Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 September 2016
The internal layout of early settlements can provide insight into socialorganisation and the processes of Neolithic expansion into Europe. Analysisof variables describing 71 sites revealed a spectrum extending between twodistinct settlement types that can be regionally and chronologicallysituated. The very early ‘Anatolian village’ in the south-east exhibitsmulti-level organisation, reflected in concentrated residence and temporalstability; the younger (post 6000 BC) ‘Balkan village’ in the north-westrepresents a new model with less centralised control of space and a lesspermanent layout. Between these types is a transitional domain of moreheterogeneous, and ever-changing settlement layouts, which is characterisedas a ‘third space’ of hybridised traditions.