More Than Shelter from the Storm: Hunter-Gatherer Houses and the Built Environment

The
relationship of hunter-gatherer societies to the built environment is often
overlooked or characterized as strictly utilitarian in archaeological research.
Taking on deeper questions of cultural significance and social inheritance,
this volume offers a more robust examination of houses as not only places of
shelter but also of memory, history, and social cohesion within these
communities.

Bringing
together case studies from Europe, Asia, and North and South America, More Than Shelter from the Storm
utilizes a diverse array of methodologies including radiocarbon dating,
geoarchaeology, refitting studies, and material culture studies to reframe the
conversation around hunter-gatherer houses. Discussing examples of built
structures from the Pleistocene through Late Holocene periods, contributors
investigate how these societies created a sense of home through symbolic
decoration, ritual, and transformative interaction with the landscape.

Demonstrating that meaningful relationships with
architecture are not limited to sedentary societies that construct permanent
houses, the essays in this volume highlight the complexity of mobile cultures
and demonstrate the role of place-making and the built environment in
structuring their worldviews.