Abstract
In this brief introduction, the editors outline the structure of the volume and explain its rationale, before drawing out some key themes that emerge from the various contributions. In particular, they critically discuss the recent ontological focus on materials and its relation to human agency, the role of architecture in routine practice, the potential cosmological dimensions of the house, and possible avenues for examining transmission and change. They argue for the importance of a stronger comparative focus in re-invigorating the debate on how one kind of building and dwelling could transform into another.
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Notes
- 1.
For an exploration of the role of building materials, in this case mud brick, in perpetuating household identity at Çatalhöyük, see Love (2012).
- 2.
In spite of their own insistence (Bentley et al. 2011, p. 64) that ‘traditional’ societies are aptly named because in their case, drift and crisis do remain the sole possible drivers of change.
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Acknowledgements
The editors would like to thank the organising team at WAC for accepting the original session and for making it run so smoothly on the day, as well as Douglass Bailey for his thought-provoking discussion. The resulting volume could not have been achieved without the continuous enthusiasm of our authors, who often produced yet more details and illustrations at rather short notice. We are very grateful for their efforts and their understanding. Gabriel Cooney was instrumental in helping bring this book to publication, and we want to thank him for his unwavering belief that the volume would be worthwhile. At Springer, we would particularly like to thank Teresa Krauss for her patience and support, and Morgan Ryan for her invaluable help in actually bringing the volume to production. Finally, thanks are due to our three anonymous referees (well, you know who you are), who took great pains to improve the chapters. DH and JS would also like to gratefully acknowledge the financial support of, respectively, the Leverhulme Trust and the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences. Their generous granting of an Early Careers Fellowship (2009–2011, Leverhulme) and a Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship (2009–2010, IRCHSS) meant both editors could continue to work on projects such as this.
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Hofmann, D., Smyth, J. (2013). Introduction: Dwelling, Materials, Cosmology—Transforming Houses in the Neolithic. In: Hofmann, D., Smyth, J. (eds) Tracking the Neolithic House in Europe. One World Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5289-8_1
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