Neolithic Landscape Research Articles

Origin of the central European steppe flora: insights from palaeodistribution modelling and migration simulations

The biogeographic origin of the species‐rich steppe grasslands in central Europe has long been debated. The alternative hypotheses are long‐term species persistence in situ versus immigration from the south‐east, either after the last glacial maximum (LGM) or after the Neolithic landscape deforestation. We ask whether macroclimate‐based models of habitat suitability support either of these hypotheses and search for macroclimatically suitable ‘source areas' from which species could colonise the areas occupied in Europe today. We modelled habitat suitability for 104 species of the central European steppes and projected these models to 10 periods between the LGM and the present using downscaled CCSM3 simulations. By simulating postglacial migration, we identified potential source areas for each species in the LGM and mid‐Holocene and examined whether their location differed among three ecological and five chorological species groups.The central European macroclimate during the cold phases of the Late Pleistocene was suitable for species now typical of Asian desert steppes, whereas the warmer Bølling–Allerød and Holocene macroclimates supported the occurrence of present‐day central European steppe flora. The models suggest that the LGM source areas of these species ranged from south‐eastern France through the Adriatic region and the Balkan Peninsula to the Black‐Sea region but extended to central Europe in the mid‐Holocene. Their locations differed considerably among ecological and chorological groups in both periods. Therefore, our models support the hypothesis that during the Pleistocene cold periods, the largest populations of these species occurred in southern and south‐eastern Europe and some of them may have later colonised central Europe. If some populations occurred in central Europe during the LGM, as suggested by recent genetic analyses, they were likely restricted to microrefugia embedded in the landscape matrix of species‐poor cold steppe. The precipitation‐rich mid‐Holocene climate had no direct negative impact on the central European steppe flora.

Take a seed! Revealing Neolithic landscape and agricultural development in the Carpathian Basin through multivariate statistics and environmental modelling.

The Carpathian Basin represents the cradle of human agricultural development during the Neolithic period, when large parts were transformed into 'cultural landscapes' by first farmers from the Balkans. It is assumed that an Early Neolithic subsistence economy established along the hydrologic systems and on Chernozem soil patches, which developed from loess deposits. However, recent results from soil chemistry and geoarchaeological analyses raised the hypothesis that extensive Chernozem coverage developed from increased land-use activity and that Early Neolithic 'cultural' groups were not restricted to loess-covered surfaces but rather preferred hydromorphic soils that formed in the floodplains. This article performs multivariable statistics from large datasets of Neolithic sites in Hungary and allows tracing Early to Late Neolithic site preferences from digital environmental data. Quantitative analyses reveal a strong preference for hydromorphic soils, a significant avoidance of loess-covered areas, and no preference for Chernozem soils throughout the Early Neolithic followed by a strong transformation of site preferences during the Late Neolithic period. These results align with socio-cultural developments, large-scale mobility patterns, and land-use and surface transformation, which shaped the Carpathian Basin and paved the way for the agricultural revolution across Europe.

Beyond Newgrange: Brú na Bóinne in the later Neolithic

The Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site, Ireland is best known for its megalithic monuments, in particular the great developed passage tombs of Knowth, Dowth, and Newgrange, and its abundance of megalithic art. However, our understanding of the wider Brú na Bóinne landscape has changed beyond all recognition in the last decade owing to the application of modern, non-invasive survey technologies – in particular LiDAR and large-scale geophysical survey – and most recently as a result of the hot, dry summer of 2018 which revealed a series of remarkable cropmarks between Newgrange and the River Boyne. Despite a lack of excavation it can be argued, based on their morphological characteristics, that many of the structures revealed belong within the corpus of late Neolithic ritual/ceremonial structures, including earthen henges, square-in-circle monuments, palisaded enclosures, and pit/post-alignments. These display both extraordinary diversity, yet also commonality of design and architecture, both as a group and with the passage tombs that preceded them. This paper provides an up-to-date survey of the late Neolithic and presumed late Neolithic landscape of Brú na Bóinne. It provides new evidence and new insights from ongoing survey campaigns, suggesting parallels within the British Neolithic but also insular development within some monument classes.

