This book focuses on the introduction of Neolithic extraction practices
across Europe through to the Atlantic periphery of Britain and Ireland.
The key research questions are when and why were these practices adopted
and what role did extraction sites play in Neolithic society.
Neolithic mines and quarries have frequently been seen as fulfilling
roles linked to the expansion of the Neolithic economy. However, this
ignores the fact that many communities chose to selectively dig for
certain types of stone in preference to others and why the products from
these sites were generally deposited in special places such as wetlands.
To address this question, 168 near-global ethnographic studies were
analyzed to identify common trends in traditional extraction practices
to produce robust statistics about their motivations and material
signatures. Repeated associations emerged between storied locations, the
organization of extraction practices, long-distance distribution of
products, and the material evidence such activities left behind. This
suggests that we can now probably identify mythologized/storied sites,
seasonality, ritualized extraction, and the use-life of extraction site
products.
The ethnographic model was tested against data from 223 near-global
archaeological extraction sites, which confirmed a similar patterning in
both material records. It was used to analyze the social context of 79
Neolithic flint mine and 51 axe quarry excavations in Britain and
Ireland and to review their European origins. The evidence that emerges
confirms the pivotal role played by Neolithic extraction practices in
European Neolithization and that the interaction of indigenous foragers
with migrant miners/farmers was fundamental to the adoption of the new
agropastoral lifestyle.
