Betylmania? – Small Standing Stones and the Megaliths of South‐West Britain

This paper calls attention to a previously neglected element of the broad repertoire of monumental megalithic structures that characterize the later third and second millennia BC across the British Isles – extremely small standing stones. Despite their frequency and the complex arrangements and associations they embody, these miniliths are rarely recorded in detail and frequently marginalized to a generic background. As a result, they are largely absent from interpretative accounts. Drawing upon recent debates regarding materiality and monument form, alongside the results of excavations explicitly targeting tiny stone settings, the discussion argues that the phenomenon of raising and fixing small uprights was not only widespread and persistent, but sheds important light upon the beliefs and ideas driving monument construction during the later Neolithic and Bronze Ages.     

INSTRUMENTS OF CONVERSION? THE ROLE OF MEGALITHS IN THE MESOLITHIC/NEOLITHIC TRANSITION IN NORTHWEST EUROPE1

This paper discusses the general conditions which have given rise to megalithic construction techniques, and the specific circumstances under which megalithism became important in Neolithic Europe. It argues that the great elaboration of megalithic constructions in western and northern Europe must be related to the survival there of Mesolithic populations, and that monumentality was an essential element of the cultural rhetoric whereby these indigenous groups were converted to a Neolithic way of life.     

The Stone Tidal Fish Weirs of the Molène Archipelago,Iroise Sea,Brittany, Western France: a long‐term tradition with early megalithic origins

This reports on a project that combined evidence gleaned from aerial photographs, place‐names, interviews, topography, LIDAR data, and sonar bathymetry to locate stone tidal fish weirs in the Molène Archipelago. The results were verified by diver and pedestrian visual surveys. Models of Holocene sea‐level change allowed a group of possibly Late Mesolithic–Early Neolithic weirs to be recognized, with a second group broadly dated to the later Neolithic–Early Bronze Age. The construction of these long megalithic structures is compared to the funerary monuments for which the Molène Archipelago is well known, in terms of technique, cost, and societal organization.     

The Origins of the Neolithic Along the Atlantic Coast of Continental Europe: A Survey

The main aim of this work is to compare the processes of transition to the Neolithic along the Atlantic coasts of continental Europe. Archaeological data on the late Mesolithic and the early Neolithic in the best known regions (central and southern Portugal, Cantabrian Spain, Atlantic France, the shores of the North Sea, and southern Scandinavia) are discussed. The transition to the Neolithic in Atlantic Europe can be viewed as a relatively late phenomenon, with several interesting particularities. Among those, we point out the fundamentally indigenous character of the processes; the existence of a long availability phase, in which hunter-gatherer groups maintained contact with neighboring agriculturalists and probably were familiar with farming and animal husbandry without applying them in a systematic way; and the later development of megalithic monumental funerary architecture. Finally, the main hypotheses so far proposed to explain the change are contrasted with the available evidence: those that argue that the change derives from economic disequilibrium, and those that opt for the development of social inequality as the fundamental cause.     

The palaeogeography and Neolithic archaeology of Herm in the Channel Islands

Abstract

The small Channel Island of Herm combines several distinct habitats ranging from steep rocky coasts and a rolling upland plateau in the south to a dune-fringed sandy lowland in the north. Where upland and lowland meet, a line of megalithic tombs constitutes the island’s most striking archaeological feature. Four seasons of fieldwork (2008–2011) have sought to determine the environmental history of northern Herm since the last glacial period and to place the tombs within the broader context of Neolithic activity. A series of trenches and boreholes has revealed the changing morphology of the prehistoric land surface that lies buried beneath the extensive deposits of aeolian sand that cover this part of the island. Results indicate that much of the lowland plain was initially occupied by a shallow marine inlet that was cut off from the sea and progressively infilled starting in the 4th millennium b.c. Pollen and soil sequences reveal how the wooded early Holocene landscape around the edges of this inlet was steadily degraded by human impact and climate. Traces of settlement and cultivation (plowmarks) suggest the megalithic tombs were situated within an agricultural landscape. This finding has relevance for theories that have proposed that islands were favored places for burial by communities visiting from the neighboring mainland. Herm was a locus for settlement and farming as well as for burial during the Neolithic period.     

WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS: CHILDHOOD MORTALITY AND BURIAL PRACTICE IN LATE NEOLITHIC ATLANTIC EUROPE

Towards the end of the fifth millennium BC, a new funerary tradition developed in Iberia and elsewhere in Atlantic Europe involving the use of megalithic tombs and natural or artificially constructed caves for the collective burial of the dead. Ancestor worship has been the most common theoretical framework used to explain this Neolithic burial tradition, despite demographic information which indicates that these burials house the remains of a significant percentage of children and adolescents. Using data from Late Neolithic (3500–2500 BC) tombs in south‐western Iberia as a departure point, in this paper we suggest that by reconsidering the impact that childhood mortality had upon burial and grave visitation practices in Neolithic communities, archaeologists can gain valuable phenomenological information which will allow for a more robust, multivocal interpretative approach.     

