House and Hearth. The Social Setting of Food Preparation in the Western Anatolian and Southeastern European Neolithic

Abstract

This contribution investigates Neolithic communities in Western Anatolia and the southern Balkans (6800-5600 BC) through the settlement context of structures associated with food preparation, including ovens, hearths, grinding installations and storage facilities. The study area plays a key role in current Neolithization debates, both because of its geographical position between Southwest Asia and Europe and because of a wealth of new field data, which complicate and challenge traditional Neolithization models. I argue that food practices attest regional trajectories of change in the definition of Neolithic ways of life, as well as interactions between regional cultures.