Contexts of Monumentalism: regional diversity at the Neolithic transition in north‐west France

Abstract

The origins of funerary monumentalism in north-west France remain inextricably linked to questions surrounding the Neolithic transition in that region. Debate continues over the relative importance of influences from earlier Neolithic communities in north-east or southern France on the Mesolithic communities of western France. An alternative interpretation places these influences within the context of broad processes of change affecting indigenous communities throughout northern and western France during the fifth millennium BC. The evidence from several regions of northern and western France is reviewed in this perspective, with emphasis on the regional character of monument traditions. Though at one level these regional narratives must have been interrelated, the regional diversity of the process must also be underlined. The argument moves us away from simplistic notions of extraneous influences to a more nuanced understanding of change within the context of individual communities at the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition.

European Neolithization and Ancient DNA: An Assessment

“…This same pattern has been proposed for western Europe. 61 Potential subsequent gene flow between LBK and hunter-gatherer communities may, however, be proposed, citing the sharing of some specific haplotypes between groups (Figs. 2 and 3).…”

“…These interactions culminated in the formation of hybrid material culture complexes such as the Cerny Culture in France and the earliest TRB in north Europe. 61 It is possible that both hunter-gatherer and farming groups contributed to the subsequent formation of new cultures. Paleogenetic and archeological evidence thus support a model in which genetically isolated farming ''islands'' in western and northern Europe, derived from the LBK culture, may have diffused through time as a result of gene mixing with local populations.…”

Death, Emotion and Identity in Late Mesolithic Cemeteries: Embodied Rituals and Ritualized Bodies: Tracing Ritual Practices in Late Mesolithic Burials, by Liv Nilsson Stutz, 2003. (Acta Archaeologica Lundensia 46.) Lund: Almqvist & Wiksell International; ISBN 91-22-02037-3 hardback, US$85, 395 pp., ills.

“…At Téviec and Hoëdic, the dates are more difficult to interpret, but 10 out of 14 form a coherent group falling between 6645 and 6000 BP (Schulting 1999), which may correspond approximately to the range 5500-5000 BC in calibrated terms (Scarre 2002). The date of the earliest Neolithic in this region of southern Brittany is once again subject to question, but lies probably three to five centuries later.…”

The Mesolithic–Neolithic Transition in the Channel Islands: Maritime and Terrestrial Perspectives

“…). Scarre has suggested that this phase might be viewed as one of ‘mosaic colonisation’ (, 41) with small‐scale ‘pioneer’ Neolithic settlements being established within the contemporary landscape of Mesolithic activity, and perhaps co‐existence of incoming farmers and indigenous hunter‐gatherers for several centuries.…”

“…The earlier part (NM1a) at least is generally viewed as a period of relative cultural uniformity across the region, when previously disparate and very different groups of people (those using BVSG pottery, those using Cardial pottery south of the Loire, and those continuing to live a Mesolithic way of life) were perhaps drawn together and became more integrated (e.g. Scarre , 55). The increased regionalization of pottery styles seen during the latter sub‐phase (NM1b) has been seen by some as a breakdown of these earlier links, but could equally be viewed as an inevitable by‐product of the fact that Neolithic practices had finally become fully established right across the region.…”