Beyond the Steppe And the Sown

Various perspectives on the archaeology of Eurasia and Anatolia from the earliest times to the early Middle Ages are presented by anthropologists from the US, Europe, and Asia from Turkey and Ukraine to Mongolia. The 29 papers cover local and global perspectives, regional studies, new directions in theory and practice, and palaeo-ecology and environment. Among specific topics are whether migrations or economic changes caused cultural transformation in the Black Sea steppe between the Eneolithic and Bronze Age, petroglyphs of Inner Mongolia and Ningxia Province in China, and community organization among Copper Age sedentary horse pastoralists of Kazakhstan. There is hope to publish proceedings of the 2005 conference as well. Annotation c2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

David L. Peterson is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at the University of Chicago. His recent research concerns the interplay of technology and social practice in the construction of value in ancient metalwork from the Eurasian steppes and Caucasus.Laura M. Popova is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at the University of Chicago. She manages the Paleoecology Laboratory at the University of Chicago, and specialises in palaeobotanical analysis and ancient landscapes in the Eurasian steppes and Caucasus. Adam T. Smith, Ph.D. (1996, University of Arizona), is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Chicago. He is the author of The Political Landscape: Constellations of Authority in Early Complex Polities, and co-director of the Joint American-Armenian Project for the Archaeology and Geography of Ancient Transcaucasian Societies.