The Neolithic of Britain and Ireland

311 Pages·2017·16.781 MB·English

by  Vicki Cummings

The Neolithic of Britain
and Ireland
‘Vicki Cummings here offers us a clearly structured narrative of the British and Irish
Mesolithic and Neolithic that will be invaluable for the student, the general reader, or
indeed the specialist seeking to keep up with the latest developments in this rapidly
moving field. The well-known sites and monuments of Wessex and Orkney are amply
described, but that is balanced by attention to other regions that have sometimes been
neglected when considering British prehistory in its fullest geographical extent.’
Professor Chris Scarre, Durham University, UK
The Neolithic of Britain and Ireland provides a synthesis of this dynamic period of prehis-
tory from the end of the Mesolithic through to the early Beaker period. Drawing on new
excavations and the application of new scientific approaches to data from this period,
this book considers both life and death in the Neolithic. It offers a clear and concise
introduction to this period but with an emphasis on the wider and on-going research
questions. It is an important text for students new to the study of this period of prehistory
as well as acting as a reference for students and scholars already researching this area.
The book begins by considering the Mesolithic prelude, specifically the millennium prior
to the start of the Neolithic in Britain and Ireland. It then goes on to consider what life
was like for people at the time, alongside the monumental record and how people
treated the dead. This is presented chronologically, with separate chapters on the early
Neolithic, middle Neolithic, late Neolithic and early Beaker periods. Finally it considers
future research priorities for the study of the Neolithic.
Vicki Cummings is a Reader in Archaeology at the University of Central Lancashire,
UK, where she has worked since 2004. She specialises in the Mesolithic and Neolithic
of Britain and Ireland, with a particular focus on the transition period, monuments and
landscape. She has a broader interest in hunting and gathering populations and stone
tools. She has excavated a series of Neolithic monuments including Clyde cairns,
Bargrennan monuments and dolmens.
Routledge Archaeology of Northern Europe
The British Palaeolithic
Paul Pettitt and Mark White
The Neolithic of Britain and Ireland
Vicki Cummings
Forthcoming
The Mesolithic in Britain: Landscape and Society in Times of Change
Chantal Conneller
Iron Age Lives in Britain and Ireland: 800 bc–ad 400
Ian Armit
The Neolithic of
Britain and Ireland
Vicki Cummings
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
 2017 Vicki Cummings
The right of Vicki Cummings to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
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registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-85716-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-85718-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-71886-6 (ebk)
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Contents
List of figures vii
Acknowledgements xii
1 Introducing the Neolithic of Britain and Ireland 1
2 Island life: Britain and Ireland in the late Mesolithic 9
3 All change? The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in
Britain and Ireland and its north-west European
background 28
4 A brave new world: life in the early Neolithic of
Britain and Ireland 47
5 Of earth, bone, timber and stone: mortuary practice
and monumentality in the early Neolithic of Britain
and Ireland 89
6 Circles and lines: the middle Neolithic of Britain
and Ireland 138
7 Lines and landscapes of descent: life in the late
Neolithic of Britain and Ireland 166
8 Constructing theatres in the round: mortuary
practice and monumentality in late Neolithic
of Britain and Ireland 191
vi CONTENTS
9 Beakers, copper and bronze: life and death at the
end of the Neolithic and into the early Bronze Age 234
10 The Neolithic of Britain and Ireland: a summary
and future directions 262
Bibliography 270
Index 293
Figures
1.1 Rock outcrops (left) in a field that has seen extensive clearance in
Pembrokeshire, Wales 2
1.2 The dramatic mountain of Benbulbin, Co. Sligo, Ireland 3
1.3 A coastal landscape: views from the Isle of Yell, Shetland, Scotland 4
1.4 The Cumbrian fells, England 5
1.5 A landscape of lochs and heather: North Uist, Scotland 6
2.1 The five main late Mesolithic midden sites on Oronsay in relation to the
present coastline and the coastline at the time of occupation 11
2.2 The shell midden of Caisteal nan Gillean I, Oronsay, with the hills of
Jura visible in the distance 12
2.3 The excavation plan of the midden of Cnoc Coig, showing the location
of the hearths, the huts and the midden in relation to the outcrops on
the shore 13
2.4 The location of sites from the fifth millennium bc mentioned in the text 14
2.5 The late Mesolithic Lydstep boar covered by a tree trunk 16
2.6 One of the baskets from Clowanstown, Co. Meath 18
2.7 Antler mattock (axe) from Meiklewood, Stirling 21
3.1 Brittany and Normandy at the start of the fifth millennium bc, showing
the location of farming groups (Villeneuve-Saint-Germain and Cardial)
and hunter-gatherers, and sites named in the text 30
3.2 Breton monuments from the fifth millennium bc 31
3.3 Distinctive fifth millennium bc hunter-gatherer pottery from northern
