Head To Head
Log In
Register
The Modern Antiquarian Forum »
Neolithic Settlement
Log In to post a reply

92 messages
Topic View: Flat | Threaded
tjj
tjj
3606 posts

Re: Neolithic Settlement
May 31, 2013, 22:42
Evergreen Dazed wrote:
I'm reading Huttons 'Pagan Religions..' at the moment and have been thinking about the evidence for Neolithic occupation found at some, as they remain now, IA hill fort sites.

I know finds of Neolithic houses are rare due to the nature of their construction, but I wonder if many, outside of very large communities, will be found on naturally defended areas such as hill tops, meaning a very large number will be under hill forts?

Apart from Durrington, Orkney (which is different anyway) I'm not sure in what sort of landscape Neolithic houses have been found in Britain. Were they in naturally defended areas?

Are we in the middle of a shift in thinking about the Neolithic in terms of a 'peaceful' time, and should we now consider it war-like, or is the general thinking still that Neolithic occupation of defended areas is an exception?


Marden Henge springs to mind - approximately half way between Avebury and Stonehenge -
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news/neolithic-henges-discovered/

The programme on last night mentioned by Moss on her Doggerland thread 'Britain's Stone Age Tsunami' made the point that after this event when the fertile plain linking Britain to the continent of Europe was drowned by the combination of melting glaciers and a probable tsunami, the sea might have become feared and people may have chosen to move inland away from coastal areas.

PS: I attended a talk by Ron Hutton last year about his book on Pagan Religions - very good!
Topic Outline:

The Modern Antiquarian Forum Index