THE DOUET ALIGNMENT ON THE ISLAND OF HOEDIC (MORBIHAN, FRANCE): NEW INSIGHTS INTO STANDING STONE ALIGNMENTS IN BRITTANY

The island of Hoedic in southern Brittany has numerous archaeological remains of later prehistoric date. It became famous through the discovery in the 1930s of a Mesolithic cemetery, but the island also has abundant archaeological evidence from the earliest Neolithic period onwards. These include several megalithic monuments, the most significant being alignments of standing stones. One of these alignments has recently been excavated, and investigation of another is in progress. The discoveries resulting from this work provide new insights into the origin of the phenomenon, its chronological and cultural context and the techniques that were used to create these structures. Above all, it offers a new approach to considering the meaning of these alignments.     

Evaluating prehistoric finds of Arrhenatherum elatius var. bulbosum in north-western and central Europe with an emphasis on the first Neolithic finds in Northern Germany

The swollen basal internodes of the grass species Arrhenatherum elatius var. bulbosum (tuber oat grass) are recorded here for the first time for Neolithic Germany. These charred bulbs occurred in the Late Neolithic soil mantle of the megalithic tomb of Albersdorf-Brutkamp LA 5. They are interpreted as most probably originating from the natural vegetation on and around the grave mound. The bulbs were possibly charred in the course of a ritual fire. However, their use as gathered plants and their intentional deposition in a secondary burial ritual during the Late Neolithic cannot be excluded with any certainty. Identification criteria for Arrhenatherum bulbs as well as the ecological requirements of the species are introduced here. Furthermore, prehistoric bulb finds from north-western and central Europe, and different interpretations concerning the occurrence of Arrhenatherum in different archaeological contexts, are discussed. The compilation of finds from literature and excavation reports shows that bulbs of Arrhenatherum were found rather infrequently in the Neolithic. Most commonly, charred bulbs of A. elatius var. bulbosum are detected in Bronze Age cremation graves. In the Iron Age, however, they mainly occur in domestic sites. This shows that the interpretation of the plant remains is dependent on their archaeological context. A ritual meaning of the bulbs has to be considered in the interpretation, but they may also have contributed to people’s daily diet. This evaluation of bulb finds in prehistoric and historic contexts contributes to the debate on the relevance of plant gathering in early economies and in ritual activities.     

APPROACHING THE LANDSCAPE DIMENSION OF THE MEGALITHIC PHENOMENON IN SOUTHERN SPAIN

Although the megalithic phenomenon in southern Iberia has received attention since the mid‐nineteenth century, there has been very little attention paid to the role that megalithic structures played in the organization of prehistoric landscapes. Just as in other areas of Europe, however, southern Iberian megalithic structures must have played complex roles in the social organization of landscapes that go far beyond their use as funerary containers. Using examples from our work in southern Iberia, we employ GIS‐based spatial analysis to explore for the first time various aspects of the landscape dimension of these monuments. We discuss three case‐studies for which fresh field data have been recently made available. In the first (Almadén de la Plata) we find patterns of association between medieval transhumance routes and megaliths, and we use cost‐surface modelling to suggest that medieval routes may reflect earlier, prehistoric patterns of movement which in turn suggest that megalithic structures functioned in this area as waypoints within an emerging mobility system for people and livestock. In the second case (Aroche) we show correlations between the locations of megaliths and theoretical territories defined by isochrones and contrast this pattern with the distribution of non‐megalithic funerary sites of the Early Bronze Age, concluding that the spatial distribution of megaliths in this region may relate to their role as landmarks. Lastly we describe a far more specific relationship which we have encountered in the Antequera region, where we believe we have identified a relationship between the orientation of the megalithic structure of Menga, a prominent natural feature and several newly discovered prehistoric sites. Together, these three examples suggest that the current focus on typology, chronology and contents in the study of Iberian megaliths needs to be matched with efforts to identify and interpret the often highly complex structure of the prehistoric landscapes of which they form an integral part.     

