Navigating the Neolithic of the North Western Approaches

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Modeling Mobility across Waterbodies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The dynamics behind the development of the Neolithic in Britain and Ireland has been a topic of debate for over one hundred years. At its heart lie a series of different conceptions as to the nature of connectivity across the seaways of North West Europ. Neolithic practices in Britain are evidenced c. 1000 years later than their arrival in north-west France. This delay has at times been explained by seeing the surrounding seaways as a barrier to movement. The material record, however, proves otherwise, with multiple lines of evidence indicating maritime mobility taking place over this period. This paper explores maritime mobility from 5000 – 3500 BC in the north-western seaways of Europe. It takes an ensemble approach, integrating results from agent based, sea-level and palaeotidal modelling to generate new perspectives on old problems. We argue that by adopting an open approach, and not expecting a definitive result, it is possible to be surprised and challenged by the modelling process, forcing a more considered approach to the record as a whole.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Modeling Mobility across Waterbodies

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23835