Neolithic Britain

A comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the archaeology of the first farming communities in Britain and Ireland. Aimed towards the student readership, this book provides an account of the archaeology of Britain and Ireland over the period c.4000 - 2000 BC. The Neolithic is presented as a transformation of economic and technical customs and skills that led to new levels of social complexity and monument building. The chapters introduce many of the current debates and discussions in Neolithic studies, but these are set against the secure base of the rich archaeological record which is described and illustrated. Material is presented through case studies in chapters on landscape change and economic diversity, causewayed enclosures, settlement and houses, the classic Neolithic monuments (barrows and megalithic tombs, henges, cursues, stone circles), and the complex range of artefacts that characterise the Neolithic. The wider issues of the Neolithic are set in context, and the reade