Graeme Warren – författare

The Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age, dates from the end of the last Ice Age at c. 9600 BC until the adoption of farming at approximately 4000 BC. At this time, varied communities of hunter-gatherers settle the space now called Scotland. These groups lived from the wild resources available in the diverse, striking, and changing landscapes. that surrounded them. For approximately half of Scotland's past it has been a land of hunter-gatherers: and yet the stories of those lives are rarely told.This book seeks to redress some of this loss. Introducing a rich variety of evidence, from pollen analysis through to deliberate deposition of human bones, Graeme Warren's account focuses on understandings of landscape, skilled practices such as seafaring, scales of community, and the routines that constituted the fundamental rhythms of life. Other discussions include environmental and landscape change, appropriate scales and methods for analysis, and interpreting mesolithic stone tool manufacture.Written for the general reader, evening class student, undergraduate or postgraduate student and a professional audience, and including the latest research, this book offers a vivid archaeology of the distant past that can be found in some very familiar places in the Scottish landscape.

The general perception of the archaeology of the Mesolithic in Britain and Ireland is that the period is somewhat impoverished. Often assumed to have an exceptionally limited range of evidence, the period is also perceived as a theoretical backwater, devoid of the vibrant, engaging narratives that have transformed other branches of prehistoric archaeology over the last 20 years.However, new approaches, producing a distinctive 'Mesolithic' archaeology, are beginning to supersede the traditional accounts and demonstrate that such assumptions about the Mesolithic are wholly misplaced. This volume, aimed at a broader archaeological readership, introduces this new generation of researchers and offers an urgently needed teaching resource for students who want a deeper understanding of the period.The book provides up-to-date information on a variety of important topics: technology, gender, subsistence, analogy, ritual, landscape and death. Additionally, a range of important Mesolithic sites are discussed throughout the text, with new interpretations and theories being explored.The book's combination of high-quality academic research and comprehensive reading lists ensure that it will be of value to second or final-year students studying a module on the Mesolithic, and essential reading for post-graduate students.