Çukuriçi Höyük 4

»A highly original collaboration with archaeologists … If social anthropology is to continue its foundational interest in full sociocultural diversity, it must now engage with historical sources that, as Cveček shows, can and should include archaeology … this book manuscript could be transformational for her discipline. «

»By applying historical anthropology and sociocultural-anthropological models of “big-man” vs. “great-man” societies, the author seeks a more sophisticated understanding of sociocultural processes in the archaeological record than hitherto allowed by more limited archaeological applications of models of social organization. The work admirably fulfils this aim.«

»(...) In sum, there are several great strengths to Cveček’s book. First is the careful examination of models of prestate and small-scale social (and economic) organization through the social anthropological literature, and its presentation without bias. Of note is the reconfiguration of the concept of “tribe” and the demonstration of its usefulness as an overarching, general category encompassing multiple forms of social organization characteristic of those pre-state, small-scale societies, and the arguments against the over-used, static concept of chief and chiefdom. Second is her detailed application of these models to the archaeological data at the two sites to suggest possibilities. Third is her comparative approach where she looks at each site within its larger regional context and against each other. And fourth is her recognition of variability in social organization in these late Chalcolithic/Final Neolithic to earliest Bronze Age societies, even within regions that share many cultural traits. This book will be of great utility to those interested in pre-state societies and their socio-economic organization, no matter whether they work in Aegean prehistory or elsewhere. Reviewed by Daniel J. Pullen, Florida State University in Journal of Near Eastern Studies 841 https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/734697«