Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T23:06:00.587Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Two hiatuses in human bone radiocarbon dates in Britain (17 000 to 5000 cal BP)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2015

Stella M. Blockley
Stella M. Blockley*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD7 1DP, UK. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Undertaking a comprehensive review of radiocarbon dates for the 12 000 years preceding the Neolithic in Britain, the author defines two periods when human remains become hard to find. One of these (already noted by Chamberlain) lies between 7-6000 BP; the other, a new addition, runs from 13 850 to 11 000 BP. What could have caused these ‘hiatuses’? Comparison of dated human remains and dated activities associated with humans, with the climatic record from ice cores, shows that the most likely explanation was a change in burial practice, even if this was itself one of a chain of behavioural changes initiated by the rise in sea level.

Keywords

BritainUpper PalaeolithicMesolithicradiocarbon datesclimate changemortuary behaviour
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 79 , Issue 305 , September 2005 , pp. 505 - 513
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albrethsen, S.E. & Petersen, E.B.. 1976. Excavation of a Mesolithic cemetery at Vedbæk, Denmark. Acta Archaeologica 47: 1–28.Google Scholar
Aldhouse-Green, S., Pettitt, P. & Stringer, C.. 1996. Holocene humans at Pontnewydd and Cae Cronw Caves. Antiquity 70: 444–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnett, D.C. 1999. Prehistoric Inuit Cultures. http://www.mankato.msus.edu/emuseum/prehistory/northamerica/culture/canadian/thule.html.Google Scholar
Barton, N. 1997. Stone Age Britain. London: Batsford.Google Scholar
Barton, R.N.E., Jacobi, R.M., Stapert, D. & Street, M.J.. 2003. The Late-Glacial reoccupation of the British isles and the Creswellian. Journal of Quaternary Science 18 (7): 631–43.Google Scholar
Blockley, S.M. Changes in funerary practice across Britain, 16,000–6,000 b.p. (in prep)Google Scholar
Blockley, S.P.E. 2003. Radiocarbon Calibration and the Timing and Effects of Abrupt Late-Glacial Climatic Change. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Bradford.Google Scholar
Blockley, S.P.E., Donahue, R.E., Pollard, A.M. & Ward, K.R.. 2004. Establishing Late-Glacial and Holocene marine reservoir radiocarbon offsets in the northern North Atlantic: the potential for improving the chronology of Arctic archaeology. Physics in Canada 59: 263–8.Google Scholar
Bonsall, C. 2000. Oban-Raschoille, in Ashmore, P.J. (ed.) A list of archaeological radiocarbon dates. Discovery and excavation in Scotland 1999: 112. Edinburgh: Council for Scottish Archaeology.Google Scholar
Bonsall, C. & Smith, C.. 1992. New AMS dates for antler and bone artifacts from Great Britain. Mesolithic Miscellany 13 (2): 28–34.Google Scholar
Brinch Petersen, E. & Meiklejohn, C.. 2003. Three cremations and a funeral: aspects of burial practice in Mesolithic Vedbæk, in Larsson, L., Knudson, K., Loeffler, D. & Akerlund, A. (ed.) Mesolithic on the move: papers presented at the sixth international conference on the Mesolithic in Europe. 485–93. Oxford: Oxbow Books.Google Scholar
British Archaeology News. nd. The 7,700 year old woman who ate like a wolf. www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba66/news.shtml.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 1999. OxCal. radiocarbon calibration and stratigraphic analysis program. Research Laboratory for Archaeology. Oxford: Oxford University press. (www.rlaha.ac.uk).Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C., Pettitt, P.B., Hedges, R.E.M., Hodgins, G.W.L. & Owen, D.C.. 2000. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: ‘Archaeometry’ Datelist 30. Archaeometry 42 (2): 459–79.Google Scholar
