Re: Baaaaaaaaaaaaa


"prd" <X_header@xxxxxxxxxxx> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:7D%Rg.114942$QM6.31752@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/pre_norman_history/neolith
ic_age.html "
It would be a mistake to think that the Mesolithic people of Ireland
suddenly invented farming and became Neolithic. Rather, Ireland's
Mesolithic hunters were displaced or assimilated by Neolithic settlers who
gradually arrived in Ireland from Britain and brought the technology with
them. The practice of farming had spread from the Middle East, through
eastern and southern Europe to reach Britain around 4000BC. Again it seems
that it arrived in Ireland via the Scotland-Antrim link. Evidence from
Cashelkeelty, county Kerry, suggests that this happened between 3900BC and
3000BC [4 p28].

"http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/pre_norman_history/neolit
hic_age.html


http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/rr/pages/rr-1.shtml "
3. Severn Estuary [Wales]- c. 6500 BC

About 8,500 years ago, a 5' 6" man with size 11 feet walked along the
Severn Estuary at 2.6 miles per hour carrying a heavy load on his right
shoulder. Archaeologists deduced all this from a series of footprints
cemented in the hard clay of the Severn Estuary.

Mesolithic man would have lived in skin tents,

The first text says:" ... found the remains of mesolithic huts and ..."
Wikipedia see below even cites "... post holes indicate a very substantial
construction, ..." for 7.600 BC

close to the grazing animals

same text: " ... concentrated their activities on waterways, forraging on
the shores of the sea, lakes and rivers. "

Note the favourable preservation conditions in wetland environments though,
some mesolithic sites are today only concentrations of small scale flint
implements. Those will usually not be noticed, there would be only a small
chance of archaeologic excavation.

Same goes for the food sources mentioned.

they would hunt with flint weapons. The Severn Estuary was prime hunter-
gatherer territory as evidenced by footprints of men, red deer, pelicans
and some of the earliest sheep in the British Isles.
"

[Note if this were true it would validate that the Hoguette culture of
France and its Sheep/Goat preference would have predated LBK Neolithic
in northern france. And represente earlier gene flow.]

Why? The human tracks are dated at 6500 BCE (How?, by whom?), for the others
no date is given.


http://www.rootsweb.com/~irlkik/ihm/neolithic.htm "
Around 3800 BC neolithic agriculturists began arriving in large numbers.
These early farmers were the builders of the famous mounds and passage
tombs mentioned above, and which are more densely packed into Ireland than
into any other country. Domesticated cattle, sheep and goats were imported
to Ireland at the beginning of the Neolithic period, together with
cereals.
" http://www.rootsweb.com/~irlkik/ihm/neolithic.htm

In Central European terminology that would be the middle neolithic, in NW
Europe the Megaliths.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Scotland "
At the wonderfully well preserved stone house at Knap of Howar on the
Orkney island of Papa Westray (occupied from 3500 BC to 3100 BC) the walls
stand to a low eaves height, and the stone furniture is intact. Evidence
from middens shows that the inhabitants were keeping cattle, sheep and
pigs, farming barley and wheat and gathering shellfish as well as fishing
for species which have to be line caught using boats. Finely made and
decorated Unstan ware pottery links the inhabitants to chambered cairn
tombs nearby and to sites far afield including Balbrindi and Eilean
Domhnuill.
" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Scotland

So one can basically argue on rather weak evidence that sheep culture
in norther scotland is about 3800 BC, about the same time that or shortly
thereafter sheep arrive as part of the culture.


Wait, the date of 3.800 BCE was for Ireland, Scottish sheep are a couple of
centuries younger. That may be due to errors in dating, but it may also
point to an influence to Scotland from Ireland.

OTOH Wikipedia says " The widespread connections these people had is shown
by offerings imported from Cumbria and Wales left on the sacred hilltop at
Cairnpapple Hill, West Lothian, as early as 3500 BC." I feel uneasy having
to imagine they had pals living 100s of km away but should have been unable
to bridge the next few hundred kms to reach the continental neolithics for
2500 years.

Here my explanation woul be, that in (northern) Scotland neolithisation
offered no real advantage until the climate turned warmer. This could
explain why sheep (and neolithisation) came first to Ireland, according to
the dates given. But the British Islands show a definite lack in sites,
finds and secure datings.

For a Pan European view on neolithics etc. see
http://wwwalt.uni-wuerzburg.de/vfg/scharl%20mageng.htm
the summary of a master of arts thesis by Silviane Scharl. It has been
published, but only in German.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Scotland

have fun

Uwe Mueller


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Baaaaaaaaaaaaa
    ... It would be a mistake to think that the Mesolithic people of Ireland ... France and its Sheep/Goat preference would have predated LBK Neolithic ... shortly thereafter sheep arrive as part of the culture. ... continental neolithics for 2500 years. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Baaaaaaaaaaaaa
    ... It would be a mistake to think that the Mesolithic people of Ireland ... The practice of farming had spread from the Middle East, ... Evidence from ... and some of the earliest sheep in the British Isles. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
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