From Foraging to Food Production in South-east Ireland: Some Lithic Evidence

Abstract

Current models for the transition from foraging to food production in Ireland describe a range of possibilities concerning the roles played by indigenous populations, the length of overlap between the adaptive systems and the potential influence of one group on the other. For example, Woodman views Mesolithic populations as passive and temporally discrete for the most part (1976; 1978c; 1987). Alternatively, Aalen (1978) sees the potential for Mesolithic groups exerting a significant influence on the Neolithic populations. In Case's model, Neolithic lifeways are introduced fully formed into Ireland, with little or no input from indigenous groups (1969; 1976).All three agree that colonists initiated the transition on the island. Expanding these models and outlining expectations based on them provides the baseline against which the data from Waterford will be measured.