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE: NEW RECORDINGS OF MEGALITHIC ART IN NORTH‐WEST IRELAND

In this paper new and previously known passage tomb art in north‐west Ireland is recorded using an innovative recording technique. The use of this method, which involves vector drawing from digital photographs taken with oblique lighting (VeDPOL), has clarified and increased the instances of megalithic carving in the north‐west of Ireland. At two monuments – Listoghil and Heapstown Cairn – the new recordings have allowed us to contextualize the art within the broader corpus of passage tomb motifs. Additionally, it is proposed that one of the carvings from Listoghil is of later prehistoric origin and not Neolithic as previously believed. Finally, and most importantly, this paper highlights a group of motifs recently found at Cairn B in the Carrowkeel‐Keashcorran complex. This discovery demonstrates for the first time that megalithic art was a feature of all four major passage tomb complexes in Ireland.     

THE HIGHLANDS of ABOBOREIRA (NORTH-WEST PORTUGAL): ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS FROM MIDDLE/LATE NEOLITHIC to EARLY BRONZE AGE. EVIDENCE FROM CHARCOAL ANALYSIS

Summary: Charcoal analysis data from 15 megalithic monuments in the highlands of Serra da Aboboreira, north-west Portugal, are presented and discussed. the results, interpreted only in terms of presence/absence of taxa, give us important information concerning the vegetal cover of this area and the relationships with man, from the Middle/Late Neolithic until the Early Bronze Age.     

LE GARDIEN DU TOMBEAU: FURTHER REFLECTIONS ON THE INITIAL NEOLITHIC

Summary. The unique carving of an armed human figure on a capstone in the Déhus passage grave, Guernsey, has been known for some 70 years but has hitherto eluded parallels and explanation. With the stimulus of recent researches in Brittany, it is now possible to suggest that here too is an example oficonoclasm and incorporation associated with the inception of the Neolithic and the formative stages of megalithic traditions.     

SETTLEMENTS AND CHAMBERED TOMBS IN NEOLITHIC FRANCE

Summary. Chambered tombs of megalithic or dry-stone construction are a leading element in the archaeological record of Neolithic France, but appear to have been associated with only small, insubstantial settlement sites. This point is illustrated by reference to evidence from West-Central France, the Paris Basin, Southern France and Brittany. The tombs seem to have played an important rôle in the articulation of dispersed communities, particularly during periods when new land was being colonised. These findings suggest certain modifications to recent ideas about the origin and functions of the West European chambered tombs.     

The oldest agriculture in northern Atlantic Spain: new evidence from El Mirón Cave (Ramales de la Victoria,Cantabria)

Emmer wheat (Triticum diccocum) has been positively identified from the stratigraphically oldest ceramic- and domesticated livestock-bearing level of El Mirón Cave in the Cantabrian Cordillera. The grain is AMS ¹⁴C-dated to 5550±40 BP. This date is congruent with six others from the same layer, higher within which were found other grains of wheat, including einkorn as well as emmer. Although wild ungulates (mainly red deer) were still hunted, abundant ovicaprines, together with small numbers of cattle and pigs, appear in this level-for the first time in the 40,000-year record at El Mirón. Potsherds (undecorated, but of very good quality) also appear abruptly and abundantly. However, the associated lithic assemblage contains specific tool types also found in late Mesolithic contexts in Cantabrian Spain. In addition to the full suite of Neolithic indicators at El Mirón, as confirmed by less unambiguous early agro-pastoral evidence from other sites in the Vasco-Cantabrian region, there are megalithic monuments both in the vicinity of the cave and throughout the region that are similarly dated. All these data tend to suggest that Neolithic adaptations—already present about a millennium earlier not only along the Mediterranean coast, but also much closer, to the southeast of the Cordillera—were quickly adopted as “a package” by Cantabrian Mesolithic foragers, possibly as a consequence of social contacts with Neolithic groups in southern France and/or the upper Ebro basin of north-central Spain.     

Kinship,labor, and land in Neolithic southwest Sweden: Social aspects of megalithic graves

This paper has a double purpose: first, to give an outline of the theoretical structure of a social archaeology, and, second, to exemplify this by a case from Neolithic southwest Sweden. Social models are derived mainly from Marxist social anthropology, describing different modes of regulation of work, of access to means of production and to the results of production. Such models direct attention to a number of variables. In order to be archaeologically useful, however, a series of assumptions at a lower level of abstraction must be made. These assumptions correlate social variables with material remains. Here, a number of assumptions are made regarding different aspects of megalithic tombs, through which an effort is made to arrive at a static understanding of SW Swedish society around 2400–2600 B.C.     

