Added December 26, 1997. Updated November 20, 2001
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Monuments, Religion, Status and Communication in the Neolithic.
While post-processual archaeologists suggest otherwise, Neolithic monuments do provide evidence of inequality, trade and the character of Neolithic religions quite apart from knowledge of what people were expressing through them. Nevertheless, they also communicate the builders' social and religious interpretations of reality. Combining middle-range analysis of monuments as evidence of status with recent attempts at reading Neolithic meanings, I consider the interrelation of religion, status and communication, asking in particular what it tells us about status that it was communicated through visible, enduring monuments, and what the emphasis on ceremonial monuments reveals about status and religion in turn.
Dr. Paul K. Wason
306 Lane Hall
Lewiston, Maine 04240
USA
Tel. (207) 786-6240, pwason@abacus.bates.edu
Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia