Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 73

The paper takes Neolithic pits as a starting point from which to investigate the broader issues of settlement and deposition in Britain at that time. It suggests that while sites made up primarily, and often only, of pits have recently been incorporated much more readily into accounts of the period, they are still not well understood. It is only by investigating the character of occupation across the landscape as a whole, and the nature of deposits in a variety of different contexts, that we will be able to understand pits, settlement, or deposition fully. On the basis of a study of this kind, it is suggested that pits were sited in specific locations which might be considered suitable for `settlement'; it is also demonstrated that deposition varied considerably between contexts and over time. By including large numbers of sites known only through `grey' reports and Historic Environment Records, the study draws on a body of work which has been under-used in the past. The paper focuses primarily on East Anglia, a region well-known for its pit sites but not well-known for its monuments; in doing so, it aims to counterbalance the weight of previous narratives which have tended to focus on other parts of Britain. Includes French, Spanish and German summaries.

The paper reinterprets the archaeological evidence from the Neolithic monument complex in the Milfield Basin, Northumberland -- a palimpsest landscape of Earlier Neolithic enclosures, Later Neolithic henges and Early Bronze Age burial monuments. Recent interpretative accounts of the Early Neolithic use of this complex have stressed economic factors as the driving forces behind enclosure construction, whilst the six major Later Neolithic henges have been integrated into a scheme of ritual processions. These interpretations are critically evaluated and the sites are placed in their regional and national context in an attempt to provide a new framework for the use and development of the complex. It is concluded that, far from having simple economic functions, the Earlier Neolithic enclosures could be unique to the area, representing the formalisation of a community's attempts to ensure social reproduction in times of change, through the articulation of the difference between circular and linear monumental forms. The re-examination of the Later Neolithic evidence raises questions as to how far it is possible to `read' monument complexes, and critically evaluates the extent to which it is possible to argue a unity of purpose for these enigmatic accumulations of the past. The author argues that the reinterpretation of the Neolithic activity in this area shows how readily archaeologists export social models from other regions, such as Wessex, and attempt to fit very diverse evidence into their framework. The paper concludes that the definition of the British Neolithic must continue on a more regional basis and that core--periphery models, even if not explicitly articulated, have no place in archaeological explanation. Includes French, Spanish and German summaries.

The author contends that the reconstructed roundhouse has powerful currency in both public and academic understandings of the vernacular architecture of later British prehistory, in particular for the Iron Age; however, because the focus of these reconstructions is normally on technologies and engineering principles, or on the experience of their occupation, roundhouse reconstructions in fact tell us little about the past and much about modern identities. The paper explores what insight roundhouse reconstructions currently do and do not give into later British prehistory and what they may be able to indicate if the act of building is taken as a theme over the technologies of their construction or the experience of their space. Includes French, Spanish and German summaries.

The paper aims to evaluate whether the presence of gold and bronze ornaments during the centuries c. 1400--1100 cal BC constitutes an `ornament horizon' and to analyse the roles that these objects played in prehistoric communities. To achieve this, a comprehensive ornament database was compiled and the evidence for ornament production, forms, distribution, modes of ornament, and depositional practices was analysed. This revealed the existence of an earlier bronze ornament tradition concentrated in the coastal areas and along the major rivers of southern and eastern England and a later gold ornament tradition throughout Britain. The ornaments were apparently designed to adorn the neck, wrist, and fingers and, with the exception of a quantity of elaborate bronze pins, are not thought to relate to clothing. It is argued that these were high visibility objects that would have been widely recognised by the networks of communities participating in the intensive movement of objects, people and practices that occurred throughout northwest Europe and beyond, and that the ornaments were probably worn for substantial periods of an individual's life before being separated from their wearers. Though the ornaments were repaired and probably recycled, there does not appear to have been a substantial delay in their deposition. The excavation of the ornaments in diverse and frequently elaborate arrangements such as in ditches and settlements, on hills and in rivers, and accompanying cremation burials or other metal objects implies localised reworkings of the more widespread practices of structured deposition. Includes French, Spanish and German summaries, and

The paper presents the results of new research into British Iron Age diet. Specifically, it summarises the existing evidence and compares this with new evidence obtained from stable isotope analysis. The isotope data come from both humans and animals from ten British Middle Iron Age sites, from four locations in East Yorkshire, East Lothian, Hampshire, and Cornwall. These represent the only significant data-set of comparative humans (n = 138) and animals (n = 212) for this period currently available for the UK. They are discussed alongside other evidence for diet during the Middle Iron Age in Britain. In particular, the question of whether fish, or other aquatic foods, were a major dietary resource during this period is examined. The isotopic data suggest similar dietary protein consumption patterns across the groups, both within local populations and between them, although outliers do exist which may indicate mobile individuals moving into the sites. The diet generally includes a high level of animal protein, with little indication of the use of marine resources at any isotopically distinguishable level, even when the sites are situated directly on the coast. The nitrogen isotopic values also indicate absolute variation across these locations which is indicative of environmental background differences rather than differential consumption patterns and this is discussed in the context of the difficulty of interpreting isotopic data without a complete understanding of the `baseline' values for any particular time and place. This reinforces the need for significant numbers of contemporaneous animals to be analysed from the same locations when interpreting human data-sets. Includes French, Spanish and German summaries.

The paper provides a first formal description of a collection of lithic artefacts unearthed during the building of a house called Beedings on a scarp crest near Pulborough in West Sussex. The discovery was probably made in 1900. The collection is multi-period, but it includes the largest group of Early Upper Palaeolithic artefacts from south-eastern England. Attributed to this time are leaf-points, end-scrapers, and burins. While recent selection has much reduced the collection it also appears to contain contemporary cores and debitage and evidence for the production of bladelets. It is suggested that in a British context this find is unique and that in a European perspective it is one of the richest assemblages attributable to the Lincombian--Ranisian--Jerzmanowician technocomplex. The age of this technocomplex is poorly constrained, but in this paper it is argued to belong to the earliest part of the Upper Palaeolithic, starting earlier than the local Aurignacian. The Upper Palaeolithic material from Beedings is interpreted as having come from a hunting camp situated so as to exploit extensive views across the western Weald. Includes French, Spanish and German summaries. Separately authored contributions include