Innovationstransfer in prähistorischen Gesellschaften

The topic of "innovation transfer" has gained major significance in the past decades. The present study explores conditions, mechanisms and patterns of the distribution of such processes, which are compiled by means of three examples, namely the technical innovation of copper metallurgy in Europe, the economic innovation of food production in northern Europe, and the spiritual-ritual innovation of Middle Neolithic circular earthworks. The examples demonstrate that some innovations came to a limited halt at "temporal boundary zones". With regard to history of research, there are two approaches, a neo-evolutionary one with a focus on long-term development and supra-regional processes and another one starting from social and cultural factors and stressing the individual. The book demonstrates the significance of social networks and the importance of the transformation potential of an innovation as well as the presence of recurrent patterns. On the one hand, economic and social conditions on either side of a border tend to assimilate to each other, on the other hand expansion was always connected to phases of growth, diversity, flexibility, and high resilience [so-called r-phase].