A new social order: community and ritual elaboration
Domestication and settled village life transformed the fabric of society. During the Neolithic, several societal and ideological changes occurred that set the stage for subsequent developments: the elaboration of ritual behaviour, of household and community structure, of equalitarian vs.
non- equalitarian behaviours, and of feasting activities. Much of this is reflected in the rich material culture of the Neolithic, as described above. Increasingly, research is focusing on this intriguing yet elusive dimension of Neolithic life. While it can be difficult to document ritual and ideology in the archaeological record, recent studies have indicated that these elements were far richer in the Neolithic than originally believed.[444]In the Natufian, there is limited evidence to suggest substantial social ranking, but some degree of status differentiation is likely, particularly at large sites. Burials, especially during the early Natufian, are often multiple and elaborate, and contain grave goods, while during the late Natufian these patterns disappear and are replaced by single interments. Some researchers feel that mortuary patterning may reflect achieved status, rather than more formal ascribed status and social stratification.[445]
It is clear that, during the PPNA, major social reorganizations were required for those inhabiting both larger villages such as Jerf el Ahmar and smaller settlements such as Wadi Feinan 16 in order to cope with expanding populations and the need for communal activities associated, minimally, with cultivating wild plants and the construction of public works. One aspect of this is in mortuary practices, which continued trends started in the late Natufian, and included ritualized decapitation after burial beneath house floors. This pattern becomes even more formalized during the PPNB.
Burials do not indicate individual social status, but may reflect communal hierarchies. Other evidence for ritual behaviour during the PPNA includes a change to human female figurines from the zoomorphic figurines that were common in the Natufian. Cattle skulls were incorporated into some structures. Architecture also shows increasing complexity. This includes large- scale works at Jericho, the massive complex at Gobekli Tepe, and the larger communal structures at domestic sites, all of which suggest large-scale ritual activity. These communal and monumental PPNA structures hint at social experimentation in which community might have been more important than economy.[446] Long- and short-distance trade were also components of PPNA society, indicating that individual communities did not exist in cultural vacuums; indeed, it is now apparent that trade networks also involved maritime travel to Cyprus. Aspects of trade were undoubtedly regulated by social rules, although there is only limited evidence for hierarchically structured society.Given the large-scale nature of many PPNB communities and the presence of public or communal structures, relatively complex social organization can be inferred.[447] Many researchers believe that the PPNB was characterized by the formation of nuclear families as the basis for household economy and group interaction.[448] Byrd has argued that Neolithic villages were characterized by more restricted social networks for sharing and consumption and by more formalized mechanisms for community-wide integration.[449] Ideology appears to have focused on the memory of individual family members. Critical to farmers, of course, is the issue of land ownership.
The PPNB is rich in symbolism. Some scholars view the Neolithic as essentially a religious revolution,[450] while others see it as an increasing elaboration of society in which symbolism played an important, although not overwhelming, role.
Regardless of specific interpretations, there is no doubt that PPNB people had a rich ritual life, reflected by an abundance of symbolic items, mortuary practices, and ritual sites. There is also increasing evidence that feasting and dancing likely played major roles in integrating Neolithic life.[451]Whether PPNB societies were egalitarian or hierarchically structured is debated. Mortuary data have often been used to infer social status and Kuijt argues that there is some degree of social differentiation in the form of cranial deformation, skull plastering and painting, and the select use of secondary skull removal and caching.[452] It is likely that, at least in larger communities, there was some degree of communal leadership, at least for certain regulatory roles.
The PPNB world was widespread, and considerable evidence exists for trade and other social interactions across essentially the entire Near East and Cyprus.[453] With both domestic economies and sedentary villages now firmly established, it is likely that radical social transformations characterized much of PPNB society. The existence of PPNB ‘interaction spheres' is likely, and it was during this time that regionalism became more pronounced, and that ethnically distinctive populations perhaps emerged.
The PN, too, was a time of considerable change, particularly in some regions. In the northern reaches of much of the Near East, developments continued the elaboration first seen during the PPN. Earlier researchers proposed a ‘Great Neolithic Gap' between the PPN and the PN. This now, however, is largely rejected, since the PPNC and the PN show an unbroken linkage. In some areas there may have been a period of late PPN abandonment, but this was soon followed by substantial PN communities. In the north, many of these were on a cultural trajectory that led to the development of some of the world's first urban societies. Other regions, particularly the southern Levant, were more marginalized and peripheral, although earlier claims of cultural deterioration are unsubstantiated.
While parts of the southern Levant did not reach the elaboration seen elsewhere, this may reflect an efficient readaptation to new conditions rather than a cultural regression.Despite the existence of these large communities, social organization still appears to be primarily at the household level. Likewise, there are few data to indicate highly structured social stratification. Mortuary patterns represent a change from the PPNB, especially in the abandonment of post-mortem decapitation and in the way in which infants are treated. Ritual or symbolic behaviour is expressed especially through elaborate figurine imagery, particularly of corpulent females. The PPNB interaction sphere appears to have been replaced by more regionally distinctive cultures. Overall, the PN may be characterized as an adaptation of local settlements with strong tribal ties, forming a pattern that has endured in the Near East over several millennia.[454]