The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe

by Chris Fowler

  The emergence of new mortuary practices in the early Neolithic (see Fowler and Scarre, this volume) is also hard to relate to the Mesolithic evidence in an unequivocal way. Cave burial was dominant in the early Mesolithic (Conneller 2006), but a gap in radiocarbon dated cave burials between c. 5000 and c. 4000 BC has been visible for some time. The only certain later Mesolithic human remains in Britain come from shell middens on Oronsay off the west coast of Scotland (Meiklejohn et al. 2005). In general there is a clear lack of evidence for the kind of social complexity agreed to exist within southern Scandinavia. The general assumption has tended to be that monumental burial, in the form of long barrows and stone chambered tombs, was introduced at the very beginning of the Neolithic. Early radiocarbon dates for such sites therefore implied an earlier beginning to the Neolithic as a whole (e.g. Schulting 2000). However, a recent programme of mass sampling from both long barrows and chambered tombs in southern England gives a start date during the fourth millennium BC, c. 3750 BC, rather than at its beginning (Whittle et al. 2007). Whilst it is possible that some smaller chambered tombs in western Britain, such as portal dolmens, may begin earlier (Sheridan 2004), there is no substantial evidence supporting this. The dates for causewayed enclosures are rather similar, probably beginning around 3700 BC (Whittle et al. 2011). These monuments therefore play no role in the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Britain—as in Scandinavia they may mark a significant social change during the Neolithic.

  There may be an earlier beginning to causewayed enclosures in Ireland, perhaps around 4000 BC at Magheraboy in County Sligo (Danaher 2007). Indeed, it is clear that there are some significant differences between Ireland and Britain. These have traditionally been seen in terms of Irish deficiencies, such as the ‘loss’ of microliths, but there are significant features of the Irish Mesolithic which do not occur in Britain, such as the production of ground stone axes. The most striking difference is that there are radiocarbon dates before 4000 BC for cattle (and possibly also sheep) in Ireland from Ferriter’s Cove, County Kerry (two dates with an average of c. 4300 BC: Woodman and McCarthy 2003; cf. Rowley-Conwy and Legge, this volume; Tresset, this volume). There is no evidence for aurochsen in Ireland, thus the cattle must be domestic. Taken together, this evidence may suggest an earlier inception to the Neolithic in Ireland than in Britain (Cooney 2007).

  This reminds us of the crucial importance of regional variation, and the need to consider multiple trajectories of change. Concerning houses, domesticated animals, and crops, there is a persuasive case for a greater degree of early Neolithic sedentism than recognized in the models currently dominant. However, in itself this does not mean that we need to return to the hypothesis of massive immigration. Instead a combination of limited population movement and indigenous change seems most plausible at present (e.g. Whittle 2007).

  ATLANTIC IBERIA

  In western Iberia (Spain and Portugal) the transition to the Neolithic occurred c. 5500 BC. The background to the transition is quite different to areas further north due to the impact of the Cardial culture, originating possibly in Italy or southern France, in eastern Spain from c. 5500 BC (Guilaine and Manen 2007). The lack of Mesolithic evidence locally, particularly for long-distance contacts and social complexity, has recently been combined with ancient DNA from Catalonia to support an interpretation of migrating farmers (Gamba et al. 2011). Cardial ware reached parts of north-west Spain and northern Portugal only shortly later (Arias 2007), implying a rapid shift to the Neolithic.

  The late Mesolithic of the Atlantic coast is known almost entirely from the large shell midden sites of the Tagus estuary, especially those of Muge (van der Schriek et al. 2007). These persisted until c. 5000 BC, and thus overlap with the inland early Neolithic by some five centuries (Carvalho 2010). As with shell middens elsewhere along the Atlantic these were major sites, perhaps monumental in scale, with a strong burial record. Central Portugal saw a movement of the Neolithic frontier around 5200 BC, but in Cantabria and northern Portugal, neolithization occurred only after 5000 BC. The abandonment of coastal sites has been related either to resource depletion or to environmental changes (Dean et al. 2011).

  In Iberia, megalithic tombs are constructed from c. 5400 BC. There is a possibility that, just as in Brittany, megalithic constructions began with menhirs, some carved with a shepherd’s crook (Calado 2002), but this speculation needs to be supported by dating evidence.

  The patchy and piecemeal nature of the early Neolithic and the lengthy transition in those areas lacking a Neolithic presence leads to the current interpretation of a mixture of colonization and local adoption (e.g. Arias 2007; Ruiz 2005).

