The Neolithic in Britain was a period of fundamental change: human
communities were transformed, collectively owning domesticated
plants and animals, and inhabiting a richer world of material
things: 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,
with 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 realisation: 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.
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