The Domestication of Europe

The Neolithic era marked the spread of the first farmers and the formation of settled villages throughout Europe. Traditional archaeology has interpreted these changes in terms of population growth, economic pressures, and social competition. However, in The Domestication of Europe, Ian Hodder presents a new and controversial theory, focusing on the significant expansion of symbolic evidence from the homes, settlements, and burials of the period.

Why do the figurines, decorated pottery, elaborate houses, and burial rituals appear, and what is their significance? The author contends that the symbolism of the Neolithic must be interpreted to adequately understand the associated social and economic changes. He proposes that both in Europe and the Near East, a specific set of concepts was central to the origins of farming and a settled way of life. These concepts are related to the house and home—termed "domus"—and provided both a metaphor and a mechanism for social and economic transformation.

As the wild was brought in and domesticated through ideas and practices surrounding the domus, people were integrated and settled into the social and economic group of the village. Over the following millennia, cultural practices related to the domus continued to evolve until they were eventually replaced by a new set of concepts. These new concepts, based on the warrior, the hunter, and the wild, became socially central.