PUTTING LITHICS TO THE TEST: NON‐SITE ANALYSIS AND THE NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND

Abstract

Summary. The earliest farming communities in Southern England were for a long time represented solely by the structural remains left behind in the form of burial monuments, henges and causewayed enclosures; only recently, through problem‐oriented surface collection, has any attempt been made to locate their settlements. This paper suggests that such attempts have been limited by the very desire to locate ‘sites’ which made the technique attractive in the first place. Instead it is suggested that we should be attempting to ‘think Mesolithic’, and by using our knowledge of Neolithic settlement and land‐use strategies, attempt to locate zones of continuity which undoubtedly occurred in certain ‘favourable locations’within the landscape. Case studies from East and West Hampshire are discussed and two types of adaptive behaviour are identified.