The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in western Scotland: a review and new evidence from Tiree

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Mithen ◽  
Anne Pirie ◽  
Sam Smith ◽  
Karen Wicks
Keyword(s):  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Population Replacement ◽  
Dietary Analysis ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Contradictory Evidence ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Existing Data

Although both the Mesolithic and Neolithic of western Scotland have been studied since the early 20th century, our knowledge of both periods remains limited, as does our understanding of the transition between them – whether this is entirely cultural in nature or involves the arrival of new Neolithic populations and the demise of the indigenous Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. The existing data provide seemingly contradictory evidence, with that from dietary analysis of skeletal remains suggesting population replacement and that from settlement and technology indicating continuity. After reviewing this evidence, this chapter briefly describes ongoing fieldwork in the Inner Hebrides that aims to gain a more complete understanding of Mesolithic settlement patterns, without which there can only be limited progress on understanding the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition.

scholarly journals Population Replacement in Early Neolithic Britain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selina Brace ◽  
Yoan Diekmann ◽  
Thomas J. Booth ◽  
Zuzana Faltyskova ◽  
Nadin Rohland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Dna ◽  
Genomic Data ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Genetic Affinity ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Population Replacement ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Genome Wide Data ◽  
Neolithic Cultures

The roles of migration, admixture and acculturation in the European transition to farming have been debated for over 100 years. Genome-wide ancient DNA studies indicate predominantly Anatolian ancestry for continental Neolithic farmers, but also variable admixture with local Mesolithic hunter-gatherers1–9. Neolithic cultures first appear in Britain c. 6000 years ago (kBP), a millennium after they appear in adjacent areas of northwestern continental Europe. However, the pattern and process of the British Neolithic transition remains unclear10–15. We assembled genome-wide data from six Mesolithic and 67 Neolithic individuals found in Britain, dating from 10.5-4.5 kBP, a dataset that includes 22 newly reported individuals and the first genomic data from British Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Our analyses reveals persistent genetic affinities between Mesolithic British and Western European hunter-gatherers over a period spanning Britain’s separation from continental Europe. We find overwhelming support for agriculture being introduced by incoming continental farmers, with small and geographically structured levels of additional hunter-gatherer introgression. We find genetic affinity between British and Iberian Neolithic populations indicating that British Neolithic people derived much of their ancestry from Anatolian farmers who originally followed the Mediterranean route of dispersal and likely entered Britain from northwestern mainland Europe.

The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in the sandy lowlands of Belgium: new evidence

Antiquity ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (293) ◽  
pp. 699-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Crombé ◽  
Yves Perdaen ◽  
Joris Sergant ◽  
Jean-Pierre Van Roeyen ◽  
Mark Van Strydonck
Keyword(s):  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
New Evidence

The site of Doel lies beside the Schelde, close to Antwerp. Excavations have uncovered the remains of two prehistoric zones, one from the Final Mesolithic and one from the Neolithic. Preliminary study suggests that current theories of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in northern Belgium require revision.

scholarly journals The Interpretation of Mesolithic Structures in Britain: New Evidence from Criet Dubh, Isle of Mull, & Alternative Approaches to Chronological Analysis for Inferring Occupation Tempos & Settlement Patterns

2018 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
pp. 77-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Mithen ◽  
Karen Wicks ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Bayesian Analysis ◽  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
New Evidence

The number of Mesolithic structures known in Britain has significantly increased since 2000, providing new opportunities for economic and social interpretations of this period. We describe a further structure, represented by features from the Mesolithic site of Criet Dubh, Isle of Mull. We compare the inferred Criet Dubh structure to other Mesolithic structures from Britain, notably those described as ‘pit-houses’. We then consider the implications of the radiocarbon dates from such structures for the tempo of occupation and past settlement patterns. While the use of Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates has encouraged interpretations of prolonged occupation and sedentism, we propose alternative interpretations with patterns of intermittent occupation for Criet Dubh and the pit-houses, involving their re-use after extended periods of abandonment within a sparsely populated landscape. The ability to debate such interpretations reflects the transformation in Mesolithic research made possible by the discovery of such structures, the use of multiple radiocarbon determinations, the application of Bayesian analysis, and the exploration of associations between cultural and environmental change. These developments have made the Mesolithic a particularly innovative period of study.

