"Plants and people in Mesolithic and Neolithic Scotland"

Seminar by Dr Rosie Bishop, Durham University 

Report by Laura Cawley

This seminar focused on continuity and change in the study of plants and people in Mesolithic and Neolithic Scotland, using archaeobotanical synthesis as a source. Plants are an important source of information in the archaeological record, and can inform us on areas such as past subsistence, for example. Plant remains are the most direct source of information for human plant use, and can show local and regional variation of plant use.
There are a variety of reasons which led to Scotland being chosen for this research. It is the furthest North-Western point in Europe. It was the last area in this region to develop agriculturally. It has a variety of environments, from lowlands and highlands to islands. These are very diverse and challenging environments for the transition to agriculture, and led to variability in agriculture.
The traditional view of these periods is that a hunter-gatherer society was typical of the Mesolithic, which spans from circa 8600-4000 cal. BC, while a farming society was typical of the Neolithic, which spans from 4000-2500 cal. BC. It is taken that the transition between these two periods was an abrupt period of change during the early Neolithic.

This view is increasingly challenged due to evidence of Mesolithic fire ecology, pruning and the management of crops and plants to benefit society. This was done for reasons such as attracting wildlife and to encourage beneficial plants to grow. The management of hazel and oak for food and fuel may have been unintentional or may have been intentional coppicing. The large instance of hazelnut shells at what were most likely seasonal camps may also indicate some large food stores.
Isotopic evidence shows rapid economic change at the start of the Neolithic. At the end of the Mesolithic a marine diet dominated, while at the Neolithic this changed to a terrestrially-based diet. This shows the huge impact farming had on Neolithic society.

Stevens and Fuller believe there was a late Neolithic decline, in which cereal agriculture declined rapidly, and was replaced with pastoralism. They argue that this is due to climatic deterioration. However, there is evidence of an increase in cereal agriculture in the islands surrounding Scotland. It is unlikely that this would happen if it was not also occurring on the mainland.
There was a late Neolithic shift in agriculture, as wheat farming became less common and was replaced by increased barley farming. This was most likely due to the wetter climate which was better suited to barley production. This change was also evident in southern Scandinavia and England. Other crops were also abandoned in favour of those better suited to the wetter climate, which indicates that this change was climatically driven.  However, there are also theories that this was due to a lack of access to certain types of cereals.

In conclusion, there is evidence of the routine and systematic exploitation of plants in the Mesolithic, which is specially shown through hazelnut remains. Cereals were important in the Neolithic, although wild plants were still used. The presence of hazelnut at most sites indicates that plants were routinely and systematically exploited in the Mesolithic. Hazelnut shells may show evidence of large instances of seasonal storage. Sophisticated plant management strategies such as coppicing may have been used. The management of plants played an important role in Mesolithic and Neolithic societies, although more so in the Neolithic, while the reverse is true for the use of wild plants.

"How the Ancient Irish Destroyed Egyptian Civilisation"

First Seminar by Dr Barry Molloy from University College Dublin, given on the 24th September 2015

Report by Laura Cawley

The truth is, the ancient Irish did not destroy Egyptian civilisation. This seminar focused on how extensive the transcultural phenomena were that extended across Europe, and investigated how such phenomena may have originated and spread across Europe. It explored issues such as religious symbolism, focusing mainly from the period 1200-1000 BC.
In the early twentieth century, archaeologists such as Childe used directional diffusionism in archaeological explanation. Ex oriente lux and binary oppositions such as civilisation and barbarianism were used to explain archaeological cultures.

Today archaeologists have very different opinions on what Bronze Age life in Europe and the Mediterranean was like. Harding believes it was a period of local traditions with selective interconnections, while Kristiansen sees it as the ‘EU without the Red Tape’.
There is certainly evidence of cross-cultural links in this period, such as in the area of religious symbolism. One example of this is the sun wheel, which is a prominent feature of European prehistory. This symbol has been found in areas such as Ireland, Turkey, Sweden, Egypt, and many others. Sun symbolism was an integral feature of the period, with examples ranging from Early to Middle Bronze Age gold sun discs to sun symbolism evident on the base of Early Bronze Age pots in Atlantic Europe. It has also been found in the chariot wheels of the Indo-Europeans in the late third or early second millennium BC. Perhaps the most famous chariot which bears this symbol is the Trondheim chariot. This symbolism is evident in many other forms as well, including rock art, jewellery, shields, bridles, leg armour and helmets.

