The Neolithic transition in the western Mediterranean: a complex and non-linear diffusion process—The radiocarbon record revisited

Claire Manen (1) , Thomas Perrin (1) , Jean Guilaine (1, 2) , Laurent Bouby (3) , Stéphanie Bréhard (4) , François Briois (1) , Frédérique Durand (1, 5) , Philippe Marinval (6) , Jean-Denis Vigne (4)

1 TRACES - Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés
2 CdF (institution) - Collège de France
3 UMR ISEM - Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier
4 AASPE - Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements
5 Inrap - Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives
6 ASM - Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes

The Neolithic transition is a particularly favorable field of research for the study of the emergence and evolution of cultures and cultural phenomena. In this framework, high-precision chronologies are essential for decrypting the rhythms of emergence of new techno-economic traits. As part of a project exploring the conditions underlying the emergence and dynamics of the development of the first agro-pastoral societies in the Western Medi-terranean, this paper proposes a new chronological modeling. Based on 45 new radiocarbon (14 C) dates and on a Bayesian statistical framework, this work examines the rhythms and dispersal paths of the Neolithic economy both on coastal and continental areas. These new data highlight a complex and far less unidirectional dissemination process than that envisaged so far.

Mots clés: chronological modeling; coastal colonization; cultural diversity; Neolithic transition; rhythms and dis- persal paths; Western Mediterranean

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Claire Manen, Thomas Perrin, Jean Guilaine, Laurent Bouby, Stéphanie Bréhard, et al.. The Neolithic transition in the western Mediterranean: a complex and non-linear diffusion process—The radiocarbon record revisited. Radiocarbon, 2018, 61 (2), pp.531-571. ⟨10.1017/RDC.2018.98⟩. ⟨hal-01910715⟩