A spatially explicit agent-based model of central place foraging theory and its explanatory power for hunter-gatherers settlement patterns formation processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 377-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaarel Sikk ◽  
Geoffrey Caruso
Keyword(s):  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Spatial Configuration ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
Formation Processes ◽  
Central Place Foraging ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Settlement Location

The behavioural ecological approach to anthropology states that the density and distribution of resources determines optimal patterns of resource use and also sets its constraints to grouping, mobility and settlement choice. Central place foraging (CPF) models have been used for analyzing foraging behaviours of hunter-gatherers and drawing a causal link from the volume of available resources in the environment to the mobility decisions of hunter-gatherers. In this study, we propose a spatially explicit agent-based CPF model. We explore its potential for explaining the formation of settlement patterns and test its robustness to the configuration of space. Building on a model assuming homogeneous energy distributions, we had to add several new parameters and an adaptation mechanism for foragers to predict the length of their stay, together with a heterogeneous environment configuration. The validation of the model shows that the spatially explicit CPF is generally robust to spatial configuration of energy resources. The total volume of energy has a significant effect on constraining sedentism as predicted by aspatial model and thus can be used on different environmental conditions. Still the spatial autocorrelation of resource distribution has a linear effect on optimal mobility decisions and needs to be considered in predictive models. The effect on settlement location choice is not substantial and is more determined by other characteristics of settlement location. This limits the CPF models in analyzing settlement pattern formation processes.

scholarly journals Calling Time on Oronsay: Revising Settlement Models Around the Mesolithic–Neolithic Transition in Western Scotland, New Evidence from Port Lobh, Colonsay

2019 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 83-114
Author(s):  
Nyree Finlay ◽  
Ruby Cerón-Carrasco ◽  
Rupert Housley ◽  
Jeremy Huggett ◽  
W. Graham Jardine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Sections ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Geophysical Techniques ◽  
Alternative Research ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Molluscan Assemblage ◽  
Periwinkle Shell

For over 120 years, the shell middens of western Scotland and the series of open-air sites on Oronsay have been the focus of debate in European Mesolithic studies. This paper challenges the significance of Oronsay in light of results from the geophysical survey and test-excavation of a new limpet and periwinkle shell midden dated to the late 5th or start of the 4th millennium cal bc at Port Lobh, Colonsay that offers fresh evidence to re-evaluate critically the role of Oronsay and coastal resources in island settlement models ahead of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition. Test excavations recovered a marine molluscan assemblage dominated by limpet and periwinkle shells together with crab, sea urchin, a fishbone assemblage composed mainly of Gadidae, some identifiable bird and mammal bone, carbonised macroplant remains, and pumice as well as a bipolar lithic assemblage and coarse stone implements. Novel seasonality studies of saithe otolith thin-sections suggest wintertime tidal fishing practices. At least two activity events may be discerned, dating from the late 5th millennium cal bc. The midden could represent a small number of rapidly deposited assemblages or maybe the result of stocastic events within a more extended timeframe. We argue that alternative research questions are needed to advance long-standing debates about seasonal inter-island mobility versus island sedentism that look beyond Oronsay to better understand later Mesolithic occupation patterns and the formation and date of Oronsay middens. We propose alternative methodological strategies to aid identification of contemporaneous sites using geophysical techniques and lithic technological signatures.

