Settling the argument: The contribution of use-wear studies to understanding artefact scatters in Neolithic Britain

Abstract

Our understanding of the Neolithic of southern Britain has been largely based on the interpretation of monumental landscapes such as those around Stonehenge and Avebury. The remains of domestic structures dating to the Neolithic are rare, and when found, are often associated with small assemblages of material culture. The most common forms of settlement evidence are unstratified artefact scatters, which have little evidence of associated structural remains. As a result, our understanding of Neolithic settlement is poor. We have limited knowledge of what craft and subsistence activities were associated with them, and we do not know how quotidian practices were organised at a settlement or landscape level.

Taking the West Kennet Avenue Occupation Site as an example, this paper will show how use-wear analysis can be combined with a detailed technological analysis to reveal details of the character and temporality of a Neolithic settlement. The use-wear analysis will focus on the assemblage of microdenticulates from the site. It further explores the character and potential contact material related to Polish 23, the distinctive use-polish that occurs on these tools, and shows how the combination of spatial analysis and use-wear analysis can separate different episodes of occupation in a scatter of unstratified artefacts. The results provide crucial insight into the history of settlement in the Avebury landscape and shed further light on the character of use of microdenticulates, supporting the argument that they were used for processing plant fibres for the production of textiles.