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Journal article
The tale of a Mesolithic harpoon head from Arisaig
This is a remarkable tale about a remarkable artifact that would have been lost to Scottish archaeology had it not been for a brave decision by a schoolgirl to disregard the views of her teachers over 50 years ago!Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
Excavation and survey at the Giant’s Grave, Slochd Measach, Nereabolls, a Neolithic chambered cairn on the Isle of Islay, Argyll & Bute
The ‘Giant’s Grave’, formally known as Slochd Measach, Nereabolls, (SM3927) is located on the Isle of Islay in western Scotland and is one of seven confirmed Clyde Cairns on the island. We describe the standing remains and excavations between 2015-18 intended to address the origin, architecture and use of this...Mithen, Steven ; Maričević, Darko ; Berg-Hansen, Inger M ; Elliott, Sarah ; Fry, Rob …
Neolithic, Chambered Cairn, Isle of Islay, Excavation, and The Giant’s Grave
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Journal article
Limited historical admixture between European wildcats and domestic cats
Domestic cats were derived from the Near Eastern wildcat (Felis lybica), after which they dispersed with people into Europe. As they did so, it is possible that they interbred with the indigenous population of European wildcats (Felis silvestris). Gene flow between incoming domestic animals and closely related indigenous wild species...Jamieson, Alexandra ; Carmagnini, Alberto ; Howard-McCombe, Jo ; Doherty, Sean ; Hirons, Alexandra …
ancient DNA, cats, hybridization , and domestication
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Journal article
Human consumption of seaweed and freshwater aquatic plants in ancient Europe
During the Mesolithic in Europe, there is widespread evidence for an increase in exploitation of aquatic resources. In contrast, the subsequent Neolithic is characterised by the spread of farming, land ownership, and full sedentism, which lead to the perception of marine resources subsequently representing marginal or famine food or being...Buckley, Stephen ; Hardy, Karen ; Hallgren, Fredrik ; Kubiak-Martens, Lucy ; Miliauskienė, Žydrūnė …
Lipids and Archaeology
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Journal article
Palaeogenomic Evidence for the Long-Term Reproductive Isolation Between Wild and Domestic Cats
Domestic cats were derived from the Near Eastern wildcat (Felis lybica), after which they dispersed with people into Europe. As they did so, it is possible that they interbred with the indigenous population of European wildcats (Felis silvestris). Gene flow between incoming domestic animals and closely related indigenous wild species...Jamieson, Alexandra ; Carmagnini, Alberto ; Howard-McCombe, Jo ; Doherty, Sean ; Hirons, Alexandra …
domestication, palaeogenomics, and cats
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Journal article
Artefacts of Arran pitchstones from Slewcairn Early Neolithic funerary monument, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
Between 1973 and 1980, the late Lionel Masters excavated an Early Neolithic long cairn at Slewcairn, close to the Solway Firth in south-west Scotland (NGR NX 9239 6142; Canmore ID 65491). The monumement is situated on the slope of Meikle Hard Hill, 6 km from the coast and 15 km...Ballin, Torben ; Sheridan, J A
pitchstone, assemblage report, long cairn, and Early Neolithic Scotland
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Journal article
Understanding gold in Prehistoric Scotland
Gold, along with copper was the first metal to be used in Scotland, with the earliest dated example of its use here being the tiny, conical sheet gold rivet caps on the superb Langdale tuff 'wrist-guard' - a piece of fancy archery kit - from Culduthel, Inverness. The man's skeleton...Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
“Balure Dun”
The site at Balure, until relatively recently, was unrecognised as a dun structure, although it had been noted by Forestry Commission operatives as an enclosure and/or cairn and recorded as such on the Forestry Commission’s Heritage database for North Knapdale Forest.Regan, Roddy ; Campbell, Ewan ; Ballin, Torben ; Sheridan, J A ; Cressey, Michael
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Journal article
Gold in Britain’s auriferous regions, 2450–800 BC
Incorruptible and brilliant, and shining like the sun, gold has always attracted attention. From its earliest known use at Varna around 4500 BC, this metal has been utilised to make some of the finest objects humans have ever possessed. Gold use, and the know-how to work it, arrived in Britain...Knight, Matthew G ; Sheridan, J A ; Horak, Jana
