Lifting the Lid: Investigating Ceramic Variability and Social Practices at the Onset of the Neolithic in the Outer Hebrides Through Organic Residue

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The project I am proposing is titled: 'Lifting the Lid: Investigating Ceramic Variability and Social Practices at the Onset of the Neolithic in theOuter Hebrides Through Organic Residue Analysis and Radiocarbon Dating.'.This project will explore the emergence and use of pottery at the very Northern fringes of Neolithic Europe. The focus of this study will be on theOuter Hebrides and Orkney. I will analyse a large assemblage of ceramics using organic residue analysis and stable isotope analysis. This will beto determine whether subsitence and cultural practices change over time or whether like the corresponding pot forms, remaining 'conservative'over time. Furthermore, if there is change in subsistence patterns in the early-middle Neolithic it will be interpreted whether this is due to theintroduction of new farming practices or environmental change.The contents of uniform vessel forms found in different regions and associated with different types of human activity will also be compared. Forexample, Unstan-type pots are usually associated with domestic settlements on the Outer Hebrides but in funerary contexts on Orkney.By using recently developed techniques in the direct-dating of pottery lipids then absolute dates will be acquired from pots in tombs which eitherare undated or have previously shown discordant dates.This project will allow a much greater characterisation of the subsistence and cultural patterns of these regions. This will contribute to a largerunderstanding of the manifestation of Neolithic practices as it spread across Europe.