Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Mobility and kinship in the world’s first village societies

Pearson, Jessica; Evans, Jane; Lamb, Angela; Baird, Douglas; Hodder, Ian; Marciniak, Arkadiusz; Larsen, Clark Spencer; Knüsel, Christopher J.; Haddow, Scott D.; Pilloud, Marin A.; Bogaard, Amy; Fairbairn, Andrew; Plug, Jo-Hannah; Mazzucato, Camilla; Mustafaoğlu, Gökhan; Feldman, Michal; Somel, Mehmet; Fernández-Domínguez, Eva

Mobility and kinship in the world’s first village societies Thumbnail


Authors

Jessica Pearson

Jane Evans

Angela Lamb

Douglas Baird

Ian Hodder

Arkadiusz Marciniak

Clark Spencer Larsen

Christopher J. Knüsel

Scott D. Haddow

Marin A. Pilloud

Amy Bogaard

Andrew Fairbairn

Jo-Hannah Plug

Camilla Mazzucato

Gökhan Mustafaoğlu

Michal Feldman

Mehmet Somel



Abstract

Around 10,000 y ago in southwest Asia, the cessation of a mobile lifestyle and the emergence of the first village communities during the Neolithic marked a fundamental change in human history. The first communities were small (tens to hundreds of individuals) but remained semisedentary. So-called megasites appeared soon after, occupied by thousands of more sedentary inhabitants. Accompanying this shift, the material culture and ancient ecological data indicate profound changes in economic and social behavior. A shift from residential to logistical mobility and increasing population size are clear and can be explained by either changes in fertility and/or aggregation of local groups. However, as sedentism increased, small early communities likely risked inbreeding without maintaining or establishing exogamous relationships typical of hunter-gatherers. Megasites, where large populations would have made endogamy sustainable, could have avoided this risk. To examine the role of kinship practices in the rise of megasites, we measured strontium and oxygen isotopes in tooth enamel from 99 individuals buried at Pınarbaşı, Boncuklu, and Çatalhöyük (Turkey) over 7,000 y. These sites are geographically proximate and, critically, span both early sedentary behaviors (Pınarbaşı and Boncuklu) and the rise of a local megasite (Çatalhöyük). Our data are consistent with the presence of only local individuals at Pınarbaşı and Boncuklu, whereas at Çatalhöyük, several nonlocals are present. The Çatalhöyük data stand in contrast to other megasites where bioarchaeological evidence has pointed to strict endogamy. These different kinship behaviors suggest that megasites may have arisen by employing unique, community-specific kinship practices.

Citation

Pearson, J., Evans, J., Lamb, A., Baird, D., Hodder, I., Marciniak, A., Larsen, C. S., Knüsel, C. J., Haddow, S. D., Pilloud, M. A., Bogaard, A., Fairbairn, A., Plug, J.-H., Mazzucato, C., Mustafaoğlu, G., Feldman, M., Somel, M., & Fernández-Domínguez, E. (2023). Mobility and kinship in the world’s first village societies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(4), Article e2209480119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2209480119

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 19, 2022
Online Publication Date Jan 17, 2023
Publication Date 2023
Deposit Date Feb 21, 2023
Publicly Available Date May 2, 2023
Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Print ISSN 0027-8424
Electronic ISSN 1091-6490
Publisher National Academy of Sciences
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 120
Issue 4
Article Number e2209480119
DOI https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2209480119
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1179985

Files





You might also like



Downloadable Citations