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Journal article
'The faience beads' In: T. Woolhouse, A 'persistent place': late Mesolithic flint working, Early Bronze Age burials, Iron Ages settlement and a Roman farmstead at The Street, Easton
Excavations adjacent to The Street, Easton found evidence for human activity spanning some seven millennia, from the Late Mesolithic (c.6500–4000 BC) to the end of the Romano-British period, with probably continuous occupation on or near the site for at least a thousand years between the Early Iron Age (c.800–600 BC)...Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
Ancient DNA in Ireland: isolation, migration and elite incest
Ten thousand years ago, Ireland, Britain and the adjacent continent were already sharing connections while developing separate histories and identities. Ancient DNA has brought poweful new ways of exploring these worlds, as Lara Cassidy shows with a new genomic study of hunters and early farmers.Cassidy, Lara ; Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
In the Copper Age
We divide the ancient past into three ages: stone, bronze and iron. But leading archaeologists are saying Britain also had a copper age, between stone and bronze at around 2500–2200BC. What was it, when did it occur and why? British Archaeology canvassed the views of six archaeologists and scientists.Pitts, Mike ; Needham, S ; Heyd, Volker ; Parker Pearson, Mike ; Jay, Mandy …
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Journal article
The National Museums Scotland ‘Dating cremated bones project’
Results from the ‘Dating Cremated Bones Project’ The second year of what is hoped to be a three-year project has continued to provide interesting new dates from prehistoric Scottish cremated human bone (see DES 2001, 129 for results from year 1). Sampling continued to focus on material with ‘interesting’ artefactual...Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
Three cists and a possible Roman road at Barbush quarry, Dunblane
Over the past 50 years a number of archaeological discoveries have been made at Barbush Quarry, Dunblane including a coin hoard, Neolithic pottery and several prehistoric funerary features. During the supervised removal of spoil heaps at the quarry a concentration of archaeological features was identified and later excavated. The features...Holden, T ; Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
Review of G.Warren, Mesolithic lives in Scotland
This slim but attractively-presented volume sets out to present an account of the lives of Scotland’s earliest inhabitants that is accessible to undergraduates and to those with a general interest in archaeology. Much effort is spent in explaining complicated processes (such as sea-level change) and in demystifying specialist terminology (principally...Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
The Exloo necklace: new light on an old find
This article presents the results of recent international collaborative research into the Early Bronze Age composite necklace from Exloo, examining its circumstances and location of discovery, the history of its curation and study, its likely date, the provenance of its constituent elements, and its broader significance. The other Dutch Bronze...Haveman, E ; Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
Croft Moraig and the chronology of stone circles
The Perthshire stone circle of Croft Moraig was excavated 40 years ago and is usually taken to illustrate the classic sequence at such monuments in Britain. A timber setting, accompanied by a shallow ditch, was replaced by two successive stone settings. The pottery associated with the earliest construction was dated...Bradley, R ; Sheridan, J A
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Review of: I.A.G.Shepherd and G.J.Barclay (eds.). Scotland in ancient Europe
This volume presents the proceedings of a conference held in Edinburgh in March 2003 - one of a series of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland conferences reviewing Scotland’s past within its broader context. The previous, and first, was held in 1999 and was published by the Society in 2004 as...Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
Towards a fuller, more nuanced narrative of Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Britain 2500-1500 BC
This contribution considers some of the many recent advances in our understanding of Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Britain and uses these to highlight the weak points in our current state of knowledge. Focusing mainly on the period 2500–1500 BC, it concentrates on issues of chronology, human movement, the role of...Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
