Resumen de Rethinking Halaf chronologies
Archaeologists constantly work with chronologies, whether it is the explicit focus of study or not. Chronologies are used to order the past and to provide a framework within which social change can be discussed. It is clearly necessary to review and refine the chronological structures as new information becomes available, and that is one of the purposes of this article. Chronologies are also, however, artificial constructs, created by a partial understanding of the past and incorporating a range of assumptions, often unstated and unintended. Even the basic terms with which we use (Hassuna, Samarra, Halaf, Ubaid and so on) shape our view of the past. It is also necessary, therefore, to understand and question the assumptions and models on which chronologies are based. This article focuses on the 7th to 5th millennia cal. BC in north Mesopotamia, a period that, in traditional terms, has the Halaf at its centre, Hassuna/Samarra earlier, and Ubaid later. It draws attention to the underlying assumptions and distortions behind our previous chronological models, with explicit focus on how our understanding of past chronologies has been created and employed. A new, more flexible approach to the chronology of this period will be proposed, which incorporates the most recent data and makes the link between chronology and the interpretation of past social change more explicit.
