New Evidence for Upland Occupation in the Mesolithic of Scotland

Wickham-Jones, Caroline; Noble, Gordon; Fraser, Shannon; Warren, Graeme; Tipping, Richard; Paterson, Danny; Mitchell, W. A.; Clarke, Ann

doi:10.1017/ppr.2020.8

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 36 publications

(30 reference statements)

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“…Certainly, the archaeological evidence increasingly does not support the view that hunter-gatherers disappeared from the British landscape swiftly and without trace. On the basis of chronological modelling, Griffiths (2014, 24) has demonstrated that groups pursuing Mesolithic and Neolithic lifeways continued to exist alongside each other for some centuries in northern England, and there are suggestions that this may have been the case in other parts of Britain as well (Elliott & Griffiths 2018, 357; Wickham-Jones et al 2020, 36). In Wiltshire, Gron et al (2018) argue that the distinctive deposits in the large pit known as the Coneybury Anomaly resulted from coordinated activities on the part of groups of hunters and farmers during the thirty-eighth century bc , three centuries after the start of the Neolithic.…”

Section: Rates Of Changementioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has sometimes been suggested that the later Mesolithic communities of Britain were not only isolated, but sparsely distributed and culturally impoverished (see, for example, Miles 2016). In all probability there was considerable variation in patterns of settlement, mobility and subsistence during this period (Preston & Kador 2018), although a picture of very numerous small sites that had been repeatedly returned to is quite widespread throughout much of Britain, in a variety of different environments (Champness 2014; Simmonds et al 2019, 52; Waughman 2017, 12; Wickham-Jones et al 2020). However, there are also sites like Stainton West in Cumbria (Brown 2021) and Blick Mead in Wiltshire (Jacques & Phillips 2014, 24), which attest dense accumulations of population and appreciable logistical sophistication.…”

Section: Timing and Continuitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neolithization and Population Replacement in Britain: An Alternative View

Thomas¹

2022

CAJ

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Investigation of British Mesolithic and Neolithic genomes suggests discontinuity between the two and has been interpreted as indicating a significant migration of continental farmers, displacing the indigenous population. These incomers had already acquired some hunter-gatherer genetic heritage before their arrival, and this increased little in Britain. However, the proportion of hunter-gatherer genetic ancestry in British Neolithic genomes is generally greater than for most contemporary examples on the continent, particularly in emerging evidence from northern France, while the ultimate origin of British Neolithic populations in Iberia is open to question. Both the date calculated for the arrival of new people in Britain and their westerly origin are at odds with other aspects of the existing evidence. Here, a two-phase model of Neolithization is proposed. The first appearance of Neolithic things and practices significantly predated a more substantial transfer of population, creating the conditions under which new communities could be brought into being. The rather later establishment of a major migration stream coincided with an acceleration in the spread of Neolithic artefacts and activities, as well as an enrichment of the Neolithic material assemblage.

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Section: Rates Of Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Timing and Continuitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Neolithization and Population Replacement in Britain: An Alternative View

Thomas¹

2022

CAJ

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“…By the time of Mesolithic settlement in the early 8th millennium bc, therefore, local deciduous woodland had altered the landscape of the lower Dee Valley (Illus 4.10), in contrast with the evidence for pine forests higher into the Cairngorms (Paterson 2011;Wickham-Jones et al 2020). Open canopy birch and hazel woodland was recorded during the excavation of an early 8th-millennium bc site at Warren Field, Crathes (Davies et al 2009;Tipping in Dingwall et al 2019b: 30-7).…”

Section: Climate Vegetation and Landscapementioning

confidence: 99%

Prehistoric communities of the River Dee

Wickham-Jones¹,

Bates²,

Cameron³

et al. 2021

SAIR

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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.

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“…Many syntheses of Mesolithic settlement throughout Europe have established a relation to river valleys, whether it be a simple association with proximity to water (Masojć 2007) or through detailed multi-proxy environmental reconstruction to more specific micro-environments (Berger et al, 2016;Bos and Urz, 2003;Bos et al, 2006;Donahue and Lovis, 2006;Jochim, 2011;Passmore and Waddington, 2012, 128, 130;Ramsden et al, 1995;Vandenberghe et al 2010;Weerts et al, 2012;Wickham-Jones et al, 2020). In northern Britain, the large and long river systems like that of the Tweed (Mulholland, 1970;Passmore and Waddington, 2012) are seen to have been routeways to the interior as well as resource-rich and favourable to settlement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%