The impact of Holocene alluvial landscape evolution on an ancient settlement in the southeastern piedmont of Songshan Mountain, Central China: A study from the Shiyuan site

The Central Plains of China have long been argued to be swampy during the middle Holocene, despite the presence of many Neolithic sites in the area. Here, we investigate this contradiction using a combination of geoarchaeological and geospatial methods to reconstruct the alluvial landscape at the Shiyuan site, located along the southeastern piedmont of Songshan Mountain. Our results indicate that the river valley started to aggrade sometime before 10,000 BP, incise from 10,000 to 9000 BP, aggrade again from 9000 to 4000 BP, and then heavily incise after 4000 BP. Our results also show that during the late Yangshao period (5000 BP), the landscape around Shiyuan had many rivers, lakes, and wetlands but these aqueous areas are not all contiguous, revealing a mosaic of different environments. Most of the archaeological sites, including Shiyuan, are located on landforms that are naturally elevated, providing these Neolithic villages with an ample supply of nearby aquatic resources. Contrary to suggestions that Neolithic villages were primarily reliant on dry farming, these wetland environments provided an important and overlooked part of the Neolithic landscape in Central China.

Human mobility and early sedentism: the Late Neolithic landscape of southern Azerbaijan

Abstract

Recent Investigations at Two Long Barrows and Reflections on their Context in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and Environs

Recent geophysical surveys and excavations at Druid's Lodge Estate, in fields west of the Diamond Wood in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SWHS), have confirmed the existence of the Winterbourne Stoke 71 long barrow and discovered a new long barrow (Winterbourne Stoke 86) a short distance to the south. Survey and excavation show internal features at both barrows and, alongside aerial photography, suggest that both monuments were destroyed during later prehistory. These barrows are part of a cluster around the head of the Wilsford dry valley. We review long barrows in the SWHS and environs to contextualise these discoveries, demonstrating a diversity of internal features, barrow sizes and morphologies. Chronological modelling is used to place the SWHS barrows in their inter-regional timescape and to understand the timings of the first appearance of monument types of the 4th millennium cal BC. Local topography appears to be the key factor in determining the alignment of long barrows, but the eastern ends of barrows appear to be significant. Long barrows are also considered in relation to causewayed enclosures, and movement around the landscape. Long barrows are an important structuring monument in the later Neolithic and Bronze Age landscape, but their importance is mediated by their location relative to Stonehenge, and access to the monument from the south. There is a clear pattern of differential preservation of long barrows away from the vicinity of Stonehenge. Further field research is necessary to achieve a better understanding of long barrows in the SWHS, and it is hoped that this article stimulates interest in these highly significant monuments. This article also provides an interactive map of the SWHS, linking to simplified plans of long barrows in the study area, additional information and references for further reading for each barrow. Appendices are provided containing specialist methodologies and/or data from the geophysical surveys and the Historic England excavation, and primary excavation data from the Historic England excavation is downloadable via the Archaeology Data Service (Historic England 2018).

A New Perspective on Neolithic Sites in the Dubičiai Microregion Using a GIS Spatial Analysis

Naujas požiūris į Dubičių mikroregiono neolitines gyvenvietes taikant GIS erdvinę analizęStraipsnyje analizuojamas akmens amžiaus gyvenviečių gausa ir įvairove išsiskiriantis Dubičių mikroregionas, pristatomos GIS erdvinės analizės teikiamos galimybės rekonstruoti šio mikroregiono neolito laikotarpio kraštovaizdį, ištirti sąlygas, nulėmusias akmens amžiaus gyvenviečių vietos pasirinkimą, ir nustatyti vietas, kuriose didžiausia tikimybė aptikti naujų, dar nežinomų neolitinių gyvenviečių.

From deciduous forest to open landscape: application of new approaches to help understand cultural landscape development in western Norway

Development of the cultural landscape in a village situated by the inner fjords of western Norway is investigated by pollen analysis and quantitative reconstruction methods. Pollen samples from lake sediments and a soil profile were analysed and represent different spatial scales. The Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA) is applied to a large and a small lake to convert pollen percentages from the small lake into estimated local vegetation cover in selected time periods starting from 2800 cal bc (Middle Neolithic A). This reconstruction shows that estimated forest cover has fluctuated through time, and changes in openness related to human impact are distinct from the Early Bronze Age (1800–1200 cal bc). Pollen analyses from the soil profile indicate forest clearances from the Late Neolithic (2300–1800 cal bc). Gradual intensification of farming is recognized in both pollen diagrams throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages with increasing openness and spatial differentiation in land-use practices. Presence of pollen of cereals and flax record the cultivation of these plants from the Iron Age, and intensification of land-use may have caused erosion and re-sedimentation in the lake in medieval times. To identify a possible landscape in the past, HUMPOL software has been used with the Late Neolithic as a case study. The LRA-based estimates of forest cover are supported by the HUMPOL simulations, but several solutions to the Late Neolithic landscape pattern exist. The results clearly demonstrate how implementation of LRA and HUMPOL improve the understanding of cultural landscape development.