Chadwick, A.M. 1992. An excavation of a rock shelter burial in Scabba Wood, Sprotbrough, South Yorkshire. Sheffield: South Yorkshire Archaeology Service.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, A.T. 1996. More dating evidence for human remains in British caves. Antiquity 70: 950–3.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, A.T. 2001. Early Neolithic dates on human bone from Fox Hole Cave, Derbyshire. Capra 3 http://www.shef.ac.uk/∼capra/3/foxholedates.html.Google Scholar
Coard, R. & Chamberlain, A.T.. 1999. The nature and timing of faunal change in the British isles across the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. The Holocene 9 (3): 372–6.Google Scholar
Cook, J. 1991. Preliminary report on marked human bones from the 1986–1987 excavations at Gough’s Cave, Somerset, England, in Barton, N., Roberts, A.J. & Roe, D.A. (ed.) The Late Glacial in north-west Europe: human adaptation and environmental change at the end of the Pleistocene. CBA Research Report 77: 160–8.Google Scholar
Cook, J. & Jacobi, R.. 1994. A Reindeer Antler or ‘Lyngby’ Axe from Northamptonshire and its context in the British Late Glacial. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 60: 75–84.Google Scholar
Davies, J.A. 1921. Fieldwork, April 1919-February 1920. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 1 (1): 21–4.Google Scholar
Davies, J.A. 1922. Aveline’s Hole, Burrington Combe. An Upper Palaeolithic station. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 2 (1): 61–72.Google Scholar
Davies, J.A. 1923a. Second report on Aveline’s Hole. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 1 (3): 113–8.Google Scholar
Davies, J.A. 1923b. Third report on Aveline’s Hole. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 1 (2): 5–15.Google Scholar
Davies, J.A. 1925. Fourth report on Aveline’s Hole. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 2 (2): 104–14.Google Scholar
Davies, M. 1970. Ogof-Yr-Ychen, a new cave archaeological site on Calday Island, Pembrokeshire. Pontypool, Monmouthshire: ICI Fibres Speleology Section.Google Scholar
Donahue, R.E., Blockley, S.P.E. & Pollard, A.M.. 1999. The human occupation of the British Isles during the Upper Palaeolithic, in Vermeersch, M. & Renault-Miskovsky, J. (ed.) European Late Pleistocene Isotope Stages 3 and 3: humans, their ecology and cultural adaptations. Committee on Human Evolution and Palaeoecology. INQUA. 109–17.Google Scholar
Donovan, D.T. 1955. The Pleistocene deposits at Gough’s Cave, Cheddar, including an account of recent excavations. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 7 (2): 61–70.Google Scholar
Gilkes, J.A. & Lord, T.C.. 1993. A Neolithic antler macehead from North End Pot, Ingleton, North Yorkshire. Transactions of the Hunter Archaeological Society 17: 57–9.Google Scholar
Gillespie, R., Gowlett, J.A.J., Hall, E.T., Hedges, R.E.M. & Perry, C.. 1984. Radiocarbon-dates from the Oxford AMS system – Archaeometry Datelist-1. Archaeometry 26 (1): 15–20.Google Scholar
Gillespie, R., Gowlett, J.A.J., Hall, E.T., Hedges, R.E.M. & Perry, C.. 1985. Radiocarbon-dates from the Oxford AMS system – Archaeometry Datelist-2. Archaeometry 27: 237–46.Google Scholar
Gowlett, J.A.J., Hall, E.T., Hedges, R.E.M. & Perry, C.. 1986a. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry Datelist-3. Archaeometry 28 (1): 116–25.Google Scholar
Gowlett, J.A.J., Hedges, R.E.M., Law, I.A. & Perry, C. 1986b. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry Datelist-4. Archaeometry 28 (2): 206–21.Google Scholar
Gowlett, J.A.J., Hedges, R.E.M., Law, I.A. & Perry, C. 1987a. Radiocarbon-dates from the Oxford AMS system – Archaeometry Datelist-5. Archaeometry 29 (1): 125–55.Google Scholar
Haflidason, H., Eiriksson, J. & van Kreveld, S.. 2000. The tephrochronology of Iceland and the North Atlantic region during the Middle and Late Quaternary: a review. Journal of Quaternary Science 15: 3–22.Google Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Housley, R.A., Law, I.A., Perry, C. & Gowlett, J.A.J.. 1987. Radiocarbon-dates from the Oxford AMS system – Archaeometry Datelist-6. Archaeometry 29 (2): 289–306.Google Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Housley, R. A., Law, I.A. & Perry, C.. 1988a. Radiocarbon-dates from the Oxford AMS system – Archaeometry Datelist-7. Archaeometry 30 (1): 155–64.Google Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Housley, R.A., Law, I.A., Perry, C. & Hendy, E.. 1988b. Radiocarbon-dates from the Oxford AMS system – Archaeometry Datelist-8. Archaeometry 30 (2): 291–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Housley, R.A. & Law, I.A.. 1989. