Extract from Non-monumental burial in Neolithic Britain: a (largely) cavernous view by Rick Schulting
It has long been known that many caves have yielded human remains, and that some of these were likely to be of Neolithic Age, but the full extent of this practice has only slowly become appreciated. The main obstacle to this realisation has been the open and hence disturbed nature of most cave deposits, and their multi-period use, so that it is very rarely possible to assign a date based on any artefactual associations.
Chamberlain first drew attention to the number of directly C dated Neolithic humans from caves that had been accumulating for some years. The vast majority of these were ‘disappointments’ in terms of the research projects that funded the dates, since these were by and large intended to discover palaeolithic or mesolithic humans. Nevertheless, as more human bone from caves is directly AMS C dated, it is becoming increasingly clear that cave burial was a significant feature of earlier (and later) neolithic mortuary practice. Some individuals across Britain have been directly dated to the Neolithic, and, if associated remains are often of approximately the same age, there are more than individuals represented.
Some caves have yielded only a single individual, indeed sometimes only a single element, though it is usually not clear whether this is a result of cursory examination – a number of such finds were made by cavers investigating new passages - or is the original condition.
Other caves, often designated as ‘ossuary caves’, hold the remains of ten or more individuals :examples include Little Hoyle, Gop Cave, and Perthi Chwarae in Wales; Hay Wood Cave and New Park Quarry in south-western England; Calling Dale Low, Dowel and Elbolton Caves in northern England; and Raschoille Cave in western Scotland.
However, the neolithic attribution of all individuals at these sites is far from certain. It is supported most strongly for Little Hoyle, Gop, and most especially Raschoille, all of which have multiple AMS dates, though these range considerably within this period.
While long barrows and chambered tombs have long received most of the attention of British neolithic archaeologists investigating mortuary practices, it is clear that there were a variety of different depositional contexts for the remains of the dead at this time. Other kinds of monuments, and in particular causewayed enclosures, seem to have played an important role in funerary behaviour. But other, less immediately recognisable places also feature.
More flat graves are being identified through the application of AMS dating to burials lacking diagnostic grave goods. A number of human remains recovered from river contexts have also been shown in recent years to fall within the Neolithic Period, raising the possibility in some instances of river ‘burial’.
But, at least quantitatively, the most important alternative burial location to monuments is without question deposition in caves. Again, it is the increasingly routine use of AMS dating that is raising awareness of the number of neolithic human remains from caves. In many cases there appear to be parallels in how the skeleton is treated in caves and monuments, such as the deposition of both articulated and
disarticulated remains, and the manipulation of skeletal elements.
The significance of these different burial locations remains poorly understood, but there are some clear lines of inquiry that can be explored. Foremost is the need to document the full extent of cave burial in the Neolithic through the instigation of systematic dating programmes. This can then provide the basis for a comparison of the demographic and health profiles of groups interred in caves and in monuments.
Preliminary stable isotope results from South Wales suggest that the long-term diets of individuals differed significantly between these two burial contexts, intimating the existence of considerable socioeconomic differentiation in neolithic Britain.
https://www.academia.edu/543776/Non-monumental_burial_in_Neolithic_Britain_a_largely_cavernous_view
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