Chapman John, Souvatzi Stella. The Neolithic of southeast Europe: recent trends

Annual Review of Anthropology. — 2020. — 49. — p. 123-140.The last two decades of study in Southeast Europe have brought about the greatest transformation of the region’s prehistory ever seen. Critical studies have built up a head of steam, an explosion of funding, application of a far wider range of archaeological scientific techniques, and a mass of new data from excavation and prospection.
Several terms in the title of this article require definition. “Neolithic” refers to a period when farming emerges in the study region, from ca. 6600/6500 BC onward in Greece but as late as 5000 BC in the Ukraine. The later stages, down to 3500 BC, include the Final Neolithic in Greece and the Chalcolithic/Copper Age/Eneolithic in the Balkans. Earlier extensions refer to the foraging–farming transition, which also entails a geographical extension eastward (to Anatolia). “Southeast Europe” covers the Aegean (A), the Balkans (B), and the Carpathian Basin and Eastern Europe (C), abbreviated as ABC. “Recent” trends refer to the current millennium.
The review comprises five sections: first, the development of theoretical approaches; second, the acquisition of data; third, the synthesis of data; fourth, thematic questions; and finally, emergent trends.