RADIOCARBON CHRONOLOGY AND THE LATEGLACIAL AND EARLY POSTGLACIAL RESETTLEMENT OF THE BRITISH ISLES

Abstract

Abstract In terms of human geography, the Pleistocene/Holocene transition in the British Isles was marked by the recolonisation of areas uninhabited during the pleniglacial. Three phases can be identified. The first, which began around 12,500 RCY BP (Radiocarbon Years Before Present), towards the end of the Lateglacial Interstadial (pollenzones 1b, Ic and II), was marked by the rapid and widespread dispersal of human groups into the lowlands of central, southern and eastern England. The second phase, corresponding to the Loch Lomond Stadial and Preboreal (Dryas III and Zone IV) and dating from 10,999 to 9000 RCY BP, was an episode of consolidation with little further spread of settlement. During both of these phases Britain remained joined to mainland Europe and developments need to be seen within the context of processes at work on a continental scale. The third phase, from 8999 to 7000 RCY BP, witnessed a further rapid extension of settlement which involved most of the rest of Britain, including Ireland but excluding the far southwest of England and northeast Scotland. Developments during this third phase were particularly marked along the Atlantic seaboard and appear to have coincided with the northwards migration of the Polar Front and the establishment of contemporary patterns of oceanic and atmospheric circulation.