  CONCLUSION

  The overall picture is that recent archaeological research and opinion broadly favours a strongly indigenous Mesolithic–Neolithic transition, but in many areas along the Atlantic population movement was also involved in neolithization. In addition, it is clear that there is much variation in the nature and speed of the transition even within regions, and thus the consensus is that a mixture of local, regional, and western European processes was at work in creating the observed patchwork.

  REFERENCES

  Andersen, S.H. 1987. Tybrind Vig: A submerged Ertebolle settlement in Denmark. In J.M. Coles and J.L. Lawson (eds), European wetlands in prehistory, 253–280. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

  Andersen, S.H. 2008. The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in western Denmark seen from a kitchen midden perspective. A survey. Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia 40, 67–74.

  Arias, P. 2007. Neighbours but diverse: social change in north-west Iberia during the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic (5500–4000 cal BC). In A. Whittle and V. Cummings (eds), Going over: The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe, 53–71. Proceedings of the British Academy 144. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  Bocquet-Appel, J-P., S. Naji, M. Vander Linden, and J. Kozlowski. 2012. Understanding the rates of expansion of the farming system in Europe. Journal of Archaeological Science 39, 531–546.

  Bogaard, A. and Jones, G. 2007. Neolithic farming in Britain and central Europe: contrast or continuity? In A. Whittle and V. Cummings (eds), Going over: The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe, 357–375. Proceedings of the British Academy 144. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  Bradley, R. J. 2007. The Prehistory of Britain and Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  Burger, J. and Thomas, M.G. 2011. The Palaeopopulationgenetics of Humans, Cattle and Dairying in Neolithic Europe. In R. Pinhasi and J.T. Stock (eds), Human bioarchaeology of the transition to agriculture, 369–384. Chichester: John Wiley.

  Calado, M. 2002. Standing stones and natural outcrops: the role of ritual monuments in the Neolithic transition of the Central Alentejo. In C. Scarre (ed.), Monuments and landscape in Atlantic Europe, 17–35. London: Routledge.

  Carvalho, A.F. 2010. Chronology and geography of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Portugal. In T. Armbruester and M. Hegewisch (eds), Beiträge zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte der Iberischen Halbinselund Mitteleuropas, 45–61. Bonn: Verlag Dr. Rudolf Habelt.

  Cassen, S. 2000. Stelae reused in the passage grapes of western Europe; history of research and sexualization of the carvings. In A. Ritchie (ed.), Neolithic Orkney in its European context, 233–246. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

  Conneller, C. 2006. Death. In C. Conneller and G. Warren (eds), Mesolithic Britain and Ireland. New Approaches, 139–164. Stroud: Tempus.

  Cooney, G. 2007. Parallel worlds or multi-stranded identities? Considering the process of ‘going over’ in Ireland and the Irish Sea zone. In A. Whittle and V. Cummings (eds), Going over: The Mesolithic–Neolithic Transition in North-West Europe, 543–566. Proceedings of the British Academy 144. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  Craig, O.E., Steele, V.J., Fischer, A., Hartz, S., Andersen, S.H., Donohoe, P., Glykou, A., Saul, H., JOne,s D.M., Koch, E., and Heron, C.P 2011. Ancient lipids reveal continuity in culinary
practices across the transition to agriculture in Northern Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 108, 17910–17915.

  Crombé, P. and Vanmontfort, B. 2007. The neolithisation of the Scheldt basin in western Belgium. In A. Whittle and V. Cummings (eds), Going over: The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe, 263–285. Proceedings of the British Academy 144. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  Danaher, E. 2007. Monumental beginnings: The archaeology of the N4 Sligo Inner Relief Road. Dublin: National Roads Authority.

  Dean, R.M., Valente, M.J., and Carvalho, A.F. 2011. The Mesolithic/Neolithic transition on the Costa Vicentina, Portugal. Quaternary International 264, 100–108.

  Dupont, C. Tresset, A., Desse-Berset, N., Gruet, Y., Marchand, G., and Schulting, R.J. 2009. Harvesting the seashores in the Late Mesolithic of northwestern Europe: a view from Brittany. Journal of World Prehistory 22, 93–111.

  Fischer, A. 2002. Food for feasting? In Fischer, A. and Kristiansen, K. (eds), The Neolithisation of Denmark, 343–393. Sheffield: J. R. Collis.

  Fischer, A. and Kristiansen, K. (eds) 2002. The Neolithisation of Denmark. Sheffield: J. R. Collis.

