Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Settlement in Wales

Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Settlement in Wales PDF

Author: Andrew E. U. David

Publisher: British Archaeological Reports Oxford Limited

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13:

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This study presents Andrew David's field survey and excavation, including the results of excavations at the Nab Head and Daylight Rock in Pembrokeshire. It integrates these results with existing data to reappraise the chronology of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic settlement in Wales identifying phases of cultural transition.

Hunters, Fishers and Foragers in Wales

Hunters, Fishers and Foragers in Wales PDF

Author: Malcolm Little

Publisher: Oxbow Books

Published: 2015-07-31

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1782979751

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Malcolm Lillie presents a major new holistic appraisal of the evidence for the Mesolithic occupation of Wales. The story begins with a discourse on the Palaeolithic background. In order to set the entire Mesolithic period into its context, subsequent chapters follow a sequence from the palaeoenvironmental background, through a consideration of the use of stone tools, settlement patterning and evidence for subsistence strategies and the range of available resources. Less obvious aspects of hunter-forager and subsequent hunter-fisher-forager groups include the arenas of symbolism, ritual and spirituality that would have been embedded in everyday life. The author here endeavors to integrate an evaluation of these aspects of Mesolithic society in developing a social narrative of Mesolithic lifeways throughout the text in an effort to bring the past to life in a meaningful and considered way. The term ‘hunter-fisher-foragers’ implies a particular combination of subsistence activities, but whilst some groups may well have integrated this range of economic activities into their subsistence strategies, others may not have. The situation in coastal areas of Wales, in relation to subsistence, settlement and even spiritual matters would not necessarily be the same as in upland areas, even when the same groups moved between these zones in the landscape. The volume concludes with a discussion of the theoretical basis for the shift away from the exploitation of wild resources towards the integration of domesticates into subsistence strategies, i.e. the shift from food procurement to food production, and assesses the context of the changes that occurred as human groups re-orientated their socioeconomic, political and ritual beliefs in light of newly available resources, influences from the continent, and ultimately their social condition at the time of ‘transition’.

The Coastal Archaeology of Wales

The Coastal Archaeology of Wales PDF

Author: Andrew Davidson

Publisher: CBA Research Report

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13:

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This report presents the findings of CADW funded surveys carried out between 1993 and 1998 on the Welsh coastal zone and discusses the broader implications of the project. The contributors define what is meant by coastal archaeology and outline the methodology of the surveys, before presenting a chronological overview of their results, of the location, type and importance of sites threatened by natural erosion, the construction of sea defences and of harbour and port facilities for example. Moreover, this report looks at priorities for the future and stresses the urgent need for archaeological representation on national forums and committees and in any decision-making that threatens the heritage of the Welsh coastline.

Stone Age Archaeology

Stone Age Archaeology PDF

Author: John Wymer

Publisher: Oxbow Books Limited

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13:

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Contents include: Bifaces, booze and the blues. Anecdotes from the life and times of a Palaeolithic archaeologist ( A. J. Lawson & A. Rogerson ); J. J. W. A tribute from the Upper Thames n( R. J. MacRae ); On the Move. Theory, time averaging and resource transport at Olduvai gorge ( J. McNabb ); Elandsfontein and Klasies river revisited ( H. J. Deacon ); The Pleistocene history and early human occupation of the river Thames valley ( D. R Bridgland ); As represented by the Thames valley ( D. A. Roe ); Quaternary stratigraphy and lower Palaeolithic archaeology of the Lark valley, Suffolk ( S. G. Lewis ); Hoxne, Suffolk: Time matters ( B. Gladfelter ); Unity and diversity in the early Stone Age ( J. A. J. Gowlett ); Observations on the artefacts from the Breccia at Kent's cavern ( J. Cook & R. Jacobi ); Clactonian and Acheulian industries in Britain ( F.F. Wenban-Smith ); Twisted ovate bifaces in the British lower Palaeolithic ( M. J. White ); Handaxes and Palaeolithic individuals ( C. Gamble ); Southern Rivers ( K. Scott ); Pleistocene deposits and archaeological horizons in the Ariendorf gravel quarry ( E. Turner ); Discoidal core technology on the Paleolithic at Oldbury, Kent ( J. Cook & R. Jacobi ); The archaeology of distance: perspectives from the Welsh Palaeolithic ( S. Aldhouse-Green ); Pushing out the boat for an Irish Palaeolithic ( P. C. Woodman ); Long blade technology and the question of British late Pleistocene/ early Holocene lithic assemblages ( R. N. E. Barton ); A preboreal lithic assemblage from the lower Rhineland site of Bedburg-Konigshoven, Germany ( M. Street 0; Early Mesolithic settlement in England and Wales ( M. J. Reynier ); Early Mesolithic mastic: radiocarbon dating and analysis of organic residues from Thatcham III, Star Carr and Lackford Heath ( A. J. Roberts, R. N. E. Barton & J. Evans ); The methods used to produce a complete harpoon ( J. Lord ); Two assemblages of a later Mesolithic microliths from Seamer Carr, North Yorkshire: fact and fancy ( A. David ); Mesolithic sites at Two Mile Bottom, near Thetford, Norfolk ( P. Robbins ); Studying the Mesolithic period in Scotland ( A. Saville ); The surface of the Breckland ( F. Healy ); John Wymer, a bibliography.

