Spatial and Chronological Patterns in the Neolithisation of Europe
James Steele, Stephen J. Shennan, 2000. https://doi.org/10.5284/1000207. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © Dr James Steele, Prof Stephen J. Shennan unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Primary contact
Prof
Stephen J.
Shennan
Institute of Archaeology
University College London
31-34 Gordon Square
London
WC1H 0PY
England
Tel: 0171 3877050
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 283
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000207
- How to cite using this DOI
Overview
- History of the originating project
- Methodology
- Sources
- Content and structure of dataset
- History of the database
- People involved in the current phase of the project
- References
History of the originating project
The aim of the project was to compile an electronic spatial database of radiocarbon dates for the later Mesolithic and early Neolithic of Europe, roughly 9000-5000 BP; this time frame covers the range from the later Mesolithic in southeast Europe to the earlier Neolithic in northern and northwest Europe. In addition information was collected about the contexts of the dates, the material dated and economic and cultural associations. Europe was defined as the area to the west of a line from the Black Sea to the eastern Baltic.
The project involved the employment of a research assistant (Ms Marina Gkiasta) for six months, funded by a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Board to Prof. Stephen Shennan, Institute of Archaeology, University College London, and Dr. James Steele, Dept of Archaeology, University of Southampton. Analysis of the data collected is still ongoing.
In retrospect the scale of the project required was underestimated. It emerged that the current state of the electronic archiving (and even easily available paper archiving) of radiocarbon dates related to European prehistory is generally very poor, with one or two notable exceptions, such as Britain. Moreover, even where information on the dates themselves was available, information about their archaeological context was usually largely if not entirely lacking, while the provision of information about site spatial coordinates was almost equally bad.
In the event partial information was collected for about 4000 dates but a considerable number were subsequently excluded on quality control grounds ( see below). It is hoped that users of the database over the internet will provide corrections and additions to the information available, including new dates.
Methodology
The database was constructed in Microsoft Access and has been made web-deliverable with MySQL and WDBI. The sources used include publications, radiocarbon lab databases and other relevant data sets from universities or archaeological bodies.
Site co-ordinates were obtained from the sources which provided the dates. As noted above, this information was often not available so the latitude and longitude fields could not be completed. In a number of cases more than one source was available and these different sources were not always in agreement. In particular, co-ordinates in the Lyon database were not always in agreement with Andre Gob's publication of Mesolithic dates; in order to have some consistency Gob's co-ordinates were adopted.
British and Irish sites were reported in the relevant OS grids, and therefore had to be converted to WGS84 in order to be incorporated in the same files as the rest of the sites and the map of Europe. This was done using Idrisi and all sites plotted in Arcview.
For the calibration of the dates OxCal 3beta.2 was used, which provides the 93 calibration curve. Earliest and latest dates of 1 and 2 Sigma are recorded and are to be used for the analysis of the data.
Sources
In the 'Sample' table the field named 'Source' states the original source of the date, although information was often added or altered later on from other sources. The sources used and the relevant codes are listed below:
- DEM: DEMOKRITOS National Centre for Scientific Research, Athens, Greece
- Vs: VILNIUS Radioisotope Laboratory, Vilnius, Lithuania
- GrN: University of Groningen, Centre for Isotope Research, Groningen, Netherlands.
- CBA: Council for British Archaeology
- Lyon dbf: Centre de Datation par le RadioCarbone, Universite Claude Bernard Lyon I, Villeurbanne Cedex, France
- ORAU: Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, University of Oxford, England
- Instituto Portugues de Arqueologia: (Joao Zilhao)
- Belarus Academy of Sciences: Institute of Geological Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus.
- Breunig, P. 1987: 14C-Chronologie des vorderasiatischen, s/dost- und mitteleuropdischen Neolithikums. Fundamenta, Reihe A, Bd. 13 Kvln/Wien
- Gob, Andre 1990: Chronologie du Mesolithique en Europe. Atlas des dates 14C. Liege: C.I.P.L.
- Von Willigen, S. 1998: Radiocarbon dates for the southern French early neolithic. Germania 75 (2), 423-442.
- Skeates, R. & Whitehouse, R. (eds): Radiocarbon Dating and Italian Prehistory. London: Accordia/British School at Rome 1994.
Attempts to obtain data for eastern Europe were largely unsuccessful.
Content and structure of dataset
The database consists of 5 main tables, which have been combined into one interface. The fields included are as follows:
'Sample' Table:
Fields:
- sample id;
- date BP;
- error;
- calibrated dates BC of earliest and latest 1 and 2 Sigma;
- type of radiocarbon lab that performed the measurements (AMS or Conventional);
- treatment;
- delta 13 Correction;
- material;
- comments;
- date of process;
- source;
- lab code;
Information is not complete in some of the fields as it is very rare that lab information is mentioned in publications or databases.
