The end of the world, or just ‘goodbye to all that’? Contextualising the red deer heap from Links of Noltland, Westray, within late 3rd-millennium cal BC Orkney

Clarke, David; Sheridan, Alison; Shepherd, Alexandra N; Sharples, Niall; Armour-Chelu, Miranda; Hamlet, Laura; Bronk-Ramsey, C.; Dunbar, Elaine; Reimer, Paula J.; Marshall, P.; Whittle, Alasdair

doi:10.9750/psas.146.1226

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The dating presented here forms part of the Orkney component of the ToTL project, which seeks to refine our understanding of the development of Late Neolithic settlement and Grooved Ware pottery, by formal chronological modelling of scientific dates. For Orkney, the project has investigated Pool (MacSween et al, 2015), Barnhouse (Richards et al, 2016), and the Links of Noltland (Sheridan, 1999; Clarke et al, submitted). It is also contributing to a new formal chronology for Skara Brae.…”

Section: Aims Of the Ness Of Brodgar Dating Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

To Cut a Long Story Short: Formal Chronological Modelling for the Late Neolithic Site of Ness of Brodgar, Orkney

et al. 2017

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Abstract:In the context of unanswered questions about the nature and development of the Late Neolithic in Orkney, a summary is given of research up to 2015 on the major site at the Ness of Brodgar, Mainland, concentrating on the impressive buildings. Finding sufficient samples for radiocarbon dating was a considerable challenge. There are indications from both features and finds of activity predating the main set of buildings exposed so far by excavation. Forty-six dates on 39 samples are presented and are interpreted in a formal chronological framework. Two models are presented, reflecting different possible readings of the sequence. Both indicate that piered architecture was in use by the 30th century cal BC and that the massive Structure 10, not the first building in the sequence, was also in existence by the 30th century cal BC. Activity associated with piered architecture came to an end (in Model 2) c. 2800 cal BC. Midden and rubble infill followed. After an appreciable interval, the hearth at the centre of Structure 10 was last used c. 2500 cal BC, perhaps the only activity in an otherwise abandoned site. The remains of some 400 or more cattle were deposited over the ruins of Structure 10: in Model 2, in the mid-25th century cal BC, but in Model 1 in the late 24th or 23rd century cal BC. The chronologies invite comparison with the near- Powered by Editorial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Systems Corporationneighbour of Barnhouse, in use from the later 32nd to the earlier 29th century cal BC, and the Stones of Stenness, probably constructed by the 30th century cal BC. The Ness, including Structure 10, appears to have outlasted Barnhouse, but probably did not endure in its primary form for as long as previously envisaged. The decay and decommissioning of the Ness might coincide with the further development of the sacred landscape around it; but precise chronologies for both the Ring of Brodgar and Maeshowe are urgently required. The spectacular feasting remains deposited above Structure 10 may belong to a radically changing world, coinciding (in Model 2) with the appearance of Beakers nationally, but it was arguably the by now mythic status of that building which drew people back to it. (Richards, 2013; Richards & Jones, 2016). The idea of chambered cairns persisted into this period, but now, in contrast to earlier styles of simple-chambered and stalled cairns, these probably principally took the form of the passage grave, of 'Maeshowe' type (Henshall, 1972), seen in the construction of monuments such as Quanterness, Quoyness and Maeshowe itself (Renfrew, 1979; Davidson & Henshall, 1989;Schulting et al., 2010;Griffiths & Richards, 2013; MacSween et al., 2015;Griffiths, 2016). Their elaborate architecture, with marked separation of the interior from the exterior, controlled access via passages, and gradation among internal chambers, may have derived from or been part of active connections with the apogee of the passage tomb tradition in eastern Ireland (Sheridan, 2004;Schulting et al., 2010;Hen...

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Section: Aims Of the Ness Of Brodgar Dating Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

To Cut a Long Story Short: Formal Chronological Modelling for the Late Neolithic Site of Ness of Brodgar, Orkney

et al. 2017

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“…While Beaker finds are relatively rare in Orkney, an assemblage of Beaker sherds (probably from a single vessel) is associated with a date of 2336-2047 at the Braes of Ha'Breck on the island of Wyre (SUERC-37960, Griffiths 2016: 263). It is also of interest that practices other than pottery manufacture, including the continued ceremonial deposition of animal carcasses (Clarke et al 2016), are perhaps suggestive of a metamorphosis of Late Neolithic traditions in Orkney in the late 3rd millennium BC rather than their absolute replacement. Unfortunately, as only one Bronze Age individual from Orkney (a woman from Stenchme, Lop Ness, Sanday with continental 'steppe-related' ancestry) was included in Olalde and colleagues' recent paper on population change in the Early Bronze Age (Olalde et al 2018b) this can contribute little to explaining such processes.…”