Combined visual and biochemical analyses confirm depositor and diet for Neolithic coprolites from Skara Brae
Coprolites (fossilized faeces) can provide valuable insights into species’ diet and related habits. In archaeozoological contexts, they are a potential source of information on human-animal interactions as well as human and animal subsistence. However, despite a broad discussion on coprolites in archaeology, such finds are rarely subject to detailed examination... -
Journal article
The Excavation of Neolithic Pits and a Bronze Age Burial Site at Ness Gap, Fortrose
An investigation by Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd took place in early 2013 in advance of a housing development at Ness Gap, Fortrose, Highland. The excavation revealed domestic activity dating from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. A cluster of Neolithic pits provided insights into the development of agriculture in...Woodley, Nuala C ; Lochrie, Julie ; Sheridan, J A ; Cowie, Trevor ; Christie, Claire
cremation, pits, metalwork , Burial, cinerary urn, cordoned urn, faience, and cist
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Journal article
The pottery. In: A Becket & G MacGregor, Forest grazing and seaweed foddering: early Neolithic occupation at Maybole, South Ayrshire, 114-117
Excavation of a well-preserved upstanding roundhouse revetted into a steep hillside at Navidale has revealed a structure with unusually sophisticated architectural traits dated to around 1400–1200 bc. The house was built within an agricultural landscape but its abandonment appears to have been linked to a cessation of agriculture within that...Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
Excavations at Upper Largie quarry, Argyll & Bute, Scotland: new light on the prehistoric ritual landscape of the Kilmartin Glen
Excavations were carried out intermittently between 1982 and 2005, by various excavators, in advance of quarrying activity at Upper Largie, Kilmartin Glen, Argyll & Bute. They revealed abundant evidence of prehistoric activity, dating from the Mesolithic to the Middle Bronze Age, on a fluvioglacial terrace overlooking the rest of the...Sheridan, J A ; Cook, M ; Ellis, C
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Journal article
Beaker vessel
This report provides an account of the excavations of a cropmark enclosure and other prehistoric remains at Dryburn Bridge, near Innerwick in East Lothian. The excavations were directed over two seasons in 1978 and 1979 by Jon Triscott and David Pollock, and were funded by the Ancient Monuments Branch, Scottish...Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
Excavations at a multi-period site at Greenbogs, Aberdeenshire, Scotland and the four-post timber architecture tradition of Late Neolithic Britain and Ireland.
This report outlines the unexpected discovery of a group of Late Neolithic structures at Greenbogs, Monymusk in Aberdeenshire, along with a series of later prehistoric features in the mid-1990s. Recent radiocarbon dating shows that two four-post timber structures found here date to the period 2890–2490 cal bc. These were found...Noble, Gordon ; Greig, Moira ; Millican, Kirsty ; Anderson, Sue ; Clarke, Ann …
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Journal article
From Mont Viso to Slovakia: the two axeheads of Alpine jade from Golianovo
Two fragments of large jadeitite axeheads were discovered in a Lengyel enclosure at Golianovo (Republic of Slovakia), close to Nitra. Spectroradiometric analysis and macroscopic characteristics indicate that, in all probability, these two artefacts — which are exceptional in this region of Europe — had come from the Neolithic quarries on...Pétrequin, P ; Errera, M ; Cassen, S ; Gauthier, E ; Hovorka, D …
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Journal article
‘Ava’: a Beaker-associated woman from a cist at Achavanich, Highland, and the story of her (re-)discovery and subsequent study
This contribution describes the discovery and subsequent investigation of a cist in a rock-cut pit at Achavanich, Highland. Discovered and excavated in 1987, the cist was found to contain the tightly contracted skeletal remains of a young woman, accompanied by a Beaker, three flint artefacts and a cattle scapula. Initial...Hoole, M ; Sheridan, J A ; Boyle, A ; Booth, T ; Brace, S …
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Journal article
Jones, E, Sheridan, J A & Franklin, J 2018 'Neolithic and Bronze Age occupation at Meadowend Farm, Clackmannanshire: Pots, pits and roundhouses' Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports 77
