Neolithic Britain: The Transformation of Social Worlds

by Keith Ray, Julian Thomas

The Neolithic in Britain was a period of fundamental human communities were transformed, collectively owning domesticated plants and animals, and inhabiting a richer world of material timber houses and halls, pottery vessels, polished flint and stone axes, and massive monuments of earth and stone. Equally important was the development of a suite of new social practices, and an emphasis on descent, continuity and inheritance. These innovations set in train social processes that culminated with the construction of Stonehenge, the most remarkable surviving structure from prehistoric Europe.

Neolithic Britain provides an up to date, concise introduction to the period of British prehistory from c. 4000-2200 BCE. Written on the basis of a new appreciation of the chronology of the period, the result reflects both on the way that archaeologists write narratives of the Neolithic, and how Neolithic people constructed histories of their own. Incorporating new insights from the extraordinary pace of archaeological discoveries in recent years, a world emerges which is unfamiliar, complex and challenging, and yet played a decisive role in forging the landscape of contemporary Britain.

Important recent developments have resulted in a dual firstly, highly focused research into individual site chronologies can indicate precise and particular time narratives; and secondly, this new awareness of time implies original insights about the fabric of Neolithic society, embracing matters of inheritance, kinship and social ties, and the 'descent' of cultural practices.

Moreover, our understanding of Neolithic society has been radically affected by individual discoveries and investigative projects, whether in the Stonehenge area, on mainland Orkney, or in less well-known localities across the British Isles. The new perspective provided in this volume stems from a greater awareness of the ways in which unfolding events and transformations in societies depend upon the changing relations between individuals and groups, mediated by objects and architecture.

This concise panorama into Neolithic Britain offers new conclusions and an academically-stimulating but accessible overview. It covers key material and social developments, and reflects on the nature of cultural practices, tradition, genealogy, and society across nearly two millennia.

Genres: History, Prehistory, British Literature, Nonfiction

416 pages, Hardcover

First published August 14, 2018

Reviews

[Sanjay Prabhakar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great account of the period, of which the central claim is that the peoples of neolithic Britain had a historical consciousness - which also extends to some extent back into the mesolithic and forward into the early bronze age - and that what characterises this period is more specifically the kind of social structures entailed than domesticate economies, which varied anyway. Intelligible and persuasive arguments concerning the practices and ideas surrounding the various kinds of building and monument are provided. The argument that Stonehenge, in contrast to 'polyglot' stone circles like the Ring of Brodgar, may show a project of centralisation, is particularly interesting.

Given the book was written on the cusp of the just-beginning aDNA revolution, it will be interesting to see how the authors' explicitly speculative suggestion about the origin of the British neolithic as a two-phase development fares, in which mutual neolithic endeavours between indigeneous mesolithic people and a small number of immigrants coming from across the eastern end of the British Channel serves as an attractor for more Atlantic immigrants who would constitute the bulk of the gene flow. My guess is that in a decade's time the authors will appear a little resistant to the new aDNA evidence, but as more of this comes in it will certainly be important (especially if it continues to suggest considerable population replacement) to recall the various continuities, as well as a priori reasons to expect some amount of indigeneous-immigrant information sharing, identifed in the book.

The book is also lavishly illustrated, with not only plans and high-quality photos, but some very pleasant artistic renderings.

[Chris Bradley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Neolithic Britain.

A verbose, academic discourse on what other people have said about the neolithic. An interesting and exciting field rendered dull.

[Adam Schwartz-Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book on truly ancient human history. I had hoped it would have been more accessible, but it was more of a textbook.

[saturn · Rating 3 out of 5]

i was taught by julian