Early Neolithic Habitation Structures in Britain and Ireland: a Matter of Circumstance and Context

Sheridan, Alison

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-5289-8_12

Cited by 16 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, while there is strong evidence that this may have provided the basis for the earliest farming systems in central Europe during the sixth millennium BC, the argument that this model can be used as a template for subsequent developments in Britain during the fourth millennium has been challenged [8,20] due to the highly varied nature of occupation evidence which suggests that early farming communities in Britain may have been residentially mobile (e.g. [105][106][107]). Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that individuals within early farming communities in Britain participated in a regular routine of mobility between different geographical areas and were not fully sedentary.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic evidence for residential mobility of farming communities during the transition to agriculture in Britain

Neil

Evans²,

Montgomery

et al. 2016

R. Soc. open sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Development of agriculture is often assumed to be accompanied by a decline in residential mobility, and sedentism is frequently proposed to provide the basis for economic intensification, population growth and increasing social complexity. In Britain, however, the nature of the agricultural transition (ca 4000 BC) and its effect on residence patterns has been intensely debated. Some authors attribute the transition to the arrival of populations who practised a system of sedentary intensive mixed farming similar to that of the very earliest agricultural regimes in central Europe, ca 5500 BC, with cultivation of crops in fixed plots and livestock keeping close to permanently occupied farmsteads. Others argue that local hunter–gatherers within Britain adopted selected elements of a farming economy and retained a mobile way of life. We use strontium and oxygen isotope analysis of tooth enamel from an Early Neolithic burial population in Gloucestershire, England, to evaluate the residence patterns of early farmers. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that early farming communities in Britain were residentially mobile and were not fully sedentary. Results highlight the diverse nature of settlement strategies associated with early farming in Europe and are of wider significance to understanding the effect of the transition to agriculture on residence patterns.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic evidence for residential mobility of farming communities during the transition to agriculture in Britain

Neil

Evans²,

Montgomery

et al. 2016

R. Soc. open sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Larger timber-built halls are very rare but a notable example is present at Claish, Stirling (Barclay et al 2002) and further east, at Carnoustie, Angus (Hunter-Blair 2018). These halls may be communal dwelling places of groups of immigrant farmers, in use until they felt sufficiently well established to form smaller, dispersed, individual farmsteads (Sheridan 2013).…”

Section: Archaeological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expanding current understanding of the function, style and chronology of Grooved Ware from the A9 Dualling

McLaren¹,

Dunne²,

Gillard³

et al. 2022

PSAS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In 2018 on behalf of Transport Scotland AOC Archaeology Group undertook archaeological investigations in advance of the construction of the 9.5km A9 Dualling: Luncarty to Pass of Birnam. Six archaeological sites were excavated, revealing evidence of activity spanning the Early Neolithic to the early medieval period. Neolithic activity was confined to four sites, consisting of a palimpsest of pits, post holes and vestigial structures, some of which were associated with assemblages of handmade ceramics, struck lithics and a small but revealing ecofact record. This paper focuses on the ceramic assemblages and, in particular, the comprehensive group of Late Neolithic Grooved Ware vessel sherds. It considers the form and function of the vessels, investigating aspects of decorative style alongside lipid analysis of surviving organic residues on the surfaces of the sherds and a suite of radiocarbon dates with a view to expanding our current understanding of the function, style and chronology of the later phases of Grooved Ware in the region and eastern mainland Scotland more broadly.

show abstract

“…Activity after the Early Neolithic was different. The local environment of the valley and the river changed little, but, archaeologically, timber hall structures such as those at Warren Field or Balbridie were abandoned and burnt (Murray et al 2009), succeeding generations of farmers dispersed, and the evidence suggests that smaller houses were favoured (Sheridan 2013;Dingwall et al 2019b). Recent meta-analyses (for example, Shennan 2018) have argued that the Early Neolithic population 'boom' was followed after c 3200 bc by 'bust' and population shrinkage, though others have suggested a more nuanced picture (Bishop 2015).…”

Section: Illus 87mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prehistoric communities of the River Dee

Wickham-Jones¹,

Bates²,

Cameron³

et al. 2021

SAIR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This volume presents the results of archaeological fieldwork undertaken along the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland, by the Mesolithic Deeside voluntary community archaeology group between 2017 and 2019. A total of 42 fields were investigated, from which over 11,000 lithics were recovered, representing at least 15 archaeological sites and a span of human activity covering some 10,000 years from around 12,000 BC to c 2000 BC. Finds from the Late Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age were present. Work comprised fieldwalking, test pitting, specialist analysis, and small-scale excavation. The investigation described here is significant not just for the light it throws on the early prehistoric populations along the River Dee but also for the methodology by which investigation was undertaken, as this provides a potential model for work in other areas. Both aspects are covered in the report. The River Dee flows between postglacial gravel and sand terraces, the structure of which has played an important role for the early settlers of the area, and this is covered in some detail in order to provide the physical background framework for the sites. There are also sections on more specialised geophysical and geoscience techniques where these were undertaken, together with a summary of research on the palaeoenvironmental conditions throughout the millennia of prehistory. The artefactual evidence comprises lithic assemblages which were all catalogued as fieldwork progressed; the contents of each site are presented, together with more detailed analysis of the finds from test pitted sites. Finally, given the rich archaeological record from the area, the results of the present project are set into the wider context of the evidence for prehistoric settlement along the river, and there is consideration of future directions for further fieldwork. While all authors have contributed to the whole volume, individual sections that present specialist work by specific teams have been attributed. The distribution maps and GIS are the work of Irvine Ross. Dates given are calibrated BC dates. The Nethermills Farm NM4 dates are calibrated using the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit calibration program OxCal 4 (Bronk Ramsey 2009) and their date ranges are calibrated using the IntCal13 atmospheric calibration curve (Reimer et al 2013). Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) was used to profile sediment accumulations on some of the sites and obtain information relating to site formation, but it was not used for dating in any of the projects.

show abstract

Early Neolithic Habitation Structures in Britain and Ireland: a Matter of Circumstance and Context

Cited by 16 publications

References 32 publications

Isotopic evidence for residential mobility of farming communities during the transition to agriculture in Britain

Isotopic evidence for residential mobility of farming communities during the transition to agriculture in Britain

Expanding current understanding of the function, style and chronology of Grooved Ware from the A9 Dualling

Prehistoric communities of the River Dee

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About