distinctive regional traditions

[Jack]

i was referring to causewayed camps and henges - hope you are not?

not specifically. But monuments yes.

I was struck by an idea that wont go away when visiting the Kilmartin area in Scotland. Its a big (ish) area with loads of chambered cains, stone circles etc that was discovered beneath a big area of peat in the 18th or 19th century....can't remember the details but remember looking out over the valley and thinking.....

'i wonder if this is a special area like down south in Wiltshire......Or is is special only in terms of preservation and later land use. Did this area under the peat represent what most of the region (and country) was like before thousands of years of ploughing destroyed most monuments except those that survived by accident, whim, or by design?'

[P Prentice]

i think there are special areas dotted around our islands, some were special in the mesolithic, some the Neo etc etc and soem maintained specialness across many periods (even if their mening changed). i cant see a blanket coverage of any kind - its not in our nature

[Jack]

I know what you mean...........but was it in their nature?

Did each neolithic family/extended kinship group/clan/tribe/whatever have its own monument (group of monuments) as a statement to 'others'.

Or were these 'special' places less prolific, being used by several individual groups? A place of contact between groups?

Or were there only a few 'special' places where lots of groups went to periodically?

Is it a tier system of little monuments for the everyday/local use and big areas of monuments for annual gatherings?

I have a million questions to answer with respect to neo/ba monuments.

But the crux is guessing the actual original distribution and chronological use of monuments. Not as easy as it sounds......

Maybe it would be easier to prove where monuments weren't. Still not an easy task with the limited size of the average dig and the number of geophysical surveys and evaluation excavations that have missed sites but still seem to be enough to 'prove' the absence of archaeological remains.

[Dinosaur]

Going back to how long these pit-digging traditions continued, have just been reading a grey-lit where they had the usual sparse scatter of Neo/Beaker pits, and, errr, one with two C14 dates at 1420-1250 cal BC on carb grain, but no other 'settlement' features - maybe thats why there's no Bronze Age settlement in the Yorkshire/North-East lowlands? They just carried on being Meso but with shinier kit and posher ways of burying people? All seems to kick off with a bang from the Early Iron Age, but no settlements and field systems any earlier

[Unitof1]

so what we are really saying is that english heritage should get rid of all of its so called scientific advisors and provide free regional radiocarbon facilities. In fact what we need is to get rid of all of english heritage and replace them with radiocarbon machines.

[Dinosaur]

Check out Hamilton's PhD thesis on the Leicester Uni website (think 2010) - he got 160 free C14 dates mostly courtesy of EH - apparently as soon as its 'research' and nothing to do with anything commercial ?50k of public money's there for the asking.... :face-crying:

[P Prentice]

Going back to how long these pit-digging traditions continued, have just been reading a grey-lit where they had the usual sparse scatter of Neo/Beaker pits, and, errr, one with two C14 dates at 1420-1250 cal BC on carb grain, but no other 'settlement' features - maybe thats why there's no Bronze Age settlement in the Yorkshire/North-East lowlands? They just carried on being Meso but with shinier kit and posher ways of burying people? All seems to kick off with a bang from the Early Iron Age, but no settlements and field systems any earlier

not unusual in the northern regions -

[Unitof1]

Hamilton's PhD thesis on the Leicester Uni website (think 2010) cant find

50k 160 I bet the phd is rubbish

[P Prentice]

Hamilton's PhD thesis on the Leicester Uni website (think 2010) cant find

50k 160 I bet the phd is rubbish

i bet it is better than anything you have ever written unit

[Unitof1]

Whats wrong with rubbish and I have never found anything to write about which makes my cliants very happy

how does it go

CONTINGANCY: 160 radiocarbon dates $100,000 if I find a single neolithic rubbish pit. Nice work if you can get it