RAI RESEARCH SEMINAR

SEMINAR SERIES AT THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE

Gordon Childe, Neolithic Diffusion: a new model

Maxime Brami, University of Liverpool

Wednesday 5 February at 5.30 pm

Vere Gordon Childe, a founding father of modern archaeology, defined the Neolithic 'revolution' as the shift from food- gathering to food-producing. Central to this theory is the spatial division between hunters-and-gatherers, who live at the expense of nature, and farmers-and-herders, who produce their own means of subsistence. This seminar attempts to re- examine the influence of the British School of Diffusionism and, in particular, of Grafton Elliot Smith on the elaboration of Childe's model. Like Childe, Smith was born and raised in Australia; and there can be no doubt that both authors shared similar mindsets, inherited from their experience of a continent, which, until 1788, was occupied mainly by nomadic hunter-gatherers, who did not practise agriculture, ceramic or metal-working. While archaeology today still follows in the footsteps of Childe, and thus, indirectly, Smith, social anthropology since 1927 has taken another turn.

This event is free, but tickets must be booked.  To book tickets please go to http://brami.eventbrite.co.uk.