The rise to prominence of pits within narratives of the British and Irish Neolithic is well-documented in recent literature. Pits have been cropping up in excavations for centuries, resulting in a very broad spectrum of interpretations but three main factors have led to the recent change in our perception and representation of these features: a broad shift in people''s expectations as to what a Neolithic settlement should be; the development of the concept of ''structured deposition'', within which pits have played a key role; and a dramatic rise in the number of pits actually known about. Development-led archaeology, and the often very large areas its excavations expose, has simply revealed many more pits. The 15 papers in this volume explore these inter-related factors and present new thoughts and interpretations arising from new analysis of Neolithic pits and their contents.

The rise to prominence of pits within narratives of the British and Irish Neolithic is well-documented in recent literature. Pits have been cropping up in excavations for centuries, resulting in a very broad spectrum of interpretations but three main factors have led to the recent change in our perception and representation of these features: a broad shift in people''s expectations as to what a Neolithic settlement should be; the development of the concept of ''structured deposition'', within which pits have played a key role; and a dramatic rise in the number of pits actually known about. Development-led archaeology, and the often very large areas its excavations expose, has simply revealed many more pits. The 15 papers in this volume explore these inter-related factors and present new thoughts and interpretations arising from new analysis of Neolithic pits and their contents.