Germany and Belgium 32
3.4 North-west Europe toward the end of the fifth millennium bc, indicating
the main cultural groups discussed in the text 34
3.5 Suggested dates for the first appearance of Neolithic things in Britain
and Ireland 36
viii LIST OF FIGURES
3.6 Diagram indicating the appearance of elements of the Neolithic
package in parts of Britain and Ireland 37
3.7 Diagram indicating the appearance of elements of the Neolithic
package in south-east and south-central England 43
4.1 A selection of early Neolithic stone tools 49
4.2 Location of sites named in Chapter 4, excluding houses, middens
and pits 50
4.3 A polished stone axe from near Hayscastle, Pembrokeshire 51
4.4 The known extraction sites for stone axes in Britain and Ireland 52
4.5 The Langdale Pikes, Cumbria, source of Group VI axes 53
4.6 Tievebulliagh mountain, Co. Antrim, one of the sources of Group IX axes 54
4.7 The carving of an axe at the Table des Marchands, Brittany, France 55
4.8 The Shulishader axe, Lewis, was found hafted 56
4.9 Plan of the features of the flint mines at Cissbury 58
4.10 Plan of some of the galleries of the flint mines at Cissbury 59
4.11 Early Neolithic bowl pottery from Windmill Hill, Wiltshire 61
4.12 Carinated bowls from Ballintaggart, Co. Armagh and Cairnholy I,
Dumfries and Galloway 62
4.13 Early Neolithic bowl found in the chambered tomb of Blasthill, Kintyre 63
4.14 Beacharra bowls from Beacharra, Argyll and Bute 64
4.15 A fragment of Neolithic basketry from Twyford, Co. Westmeath 66
4.16 A portion of the Céide Fields, Co. Mayo, exposed by removing the
overlying peat 72
4.17 Reconstruction drawing of the pottery found alongside the Sweet Track,
one of which contained hazelnuts 74
4.18 The timber hall at Claish 76
4.19 The timber halls at Warren Field and Balbridie, Aberdeenshire 77
4.20 The location of houses, middens and pit sites discussed in Chapter 4 78
4.21 Examples of early Neolithic houses from Ireland 80
4.22 Eilean Dhomnuill, North Uist 81
4.23 Timber house 4 at Ha’Breck, Wyre, Orkney 82
4.24 The Sweet Track, Somerset, under excavation 83
5.1 The location of sites discussed in this chapter, except chambered
tombs and causewayed enclosures 90
5.2 The flat graves at Barrow Hills, Oxfordshire 92
5.3 Excavations at George Rock Shelter which produced the disarticulated
remains of two early Neolithic individuals 93
5.4 The distribution of early Neolithic chambered tombs and dolmens 95
5.5 Plans of a selection of Cotswold-Severn chambered tombs 96
5.6 Belas Knap Cotswold-Severn monument 97
5.7 View looking into the chambers at West Kennet 98
5.8 Plans of a selection of Clyde (western Scottish) chambered tombs 98
5.9 Blasthill chambered tomb, Kintyre, looking at the façade 99
5.10 Plans of a selection of stalled (northern Scottish) chambered tombs 99
5.11 Midhowe stalled cairn, Rousay, Orkney, showing the stalls that divide
up the chamber 100
LIST OF FIGURES ix
5.12 Plans of a selection of court cairns (Irish chambered tombs) 100
5.13 The court cairn at Ballymacdermot, Co. Armagh 101
5.14 The distinctive façade at Cairnholy I, creating a forecourt at the front
of the chambered tomb 102
5.15 The sequence of construction at Mid Gleniron I, Dumfries and
Galloway 103
5.16 Creevykeel, Co. Sligo, looking into the enclosed court 104
5.17 One of the complete burials at Hazleton North (the ‘flint knapper’) 106
5.18 The position of skulls at the Knowe of Yarso, Rousay, Orkney 107
5.19 Rib fragment with embedded leaf-shaped arrowhead tip from
Penywyrlod 108
5.20 The key dates in the construction and use of five Cotswold-Severn
chambered tombs 110
5.21 The dolmen at Brownshill, Co. Carlow, where the capstone weighs
approximately 160 tonnes 114
5.22 Pentre Ifan, Pembrokeshire, where the capstone can be seen
balancing on three supporting stones 115
5.23 Excavations at Garn Turne, Pembrokeshire 117
5.24 The timber mortuary structure at Street House, North Yorkshire 119
5.25 The excavation plan of Giants Hills 1, Skendleby, Lincolnshire 122
5.26 Plans of pit and post-defined cursus monuments 126
5.27 The distribution of definite and probable causewayed enclosures in
Britain and Ireland 127
5.28 The plans of selected causewayed enclosures in Britain and Ireland 128
5.29 The internal features (pits) at Etton, Cambridgeshire 133
5.30 Aerial view of Robin Hood’s Ball 134
6.1 Location of sites mentioned in this chapter, except passage tombs 140
6.2 Impressed Wares from Westbourne, Sussex 141
6.3 The stone house at Smerquoy, Orkney 143
6.4 The distribution of passage tombs in Britain and Ireland, with sites
named in the text 146
6.5 Looking down the passage at Knowth, Co. Meath 147
6.6 A selection of chamber plans from Irish passage tombs 148
6.7 A selection of plans of British passage tombs 149
6.8 Composite photograph of the massive passage tomb of
Newgrange, Co. Meath 149
6.9 The kerb at the main site at Knowth, Co. Meath 150
6.10 The highly decorated stone found at the entrance to
Newgrange, Co. Meath 151
6.11 The passage tomb complex at Knowth, showing the large central
passage tomb surrounded by smaller ‘satellite’ tombs 152
6.12 The passage tomb of Bharpa Langass, North Uist, Outer Hebrides 152
6.13 Profile and plan of the chamber at Newgrange showing the location
of the winter solstice solar alignment 153
6.14 Art on the back-slab of the rear chamber at Loughcrew,
Co. Meath 154