  Gamba, C., Fernández, E., Tirado, M., Deguilloux, M.F., Pemonge, M.H., Utrilla, P., Edo, M., Molist, M., Rasteiro, R., Chikhi, L., and Arroyo-Pardo, E. 2011. Ancient DNA from an Early Neolithic Iberian population supports a pioneer colonization by first farmers. Molecular Biology 21, 45–56.

  Glørstad, H. 2009. The Northern Province? The Neolithisation of Southern Norway. In Glørstad, H. and Prescott, C. (eds), Neolithisation as if history mattered, 135–168. Lindome: Bricoleur Press.

  Glørstad, H. and Prescott, C. (eds) 2009. Neolithisation as if history mattered. Lindome: Bricoleur Press.

  Grünberg, J.M. 2000. Mesolithische Bestattungen in Europa. Rahden: Verlag Marie Leidorf.

  Guilaine, J. and Manen, C. 2007. From Mesolithic to Early Neolithic in the western Mediterranean. In A. Whittle and V. Cummings (eds), Going over: The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe, 21–51. Proceedings of the British Academy 144. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  Hodder, I. 1990. The domestication of Europe. Oxford: Blackwell.

  Jones, G. and Rowley-Conwy, P. 2007. On the importance of cereal cultivation in the British Neolithic. In S. Colledge and J. Conolly (eds), The origins and spread of domestic plants in southwest Asia and Europe, 391–419. Oxford: Berg.

  Keeley, L.H. 1992. The introduction of agriculture to the western North European plain. In A.B. Gebauer and T.D. Price (eds), Transitions to agriculture in prehistory, 81–95. Madison: Prehistory Press.

  Klassen, L. 2004. Jade und Kupfer. Untersuchungen zum Neolithisierungprozess im westlichen Ostseeraum unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Kulturentwicklung Europas 5500–3500 BC. Århus: Jutland Archaeological Society.

  Kristensen, I.K. 1989. Storgard IV. An Early Neolithic long barrow near Fjelsø, North Jutland. Journal of Danish Archaeology 8, 72–87.

  Larsson, L. 2002. Långhögar I samhållsperspectiv. In L. Larsson (ed.) Monumentala Gravformer I det Åldsta Bondesamhållet, 147–171. Lund: University of Lund: Department of Archaeology and Ancient History Report Series No. 83.

  Louwe Kooijmans, L.P. 2007. The gradual transition to farming in the Lower Rhine Basin. In A. Whittle and V. Cummings (eds), Going over: The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe, 287–309. Proceedings of the British Academy 144. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  Marchand, G. 2005. Contacts, blocages et fliations entre les aires culturelles mésolithiques en Europe atlantique. L’anthropologie 109, 541–556.

  Marchand, G. 2007. Neolithic fragrances: Mesolithic–Neolithic interactions in western France. In A. Whittle and V. Cummings (eds), Going over: The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe, 225–242. Proceedings of the British Academy 144. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  Meiklejohn, C., Merrett, D.C., Nolan, R.W., Richards, M.P., and Mellars, P. 2005. Spatial relationships, dating and taphonomy of the human bone from the Mesolithic site of Cnoc Coig, Oronsay, Argyll, Scotland. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 71, 85–105.

  Milner, N. Craig, O.E., Bailey, G.N., Pedersen, K., and Andersen, S.H. 2004. Something fishy in the Neolithic? A re-evaluation of stable isotope analysis of Mesolithic and Neolithic coastal populations. Antiquity 78, 9–22.

  Milner, N. and Laurie, E. 2009. Coastal perspectives on the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition. In S. B. McCartan, R. Schulting, G. Warren, and P. Woodman (eds), Mesolithic horizons, 134–139. Oxford: Oxbow.

  Nicolas, E., Marchand, G., Hénaff, X., Juhel, L., Paillier, Y., Darboux, J.-R., and Errera, M. 2013. Le Néolithique ancien à l’ouest de la Bretagne: nouvelles découvertes à Pen Hoat Salaün (Pleuven, Finistère). L’Anthropologie 117, 195–237.

  Nielsen, E.K. and Brinch Petersen, E. 1993. Burials, people and dogs. In S. Hvass and B. Storgaard (eds), Digging into the past, 76–81. Århus: Jutland Archaeological Society.

  Persson, P. 1999. Neolitikums början. University of Gothenburg.

  Pinhasi, R., Thomas, M.G., Hofreiter, M., Currat, M., and Burger, J. 2012. The genetic history of Europeans. Trends in Genetics 28, 496–505.

