Mapping Marginal Landscapes – A Study from Neolithic Shetland

Summary

The Shetland Islands are the northernmost part of Europe where farming was practiced in the Neolithic, between 3800 and 2500 BCE. The islands’ isolated location coupled with distinct environmental factors resulted in distinctive and localized customs and economies. These are most clearly manifest in the production and distribution of felsite polished stone axes and Shetland knives sourced from linear grey-blue dykes in the elevated North Roe region of the islands. These artefacts are found throughout the islands but never further afield.

This paper presents data and some preliminary findings from a project undertaken by University College Dublin School of Archaeology. Geographical information systems form the backbone for storing and viewing the many datasets used in the project. They also facilitate multi-scalar analysis allowing us to explore questions or landscape and environmental interaction at different scales from the regional sourcing of felsite to individual quarry site morphologies and topographies. This paper will explore some of the work undertaken using GIS, remote sensing and more quantitative analytical techniques including site prediction, exploring economies of movement and transportation and understanding the role of the perceived environment in site situation.

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Cite this Record

Mapping Marginal Landscapes – A Study from Neolithic Shetland. Will Megarry, Gabriel Cooney, Robert Sands, Douglas Comer, Bryce Davenport. Presented at The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, California. 2015 ( tDAR id: 397002)

Keywords

General
Gis Scale Stone Axes

Geographic Keywords
Europe

Spatial Coverage

min long: -11.074; min lat: 37.44 ; max long: 50.098; max lat: 70.845 ;