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Neolithic |
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About 4000 BC to 2351 BC
The word ‘Neolithic’ means ‘New Stone Age’. Archaeologists split up the Neolithic period into three phases; early, middle and late. The Neolithic period comes after the Mesolithic period and before the Bronze Age.
People in the Neolithic period hunted and gathered food as their ancestors had but they were also began to farm. They kept animals and grew crops. This meant that they were able to settle more permanently in one location instead of constantly moving from place to place to look for food.[more]
Archaeologists have discovered some of these settlements in Warwickshire, for example at Wasperton and Brook Street, Warwick.
Not only is there evidence for settlement in Neolithic times but also ceremonial sites, such as henges and cursus monuments, although these are less common in Warwickshire than in some other parts of Britain. The size of some of these monuments, and the number of people it would have taken to build them, suggest that people were living in societies that were more organised at this time. Warwickshire examples include a henge, a circular enclosure defined by a bank and ditch that was excavated at Further Lodge, Barford. Nearby, at Barford Sheds, a long, narrow rectangular enclosure is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs. This might be a cursus monument.
Long barrows, in which people buried the dead during the Neolithic period, are also uncommon in Warwickshire. One possible example exists near Thelsford farm, Charlcote. It was identified as a rectilinear enclosure visible as a cropmark. Excavation showed that there was once an internal mound.
It was during the Neolithic period that people first made pottery. Neolithic pottery is handmade (i.e. not wheel-turned). The clay from which it is made often contains pieces of burnt flint or other Stone, which makes the pottery quite coarse. The inclusion of the flint and Stone helped the pots withstand very high temperatures when they were fired and when they were used for cooking on a fire. Some Neolithic pots were decorated with incised and stamped patterns.
By far the most common Neolithic remains in Warwickshire are the many flint and Stone tools that have been discovered. Some of the Stone axes found in the county were made of Stone from Wales and Cumbria. This suggests that some sort of exchange or trade network was operating during the Neolithic period.
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