SOCIAL EVOLUTION AMONG NEOLITHIC AND EARLY BRONZE-AGE FORAGERS IN THELAKE BAIKAL REGION - NEW LIGHT ON OLD MODELS

The region of Lake Baikal, Central Siberia, contains perhaps the riche st archaeological evidence for Holocene foragers in the entire Subarct ic. This paper reviews archaeological research on social characteristi cs of the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age cultures of the region. In th e 1950s, A. P. Okladnikov presented a model of social evolution of loc al foragers in which he suggested a gradual transition from matriarcha l to patriarchal social relations accompanied by a subsistence change. This model dominated research on the subject for several decades, and its heritage continues to affect even the most recent work. This pape r (1) argues that the model is to a large extent an effect of politica l and ideological pressures of the time when it was devised; (2) demon strates how the data were manipulated to fit the generally accepted th eory; and (3) concludes that the entire body of evidence requires reex amination from a modern theoretical and methodological perspective.