Preface

Abstract

• The Mesolithic period (approximately 10,000 - 5000 years ago), from the end of the last Ice Age to the beginnings of agriculture, is now seen as critical in our understanding of all later developments - both in human society and in the natural world - throughout prehistoric northern Europe. The Scottish landscape and its plants and animals underwent dramatic change, a change experienced by the first human inhabitants - the Mesolithic hunters, fishers and gatherers. This volume of collected papers originated in a ground-breaking international conference held in Edinburgh in November 1999, when leading experts gathered at the Royal Museum to present and discuss current knowledge in Scotland, and the rest of the UK and Ireland, informed by insights into recent developments in Denmark, Norway, Poland and Sweden. These published studies present an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the exciting and expanding field of Mesolithic research.