Stepping stones to the Neolithic? Islands, maritime connectivity and the 'western seaways' of Britain, 5000-3500 BC

研究背景新石器时代是一个术语，用于描述我们过去从狩猎和采集野生动物和植物到农业生活方式的转变。这种变化发生在世界各地的不同时间，以不同的方式发生，大约在公元前10,000年开始在中东，大约在公元前4,000年在英国和爱尔兰。新石器时代到达英国和爱尔兰的过程目前是一个激烈争论的话题。一些学者认为殖民者从欧洲大陆大规模迁移（从法国和/或比利时带来农业，陶器等），但其他人认为英国的土著居民逐渐采用了自己的农业生活方式（可能是由于他们世界观的广泛转变）。人们一致认为，不列颠、爱尔兰和欧洲大陆之间的一些接触一定是在公元前4000年左右发生的，而这种变化很可能发生在“西部航道”上--一条大约从南部的海峡群岛延伸的弧形海域，穿过锡利群岛、马恩岛和赫布里底群岛，目的和目标踏脚石项目将英国周围的岛屿牢牢地置于这一关键的当代考古辩论的中心。该项目认为，详细了解中石器时代晚期和新石器时代早期的活动在这个重要的接触区有可能作出至关重要的贡献，我们的过渡过程的理解，无论是在西部航道和两侧。我们的中心研究问题是：-新石器时代是什么时候到达西部航道内的每个岛屿群的？- 每个岛屿群最早的新石器时代证据是什么？“外国”文物的存在是否意味着来自欧洲大陆的殖民者的到来？这一时期的海洋是什么样的，变化对航海实践有什么影响？为了回答这些问题，我们将：- 创建一个新的数据库，包含所有已知的中石器时代晚期和新石器时代早期遗址（和相关的放射性碳年代测定）-在三个不同的岛屿群中的每一个上挖掘一个地点，在目前知之甚少的地方寻找新的证据-开展一项新的海洋学建模计划，以确定公元前5000年至3500年之间海洋的实际位置，以及航行穿过海洋的情况。我们将通过一系列期刊论文发表我们的学术成果，并将举行一次关于英国，爱尔兰和欧洲大陆之间史前联系的国际会议（导致同一主题的编辑书籍）。我们还将向公共部门机构传播我们的调查结果，以确保他们能够在未来起草旨在保护沿海遗址的政策文件时使用这些结果。为了确保更广泛的公众能够尽可能多地了解该项目，我们将在挖掘期间举办一些宣传活动（开放日，公共讲座，博物馆展览等）。我们还将开发一系列与项目研究直接相关的教育网络资源。这些将包括：-一个网站，以无障碍语言列出项目的结果-一个“西部航道”导航游戏，旨在为儿童（和其他人）提供史前航海的有趣角度-一个谷歌地球“插件”，使用户能够可视化过去海平面的变化，为现代和未来的环境变化提供重要的深层时间背景。

Research contextThe Neolithic is the term used for the period in our past when the shift from hunting and gathering wild animals and plants to a farming lifestyle occurred. This change happened at different times and in different ways throughout the world, beginning around 10,000 BC in the Middle East and around 4,000 BC in Britain and Ireland. The process by which the Neolithic arrived in Britain and Ireland is currently a hotly debated topic. Some scholars argue that colonists moved wholesale from the continent (bringing farming, pottery, etc. with them from France and/or Belgium), but others have suggested that the indigenous population of Britain gradually adopted the farming lifestyle on their own terms (possibly as a result of a broad shift in their worldview). What is agreed is that some contact between Britain, Ireland and the European mainland must have occurred in the centuries around 4000 BC for the change to happen at all, and that this most likely happened across the 'western seaways' - an arc of sea extending approximately from the Channel Islands in the south, through the Isles of Scilly, the Isle of Man and the Hebrides, around to Orkney in the north.Aims and objectivesThe Stepping Stones project places the islands around Britain firmly at the centre of this key contemporary archaeological debate. This project contends that a detailed understanding of Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic activity within this important zone of contact has the potential to make a crucial contribution to our understanding of the processes of transition, both within the western seaways and on either side. Our central research questions are:- When did the Neolithic arrive on each island group within the western seaways? - What is the earliest Neolithic evidence on each island group? Does the presence of 'foreign' artefacts suggest the arrival of colonists from the Continent?- What was the sea like during this period, and how did any changes affect seafaring practices?In order to answer these questions, we will: - Create a new database of all known Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic sites (and associated radiocarbon dates) within the western seaways zone- Excavate one site on each of three different island groups, to find new evidence where very little is currently known - Carry out a major programme of radiocarbon dating to date the arrival of the Neolithic on each island group - Undertake a new programme of oceanographic modelling, in order to establish where the sea actually was, and what sailing across it would have been like, between 5000 and 3500 BCApplications and benefitsWe feel that it is vital for the project to benefit both the academic community and the wider public. We will publish our academic results via a series of journal papers, and will also hold an international conference about prehistoric connections between Britain, Ireland and the Continent (leading to an edited book on the same theme). We will also disseminate our findings to public sector bodies in order to ensure that they are able to use them when drafting policy documents designed to safeguard coastal sites in future.In order to ensure that the wider public are able to find out as much as possible about the project, we will hold a number of outreach events to coincide with our excavations (open days, public lectures, museum displays, etc.). We will also develop a series of educational web resources linked directly to the project's research. These will include:- A website, setting out the project's results in accessible language- A 'western seaways' navigation game, designed to give children (and others) a fun angle on prehistoric seafaring- A Google Earth 'plugin', enabling users to visualise changing sea levels in the past, providing an important deep-time context for modern andfuture environmental change.