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Book chapter
Ancient DNA and modelling the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Britain and Ireland
The current paradigm-changing ancient DNA revolution is offering unparalleled insights into central problems within archaeology relating to the movement of populations and individuals, patterns of descent, relationships and aspects of identity – at many scales and of many different kinds. The impact of recent ancient DNA results can be seen...Sheridan, J A ; Whittle, Alasdair
Neolithic Studies Group, Britain, DNA, Ireland, and human migration
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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
“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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Book chapter
The Wroot Neolithic jadeitite axehead
Sheridan, J A
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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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Book chapter
Archaeological applications of natural gold analyses
Compositional studies of natural gold usually have a geological focus, but are also important in archaeological provenancing. Both methodologies rely on compositional comparison of two sets of samples, one of which is geographically constrained. Here we describe how experiences in gold characterization resulting from geological studies are relevant to archaeology....Standish, C D ; Chapman, R J ; Moles, N R ; Walshaw, R D ; Sheridan, J A
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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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Book chapter
Making sense of Scottish Neolithic funerary monuments: tracing trajectories and understanding their rationale
This contribution offers an overview of the appearance , spread and regionally specific developmental trajectories of funerary monuments in Neolithic Scotland, setting these within the broader context of the arrival of farming groups from Brittany and northern France in the early centuries of the 4th millennium, and the subsequent expansion...Sheridan, J A
funerary monuments , Bayesian models , migration, Neolithic Scotland, passage tombs, cairns, and farming practices
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Book chapter
A view from north of the border
In 2021, Alasdair Whittle and his colleagues published a map showing their model of the Neolithisation of Britain and Ireland featuring, a northwards and westwards spread, from the south-east corner of England, of farming as a subsistence strategy and of other novel, associated, 'things and practices' - to borrow one...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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Book chapter
The dagger
In the 22nd century cal BC (Figure 4.33 First Dig: Cist 2205–2130 cal BC (68% probability)) a dramatic alteration of the Henge 1 interior occurred. A large pit was dug into the partially filled henge ditch in the southern interior of the enclosure within a fewmetres of where the cremation...Sheridan, J A ; Cameron, Esther ; O'Connor, Sonia ; Greaves, Pieta ; Northover, Peter …
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Book chapter
The Forteviot dagger-burial and Henge 1 modification
In the 22nd century cal BC (Figure 4.33 First Dig: Cist 2205–2130 cal BC (68% probability)) a dramatic alteration of the Henge 1 interior occurred. A large pit was dug into the partially filled henge ditch in the southern interior of the enclosure within a fewmetres of where the cremation...Noble, Gordon ; Brophy, Kenneth ; Sheridan, J A
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Lecture
Not just a load of old balls: Late Neolithic developments and the creation of a new world order in Orkney
The remarkable complex of large structures at Ness of Brodgar in Orkney has justly attracted worldwide attention, and has led to some contentious claims on popular TV programmes. This lecture investigates the emergence of the competitive, adventurous, innovative elite in Orkney who were responsible for building Ness of Brodgar and...Sheridan, J A
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Lecture
Making sense of funerary monuments and funerary practices
Megalithic chamber tombs – of widely varying shape and size – loom large in the visible traces of Scotland’s Neolithic, but they formed just one element in a diverse range of practices concerned with dealing with, relating to, and commemorating the dead. This lecture explores this diversity and draws out...Sheridan, J A
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Lecture
An everyday story of country folk?
What was the nature of the farming way of life, and how did it vary over time and space? How well do we understand the range of resources that were being used and the changing environment in which people lived their lives? How did society operate, and where did people...Sheridan, J A
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Lecture
The big picture and regional narratives
Understanding what happened across the Scottish landscape between c.4,000-2,500 BC requires us to adopt multiple scales of enquiry, from the international to the local. This lecture explores the main developments and highlights the diversity in the regional trajectories of social and economic change by focusing on two contrasting and often...Sheridan, J A
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Lecture
Neolithic Scotland: changing perceptions, new approaches, plethora of data, and contested narratives
Our narrative of the past has been, and continues to be, the subject of intense debate, not least in regard to when, how and why the novel way of life appeared and became established in Scotland, and what happened to Scotland’s hunter-fisher-forager communities. This first lecture reviews our understanding, and...Sheridan, J A
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Book chapter
Later prehistoric pottery
The Sculptor’s Cave is one of the most enigmatic prehistoric sites in Britain. Excavated in the 1920s and 1970s, new analysis of the archive has revealed a complex history of funerary and ritual activity from the Late Bronze Age to the Roman Iron Age. Using innovative methods and new techniques, this...Cruickshanks, Gemma ; Sheridan, J A
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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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Book chapter
Disc-rings made from Alpine rocks, in the social imagination of Neolithic communities
In France, disc-rings of Alpine jades and of serpentinite circulated over very long distances, as far as the Channel Islands and the coast of Brittany. The authors present a typochronological study for each rock type, along with distribution maps and a general social interpretation. Two origins are identified, of which...Pétrequin, P ; Cassen, S ; Errera, M ; Pailler, Yves ; Pétrequin, A-M …
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Book chapter
