The Neolithic expansion in the Western Mediterranean: Understanding a global phenomenon from regional perspectives

This volume sets out to offer the reader an overview of the neolithization process, the origin of the so-called Cardial Ware early Neolithic, in the Western Mediterranean between the last centuries of the seventh millennium and the mid-sixth millennium BC. The initial idea of the coordinators was to bring together a number of researchers of known international prestige, with a long and proven scientific career in that field, who would explain the work that has been carried out or is in progress in that area of the Mediterranean. To maintain certain standardization in the way the information was approached, some thematic guidelines were suggested so that the data from the different regions might be compared more easily. With these regional models, the intention was to obtain a full picture of the patterns and timing of the introduction of the Neolithic economy as well as the interactions between hunter-gatherer groups and neighboring farming communities, taking into account any regional peculiarities. In this way, it might be possible to move on from more traditional debates focused on chrono-cultural aspects. Even if most of papers deal with the origins of the Neolithic from a regional perspective, some other papers show a more global approach, whereas some authors have paid special attention to the cultural interactions between the Western Mediterranean and neighboring areas. Finally, other studies offer a view of the development of economic practices and subsistence habits from a more cross-cutting perspective.The initiative behind this special number and its design are related to the research carried out by the CSIC-IMF research group ‘Archaeology of Social Dynamics’, funded by the Government of Catalonia (2017 SGR 995) and to the projects HAR2016-74999-P, HAR2016-75201-P, HAR2016-76534-C2-1-R and HAR2016-76534-C2-2-R, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, and the Spanish Ministry of Culture (IPCE).Peer reviewe