Neolithic settlement and land-use in the Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire
Abstract
Settlement systems and use of the land in the southern British Neolithic are still not well understood. Due to the paucity of recognized settlement sites, most previous investigations in Wessex have focused on the still-impressive earthworks and stone circles. While large-scale surface survey has begun to elucidate more substantive information about where and how the Neolithic people lived, many of these efforts have suffered from a piecemeal approach, or have been opportunistic in nature. This dissertation focuses on Neolithic settlement and land-use in the Vale of Pewsey, in central Wiltshire. The area investigated was the arable fields within a single large transect across the Vale between the Marlborough Downs and Salisbury Plain, where the Neolithic sites of Avebury and Stonehenge lay. A survey of almost 1000 hectares and the intensive, systematic collection of 7 lithic scatters was carried out to elucidate the nature of settlement, land-use, and flint exploitation between the Mesolithic and the Neolithic, and within the Neolithic period. The results of this research, which are broadly consistent with those known from other areas in Wessex, suggest a tripartite settlement system for the Neolithic in the Vale of Pewsey, with origins in the preceding Mesolithic period. This system involved use of the Downs for grazing, flint exploitation, ceremony and ritual; settlement on the broad, sunny north scarp of the Vale; and a social focus on the central Marden area. The differential distribution of natural flint resources around the Vale of Pewsey also allowed for an investigation into how flint was procured and utilized for tools in the Mesolithic and the Neolithic periods. The nature of core preparation, transport, and use, and the differential intensity of tool use and discard, change between the Later Mesolithic and Later Neolithic periods. The demands of domesticated stock and consequent changes in the use of the Downs seem to account best for these changes. ^
Subject Area
Anthropology, Archaeology|History, Ancient
Recommended Citation
Thomas Mark McCulloch,
"Neolithic settlement and land-use in the Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire"
(January 1, 1998).
Dissertations available from ProQuest.
Paper AAI9913499.
http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI9913499
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