<< News >> Living Landscapes:Exploring Neolithic Ireland and its Wider Context, 31st May
Submitted by coldrum on Wednesday, 16 May 2007 Page Views: 1471
Neolithic and Bronze AgeCountry: Ireland (Northern) Living Landscapes:Exploring Neolithic Ireland and its Wider ContextVenue: Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University Belfast
Date: Thursday 31st May - Friday 1st June 2007
Registration fee: £10 (students, unwaged/retired), £20 (waged)
For the Neolithic of Ireland and Britain, the main focus for many years has been on the highly visible ritual monuments that in large part define the period. Far less is known concerning the domestic landscape, and people’s daily lives.
This is in contrast to the Neolithic of continental Europe, where settlements have tended to receive more emphasis.
However, over the last decade in Ireland in particular, the discovery of an ever-increasing number of apparently domestic structures has provided the opportunity to better situate the domestic landscape, and to learn something of its nature.
While the houses themselves have been the subject of a number of studies, there is still little understanding of how the landscapes immediately surrounding them were utilised. Recently, stable isotope studies of human bone have been used to argue for an abrupt and more or less complete shift towards new domesticated plants and animals from the outset of the Neolithic, carrying with it the implication of a significant, though perhaps localised, impact on the environment.
To what extent can this impact be traced, and can more detail be provided on the balance between cereals and domestic animals? How intensively were cereal plots maintained, and over what duration? What impact did the new domestic animals have on the environment – an especially germane question in the context of Ireland, with its apparent absence of large grazing mammals.
How did these practices change over the duration of the Neolithic? What was the appearance of this landscape and how might it have been perceived? We seek papers which address these themes, including those that have an Irish emphasis, as well as those that seek to draw attention to the similarities or dissimilarities between Ireland, Britain and continental Europe.
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We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.