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A Model for the Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition in the Upper Kennet Valley, North Wiltshire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

Alasdair Whittle
Alasdair Whittle
Affiliation:
School of History and Archaeology, University of Wales College of Cardiff, Cardiff CF1 3XU
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Abstract

The general nature of explanations for the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Britain and the current support for the notion of indigenous change are noted. The need for a more regionalized view of the transition is argued with reference to the upper Kennet valley and surrounding chalk downland in north Wiltshire. Problems in the recovery and presentation of later Mesolithic settlement are discussed. A model of later Mesolithic exploitation of the area from camps or bases outside it leads to the view that, whatever the cultural identity of those involved, there was a genuine agricultural colonization of the valley, involving new adaptations and new skills. Such infill is unlikely to have belonged to the primary phase of the establishment of agricultural settlement, and other possible cases of secondary infill in southern England and western Europe are noted.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 56 , 1990 , pp. 101 - 110
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1990

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References

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