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry datelist-9. Archaeometry 31 (2): 207–34.Google Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Housley, R.A., Law, I.A. & Bronk, C.R.. 1990. Radiocarbon-dates from the Oxford AMS system – Archaeometry Datelist-10. Archaeometry 32 (1): 101–8.Google Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Pettitt, P.B., Bronk, C.R. & Van Klinken, G.J.. 1991. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry Datelist 13. Archaeometry 33 (2): 279–96.Google Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Pettitt, P.B., Bronk, C.R. & Van Klinken, G.J.. 1992. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry Datelist 14. Archaeometry 34 (1): 141–59.Google Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Pettitt, P.B., Bronk Ramsey, C. & Van Klinken, G.J.. 1993a. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry Datelist 16. Archaeometry 35 (1): 147–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Pettitt, P.B., Bronk Ramsey, C. & Van Klinken, G.J.. 1993b. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry Datelist 17. Archaeometry 35 (2): 305–26.Google Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Housley, R.A., Bronk Ramsey, C. & Van Klinken, G.J.. 1994. Radiocarbon-dates from the Oxford AMS system – Archaeometry Datelist 18. Archaeometry 36 (2): 337–74.Google Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Pettitt, P.B., Bronk Ramsey, C. & Van Klinken, G. J.. 1996a. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry Datelist 21. Archaeometry 38 (1): 181–207.Google Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Pettitt, P.B., Bronk Ramsey, C. & Van Klinken, G. J.. 1996b. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry Datelist 22. Archaeometry 38 (2): 391–415.Google Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Pettitt, P.B., Bronk Ramsey, C. & Van Klinken, G. J.. 1997a. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry Datelist 23. Archaeometry 39 (1): 247–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Pettitt, P.B., Bronk Ramsey, C. & Van Klinken, G. J.. 1997b. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry Datelist 24. Archaeometry 39 (2): 445–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Pettitt, P.B., Bronk Ramsey, C. & Van Klinken, G. J.. 1998. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry Datelist 26. Archaeometry 40 (2): 437–55.Google Scholar
Housley, R.A. 1991. AMS dates from the Late Glacial and Early Post Glacial in northwestern Europe, in Barton, N., Roberts, A. J. & Roe, D. A. (ed.) The Late Glacial in north-west Europe: human adaptation and environmental change at the end of the Pleistocene. CBA Research Report 77: 25–39.Google Scholar
Housley, R.A., Gamble, C.S., Street, M. & Pettitt, P.. 1997. Radiocarbon evidence for the Late glacial human recolonisation of northern Europe. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 63: 25–54.Google Scholar
Jacobi, R.M. 1980. The Upper Palaeolithic in Britain, with special reference to Wales, in Taylor, J.A. (ed.) Culture and Environment in Prehistoric Wales. BAR British Series 76: 15–99.Google Scholar
Jacobi, R.M. & Pettitt, P.B.. 2000. An Aurignacian point from Uphill Quarry (Somerset) and the earliest settlement of Britain by Homo sapiens sapiens . Antiquity 74: 513–8.Google Scholar
Johnsen, S.J., Dahl-Jensen, D., Gundestrup, N., Steffensen, J.P., Clausen, H.B., Miller, H., Masson-Delmotte, V., Sveinbjornsdottir, A.E. & White, J.. 2001. Oxygen isotope and palaeotemperature records from six Greenland ice-core stations: Camp Century, Dye-3, GRIP, GISP2, Renland and NorthGRIP. Journal of Quaternary Science 16: 299–307.Google Scholar
Kelly, R.L. 1995. The foraging spectrum: diversity in hunter gatherer lifeways. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institute Press.Google Scholar