'Context' Table:
Fields:
- sample id;
- context;
- context type.
Again site reports are necessary for the type of context, as well as for the completion of the 'site phase' and 'context' fields. The 'Site Phase' and 'Context' tables should be used together as there is no consistency in the way the two terms have been used in the data sources; part of the reason is the different excavation and reporting techniques used in different countries.
'Site' Table:
Fields:
- sample id;
- site name;
- site id;
- area;
- country;
- cultural id;
- site type;
- latitude;
- longitude;
- comments;
- period;
- references;
- association.
The 'site type' field could not be completed in many cases as the relevant information was not available. Latitude and longitude could not be obtained for about 250 sites. The 'period' field states the temporal characterisation (in archaeological conventional terms) of the relevant site by the archaeologist in charge. The 'references' field has information that was provided by the sources used. Gob (1990) provided comments on the quality of the association between sample and purported context. This information was included where available.
'Site Phase' Table:
Fields:
- sample id;
- site phase;
- absence or presence of
- pottery
- domesticated animals
- plants
- human remains.
NISP is the number of identified specimens. Only rarely could relevant information be added in the table, as the site reports are generally the only source for this kind of information.
History of the database
Originally there were about 4000 samples in the database, but about 1500 were excluded in the final stages. The criteria used to exclude samples from the database, are as follows:
- samples with errors of measurement more than 150 years;
- samples of bad or dubious cultural association;
- samples that were refused by the archaeologists/submitters of the samples;
- samples of dubious reliability;
- samples outside the temporal limits of the project.
The main source for the reliability and cultural association information was Gob (1990).
People involved in the current phase of the project:
Principal investigators
- Prof. Stephen Shennan
- s.shennan@ucl.ac.uk
- Dr. James Steele
- j.steele@ucl.ac.uk
Research Assistant
- Ms. Marina Gkiasta
- marina.gkiasta@eudoramail.com
References
BAILLOUD (1964). Gallia Prehistoire & COMM.PERSONNELLE, JP THEVENOT, Neolithique dans le basin parisien
BALDELLOU, V.; CASTÁN, A. (1983). Excavaciones en la Cueva de Chaves de Bastaras (Casbas - Huesca). Bolskan, 1: 9-37.
BALDELLOU, V.; UTRILLA, P. (1985). Nuevas dataciones de radiocarbono de la prehistoria oscense. Trabajos de Prehistoria, 42: 83-95.
BERNABEU, J. (1989). La tradición cultural de las cerámicas impresas en la zona oriental de la Península Ibérica, Valencia, Servicio de Investigación Prehistórica, Serie de Trabajos Varios 86.
BREUNIG, P. (1987). 14C-Chronologie des vorderasiatischen, s/dost- und mitteleuropdischen Neolithikums. Fundamenta, Reihe A, Bd. 13. Kvln/Wien: Bvhlau Verlag
CARDOSO, J. L.; CARREIRA, J. R.; FERREIRA, O. V. (1996). Novos elementos para o estudo do Neolítico antigo da região de Lisboa. Estudos Arqueológicos de Oeiras, 6: 9-26.
GOB, A (1990). Chronologie du Mesolithique en Europe. Atlas des dates 14C. Liege: C.I.P.L.
GUILAINE, J.; MARTZLUFF, M. (1995). Les excavacions a la balma de la Margineda (1979-1991). Andorra, Govern d'Andorra.
LAZARICH, M.; RAMOS, J.; CASTAÑEDA, V.; PÉREZ, M.; HERRERO, N.; LOZANO, J. M.; GARCÍA, E.; AGUILAR, S.; MONTAÑÉS, M.; BLANES, C. (1997). El Retamar (Puerto Real, Cádiz). Un asentamiento neolítico especializado en la pesca y el marisqueo, in BALBÍN, R.; BUENO, P. (eds.). II Congreso de Arqueología Peninsular. Tomo I - Paleolítico y Epipaleolítico, Zamora, Fundación Rei Afonso Henriques, p. 49-58.
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MARTIN COLLIGA, A. (1986-89). Reflexión sobre el estado de la investigación del Neolítico en Cataluña y su reflejo en la cronología radiométrica. Empúries, 48-50: 84-102.
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GUILAINE, J.; GUTHERZ, X. (eds.). Autour de Jean Arnal, Montpellier, Université des Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, p. 37-54.
SKEATES, R., & WHITEHOUSE, R., eds. Radiocarbon Dating and Italian Prehistory. London: Accordia/British School at Rome.
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