Reconnecting the Late Neolithic Social Landscape: A Micro-Regional Study of Objects, Settlements and Tombs from Iberia

The contrast between monumentalized burials and almost invisible settlements has dominated Neolithic studies in western Europe, reinforcing an artificial divide between ceremonial and economically productive landscapes. By combining a material culture approach with a landscape scale, comparative artefact studies can trace connections between people, places, and social contexts. This paper investigates social networks in Late Neolithic Portugal by examining artefact provenance, biographies, and deposition on the Mondego Plateau. It focuses on three sites and four object categories characteristic of this period. The study reveals great diversity of raw materials, circulation of everyday objects, and regional availability of resources previously thought to be imports. It suggests that people used dispersed resource areas in an integrated way, and that exchange was an integral part of routine life. Evidence for links across the region is not restricted to tombs. Burial assemblages resulted from a complex web of social relations that preceded, accompanied, and followed the actions surrounding death. Understanding these places and fundamental questions about Neolithic social production and reproduction requires reconnecting tombs and settlements into wider lived landscapes.

The impact of the Neolithic agricultural transition in Britain: a comparison of pollen-based land-cover and archaeological 14C date-inferred population change

Britain's landscapes were substantially transformed as a result of prehistoric agricultural clearance and deforestation. This process began in the Neolithic and is recorded in multiple different “archives”, notably those deriving from archaeological site excavations and from off-site pollen records. This paper assesses the extent to which these two independent sources show common trends and timing in terms of demographic and environmental change across Britain during the millennia prior to and after the appearance of the first farming communities. This period is analysed within the wider context of the 9000–3400 cal. BP time frame. We compare land-cover change aggregated from 42 pollen records employing a pseudo-biomisation approach with radiocarbon (14C) date probability density functions from archaeological sites, which have been inferred to indicate shifts in population density. We also compare these results with selected palaeoclimate records in order to test alternative drivers of landscape change. At a broad geographical scale, pollen and archaeological records reveal very similar phases between 9000 and 3400 cal. BP. Following an initial demographic shift and landscape opening during the Late Mesolithic (∼7600 cal. BP) conditions were stable until 6400 cal. BP. Around 6400–6000 cal. BP (Mesolithic–Neolithic transition) a new phase began of forest disturbance and population increase. By 6000–5300 cal. BP early Neolithic population growth is clearly evident in the archaeological record with significant impacts on woodland cover, which is evident in the pollen record, reaching a maximum between 5700 and 5400 cal. BP. Between 5300 and 4400 cal. BP the archaeological record is inferred to indicate reduced mid-late Neolithic landscape impact, and this is matched by evidence of woodland re-establishment in the pollen record. Between 4400 and 3400 cal. BP renewed late Neolithic woodland clearance coincided with further population increase, which continued into the early Bronze Age. A very similar pattern is evident using a smaller-scale dataset from Scotland alone. Thus, rather than being slow and progressive, the initial Neolithic cultural transformation of Britain's landscape was relatively rapid and widespread; however, after several centuries of expansion, this process was halted and even reversed, before recommencing during the later 3rd millennium BC (after ∼4500 cal. BP). The impact of Neolithic forest clearance is clearly detectable as a driver of regional-scale mid-Holocene landscape change, alongside variations in climate. The Neolithic agricultural transition began a long process of anthropogenically-driven land-cover change in the British Isles, which has continued up until the present-day.

Neolithic agriculture, economy, landscape and chronology in the north west of Europe; placing Ireland in its wider context

Neolithic agriculture, economy, landscape and chronology in the north west of Europe; placing Ireland in its wider context

Mesolithic to Neolithic Landscape Formation in the Silvretta Alps (Austria/Switzerland) at above today's treeline

Mesolithic to Neolithic Landscape Formation in the Silvretta Alps (Austria/Switzerland) at above today's treeline

