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Hunter-gatherers transformed: the transition to agriculture in northern and western Euope

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Ian Armit  and
Bill Finlayson
Ian Armit
Affiliation:
Centre for Field Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, Appleton Tower, Crichton Street, Edinburgh EH8 9LE, UK
Bill Finlayson
Affiliation:
Centre for Field Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, Appleton Tower, Crichton Street, Edinburgh EH8 9LE, UK
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Extract

The quantity and quality of material from the late Mesolithic/early Neolithic in southern Scandinavia has dominated the study of this important period in northwest Europe. Recent evidence from the west of Scotland suggests that, despite a rich and varied resource base similar in many ways to that in southern Scandinavia, a very different process of change occurs. The evidence suggests a very gradual transformation, with selected parts of the farming socio-economy being being adopted at varying rates. This situation is compared with that in various parts of Europe and is considered to fit in well with a pattern of great regional diversity in the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic.

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Research Articles
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Antiquity , Volume 66 , Issue 252 , September 1992 , pp. 664 - 676
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 1992

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