New Light on the Neolithic of Northern England

These papers highlight recent archaeological work in Northern England, in the commercial, academic and community archaeology sectors, which have fundamentally changed our perspective on the Neolithic of the area. Much of this was new work (and much is still not published) and has been overlooked in the national discourse. The papers cover a wide geographical area, from Lancashire north into the Scottish Lowlands, recognising the irrelevance of the England/Scotland Border. They also take a broad chronological sweep, from the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition to the introduction of Beakers into the area.

The key themes are: the nature of transition; the need for a much-improved chronological framework; regional variation linked to landscape character; links within northern England and with distant places; the implications of new dating for our understanding of the axe trade; the changing nature of settlement and agriculture; the character of early Neolithic enclosures; and the need to integrate rock art into wider discourse.

Table of Contents

Prelims

Introduction - Paul Frodsham & Gill Hey

Langdale and the northern Neolithic - Richard Bradley & Aaron Watson

Mesolithic/Neolithic transitions at Stainton West on the River Eden - Fraser Brown

The last hunter of a wise race: Evidence for Neolithic practices in Northern Britain - Seren Griffiths

A view from north of the border - Alison Sheridan

New lights on the Neolithic: a perspective from North East England - Clive Waddington

Out of the shadows: an emerging Neolithic in the Yorkshire Dales - Yvonne Luke

Recent work on the Neolithic landscapes of Cumbria and North Lancashire - Helen Evans, Antony Dickson & Denise Druce

Recent work at Long Meg, Cumbria - Paul Frodsham

‘Weird and atypical, even degenerate’… or then again, maybe not? Early Neolithic enclosures in the North - Alistair Oswald

Monumentality in Neolithic Britain: The Case of Southwest Scotland - Julian Thomas

The end of the Neolithic? Kirkhaugh and the earliest Bell Beakers in northern England - Andrew Fitzpatrick & Paul Frodsham

Documenting British rock art: a review of the ‘big picture’ - Kate Sharpe

Street House in the Neolithic period - Stephen Sherlock

Two newly-identified possible ‘hengiform’ monuments in the North Pennines - Stewart Ainsworth, David McOmish, Al Oswald and Andrew Payne

Conclusions - Richard Bradley

Gill Hey is CEO of Oxford Archaeology with research interests in Neolithic Britain.