Houses and Households: a Near Eastern Perspective

Neolithisation processes in the Levant were a unique phenomenon in comparison to other regions of the world. Such processes were of long durée and are reflected in numerous aspects of the human condition, including social and economic developments. These also comprised changes in the scale and nature of the physical surroundings as reflected in the architectural endeavours and traditions of late Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic groups. Such changes reflected the demands and constraints of the newly evolving modes of existence, namely increasing sedentism, demographic growth, plant cultivation, proto-agriculture and incipient herding. Differences are observed in the tempo, scale and direction of the aforementioned changes; these indicate independent trajectories of local traditions, stemming from the particular histories of various groups within the sub-regions of the Levant.