Mining and Quarrying in Neolithic Europe: A Social Perpsective

Anne Teather · Peter Topping · Jon Baczkowski

Jun 2019 · Oxbow Books

About this ebook

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 approached from different methodological and theoretical perspectives. In recent years this has included the exploration of previously undiscovered sites, refined radiocarbon dating, comparative ethnographic analysis and novel analytical approaches to stone tool manufacture and provenancing.



The aim of this volume in the Neolithic Studies Group Papers is to explore these new findings on extraction sites and their products. How did the acquisition of raw materials fit into other aspects of Neolithic life and social networks? How did these activities merge in creating material items that underpinned cosmology, status and identity? What are the geographic similarities, constraints and variables between the various raw materials, and how does the practise of stone extraction in the UK relate to wider extractive traditions in northwestern Europe? Eight papers address these questions and act as a useful overview of the current state of research on the topic.

About the author

Anne Teather is an independent researcher in European Neolithic archaeology with a special interest in flint mining and stone extraction industries. She holds several visiting research positions at University of Manchester; Kingston University, London; Institute of Archaeology and University College London.

Pete Topping was head of survey for English Heritage and is an expert in landscape interpretation. Following voluntary early retirement he returned to his main subject of research, undertaking a recently awarded PhD at Newcastle University on flint and stone extraction industries. He is on Oxbow's American Landscapes Editorial Board.

Jon Baczkowski is a senior field officer with the ASL contracting unit and is studying for his PhD on flint mining at the University of Southampton. He specialises in prehistoric lithic identification and flint resources and extraction sites.