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Isotopic evidence for residential mobility of farming communities during the transition to agriculture in Britain

Neil, Samantha; Evans, Jane; Montgomery, Janet; Scarre, Chris

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Authors

Samantha Neil

Jane Evans

Chris Scarre



Abstract

Development of agriculture is often assumed to be accompanied by a decline in residential mobility, and sedentism is frequently proposed to provide the basis for economic intensification, population growth and increasing social complexity. In Britain, however, the nature of the agricultural transition (ca 4000 BC) and its effect on residence patterns has been intensely debated. Some authors attribute the transition to the arrival of populations who practised a system of sedentary intensive mixed farming similar to that of the very earliest agricultural regimes in central Europe, ca 5500 BC, with cultivation of crops in fixed plots and livestock keeping close to permanently occupied farmsteads. Others argue that local hunter–gatherers within Britain adopted selected elements of a farming economy and retained a mobile way of life. We use strontium and oxygen isotope analysis of tooth enamel from an Early Neolithic burial population in Gloucestershire, England, to evaluate the residence patterns of early farmers. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that early farming communities in Britain were residentially mobile and were not fully sedentary. Results highlight the diverse nature of settlement strategies associated with early farming in Europe and are of wider significance to understanding the effect of the transition to agriculture on residence patterns.

Citation

Neil, S., Evans, J., Montgomery, J., & Scarre, C. (2016). Isotopic evidence for residential mobility of farming communities during the transition to agriculture in Britain. Royal Society Open Science, 3(1), https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150522

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 3, 2015
Online Publication Date Jan 20, 2016
Publication Date Jan 20, 2016
Deposit Date Jan 29, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Royal Society Open Science
Publisher The Royal Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 3
Issue 1
DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150522
Keywords Development of agriculture, Neolithic, Sedentism, Mobility, Strontium, Isotope analysis.

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