distinctive regional traditions

[CARTOON REALITY]

whilst life on a small rocky island is never likely to be very mobile is it?

England isn't that small.

[Sparky]

Oh. Have Wales and Scotland been submerged by the sea?

[CARTOON REALITY]

Oh. Have Wales and Scotland been submerged by the sea?

Your thinking in a purely geographical sense. . . The concept of an Island can be a metaphorical one.

[Sparky]

I hope not in this context.
UK or British Isles are often wrongly referred to as soley England which is a tad irritating for us lot from the North and the West.
Same people probably refer to the Republic of Ireland as being part of the British Isles too. I'm sure you my gist.

[Jack]

i dont think we should get bogged down with slight variation in profiles or the surviving contents - though evidence for long process silting would be interesting?
mostly the material evidence comes from the upper fills, occasionally spliced between sterile silts suggesting the open pits had a use but the pits are deliberatly backfilled with charcoal rich stuff potentially from feasting or the entire pit is sterile

ive seen similar postholes in ia pits and ive seen postholes adjacent to neo pits which i reckon to have been 'sign posts' but i wouldnt discount some kind of superstructure even if it is a house - though i have yet to see evidence for a permanent abode.
have you got ant neo hearths or fire pits with burnt edges?
as for tree throws they make great camp sites when the tree root provides a readymade bivouak.

the pits are everyday and commonplace but they are not evidence for permanent settlement

and the irish evidence is completely different - as if neolithicisation got there first (cartoon reality is from an older civilisation obviously)
whilst life on a small rocky island is never likely to be very mobile is it?

Yep. Irish evidence is very different, promoting a regional approach to studying neolithic archaeology.

But yes I like the idea of tree bole bivis...........though it only takes less than an hour to create a A-frame bivi. Seen big circular bivis that last 6 months or so being built by 1 person in a matter of hours. But at the very least a tree throw gives instant shelter from the wind.

Sign posts are a possibility (all jokes aside) but have you considered how few posts you need for a sturdy semi-permanent structure?

I dont see the need for an overall idea of permanent settlement or complete mobility during either the neo or late meso. Many people even now are fairly mobile. Its all grey areas blending in.

I would even venture that the environment (and availability of resources) would have a strong hand in the permanence of settlement.................:face-stir:

[CARTOON REALITY]

I hope not in this context.
UK or British Isles are often wrongly referred to as soley England which is a tad irritating for us lot from the North and the West.
Same people probably refer to the Republic of Ireland as being part of the British Isles too. I'm sure you my gist.

Eeeesh, this isn't working out quite as I intended - I've spent time in England, I do know the difference between England and Scotland and Wales (and Cornwall) and the concept of the UK and Great Britain and all that. The 'England' 'island' bit was a good humoured deer trap I set up for Mr. Prentice, it caught you, I apologise about all misunderstandings here. The idea was to be able to counter with the metaphor of an island as an isolated place, attitudes towards others not of that island, etc. Purely in reference to Mr. P's - Ireland as a rocky place where people don't move around much - comment.
Apologies for misunderstanding
But I'm not apologising to Mr. Prentice, he's a stinker!

That's not true, I think he adds loads of colour to the forum. Him and Jack knocking the living shit out of each other.

[Dinosaur]

mostly the material evidence comes from the upper fills

It does? You'd better not tell Duncan Garrow that, b***ers his interpretation of Kilverstone for a start }

[Sparky]

Humble apologies, Cartoon. Re-read the posts and you make total sense. Must pay more attention...
Good thread and decent contributions.

[Wax]

Fascinating discussion I dont get to dig many prehistoric sites ( seemed to be trapped in a cycle of post med at the moment) do wonder what is it that makes the prehistoric pits that much different to later holes. I presume it is something to do with size, location, frequency and contents. Or are archaeologists reading far too much into them? I can see I need to do a lot more reading.

[Dinosaur]

I can see I need to do a lot more reading.

Don't do it, you'll wind up as fixated as me 'n Jack :0

Someone needs to re-do Garrow's recently published (2012) distribution of pit numbers by county (which he admits is based on a weekend on tinternet!) - still makes it look like they're all in East Anglia, some of his biggest spots plonked on North and East Yorkshire and Northumberland (which should have them) would change the national dynamic a bit. A more complete coverage would be good too (he failed to get info for quite a lot of counties), would highlight oddities like the very small number found in West Yorkshire despite the amount of large-area development there over the last 20 yeras