The paradigm shift in the later fourth millennium BC. •

Abstract

The fourth millennium BC, particularly its second half, saw the advent of major innovations that still affect our life today, sometimes as artefacts still used in a virtually unchanged form. Among these, the most important are wheels and wheeled vehicles, the innovations introduced as part of the Secondary Products Revolution, and the new technologies of metalworking. Initially surrounded by an aura of mystique and reverence, these innovations gradually became part of everyday life and their benefits, such as a more secure livelihood engendering new subsistence strategies, were enjoyed by a growing number of communities. Better life circumstances stimulated population growth, which in turn sparked an increase in the number of settlements as well as an incipient socio-economic hierarchy between them. Improving life circumstances, receptiveness to new ideas and increasingly dynamic contacts with distant regions brought a change in previous norms and social values. This paradigm shift can be best traced in the mortuary realm: various objects signalling the status and/or prestige of a community's prominent members began to be deposited in burials. Daily life became more predictable and was accompanied by a certain measure of wealth accumulation, which, however, also stimulated frugality. Hard-to-obtain exotic commodities were highly prized and usually only their down-scaled versions fashioned from clay accompanied the dead instead of the real-life animal or prestige item. Described and briefly discussed in the present study are certain aspects of this complex process.