Gill Hey – författare

A review of the rich and diverse evidence for understanding past climate and environmental change in the Thames Valley, and the effects on plant and animal populations and the challenges and opportunities these presented to early humans. Part 1 of this volume covers the Pleistocene, the epoch of the Ice Ages, in an integrated review of the geological, palaeontological and archaeological data for the last half million years and more. Part 2 takes up the story from the beginning of the Holocene, the warm period in which we are still living, which began around 11,500 years ago. The authors review the evidence for early hunter-gatherer populations in the Mesolithic, the gradually increasing impact of humans in the region in the Neolithic and early Bronze Age and their rich social lives and belief systems. Much of the evidence has been recovered during extensive gravel quarrying. The volume is excellently illustrated with colour and line illustrations and maps.

The Solent-Thames region, comprising Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, is a recent combination of counties which provide a north-south transect across Central Southern England, and offer fresh insights into the past. Drawing upon county assessments, and written by eminent period specialists, this volume presents an overview of the current state of archaeological knowledge within this region from Palaeolithic times to the present day.This region contains some of the most important sites in England: the remarkable early Mesolithic settlements along the Kennet valley, the hillfort at Danebury and its environs, the Roman town of Silchester and the cemetery of Lankhills, and the Saxon and medieval towns and cities of Southampton, Winchester and Oxford. Portsmouth houses arguably the most important ships in the naval history of Britain, and includes the best-preserved Tudor warship, the Mary Rose. Blenheim, seat of the Dukes of Marlborough, is a World Heritage site of international renown.Following the assessments are a series of research aims and priorities both for specific periods and for wider cross-period themes, an indispensable tool for anyone contemplating research in this region. It is one of a series covering the whole of England published with the support of English Heritage.

These papers highlight recent archaeological work in Northern England, in the commercial, academic and community archaeology sectors, which have fundamentally changed our perspective on the Neolithic of the area. Much of this was new work (and much is still not published) and has been overlooked in the national discourse. The papers cover a wide geographical area, from Lancashire north into the Scottish Lowlands, recognising the irrelevance of the England/Scotland Border. They also take a broad chronological sweep, from the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition to the introduction of Beakers into the area.  The key themes are: the nature of transition; the need for a much-improved chronological framework; regional variation linked to landscape character; links within northern England and with distant places; the implications of new dating for our understanding of the axe trade; the changing nature of settlement and agriculture; the character of early Neolithic enclosures; and the need to integrate rock art into wider discourse.