What social structure existed in Neolithic Europe?
Neolithic burials are almost all collective, and grave goods are either non-existant or of equal value for everyone in a society. Not to mention the absence of any items that would possibly have been considered valuable... pretty much all neolithic jewelry and decoration use very mundane and abundent materials, which surely implies that they had little value.
We don't really see any clear hierarchy or status in burial until the Chalcolithic (i.e. Varna, Amesbury Archer, etc).
So was Neolithic Europe classless? If not, why did they not treat their elite with clear, high-status burial? Burial and afterlife was clearly significant to the population due to the location and spirital nature of the burials (i.e. cairns in significant locations, and rock art/ megaliths)
There was pic related in the Paleolithic
>The three people buried at Sungir were all adorned with elaborate grave goods that included ivory-beaded jewelry, clothing, and spears. More than 13,000 beads were found (which would have taken 10,000 hours to produce).
>>865565
Interesting. Don't suppose you know of any similar sites in the Neolithic? Or any similar sites in Britain before the Bronze Age?
>>865565
Also interesting to see the position of the hands. Most face-up burials either have the arms to the side, over the chest, or holding onto items, whereas this burial has the hands covering the groin... maybe relevant to fertility? In which case it could have some religious connotations.
>>865580
I can't think of any (I'm just interested in the stone age/chalcolithic in general), and you're probably already aware of this (only from wiki after all).
>With some exceptions, population levels rose rapidly at the beginning of the Neolithic until they reached the carrying capacity.[9] This was followed by a population crash of "enormous magnitude" after 5000 BCE, with levels remaining low during the next 1,500 years.[9] Populations began to rise after 3500 BCE, with further dips and rises occurring between 3000 and 2500 BCE but varying in date between regions.[9] A study of twelve European regions found most experienced boom and bust patterns and suggested an "endogenous, not climatic cause."
So maybe the lack of surplus resources lead to a period focussed more on survival than extravagance?
>>865601
So you're thinking that instead of focussing on particular high status individuals in a religious sense (with the accumulation of value items) it might have been directed towards
>cairns in significant locations, and rock art/ megaliths
Instead?
>>865615
That makes sense.
But everything's very unknown when it comes to prehistory... give it a decade or two and I bet we'll have a lot more understanding of this period.
>>865637
To add to this, when times were plentiful perhaps it was easier for a select group to accumulate status/power, while in tougher periods the authority (derived from the spiritual beliefs? make offerings to me and I'll intercede with the gods to bring bountiful conditions etc) wasn't recognised due to it's failure to produce results, and hence people might have directed their pleas for better conditions in a more general manner rather than in the form of a hierarchy?
>>865545
Thanks Mr. Skeletal
>>865545
i-is that a gold cock sheath?
>>865545
When all you have is nothing, there's a lot to go around
>>865545
is that a bong he is holding?
I'm not joking, looks like some sort of pipe.
>>865545
5spooky10me
>>866591
Where would you pack a cone?
>>866602
not sure, but it sure would make a nice pipe. Maybe the stone part, then the gold part was used as a handle.
>>866613
I'm not so sure, these guys were though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocharians
>the man was buried with a number of practical and ceremonial objects, including archery equipment and a harp, and 789 grams of cannabis. Through genetic analysis and carbon dating, the burial has been dated to roughly 700 BC. Only two of the 500 graves at the site contain cannabis, leading researchers to suggest shamanic roles for the two individuals.
>>866591
That's what I was thinking.
>I died how I lived; Smoking this dank.
