ca290 – The Past

ABOVE Overlooking Dorstone Hill’s short lived Neolithic halls. They were burnt down and converted into burial mounds. LEFT Whereas the early stages of the Neolithic are built on plant and grain husbandry, the later stages are based on the ownership of large cattle herds. This striking image of a prehistoric farmer in Neolithic Central Europe imagines that the patterns found on the Early Neolithic Linear Pottery (Bandkeramik) might also have been used as a form of body decoration.

Current Archaeology
290

Invasion, colonisation or imitation? Debating how and why Britain joined ‘The Neolithic Club’

The Neolithic was a period of momentous change in which can be seen the birth of our modern world. It marks the moment when humans took control of the planet (not necessarily for the good), rather than simply existing upon it. Chris Catling reports on a recent debate hosted by the Royal Archaeological Institute focusing on why Britain and Ireland finally became Neolithic almost 1,000 years after farming had become the predominant lifestyle on the Continent.

Current Archaeology
290

The Land between the Oceans: Europe’s ‘Neolithic Revolution’ revisited (Part One)

Barry Cunliffe’s latest book represents the synthesis of half a century studying the archaeology of Europe, an achievement comparable with that of Gordon Childe in the 1930s. In this article, and in two more to follow in succeeding issues, Current Archaeology summarises his conclusions.