ABSTRACT

Douglass Bailey's volume fills the huge gap that existed for a comprehensive synthesis, in English, of the archaeology of the Balkans between 6,500 and 2,000 BC; much research on the prehistory of Eastern Europe was inaccessible to a western audience before now, because of linguistic barriers.
Bailey argues against traditional interpretations of the period, which focus on the origins of agriculture and animal breeding. He demonstrates that this was a period when monumental social and material changes occurred in the lives of the people in this region, with new technologies and ways of displaying identity.
Balkan Prehistory will be required reading for everyone studying the Neolithic, Copper and early Bronze Ages of Eastern Europe.

chapter |14 pages

INTRODUCTION: BALKAN PREHISTORY (6500–2000 BC)

Fundamental changes in human behaviour

chapter 1|24 pages

SETTING THE SCENE

The Balkans before 6500 BC

chapter 3|40 pages

NEW DIMENSIONS OF MATERIAL CULTURE

Pottery containers and other forms of expression (6500–5500 BC)

chapter 4|37 pages

CONTINUITY OR CHANGE?

Burials, lithics, plants and animals (6500–5500 BC)

chapter 7|23 pages

BC

The Balkans after 4000 BC

chapter 8|25 pages

THE BALKANS (6500–2500 BC)

Exclusion, incorporation and projection