Bodies, houses and gardens: Rhythm analysis of Neolithic life-ways

Abstract

Paper discusses the ways in which rhythmic temporality of yearly course was woven into the way people lived, experienced and transformed their life in the Balkans Neolithic. It examines how routine social and material practices on gardens that were structured within a year extend their duration to the lifecourse of people, objects, generations and historical change. By attending the garden during the year, people not only observe the process of growth, but actively participate in it. The generative and regenerative powers of gardens are maintained through work and accumulation of substances, which originate from elsewhere, house, midden, animal pens. This flow of substances is not only way of linking houses, gardens, animals and people in a web of relations, but also creates the history of the particular plot. Through the agency of gardens, the substances of humans, plants, animals and ancestors become intertwined and feed into each other.