Iron technology of the ancient megalithic communities in the Vidarbha region of India

The megalithic period in India is notable for the emergence and development of iron metallurgy and the appearance of new burials known as megaliths. A number of iron objects from megalithic sites in the Vidarbha region of India, dating to the first half of the 1st millennium BC, have been examined for their microstructures and carbon distributions. The artifact assemblage consists mainly of edged or pointed tools and weapons, along with some domestic implements. Results show that the technology applied in their manufacture is characterized by the use of low carbon iron of bloomery origin and the application of surface carburization as the primary means of steelmaking. The functional parts of the objects examined were made mostly of steel with their mechanical properties finely adjusted through a combination of quenching and tempering. Of particular importance are certain fan-shaped plates which we believe were produced and circulated as intermediaries to meet a wide range of consumer needs. It appears that the Vidarbha megalithic communities shared a fully developed and well-standardized iron technology of substantial flexibility. While exceptions to this general trend were found in some unfinished or used objects, these do not suggest the presence of an inferior technological status. This paper raises questions as to the origin of such a developed technology, and will discuss the probable spreading of several key technical ideas which bear striking similarities to those noted in the early iron traditions of Korea.     

Measuring the Complexity of Past Social Systems: a Task Analysis Approach to the Study of Late Prehistoric Monumentality in Iberia

In this paper, we explore the heuristic potential of a set of ideas about the structural and functional complexity of systems, proposed in the 1990s by theoretical biologist Daniel McShea. In particular, we focus on the structural aspects of the complexity exhibited by social systems organized into low- and intermediate-level functional units (i.e., groups and teams). To address this subject, we describe a methodology suited for measuring the complexity in the organization of work in such systems, which is primarily based on hierarchical task analysis. With this methodology, we approach a concrete case study: the construction of megalithic monuments in late prehistoric Iberia (ca. 3800–1800 BC). On the basis of the analysis of the three best documented, most structurally, and functionally complex monuments built within each of the three periods under study (Late Neolithic, Copper Age, and Early Bronze Age), we found that there was a trend towards less complexity in work organization related to monument building from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. We discuss the importance of these results in light of the existing models of social complexity in European Later Prehistory, concluding that a more balanced view of social processes would be obtained if we look at complexity as a property of every different social system integrated into the whole society, and not as an exclusive property of the latter.

     

Transformations in an early agricultural society: Feasting in the southern Levantine Pre-Pottery Neolithic

Feasting is a powerful and transformative phenomenon. Societies are both integrated and differentiated through feasting; identities are both enacted and altered; and ideologies are inculcated. This paper uses ethnographic data to establish criteria for the archaeological recognition of prehistoric feasting. These criteria are then used to assess the changing evidence for feasting across the southern Levantine Pre-Pottery Neolithic (ca. 10,200–7500 BP/9700–6250 cal BC), with the aim of shedding light on changes in social organization across the transition to agriculture.During most of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, the extent and scale of feasting expanded as sociopolitical complexity increased. Towards the end of the period, however, populations dispersed and feasting probably declined. Feasts were simultaneously integrative and competitive, ameliorating scalar stress even as they offered opportunities for individual or household competition. Feasts may also have played a key role in conferring ideological prominence on Neolithic cattle, and perhaps even contributed to their adoption as domesticates.     

SARUP REVISITED: ARCHAEOLOGICAL REALITY AND REALITIES OF ARCHAEOLOGY

In the second half of the 4^th millennium BC, we see significant changes in the early Neolithic culture. These take place some centuries after the initial introduction of agriculture and sees striking developments such as the apparent opening‐up of the landscape, involving forest clearance, the introduction of the ard for ploughing and the construction of regular houses. The transition to a settled and sedentary farming lifestyle must also have demanded mental adaptations, whereby the farmers were required to forge new and stable alliances. These alliances appear to be forged by a series of communal works, involving monumental structures, such as the building of dolmens and passage graves as well as the extensive and land‐demanding causewayed enclosures. The causewayed enclosures were essentially used for only a few days but were remembered for centuries. Since the 1970s, excavations have been undertaken in the Sarup area, on the island of Funen, Denmark, to obtain more detailed information about the activities that took place there between c. 3600 and 3000 BC. This paper presents the results of excavations and studies of two well‐preserved causewayed enclosures, the Barkaer‐structures and more than 30 megalithic monuments, as well as investigations of several settlements. This research has provided insight into a complex farming culture, which appears to have been firmly consolidated by major communal construction works, whereby teams and networks were created within an evolving cooperative social structure.     

The protection and management of the megalithic art of Galicia,Spain

Abstract

Megalithic art is an important cultural resource in many regions of Western Europe. In this contribution we look at examples from Galicia, in the north-west corner of the Iberian Peninsula. A vast project has been underway since 1998, surveying and characterizing megalithic paintings, a field of research previously unexplored in any systematic way. Through defining the extent and state of conservation of megalithic paintings, the aim of the project is to be able to recommend adequate measures for their protection and preservation. It is hoped that this interdisciplinary effort will be combined with a consistent policy of display and promotion that will ensure a growing public awareness of the value of these fragile artistic works, while avoiding unnecessary losses in this part of our cultural heritage.