Linear Pottery Culture Household Organisation. An Economic Model.

Lamys Hachem (1, 2) , Caroline Hamon (2)

1 Inrap - Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives
2 Trajectoires - UMR 8215

A combined analysis of faunal remains and macrolithic tools, reflecting meat and plant food consumption, was conducted on six multi-phase settlements in the Aisne valley (Picardy, France), dating to the late Linearbandkeramik (LBK). A new socio-economic model is proposed. A study of the house plans, phase and position in the settlements leads to distinctions between houses according to subsistence, with links made between the economic and symbolic importance of agricultural and hunting activities. Although all households were autonomous in their daily consumption, some surplus was produced. Long houses carried out more animal husbandry and cereal processing, while small houses are more linked to hunting and secondary animal exploitation. These differences between households can be interpreted in terms of sociology, identity and economy, which allows the examination of different facets of the same society, based on comparisons of the respective value of ‘farming’ and ‘hunting’ in LBK society.

Mots clés: Zooarchaeology; Houses; Grinding tools; LBK Neolithic; Faunal remains; macrolithic tools; Aisne valley; France; Linearbandkeramik; animal husbandry; cereal processing; hunting

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Lamys Hachem, Caroline Hamon. Linear Pottery Culture Household Organisation. An Economic Model.. Alasdair Whittle and Penny Bickle. Early farmers, The view from Archaeology and Science., 198, Oxford University Press, pp.159-180, 2014, Proceedings of the British Academy, 9780197265758. ⟨10.5871/bacad/9780197265758.003.0009⟩. ⟨hal-01737177⟩