Prehistoric Wales

Prehistoric Wales PDF

Author: Frances Lynch

Publisher: Sutton Publishing Limited

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13:

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A title which aims to give the reader a modern and authoratative summary of research interpretations on prehistoric monuments, sites and artefacts. This book should be of interest to anyone who has a serious interest in Welsh history and in early settlement and society in the British Isles.

The First Stones

The First Stones PDF

Author: William Britnell

Publisher: Oxbow Books

Published: 2022-12-01

Total Pages: 614

ISBN-13: 1789257409

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The First Stones brings together the results of recent research on the Neolithic long cairns lying in the shadow of the Black Mountains in south-east Wales, focusing upon Penywyrlod and Gwernvale, the two best known tombs within the group, previously excavated in the 1970s. Important results lie in both new site detail and reassessment of the wider context. Small-scale excavation, geophysical survey and geological assessment at Penywyrlod – the largest of the Welsh long cairns – gave further information about the distinctive external and internal architecture of the monument. In turn, this opened the opportunity to reassess the pre-monument sequence at Gwernvale, with re-examination of both Mesolithic and Neolithic occupations, including a timber structure and midden, lithic and pottery assemblages, and cereal remains. The frame for wider reassessment is given by fresh chronological modeling both of the monuments themselves, suggesting a sequence from Penywyrlod and Pipton to Ty Isaf and Gwernvale, probably spanning the 38th to the 36th or 35th centuries cal BC, and of early Neolithic activity in south Wales and the Marches, probably beginning in the 39th century cal BC. A detailed study of the major assemblages of human remains from the Black Mountains tombs includes evidence for diet, trauma and lifestyles of the populations represented. Recent isotope analysis of human remains from the tombs is also reviewed, implying social mobility and migration within local populations during the early Neolithic. The First Stones makes a significant contribution to the study of tomb building, treatment of the dead, place making, the relationship of monuments to landscape, local and regional identities, connections and affiliations across southern Britain and the adjacent continent, and Neolithization in western Britain. Viewed within the context of tombs within the Cotswold-Severn tradition as a whole, it leads to an appreciation of the local and regional distinctiveness of architecture and mortuary practice exhibited by the tombs in this area of south-east Wales, emerging as part of the intake of a significant inland area in the early centuries of the Neolithic.

Prehistoric Britain

Prehistoric Britain PDF

Author: Timothy Darvill

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-07-02

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 1136973044

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Prehistoric Britain, now in its second edition, examines the development of human societies in Britain from earliest times to the Roman conquest of AD 43, as revealed by archaeological evidence. Special attention is given to six themes which are traced through prehistory: subsistence, technology, ritual, trade, society, and population.

Ireland's First Settlers

Ireland's First Settlers PDF

Author: Peter Woodman

Publisher: Oxbow Books

Published: 2015-12-31

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 1782977813

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Ireland’s First Settlers tells the story of the archaeology and history of the first continuous phase of Ireland’s human settlement. It combines centuries of search and speculation about human antiquity in Ireland with a review of what is known today about the Irish Mesolithic. This is, in part, provided in the context of the author’s 50 years of personal experience searching to make sense of what initially appeared to be little more than a collection of beach rolled and battered flint tools. The story is embedded in how the island of Ireland, its position, distinct landscape and ecology impacted on when and how Ireland was colonized. It also explores how these first settlers evolved their technologies and lifeways to suit the narrow range of abundant resources that were available. The volume concludes with discussions on how the landscape should be searched for the often ephemeral traces of these early settlers and how sites should be excavated. It asks what we really know about the thoughts and life of the people themselves and what happened to them as farming began to be introduced.