The excavations at Meadowend Farm, Clackmannanshire produced evidence for occupation at various times between the Early Neolithic and the Middle to Late Bronze Age. Significantly, it yielded the largest and best-dated assemblage of Middle Neolithic Impressed Ware yet encountered in Scotland, comprising at least 206 vessels. Episodes of Early to...Jones, Elizabeth ; Sheridan, J A ; Franklin, J
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Journal article
Artefacts with the human remains in Area C. In: Lelong, O 2018 'Fluid identities, shifting sands: Early Bronze Age burials at Cnip Headland, Isle of Lewis'. Scottish Archaeology Internet Report 75
Excavations in 2009 and 2010 on Cnip Headland, Isle of Lewis investigated three different burials in shallow pits and on a kerbed mound, containing the inhumed remains of at least nine individuals in both articulated and disarticulated states. Bone histology analysis indicates that the bodies of all but one (a...Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe
From around 2750 to 2500 bc, Bell Beaker pottery became widespread across western and central Europe, before it disappeared between 2200 and 1800 bc. The forces that propelled its expansion are a matter of long-standing debate, and there is support for both cultural diffusion and migration having a role in...Olalde, Iñigo ; Brace, Selina ; Allentoft, Morten E ; Armit, Ian ; Kristiansen, Kristian …
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Journal article
Population replacement in Early Neolithic Britain
The roles of migration, admixture and acculturation in the European transition to farming have been debated for over 100 years. Genome-wide ancient DNA studies indicate predominantly Anatolian ancestry for continental Neolithic farmers, but also variable admixture with local Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Neolithic cultures first appear in Britain c. 6000 years ago...Brace, Selina ; Diekmann, Yoan ; Booth, Thomas J ; Faltyskova, Zuzana ; Rohland, Nadin …
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Journal article
Cremation practices and the creation of monument complexes: the Neolithic cremation cemetery at Forteviot, Strathearn, Perth & Kinross, Scotland, and its comparanda
Around the beginning of the 3rd millennium cal bc a cremation cemetery was established at Forteviot, central Scotland. This place went on to become one of the largest monument complexes identified in Mainland Scotland, with the construction of a palisaded enclosure, timber structures, and a series of henge monuments and... -
Journal article
The end of the world, or just ‘goodbye to all that’? Contextualising the red deer heap from Links of Noltland, Westray, within late 3rd-millennium cal bc Orkney
As part of a major international research project, The Times of Their Lives, a programme of radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modelling was undertaken to refine the chronology of activities in one small but important part of the extensive Late Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement in Links of Notland on the...Clarke, David V ; Sheridan, J A ; Shepherd, Alexandra N ; Sharples, N M ; Armour-Chelu, Miranda Jane …
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Journal article
The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe
Bell Beaker pottery spread across western and central Europe beginning around 2750 BCE before disappearing between 2200-1800 BCE. The mechanism of its expansion is a topic of long-standing debate, with support for both cultural diffusion and human migration. We present new genome-wide ancient DNA data from 170 Neolithic, Copper Age...Olalde, Iñigo ; Brace, Selina ; Allentoft, Morten E ; Armit, Ian ; Kristiansen, Kristian …
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Journal article
Radiocarbon dating of a multi-phase passage tomb on Baltinglass Hill, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
Baltinglass is a multi-chamber Neolithic passage tomb in Co. Wicklow, Ireland, excavated in the 1930s. This paper presents the results of a radiocarbon dating programme on charred wheat grains and hazelnut shell found underlying the cairn, and on cremated human bone found within and near two of the monument’s five...Schulting, Rick J ; Mcclatchie, Meriel ; Sheridan, J A ; Mclaughlin, Rowan
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Journal article
Beaker vessel. In: J.A. Atkinson, 'Ben Lawers: an archaeological landscape in time. Results from the Ben Lawers Historic Landscape Project, 1996–2005'
