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Approaches to Interpreting Mesolithic Mobility and Settlement in Britain and Ireland

Bibliographic Data

ID7324939
AuthorsP Preston (0000-0001-6766-0810), T Kador (0000-0002-9452-1725, University College London, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume31
Issue3
Pages321-345
Publication date2018-06-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of World Prehistory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0892-7537 • E-ISSN: 1573-7802
PublisherSpringer Nature (PUBLISHER • SG)
DOI10.1007/s10963-018-9118-y
OpenAlexW2807971709
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited59

The Mesolithic communities of northwest Europe have generally been considered inherently mobile, and all the material evidence associated with them has been interpreted accordingly. This has resulted in entrenched, theoretically polemical and largely hypothetical mobility models, focusing on seasonal rounds and extraction activities. However, recent reanalyses of the ethnographic sources, and discoveries of both substantial and ephemeral Mesolithic structures, as well as new data from recent innovative lithic and scientific analyses (including DNA, isotope research on human remains, and geochemical analyses of lithic artefacts), have forced us to rethink the rather static models of Mesolithic mobility strategies. This paper, examining Mesolithic hunter-gatherer mobility and settlement models from Britain and Ireland, is part of that reassessment. In particular, it assesses the impact of the multiple lines of consilience on our understanding of Mesolithic habitation of landscapes. These include the archaeological evidence and the efficacy of recent theoretical and methodological approaches that have been employed to interpret it

Archaeology · Geography · Hunter-gatherer · Mesolithic · Settlement (finance · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

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Unique citing works17
Citations per year2,13
Citation span2018 - 2026 (9)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 16
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