These papers highlight recent archaeological work in Northern England, in the commercial, academic and community archaeology sectors, which have fundamentally changed our perspective on the Neolithic of the area. Much of this was new work (and much is still not published) and has been overlooked in the national discourse. The papers cover a wide geographical area, from Lancashire north into the Scottish Lowlands, recognising the irrelevance of the England/Scotland Border. They also take a broad chronological sweep, from the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition to the introduction of Beakers into the area.
The key themes are: the nature of transition; the need for a much-improved chronological framework; regional variation linked to landscape character; links within northern England and with distant places; the implications of new dating for our understanding of the axe trade; the changing nature of settlement and agriculture; the character of early Neolithic enclosures; and the need to integrate rock art into wider discourse.
Prelims
Introduction - Paul Frodsham & Gill Hey
Langdale and the northern Neolithic - Richard Bradley & Aaron Watson
Mesolithic/Neolithic transitions at Stainton West on the River Eden - Fraser Brown
The last hunter of a wise race: Evidence for Neolithic practices in Northern Britain - Seren Griffiths
A view from north of the border - Alison Sheridan
New lights on the Neolithic: a perspective from North East England - Clive Waddington
Out of the shadows: an emerging Neolithic in the Yorkshire Dales - Yvonne Luke
Recent work on the Neolithic landscapes of Cumbria and North Lancashire - Helen Evans, Antony Dickson & Denise Druce
Recent work at Long Meg, Cumbria - Paul Frodsham
‘Weird and atypical, even degenerate’… or then again, maybe not? Early Neolithic enclosures in the North - Alistair Oswald
Monumentality in Neolithic Britain: The Case of Southwest Scotland - Julian Thomas
The end of the Neolithic? Kirkhaugh and the earliest Bell Beakers in northern England - Andrew Fitzpatrick & Paul Frodsham
Documenting British rock art: a review of the ‘big picture’ - Kate Sharpe
Street House in the Neolithic period - Stephen Sherlock
Two newly-identified possible ‘hengiform’ monuments in the North Pennines - Stewart Ainsworth, David McOmish, Al Oswald and Andrew Payne
Conclusions - Richard Bradley