Settling Down or Moving On?: The Settlement of the Irish Neolithic Landscape

The Irish Neolithic spanned some 1,600 years from approximately 4,000 to 2,400 bc. At the beginning of this period, Ireland was a frontier land at the remote edge of Europe. The first farmers arriving from Britain or the continent found a heavily forested land teeming with wildlife, which was already home to scattered groups of hunter-gatherers who had coexisted with this world for centuries. As these farmers set about clearing the woodland to lay out their farms and construct the first robust rectangular (and, later, circular) houses, they would give rise to a society which in time would build a range of megalithic tombs, various earthen monuments such as henges and mounds, great ritual complexes spread over many acres like Bru na Boinne in County Meath, large ordered settlements, and massive fieldwall systems. The history of excavating Neolithic settlements dates back to the 1890s, when such pioneers as William J. Knowles began uncovering prehistoric coastal settlements. Over the following decades, the number of known sites slowly increased until Sean P. O Riordain’s landmark 1954 publication of the major Lough Gur settlement in County Limerick. During the remainder of the century, trained researchers excavated a small but steady number of house sites. The affluence of the 1990s triggered a surge in the number of sites excavated; this ended with the financial crisis of 2008. Nonetheless, the archaeological literature now includes hundreds of published house excavations. And yet, the Neolithic, one of the most researched periods in ancient Irish history, remains the subject of ongoing debate in Irish archaeology. The debate stems from many causes: the sheer wealth of sites; the realization that the Irish Neolithic differed radically from the Neolithic experience in neighboring Britain; and a changing emphasis in the research. Empirical data-driven analysis of sites has been succeeded by a greater desire to understand how people of the time actually lived and interacted with their world. A key issue in the debates—

Integrated GIS, remote sensing and geomorphologic approaches for the reconstruction of the landscape habitation of Thessaly during the neolithic period

The aim of this study is to manifest the contribution of integrated approaches such as GIS, geomorphology, remote sensing and DEM analysis for the detection of neolithic settlements, the modeling of habitation and the reconstruction of neolithic landscape in the area of Thessaly. Thessaly is a region of low relief in central Greece where hundreds of neolithic settlements called magoules were established from Early Neolithic period until Bronze Age. In this study field survey, statistical analysis of coring data, spatial analysis of environmental parameters in GIS and image processing techniques of satellite images and DEMs were carried out to contribute to the detection of the Neolithic settlements and the reconstruction of Neolithic landscape.

John David North

John David North

Investigating Neolithic land use in Swifterbant (NL) using micromorphological techniques

In the Swifterbant area in The Netherlands, a complete Neolithic landscape is preserved, buried in a wetland environment. A dozen sites (dating from ca. 4300-4000 cal. BC) on levees of a former creek system are characterized by a black layer containing large amounts of carbonized plant remains, burnt bone, flint and pottery. These sites are usually interpreted as occupation sites with accumulated refuse of a society in transition from a Mesolithic to a Neolithic lifestyle (hunting and herding), in an area that was too wet for crops. In the context of a new research campaign in the area, we investigated the site- and land-use on two locations (S2 and S4) using micromorphological techniques. On S2, the soil matrix in the archaeological horizon has a heterogeneous, non-sedimentary appearance due to the ubiquitous presence of rounded and subrounded aggregates. These aggregates indicate that the sediment was disturbed after deposition, but it is unclear by what human activity. This disturbance is not restricted to the archaeological site horizon, but extends also into the under- and overlying layers. On S4, three layers can be distinguished. Only the lower and central parts are usually regarded as archaeological layers. The lower layer shows thorough mixing of the (partly decalcified) groundmass and the incorporation of anthropogenic materials (carbonized plant remains, burnt bone, etc.). Most probably, the thorough mixing is a result of tillage. The central layer consists of thinly laminated phytoliths and carbonized plant remains with ample fragments of (burnt) bone, angular sediment clods and some dog coprolites. Mineral sediments are absent. Apparently, the layer was formed by human activities that resulted in a massive accumulation of burnt organic materials and anthropogenic debris. The preservation of the microlayering formed by phytoliths and carbonized is remarkable, since trampling would have deformed or disturbed the layering. The surprising conclusion therefore has to be that this location was not the main settlement area-as was implicitly thought until now. Rather, the area should be interpreted as a location where specific activities resulted in the accumulation of burnt plant material, e.g. a waste dump. The upper layer again has indications of anthropogenic soil disturbance. Samples from the basin adjacent to the levee site show sediments that are deformed by trampling. The transition of the site to the channel shows no signs of trampling, but rather interfingering of site layers with channel sediments. Lack of trampling in the central zone of S4 and the adjacent channel shore is at odds with the classical interpretation that the site represents a settlement area. The black layers that up till now were thought to encompass a complete settlement, could very well be a very prominent part of larger sites with remains of human activities during the Neolithic. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New narratives for lost landscapes in middle England - Alison Deegan & Glenn Foard. Mapping ancient landscapes in Northamptonshire. viii+172 pages, 102 b&w & colour illustrations, 12 tables. 2007. Swindon: English Heritage; 987-1-905624-42-3 paperback (copy available as print-on-demand from ehsales@gillards.com or download from http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.14150) - Jan Harding & Frances Healy. The Raunds Area Project: a Neolithic and Bronze Age landscape

