UNDERSTANDING THE NEOLITHIC HOUSEHOLD IN SLOVAKIA.

The term household is perhaps for anyone unfamiliar concept. In general, it is possible to say that the current household responds to jointly economize family living under one roof. However, in retrospect to the general description, understanding and especially the subsequent possibility of identifying households may vary considerably. Within the Slovak (and world as well) history the first households can be considered in the Neolithic period, when were established the first permanent settlements. Attention is focused especially on them because settlement building represents a major milestone in human society. Households were defined by scientists in countless ways. Each study focused on prehistoric households gave its own view of their clarification. Ultimately, there is a problem how to define a household term in prehistoric times without using traditional, contemporary, vision of this term. Difficulties also lie in how to identify the household in the archaeological record. Our study focuses on the Neolithic settlements in Slovakia and the main aim is to highlight the possibilities and challenges in the study of households in this period. We will attempt to summarize available information on households from published papers related to the observed period and to find answers to the questions of the existence of households and to which extent data are available in the archaeological record. Household archaeology as an independent research direction has worldwide undoubtedly several decades of tradition therefore it is time to interpret settlement features and finds in the territory of Slovakia in a new way, with a focus on the activities of households, their relation to families and neighbouring residences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]