parents to their children. However, Shennan demonstrates that the demographic patterns associated with the spread of farming resulted in population booms and busts, not continuous expansion.

Regional Demographic Trends and Settlement Patterns in Central Italy: Archaeological Sites and Radiocarbon Dates

Abstract: To our knowledge, the dataset described in this paper represents the largest existing repository of archaeological settlement (7,383 sites) and radiocarbon data (816 samples) for central Italy, spanning the period from the Late Mesolithic (ca. 8,000 BC) to the fall of the Roman Empire (500 AD). This dataset is also one of the six case studies in a Leverhulme Trust funded project called Changing the Face of the Mediterranean: Land Cover and Population Since the Advent of Farming (Grant Ref. RPG-2015-031), a Plymouth-UCL collaboration which aims to reconstruct regional demographic trends and change in land cover/vegetation over the longue duree.

David Clarke’s Analytical Archaeology at 50

Abstract: David Clarke’s Analytical Archaeology (1968) has been seen as a pivotal work that emerged when new ideas and approaches were transforming archaeology as a discipline. However, the authors contend that some of its key ideas have only been picked up on and given closer consideration in more recent years. At the 50th anniversary of its publication, the authors outline the central ideas discussed in Analytical Archaeology and evaluate its role in ongoing discussions. They conclude that in the light of recent work, which can demonstrably be seen as revisiting some of its central themes, there is much to be gained in contemporary archaeological discussion by revisiting Clarke’s book.