Subscribe now for full access and no adverts
REVIEW BY PENNY BICKLE
For the Neolithic of Britain and Ireland, there is a tendency for the usual famous monuments – such as Stonehenge or Newgrange – to capture the majority of both public and academic imagination. This leaves many regions understudied, unsynthesised, and rarely considered in their own right. It is in this context that Neolithic Life and Death in the Yorkshire Dales makes a very welcome contribution, demonstrating the value of comparing and contrasting the archaeological evidence from one region in depth.
Presenting the results of the author’s PhD research, this volume seeks to summarise the existing evidence for Neolithic activity and settlement in the area defined by the Yorkshire Dales National Park. This upland landscape, now dotted by farmsteads and pasture, and interspersed with river valleys, attracted some limited antiquarian attention, but it is the cave sites formed among the limestone karst that to- date have dominated the narrative. As a result, the region has appeared to be infrequently visited in the Neolithic, perhaps in the course of ritual activity and to place burials in caves, set beyond daily life rather than a fully populated and settled landscape.
By surveying the existing record of lithics and other material culture, and integrating this with the evidence for environment, monuments and burials, and routeways across the landscape, Hallam successively challenges this view. She demonstrates ably how intertwined settlement activities, farming practices, and social life were during the Neolithic. Key chronological changes are presented. The transition to farming in the region is studied through comparison to work in neighbouring regions, arguing, rather than an afterthought, there is distinct evidence for continuity between Mesolithic lithic traditions and those found in the early Neolithic in Yorkshire.
Overall, this volume contributes to our growing understanding of the diversity of Neolithic transitions and lifeways in the north of England, and shows the value of regional synthesis. It will be a good guide to anyone wishing to visit the region, as it is amply illustrated with maps, but should also inspire renewed research interest in the Yorkshire Dales.
Neolithic Life and Death in the Yorkshire Dales
Deborah Hallam
BAR, £45
ISBN 978-1407361871