Lambeck, K., Smither, C. & Johnston, P.. 1998. Sea level change, glacial rebound and mantle viscosity for northern Europe. Geophysical Journal International 134: 102–44.Google Scholar
Lowe, J.J., Coope, G.R., Sheldrick, C., Harkness, D.D. & Walker, M.J.C.. 1995. Direct comparison of UK temperatures and Greenland snow accumulation rates, 15 000–12 000 yr ago. Journal of Quaternary Science 10: 175–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowe, J.J., Hoek, W.Z. & INTIMATE Group. 2001. Inter-regional correlation of palaeoclimatic records for the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition: a protocol for improved precision recommended by the INTIMATE project group. Quaternary Science Reviews 20: 1175–87.Google Scholar
Malainey, M.E. & Sherriff, B.L.. 1996. Adjusting our perceptions: historical and archaeological evidence of winter on the plains of Western Canada. Plains Anthropologist 41 (158): 333–57.Google Scholar
Mcburney, C.B.M. 1961. Two soundings in the Badger Hole near Wookey Hole in 1958 and their bearing on the Palaeolithic finds of the late H.E. Balch. Mendip Nature Research Committee Report 50/51: 19–27.Google Scholar
Mcghee, R. 1989. Ancient Canada. Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization.Google Scholar
Mellars, P. & Dark, P.. 1998. Star Carr in context. Cambridge: MacDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.Google Scholar
Pettitt, P. 2000. The Paviland radiocarbon dating programme, in Aldhouse-Green, S. (ed.) Paviland Cave and the ‘Red Lady’: a definitive report. Bristol: Western Academic & Specialist Press.Google Scholar
Richards, M.P. 2002. A brief review of the archaeological evidence for Palaeolithic and Neolithic subsistence. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 56: 1–9.Google Scholar
Richards, M.P., Hedges, R.E.M., Jacobi, R., Current, A. & Stringer, C.. 2000. Gough’s Cave and Sun Hole Cave human stable isotope values indicate a high animal protein diet in the British Upper Palaeolithic. Journal of Archaeological Science 27: 1–3.Google Scholar
Saville, A. 1999. An Corran, Staffin, Skye. Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 1998: 126.Google Scholar
Schulting, R.J. & Richards, M.P.. 2002a. The wet, the wild and the domesticated: the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition on the west coast of Scotland. European Journal of Archaeology 5 (2): 147–89.Google Scholar
Schulting, R.J. & Richards, M.P.. 2002b. Finding the coastal Mesolithic in southwest Britain: AMS dates and stable isotope results on human remains from Caldey Island, south Wales. Antiquity 76: 1011–25.Google Scholar
Smith, C. 1992. Late Stone Age hunter gatherers of the British isles. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Beck, J.W., Burr, G.S., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, G., Van Der Plicht, J. & Spurk, M.. 1998. INTCAL98 radiocarbon age calibration, 24,000-0 cal BP. Radiocarbon 40: 1041–83.Google Scholar
Street, M. & Terberger, T.. 1999. The last Pleniglacial and the human settlement of Central Europe: New information from the Rhineland site of Wiesbaden-Igstadt. Antiquity 73: 259–72.Google Scholar
Tratman, E.K. 1955. Second report on the excavations at Sun Hole Cheddar: the Pleistocene levels. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 7 (2): 61–72.Google Scholar
Tratman, E.K. 1975. Problems of the Cheddar Man, Gough’s Cave, Somerset. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 14 (1): 7–23.Google Scholar
Tratman, E.K. & Henderson, G.T.D.. 1928. First report on the excavations at Sun Hole, Cheddar. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 3 (2): 84–97.Google Scholar
Whittle, A. & Wysocki, M.. 1998. Parc le Brecos Cwm transepted long cairn, Gower, West Glamorgan: date, contents and context. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 64: 139–82.Google Scholar
Wymer, J. 1991. Mesolithic Britain. Risborough: Shire Books.Google Scholar
Woodcock, N. 2000. The Quaternary: history of an Ice Age, in Woodcock, N. & Strachan, R. (ed.) Geological history of Britain and Ireland: 392–411 Oxford: Blackwell Science.Google Scholar