The role of cult and feasting in the emergence of Neolithic communities. New evidence from Göbekli Tepe, south-eastern Turkey

Antiquity ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 86 (333) ◽  
pp. 674-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Dietrich ◽  
Manfred Heun ◽  
Jens Notroff ◽  
Klaus Schmidt ◽  
Martin Zarnkow
Keyword(s):  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Work In Progress ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Eastern Turkey ◽  
New Evidence

Göbekli Tepe is one of the most important archaeological discoveries of modern times, pushing back the origins of monumentality beyond the emergence of agriculture. We are pleased to present a summary of work in progress by the excavators of this remarkable site and their latest thoughts about its role and meaning. At the dawn of the Neolithic, hunter-gatherers congregating at Göbekli Tepe created social and ideological cohesion through the carving of decorated pillars, dancing, feasting—and, almost certainly, the drinking of beer made from fermented wild crops.

The invention of hunter-gatherers in seventeenth-century Europe

2002 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Pluciennik
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Green Movement ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
University Courses ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Development Agencies ◽  
Academic Conferences

AbstractWhy do we still speak of foragers and farmers? The division of societies into categories including ‘savage’ hunter-gatherers and ‘civilised’ farmers has its roots in seventeenth-century northwestern Europe, but has implications for archaeologists and anthropologists today. Such concepts still provide the frameworks for much intellectual labour including university courses, academic conferences and publications, as well as providing the basis for moral and political evaluations of contemporary societies and practices for a wide range of people, from governments to development agencies, ‘alternative’ archaeologies and parts of the Green movement. This paper examines some of the currents which contributed towards their establishment, and argues that writing ‘across’ such deep-seated categories may be the only way to challenge their hegemony and develop new questions. As an example recent trends in data and interpretation of the ‘mesolithic-neolithic transition’ in western Europe are discussed.

Hunter-Gatherers: Seventeenth or Eighteenth-Century Invention?

2002 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Barnard
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Archaeological Theory ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Broad Agreement

Mark Pluciennik's paper offers an insightful review of those seventeenth-century philosophical issues that influence archaeological theory, even today. I am in broad agreement on the significance of the seventeenth century, though I prefer to see that century as a prelude to the eighteenth. To my mind, it is only in the eighteenth century that hunter-gatherers become ‘invented’ in a form that is fully recognisable in modern archaeological terms (Barnard 2002a). In this commentary I shall concentrate on that issue with reference to Pluciennik's ‘six inter-related factors’, commenting but briefly where appropriate on his attempt to ‘write across’ boundaries through his example of the interpretation of the mesolithic-neolithic transition.

Leprosy in a Medieval Cemetery from Sudanese Nubia (Mouweiss, Shendi Area, Sudan)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Ardagna ◽  
M. Maillot
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Inflammatory Diseases ◽  
Diagnostic Testing ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Louvre Museum ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Hands And Feet ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Macroscopic Examination

The Mouweiss site (Shendi area, about 250 km North of Khartoum) is a Nilotic city of the Meroitic period (4th century BCE to 4th century CE), which the Louvre Museum (Paris) began to excavate in 2007. This was a large settlement that included a palace, which was later destroyed. The ruined walls of the palace also housed a medieval necropolis. About thirty rather crudely fashioned pits dug directly into the rubble of the palace were excavated. Radiocarbon dating from the tombs suggests funerary occupation from the “early Christian” to the “classic Christian” period. A macroscopic examination of the skeletal remains of the individual in grave 13 revealed palaeopathological signs pointing to Rhinomaxillary syndrome. The cranium of this 40- to 50-year-old woman showed significant bone resorption, particularly in the nasal area. Associated with these lesions are several modifications of the hands and feet, namely phalangeal acro-osteolysis and destructive diaphyseal remodelling. Differential diagnostic testing, in particular for other infectious/inflammatory diseases, concluded that the type and distribution of the lesions displayed by the individual from grave 13 at Mouweiss were indicative of leprosy. These findings contribute new data to understand the distribution of this disease and new evidence for leprosy in Sudanese Nubia, where there are very few palaeopathological cases illustrating its presence.

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