idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Abstract:
Recent years have seen a tendency to increasingly push back – and thereby naturalise –hierarchies in prehistory. The discussion is characterised on the one hand by an overly simple opposition between “hierarchical” and “egalitarian”, which both flattens human experience and polarises debate, and on the other hand by leaving much open to the imagination. “Hierarchy” is thus often implicitly cast as an exploitative social system based on the control of violence, and as being durable and hereditary. In a way, models proposed for some European regions in the Bronze Age are increasingly pushed further back in time, sometimes on relatively flimsy grounds, to find ever earlier “origins of inequality”.
In this paper, I will use the southern Bavarian enclosure of Riedling, which dates to the second half of the fifth millennium BC, to reflect on possible alternatives. A recent DFG-funded project has focused in particular on the role of structured deposits at the site, which can be interpreted as the residues of communal meals. By looking at the composition of these deposits – what is included, but also what is excluded – we try to argue for a somewhat more unstable situation, in which displays of charismatic leadership and ritual knowledge created more fluid distinctions between individuals and groups. We try to contextualise what this means for our understanding of the central European Copper Age and its prestige goods.
Information on participating / attending:
Date:
07/01/2024 16:15 - 07/01/2024 17:45
Event venue:
ZMB, Am Botanischen Garten 11, R.4.003 + Foyer, Followed by a get-together until 19.00 h
24118 Kiel
Schleswig-Holstein
Germany
Target group:
Scientists and scholars, all interested persons
Relevance:
regional
Subject areas:
Cultural sciences, Environment / ecology, Geosciences, History / archaeology, Oceanology / climate
Types of events:
Presentation / colloquium / lecture
Entry:
02/29/2024
Sender/author:
Jan Steffen
Department:
Media and Public Outreach
Event is free:
yes
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event76399
Biweekly Colloqiua Poster You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.
You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).
Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.
You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).
If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).
