Monumentality and the materiality of stone: can Indigenous traditions help us understand what Neolithic societies were thinking? This international symposium is an exploration of non-industrial cultures from both the Old World and the New World, with special focus on the significance of monumental building.

The PEOPLE of the GREAT STONES SYMPOSIUM welcomes contributions from researchers, scholars and technologists working across diverse disciplines, sites and practices. Typical presentation time for accepted papers is 25 minutes. At least one author must attend to present and for inclusion in the conference publication. Our program will include selected individual papers as well as an anticipated satellite program of events. Sessions will bring together scholars and practitioners representing different cultural perspectives. Presentations and subsequent publication will be in English.

CALL FOR PAPERS:
250-300 word abstracts of presentations should be submitted in English, in either Text, Word or PDF formats. Please include author's background, and any academic or institution affiliation. Deadline for submission is 31 May 2017, but may be extended with a second call for papers at the discretion of the committee..
Send to: (( symposium@OTSF.org ))

Considering non-industrial cultures, presentation targets to be addressed from both (either) New World or Old World perspectives:
• ART and ARCHITECTURE – (to include personal adornment and body modification) as expressions of emotions and beliefs
• BELIEF SYSTEMS - Cosmology, burial and marriage custom, rites of passage, rituals & ceremony
• SOCIAL STRUCTURE – Class distinctions, task specialization, cohesion and motivation, psychology
• SUSTAINABILITY – Survival strategies, resource management, defense and contested territory, preservation of history & traditions
• USE of NATURAL PHENOMENA – indications for intention -includes Archaeoastronomy and interpretation of cosmological events, Archaeoacoustics and special sound behavior