Section: The Demise Of Grooved Ware In Orkneymentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracing the lines

Copper¹,

Hamilton²,

Gibson³

2021

PSAS

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This article presents the results of the recent Historic Environment Scotland-funded project Tracing the Lines: Uncovering Grooved Ware Trajectories in Neolithic Scotland addressing the timing and nature of the adoption, development and ultimate demise of Grooved Ware in Scotland beyond Orkney. Following analysis within a Bayesian framework of over a hundred Grooved Ware-associated radiocarbon dates from Scotland beyond Orkney, evidence is presented that Grooved Ware pottery very closely related to Orcadian prototypes began spreading rapidly between key locales across Scotland towards the end of the 4th millennium BC. This was followed by a process of stylistic drift with regional variations. The so-called Durrington Walls sub-style was introduced some 200 years after the earliest Grooved Ware and is an exception to this pattern of gradual change. Our modelling suggests that the latest Scottish Grooved Ware has a currency that overlaps with the earliest Beakers by between 1 and 145 years and probably between 1 and 60 years. View supplementary material here: Supplementary material | References | Table S1 | Illus S40 Extracted Element

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“…These MSA reconstructions also contribute to understanding the end of the Neolithic in Orkney. Several possible reasons for the decline of the Grooved Ware culture have been proposed (see Clarke et al, 2018, for a review), including environmental stress and climatic deterioration (cf. Meller et al, 2015).…”

Section: Orkney: Neolithisation In a Largely Treeless Landscapementioning

confidence: 99%

Maps From Mud—Using the Multiple Scenario Approach to Reconstruct Land Cover Dynamics From Pollen Records: A Case Study of Two Neolithic Landscapes

et al. 2018

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Pollen records contain a wide range of information about past land cover, but translation from the pollen diagram to other formats remains a challenge. In this paper, we present LandPolFlow, a software package enabling Multiple Scenario Approach (MSA) based land cover reconstruction from pollen records for specific landscapes. It has two components: a basic Geographic Information System which takes grids of landscape constraints (e.g., topography, geology) and generates possible "scenarios" of past land cover using a combination of probabilistic and deterministic placement rules to distribute defined plant communities within the landscape, and a pollen dispersal and deposition model which simulates pollen loading at specified points within each scenario and compares that statistically with actual pollen assemblages from the same location. Goodness of fit statistics from multiple pollen site locations are used to identify which scenarios are likely reconstructions of past land cover. We apply this approach to two case studies of Neolithisation in Britain, the first from the Somerset Levels and Moors and the second from Mainland, Orkney. Both landscapes contain significant evidence of Neolithic activity, but present contrasting contexts. In Somerset, wet-preserved Neolithic remains such as trackways are abundant, but little dry land settlement archaeology is known, and the pre-Neolithic landscape was extensively wooded. In Orkney, the Neolithic archaeology includes domestic and monumental stone-built structures forming a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the pre-Neolithic landscape was largely treeless. Existing pollen records were collated from both landscapes and correlated within new chronological frameworks (presented elsewhere). This allowed pollen data to be grouped into 200 year periods, or "timeslices," for reconstruction of land cover through time using the MSA. Reconstruction suggests that subtle but clear and persistent impacts of Neolithisation on land cover occurred in both landscapes, with no reduction in impact during periods when archaeological records suggest lower activity levels. By applying the methodology Bunting et al. Land Cover From Pollen Records to specific landscapes, we critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses and identify potential remedies, which we then expand into consideration of how simulation can be incorporated into palynological research practice. We argue that the MSA deserves a place within the palynologist's standard tool kit.

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The end of the world, or just ‘goodbye to all that’? Contextualising the red deer heap from Links of Noltland, Westray, within late 3rd-millennium cal BC Orkney

Cited by 11 publications

References 19 publications

To Cut a Long Story Short: Formal Chronological Modelling for the Late Neolithic Site of Ness of Brodgar, Orkney

To Cut a Long Story Short: Formal Chronological Modelling for the Late Neolithic Site of Ness of Brodgar, Orkney

Tracing the lines

Maps From Mud—Using the Multiple Scenario Approach to Reconstruct Land Cover Dynamics From Pollen Records: A Case Study of Two Neolithic Landscapes

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