Neolithic Communities of the Channel Islands

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with socio-cultural developments in the Channel Islands during the period 5000 BC-1500 BC. Throughout the thesis, the main emphasis is on changing social relations within Channel Island Neolithic communities, and particular attention will be given to changing relations between island and mainland communities, in an attempt to assess the significance of insularity in the development of Neolithic societies. \nThe background to the thesis is given in the first two chapters. Chapter I begins with an outline of the history of archaeological research in the islands, and goes on to discuss the nature of the archaeological evidence, before outlining the theoretical approach adopted in this study, which is based on a realist epistemology and a dialectical approach to social relations. The environmental background to the Channel Island Neolithic is outlined in Chapter II. The development of Channel Island Neolithic communities is discussed in detail in four chronologically organised chapters (III-VI), dealing respectively with the Early Neolithic, the Middle Neolithic, the Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age. A more general discussion of the social aspects of the Channel Island Neolithic is presented in Chapter VII: this chapter begins by outlining long-term trends in changing social relations on the intra-/inter-communal, inter-island and regional levels, and goes on to discuss the relationships between insularity and social relations, before discussing the main theoretical implications of the thesis. Specialist data concerning lithic and ceramic typology are presented in Appendices i-v, and an inventory of relevant sites is given in Appendix vi.

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