This volume presents the results of archaeological investigations between 1996 and 2005, carried out as part of the Ben Lawers Historic Landscape Project, a multi-disciplinary project based on north Loch Tayside in the Central Highlands of Scotland. Archaeological surveys and excavations formed the core of the Ben Lawers Project, but...Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
Investigating jet and jet-like artefacts from prehistoric Scotland: the National Museums of Scotland project
The black spacer plate necklaces and bracelets of the Early Bronze Age (Figure 1) are among the most technically accomplished prestige items of this period in Britain and Ireland. There has been much debate over the years as to whether these artefacts and other prehistoric black jewellery and dress accessories...Sheridan, J A ; Davis, M ; Clark, Iain ; Redvers-Jones, Hal
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Journal article
The radiocarbon dating programmes of The National Museums of Scotland
Since 1991, the Archaeology Department of the National Museums of Scotland (NMS) has been undertaking programmes of AMS radiocarbon dating of organic items in its collections, particularly wetland finds. This work was initially stimulated by the success of Caroline Earwood’s research on dating bog butter containers and other wooden vessels...Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
Beaker people in Britain: migration, mobility and diet
The appearance of the distinctive ‘Beaker package’ marks an important horizon in British prehistory, but was it associated with immigrants to Britain or with indigenous converts? Analysis of the skeletal remains of 264 individuals from the British Chalcolithic–Early Bronze Age is revealing new information about the diet, migration and mobility...Pearson, Mike Parker ; Chamberlain, A ; Jay, Mandy ; Richards, Mike ; Sheridan, J A …
Beaker, Britain, Bayesian analysis, mobility, diet, Bronze Age, migration, isotope analysis, and osteology
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Journal article
Rodents: food or pests in Neolithic Orkney
Rodents have important effects on contemporary human societies, sometimes providing a source of food but more often as agricultural pests, or as vectors and reservoirs of disease. Skeletal remains of rodents are commonly found in archaeological assemblages from around the world, highlighting their potential importance to ancient human populations. However,...Romaniuk, Andrzej A ; Shepherd, Alexandra N ; Clarke, David V ; Sheridan, J A ; Fraser, Sheena …
Rodentia, Microtus arvalis, human subsistence, archaeology, and animal osteology
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Journal article
Settlement duration and materiality: formal chronological models for the development of Barnhouse, a Grooved Ware settlement in Orkney
Radiocarbon dating and Bayesian chronological modelling, undertaken as part of the investigation by the Times of Their Lives project into the development of Late Neolithic settlement and pottery in Orkney, has provided precise new dating for the Grooved Ware settlement of Barnhouse, excavated in 1985–91. Previous understandings of the site...Richards, C ; Jones, A M ; MacSween, A ; Sheridan, J A ; Dunbar, Elaine …
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Journal article
Refining the chronology of the Neolithic settlement at Pool, Sanday, Orkney: implications for the emergence and development of grooved ware
New radiocarbon dates for the Neolithic settlement at Pool on Sanday, Orkney, are interpreted in a formal chronological framework. Phases 2.2 and 2.3, during which flat-based Grooved Ware pottery with incised decoration developed, have been modelled as probably dating to between the 31st and 28th centuries cal bc. There followed...MacSween, A ; Hunter, John ; Sheridan, J A ; Bond, Julie ; Bronk Ramsey, C …
radiocarbon dates, Grooved Ware, Orkney, Bayesian modelling, and Neolithic
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Journal article
An integrated approach to the taxonomic identification of prehistoric shell ornaments
Shell beads appear to have been one of the earliest examples of personal adornments. Marine shells identified far from the shore evidence long-distance transport and imply networks of exchange and negotiation. However, worked beads lose taxonomic clues to identification, and this may be compounded by taphonomic alteration. Consequently, the significance...Demarchi, Beatrice ; O'Connor, Sonia ; Ponzoni, Andre de Lima ; Ponzoni, Raquel de Almeida Rocha ; Sheridan, J A …
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Journal article
