Papers by Lesley McFadyen
This chapter begins with a series of generalizations. In archaeology we are very good at separati... more This chapter begins with a series of generalizations. In archaeology we are very good at separating things out for study-to the extent that, it can be argued, we have the subdisciplines of landscape archaeology, architectural history, and material culture studies (McFadyen 2008a). Furthermore, we study these subdisciplines at different scales.
In this chapter, I will argue that spaces were actively being made in the Late Mesolithic rather ... more In this chapter, I will argue that spaces were actively being made in the Late Mesolithic rather than simply inhabited as meaningful 'places'. Woodland, trees, cutting and working wood, hearth settings, the burning of wood, flint, the working of flint, grassland, worked earth, animals, the butchery and processing of animals are recognised as having been a part of the connective dynamics of architectural construction. I will argue that if we think about the ways in which space was actively being made in the Late Mesolithic, then crucially this leads us into rethinking material culture-architecture-landscape relationships. This paper includes a case study of the late Mesolithic from north Wiltshire.
Mesolithic material has often been found in association with Neolithic long barrows in southern B... more Mesolithic material has often been found in association with Neolithic long barrows in southern Britain. These Mesolithic occupations have previously been understood as having made a 'place' for architecture, or as having created a 'setting' for later architectural constructions. In my writing, I attempt to challenge our understanding of this Mesolithic evidence. In this paper, I will argue that spaces were actively being made in the Late Mesolithic rather than simply inhabited as meaningful 'places'. Woodland, trees, cutting and working wood, hearth settings, the burning of wood, flint, the working of flint, grassland, worked earth, animals, the butchery and processing of animals are recognised as having been a part of the connective dynamics of architectural construction.
In this paper new collaborative research is presented following a re-examination of the faunal re... more In this paper new collaborative research is presented following a re-examination of the faunal remains and architectural evidence from a selected number of Cotswold-Severn long barrow sites. Five different loci of deposition are considered: 'pre-barrow' contexts; the chambers; the superstructure of the barrow and the ditches; the forecourt; and blocking material. These spatial locations were chosen following research that has demonstrated that these areas are likely to represent different temporal, as well as spatial, patterns of activity. While the faunal remains are diverse in character, common themes observed at the sites include: the deposition of complete or partial remains of foetal and young animals within chambers; the use of teeth and cranial elements within blocking material; and from all of the different temporal contexts the absence of clear evidence for feasting, limited evidence for the importance of cattle, and the small but constant inclusion of wild mammals. This complexity of practice has the potential to mature our thinking regarding the nature of human-animal relationships within the early Neolithic of Britain and provide a secure foundation of evidence for subsequent interpretations.
My argument is that prehistoric monuments are better understood through the details of their maki... more My argument is that prehistoric monuments are better understood through the details of their making rather than as an explanation of form -architecture as practice and not as object . The main reason being that in the Neolithic long barrows were not seen as 'all at once' totalities (i.e. the totalising perspective of archaeological plan drawings is illusory). Early work has been an attempt to persuade fellow archaeologists that a more effective account of long barrows comes from an exploration of the range of materials that were involved in the process of construction (including organic materials such as turf). Furthermore, an understanding of building practice requires an examination of the ways in which materials were positioned in relation to each other (i.e. whether these were laid flat and in courses so that other materials could lean against them, or propped up until other materials were brought in to hold them in place). Finally, there are kinds of participation between people, and between people and things, that are required by materials during the process of making (i.e. autonomous and slow or dependent and quick) (see .
Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2007
Forty-four radiocarbon results are now available from the Ascott-under-Wychwood long barrow, and ... more Forty-four radiocarbon results are now available from the Ascott-under-Wychwood long barrow, and are presented within an interpretive Bayesian statistical framework. Three alternative archaeological interpretations of the sequence are given, each with a separate Bayesian model. In our preferred model, pre-barrow occupation including small timber structures and a midden was followed by a gap long enough to allow a turfline to form. Cists and the primary barrow were then initiated and the first human remains inserted into the cists; there was subsequently a secondary extension to the barrow. In the Bayesian model for this interpretation, occupation goes back to the fortieth century cal. bc, the midden being quite short-lived in the latter part of the fortieth or first part of the thirty-ninth century cal. bc. The gap was very probably not less than 50 years long, in the latter part of the thirty-ninth century cal. bc and the first half of the thirty-eighth century cal. bc. The barrow ...
Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2007
Our final paper in this series reasserts the importance of sequence. Stressing that long barrows,... more Our final paper in this series reasserts the importance of sequence. Stressing that long barrows, long cairns and associated structures do not appear to have begun before the thirty-eighth century cal. bc in southern Britain, we give estimates for the relative order of construction and use of the five monuments analysed in this programme. The active histories of monuments appear often to be short, and the numbers in use at any one time may have been relatively low; we discuss time in terms of generations and individual lifespans. The dominant mortuary rite may have been the deposition of articulated remains (though there is much diversity); older or ancestral remains are rarely documented, though reference may have been made to ancestors in other ways, not least through architectural style and notions of the past. We relate these results not only to trajectories of monument development, but also to two models of development in the first centuries of the southern British Neolithic as...
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Papers by Lesley McFadyen