Fifty shades of green: the irresistible attraction, use and significance of jadeitite and other green Alpine rock types in Neolithic Europe
This chapter summarizes the results of two major international projects JADE and JADE 2. These examined the exploitation, circulation, use and significance of artefacts made from jadeite and other green rocks from the Western Alps in Neolithic Europe. The most-widely travelled of all the prehistoric materials, these Alpine jades seem...Sheridan, J A ; Pétrequin, Pierre ; Pétrequin, A-M ; Cassen, S ; Errera, M …
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Book chapter
Rings and axeheads of Alpine jades: imports to and exports from the Gulf of Morbihan during the 5th millennium and the beginning of the 4th millennium
During the 5th millennium BC, the gulf of Morbihan played a major role in the circulation of socially-valued goods, especially those made from Alpine jades (jadeitite, omphacitite, eclogite, some serpentinites and, more rarely, nephrite), in the form of disc-rings and polished axeheads. This contribution begins with a review of the...Pétrequin, P ; Pétrequin, A-M ; Cinquetti, Mauro ; Errera, M ; Valcarce, Ramón Fábregas …
Alps, paragonite, jade, disc-ring, polished axehead, and Neolithic
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Conference paper (published)
The creative reinterpretation of axeheads: the use of jadeitite and other Alpine rocks
Axeheads made of jadeitite and of other Alpine rocks (notably omphacitites and fine-grained eclogites) provide a classic example of an artefact type that acquired a symbolic meaning over and above its original functional meaning as a tool for felling trees and working wood. Axes were a necessary tool for farming...Sheridan, J A
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Book chapter
Tangled up in blue: the role of riebeckite felsite in Neolithic Shetland
The social processes involved in acquiring flint and stone in the Neolithic began to be considered over thirty years ago, promoting a more dynamic view of past extraction processes. Whether by quarrying, mining or surface retrieval, the geographic source locations of raw materials and their resultant archaeological sites have been...Cooney, Gabriel ; Megarry, William ; Markham, Mik ; Gilhooly, Bernard ; O’Neill, Brendan …
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Conference paper (published)
Creating a research framework and strategy for early gold in Britain's auriferous regions
This presentation outlines a current AHRC-funded initiative that has created an international network of those involved in the study of gold, to create a Research Framework and Strategy relating to gold use in Britain's auriferous regions, 2450-800 BC. This deals with issues of locating and characterising the source areas; of...Sheridan, J A
Bronze, sourcing, goldworking, Chalcolithic, and Gold
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Conference paper (published)
Mobility and migration among the Beaker people of Britain
The Beaker People Project, recently published in 2019, is a multi-isotope study, combined with human osteology, dental microwear analysis and radiocarbon-dating, carried out on 334 burials of the Beaker period and Early Bronze Age (c.2500-1500 cal BC) in Britain, to explore patterns of mobility, migration, diet and health. Its results...Pearson, Mike Parker ; Sheridan, J A ; Evans, Jane ; Jay, Mandy ; Richards, Mike …
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Conference paper (published)
Constructing narratives of Britain’s (and the whole of Europe’s) prehistoric past: navigating through a sea of data and the choppy waters of contested discourses…and at a time of political madness
Trying to understand the past by constructing ‘big picture’ and more detailed narratives is what we, as archaeologists, do in our own varied ways; it’s what we have always tried to do, and it is something that has featured in a major way in this lecturer’s own career as a...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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Lecture
DNA analysis of ancient individuals found in Scotland
Dr Ange Boyle, University of Edinburgh, presents a short lecture on “DNA analysis of ancient individuals found in Scotland: part of the third great revolution in archaeology” on behalf of Dr Alison Sheridan, National Museums Scotland, and Dr Lisa Brown, Historic Environment Scotland, at the Archaeological Research in Progress (ARP...Sheridan, J A ; Brown, Lisa
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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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Book chapter
Disc-rings of Alpine rock in western Europe: typology, chronology, distribution and social significance
In France, disc-rings made from Alpine jades and from serpentinite circulated over very long distances, as far as the Channel coast and that of Brittany. The authors offer here a typo-chronological study of these and other stone bangles, according to the types of rock used, and consider their distribution and...Pétrequin, P ; Cassen, S ; Errera, M ; Pailler, Yves ; Prodéo, F …
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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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Book chapter
Appendix 2. The post-1500 BC individuals
Nineteen individuals within the BPP database either produced radiocarbon dates that were later than the 2500-1500 BC core period, or else were attributed a post-1500 BC date on the basis of their find context and their unusual isotopic ratios. They range in date from the Middle Bronze Age to the...Jay, Mandy ; Montgomery, Janet ; Pearson, Mike Parker ; Sheridan, J A
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Book chapter
The Beaker People: project individuals, their funerary practices and their grave goods
This chapter introduces the individuals in the BPP Database, focusing on those dating to the Project's core period of 2500-1500 BC (rather than those found to date earlier or later: see Appendices 1 and 2 for thes), and especially those belonging to the Beaker period, from the 25th century to...Pearson, Mike Parker ; Needham, Stuart ; Sheridan, J A ; Gibson, Alex
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Book chapter
Introduction
In Great Britain the researches of craniologists have demonstrated that the appearance of bronzeand of the beaker types of ceramic coincides with the advent of a new race characterized by a brachycephalic skull distinctly different from the dolichocephalic head of the earlier neolithic inhabitants...it is therefore necessary to direct our...Pearson, Mike Parker ; Jay, Mandy ; Sheridan, J A
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Book chapter
Appendix 1. The pre-2500 BC individuals
Some 17 individuals sampled for the BPP can be assigned to the Neolithic period, either on the basis of radiocarbon dating (n=12) or because of their contextual associations (n=5). In some cases (such as Liffs Low, Derbyshire) the selection had been deliberate: they were known to be Neolithic when they...Jay, Mandy ; Montgomery, Janet ; Pearson, Mike Parker ; Sheridan, J A