The changing pace of insular life: 5000 years of microevolution in the Orkney vole(Microtus arvalis orcadensis)
Cucchi, Thomas ; Barnett, Ross ; Martinkova, Natalia ; Renaud, Sabrina ; Renvoisé, Elodie …
zooarchaeology, tooth shape, Dispersal, island evolution, geometric morphometrics, and evolutionary rate
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Journal article
The beads. In: M. Johnson ‘Excavation of two Early Bronze Age short cists and a prehistoric pit at Lindsayfield, near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire'
Two short cists of Early Bronze Age date, containing prehistoric flint artefacts and shale/cannel coal beads, were discovered during topsoiling operations for the Aberdeen to Lochside Natural Gas Pipeline, to the south of Lindsayfield, near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire. Cremated human bone from one of the cists was radiocarbon dated to the...Johnson, M ; Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
Immediate replacement of fishing with dairying by the earliest farmers of the NE Atlantic archipelagos
The appearance of farming, from its inception in the Near East around 12 000 years ago, finally reached the northwestern extremes of Europe by the fourth millennium BC or shortly thereafter. Various models have been invoked to explain the Neolithization of northern Europe; however, resolving these different scenarios has proved...Cramp, Lucy J E ; Jones, Jennifer ; Sheridan, J A ; Smyth, Jessica ; Whelton, Helen …
stable carbon isotopes, lipids, Neolithic diet, pottery, biomarkers, and archaeology
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Journal article
Kilmagadwood Early Bronze Age cemetery: excavation and initial post-excavation research
This contribution outlines the excavation and initial post-excavation research, along with subsequent fieldwork, that has been undertaken to date (October 2018) regarding an important Early Bronze Age cemetery comprising 23 urned deposits of cremated human remains and three un-urned deposits of pyre debris at Kilmagadwood, near Scotlandwell in Portmoak parish,...Sheridan, J A ; Hall, Derek ; Romera, Aida ; Welch, Nathan ; O'Grady, Oliver
bronze razors, cremation, bone toggle, bone bead, faience bead, cinerary urns, Early Bronze Age, and metal bead
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Journal article
The Spearhead of the Pennon …
In 1999, the late Professor Charles Thomas donated a Middle Bronze Age spearhead to the National Museum collection. This spearhead came with a label indicating that it was part of the pennant taken into the Battle of Flodden by Robert Chisholme in 1513. This paper investigates the likelihood that such...Knight, Matthew G ; Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
Survey and sampling at the Castle Dykes Iron Age ‘henge’, Wensleydale, North Yorkshire
Survey and sampling at the classic single-entranced henge monument at Castle Dykes, in North Yorkshire, has revealed traces of circular timber structures, interpreted as later prehistoric roundhouses, in the immediate vicinity and within the henge. Coring of the waterlogged silts of the internal ditch has produced considerable environmental data: plant,...Gibson, Alex ; Neubauer, Wolfgang ; Flöry, Sebastian ; Schneidhofer, Petra ; Allen, Mike …
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Journal article
The jet bead. In: Gibson, A. Survey and sampling at the Castle Dykes Iron Age ‘henge’, Wensleydale, North Yorkshire
Survey and sampling at the classic single-entranced henge monument at Castle Dykes, in North Yorkshire, has revealed traces of circular timber structures, interpreted as later prehistoric roundhouses, in the immediate vicinity and within the henge. Coring of the waterlogged silts of the internal ditch has produced considerable environmental data: plant,...Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
Ancient genomes indicate population replacement in Early Neolithic Britain
The roles of migration, admixture and acculturation in the European transition to farming have been debated for over 100 years. Genome-wide ancient DNA studies indicate predominantly Aegean ancestry for continental Neolithic farmers, but also variable admixture with local Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Neolithic cultures first appear in Britain circa 4000 bc, a millennium after...Brace, Selina ; Diekmann, Yoan ; Booth, Thomas J ; Faltyskova, Zuzana ; Rohland, Nadin …
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Journal article
Gold in Prehistoric Scotland
Dr Alison Sheridan introduces a new joint project to explore what we know - and what we have yet to discover - about early gold us in Britain.Sheridan, J A