  Raemaekers, D.C.M., Molthof, H.M., and Smits, L. 2007. The textbook ‘dealing with death’ from the Neolithic Swifterbant culture (5000–3400 BC), the Netherlands. In L. Larsson, F. Lüthe, and T. Terberger (eds), Innovation and continuity—non-megalithic mortuary practices in the Baltic. New methods and research into the development of Stone Age society, 529–550. Mainz: Sonderdruck aus Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission 88.

  Raemaekers, D.C.M. and De Roever, J.P. 2010. The Swifterbant pottery tradition (5000–3400 BC): matters of fact and matters of interest. In B. Vanmortfort, L. Louwe Kooijmans, L. Amkreutz, and L. Verhart (eds), Pots, farmers and foragers, 135–149. Leiden: Leiden University Press.

  Rowley-Conwy, P. 1984. The laziness of the short-distance hunter: the origins of agriculture in western Denmark. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 3, 300–324.

  Rowley-Conwy, P. 2004. How the West was lost: a reconsideration of agricultural origins in Britain, Ireland and southern Scandinavia. Current Anthropology 45 Supplement, S83–S113.

  Rowley-Conwy, P. 2011. Westward Ho! The spread of agriculture from Central Europe to the Atlantic. Current Anthropology 52 Supplement, S431–S451.

  Ruiz, A.A. 2005. The transition between the last hunter-gatherers and the first farmers in southwestern Europe: The Basque perspective. Journal of Anthropological Research 61, 469–494.

  Scarre, C. 2001. Modelling prehistoric populations: the case of Neolithic Brittany. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 20, 285–313.

  Scarre, C. 2007. Changing places: monuments and the Neolithic transition in western France. In A. Whittle and V. Cummings (eds), Going over: the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe, 243–261. Proceedings of the British Academy, 144. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  Schulting, R. 1999a. Slighting the sea: stable isotope evidence for the transition to farming in northwestern Europe. Documenta Praehistorica 25, 203–218.

  Schulting, R. 1999b. Nouvelles dates AMS à Téviec et Hoëdic (Quiberon, Morbihan). Rapport préliminaire. Bulletin de la Socièté Préhistorique Française 96, 203–207.

  Schulting, R.J. 2000. New AMS dates from the Lambourn long barrow and the question of the earliest Neolithic in southern England: repacking the Neolithic package? Oxford Journal of Archaeology 19, 25–35.

  Schulting, R.J. and Richards, M.P. 2002. The wet, the wild and the domesticated: the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition on the west coast of Scotland. European Journal of Archaeology 5, 147–189.

  Sheridan, J.A. 2004. Neolithic connections along and across the Irish Sea. In V. Cummings and C. Fowler (eds), The Neolithic of the Irish Sea: Materiality and traditions of practice, 9–21. Oxford: Oxbow.

  Sheridan, J.A. 2007. From Picardie to Pickering and Pencraig Hill? New information on the ‘Carinated Bowl Neolith
ic’ in northern Britain. In A. Whittle and V. Cummings (eds), Going over: the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe, 441–492. Proceedings of the British Academy 144. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  Skak-Nielsen, N.V. 2004. The Neolithisation of Scandinavia: How did it happen? Adoranten Arsskrift 89–102.

  Skoglund, P., Malmström, H., Raghavan, M., Storå, J., Hall, P., Willerslev, E., Gilbert, M.T.P., Götherström, and Jakobsson, M. 2012. Origins and genetic legacy of Neolithic farmers and hunter-gatherers in Europe. Science 336(6080), 466–469.

  Solheim, S. 2012. En historie om møter og motsetninger. Introduksjon av jordbruk til Øst-Norge. Viking 75, 53–74.

  Sørensen, S.A. 2009. Lollikhuse, a site from the transitional phase between the Mesolithic and Neolithic in Denmark. In S. B. McCartan, R. Schulting, G. Warren, and P. Woodman (eds), Mesolithic horizons, 541–547. Oxford: Oxbow.

  Thomas, J.S. 2004 Recent debates on the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Britain and Ireland. Documenta Praehistorica 31, 113–130.

  Thorpe, I.J.N. 1996. The origins of agriculture in Europe. London: Routledge.

  Thorpe, I.J.N. 2001. Danish causewayed enclosures—temporary monuments? In T. Darvill and J. Thomas (eds), Neolithic enclosures in Atlantic northwest Europe, 190–203. Oxford: Oxbow.

  Thorpe, I.J.N. 2003. Anthropology, archaeology and the origin of warfare. World Archaeology 35, 145–165.