New narratives for lost landscapes in middle England - Alison Deegan & Glenn Foard. Mapping ancient landscapes in Northamptonshire. viii+172 pages, 102 b&w & colour illustrations, 12 tables. 2007. Swindon: English Heritage; 987-1-905624-42-3 paperback (copy available as print-on-demand from ehsales@gillards.com or download from http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.14150) - Jan Harding & Frances Healy. The Raunds Area Project: a Neolithic and Bronze Age landscape

Digital Avebury: New 'Avenues' of Research

This article applies digital modelling techniques to the later Neolithic landscape and monument 'complex' around the Avebury area of Wiltshire, England. The models produced are combined with a phenomenological approach to examine a journey along the megalithic avenues of this area, and to better understand possible meanings associated with, and relationships between, the monuments. The article also seeks to briefly demonstrate how phenomenological approaches might be enhanced by the use of digital 3D modelling.

Encoding a Neolithic Landscape: The Linearity of Burial Monuments along Strumble Head, South-west Wales

In terms of geography, the distribution of Welsh Neolithic burial monuments and their setting has recently been discussed by Barker (1992), Tilley (1994), Children and Nash (2002), Cummings and Whittle (2004), Burrows (2006) and Nash (2006). Tilley has applied an ancestral geography, its roots embedded in the Mesolithic, to a number of Neolithic ritual/burial monuments occupying the core areas of south-west and central Wales. Cummings and Whittle have approached monument location using the concept of view sheds. (i.e., the landscape features that can be seen from each monument). Children and Nash, and recently Nash, have explored similar approaches, focusing on intervisibility between neighboring monuments and monument, chamber, and passage orientation. Although some of these approaches have been seen as flawed (e.g. Fleming 2005), the interaction between burial, monument construction, and landscape must be considered as being important to a monument's builders and users. Steve Burrows has provided a good introduction to the construction and use of Neolithic burial-ritual monuments using the excellent archive recourses of the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff. Children and Nash (2002) identify a number of clusters within south-west Wales that appear to conform to a number of architectural and landscape rules; one of these groups, the Fishguard Group, is located on Strumble Head (Nash 2006). Nash has recognized that elements of this group form a linear distribution comprising up to ten monuments.This paper discusses in detail the architecture of each of the Strumble Head monuments and explores the concept of linearity, a trait that is common in the siting of European Bronze Age barrows and cairns but limited in respect of Neolithic ritual/burial monuments. It is clear that there is intentionality in the distribution of the Strumble Head monuments, which utilize a series of jagged peaks along the uplands.

Stonehenge: the biography of a landscape

More than a million people visit the Stonehenge World Heritage Site every year, pondering the stones and soaking up the surrounding landscape. When was it built? Who built it? What was it? How did it work? Here Timothy Darvill argues that around 2600 BC local communities transformed an existing sanctuary into a cult centre that develped a big reputation: perhaps as an oracle and healing place. For centuries people came from near and far, and even after activities at the site began to decline the memory lived on and people chose to be buried within sight of the stones. But Stonehenge itself is only part of a story that involves the whole landscape. People first came to the area during the last Ice Age nearly half a million years ago. Long before Stonehenge was built they were erecting posts, digging pits to contain sacred objects, and constructing long mounds to house their dead. By the Age of Stonehenge this was a heavily occupied landscape with daily life focused along the River Avon. Later, farms and hamlets were established, Roman villas came and went, and from about AD 1000 the pattern of villages dotted along the valleys and the town of Amesbury came to prominence. In the last hundred years or so the army established training grounds and camps, but the biggest battles in recent years have been over the future of the Stonehenge landscape. Timothy Darvill is Professor of Archaeology in the School of Conservation Sciences at Bournemouth University and has been involved with Stonehenge and its management for more than 20 years. Previous books included Prehistoric Britain (1994), the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (2002), and Long barrows of the Cotswolds and surrounding areas (The History Press, 2004). He has served as Chairman of the Institute of Field Archaeologists and was a Member of the Council of the National Trust. Current research interests focus on archaeological resource management and the Neolithic of northwest Europe. His is director of the Billown Neolithic Landscape Project working in the Isle of Man.