Shields in the Bronze Age world are another medium through which transcultural phenomena are evident. Examples from Iberia and North Western Europe were of similar v-notch forms, both from early dates. Those from Delphi in Greece and Clonbrin in Ireland are also of a v-notch form, as are examples from Denmark and the Czech Republic. There is evidence to support the development of such shields in Atlantic Europe, and their subsequent spread to central Europe.
Spearheads are another medium through which transcultural phenomena can be seen. Spearheads of a typology similar to Bronze Age European examples were found in Mycenaean Europe. These were copies of Bronze Age spears and were not functional, but show the importance of the symbolism of the Bronze Age, as it was still evident four hundred years later. This symbolism played an active role in identity religion.

Apollo was a key figure in Bronze Age religion, and is seen as a voyager between archaeological worlds. He is the only Olympian deity not mentioned in Linear B, and is sometimes confused with Helios. He is the only god whose worship place (Delphi) closed for a month each year. Apollo was introduced from beyond the Mycenaean world after its collapse. Common attributes and derivations of deities are widely shared in Bronze Age religion, as is evident from Apollo.
Bronze Age society collapsed in the Eastern Mediterranean circa 1200 BC. This was due to the invasion of the Sea Peoples. Representations of the boats of these peoples at Medinet Habu seem to indicate boats of Aegean or Danubian style. They may have been a European type, or a derivative thereof. Representations of boats found in Greece, Central Europe and Sweden show similar boats. This indicates a spread of people and ideas.

In conclusion, the Irish did not destroy Egyptian civilisation but the study of the transcultural phenomena across Bronze Age Europe and the Mediterranean have revealed clear linkages between the civilisations of these areas. Studying this with the balance between technology, ideology, and physical mobility kept in mind allows these phenomena to be more clearly seen. Morphometric or taxonomic approaches need a more central role in this study, as well as the up to now dominant typo-chronological approaches. Such study has revealed increased prosperity in Europe and the collapse of the Mediterranean at a time when long-established relationships were more visible. However, unknown parties did assassinate Ramses III by cutting his throat in the mid-twelfth century, leading to the fall of Egypt soon after…

Seminar report: Maya coastal trade and its impact

On Thursday 22nd January 2015, the Archaeology Society was delighted to invite Professor Elizabeth Graham to present a seminar entitled: “Maya Coastal Trade and its impact – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”. Prof Graham is currently Professor of Mesoamerican archaeology at University College London, and has a strong research interest in trade and how the impact of Maya economic activities affected – and continues to affect -both the environment and the ecological landscape of Belize.

Prof Graham’s talk focused on her work conducted on the archaeological site of Marco Gonzalez, located on the southern tip of the Ambergris Caye – the largest island in Belize. Named after a local boy that introduced Prof Graham to the site in 1986, Marco Gonzales is a site with an extensive history of Mayan settlement and economic activity, both of which have drastically altered the ecological landscape of the island.

 As part of her work on Marco Gonzales, Prof Graham has conducted excavations at the site, revealing an extensive history of various stages of settlement and economic activity. In particular, based on soil stratigraphy, there appears to have been a period of large scale salt production on the island; the salt, which was then presumably traded within the Maya economic sphere. Alongside this work, a series of vegetation surveys and screening for faunal remains amongst the archaeological material were conducted, in order to further understand the ecological impact of Maya activity.

 What really interested me about the talk was how Prof Graham was able to show how intertwined different activities were within the local ecosystem. While excavating the site, the team managed to uncover large Maya deposits of conch shells, now used by hermit crabs for shelter. These hermit crabs have in turn attracted a variety of wildlife and various birds to the local landscape – showing how small changes centuries ago can drastically alter the local landscape.

Similarly, Professor Graham discussed her Leverhulme funded project on the site, looking into “Dark Earth”:  the role of past Maya activity in altering the soil and fertility of the island itself. This dark earth - which is exogenous to the island - is theorised to be the result of Mayas dumping waste and organic remains on the island. These depositions have since subsequently decayed, creating a nutrient rich soil capable of growing crops that a predominantly sandy island such as Ambergris Caye would be incapable of doing otherwise. Professor Graham wished to stress the point that humans have a long history of impacting upon soils, and I believe her work may open up the potential for modern waste management practices to be changed, so that more consideration is made as to how waste is deposited and modern waste disposal practices will affect the fertility of soils for future generations.

By Stephen Domican