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dc.contributor.authorHudson, Samuel M.
dc.contributor.authorPears, Ben
dc.contributor.authorJacques, David
dc.contributor.authorFonville, Thierry
dc.contributor.authorHughes, Paul
dc.contributor.authorAlsos, Inger Greve
dc.contributor.authorSnape, Lisa
dc.contributor.authorLang, Andreas
dc.contributor.authorBrown, Antony
dc.date.accessioned2022-08-23T08:57:37Z
dc.date.available2022-08-23T08:57:37Z
dc.date.issued2022-04-27
dc.description.abstractThe Neolithic and Bronze Age construction and habitation of the Stonehenge Landscape has been extensively explored in previous research. However, little is known about the scale of pre-Neolithic activity and the extent to which the later monumental complex occupied an ‘empty’ landscape. There has been a long-running debate as to whether the monumental archaeology of Stonehenge was created in an uninhabited forested landscape or whether it was constructed in an already partly open area of pre-existing significance to late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. This is of significance to a global discussion about the relationship between incoming farmers and indigenous hunter-gatherer societies that is highly relevant to both Old and New World archaeology. Here we present the results of plant sedaDNA, palynological and geoarchaeological analysis at the Late hunter-gatherer site complex of Blick Mead at the junction of the drylands of Salisbury Plain and the floodplain of the River Avon, on the edge of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. The findings are placed within a chronological framework built on OSL, radiocarbon and relative archaeological dating. We show that Blick Mead existed in a clearing in deciduous woodland, exploited by aurochsen, deer and hunter-gatherers for approximately 4000 years. Given its rich archaeology and longevity this strongly supports the arguments of continuity between the Late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers activity and Neolithic monument builders, and more specifically that this was a partially open environment important to both groups. This study also demonstrates that sediments from low-energy floodplains can provide suitable samples for successful environmental assaying using sedaDNA, provided they are supported by secure dating and complementary environmental proxies.en_US
dc.identifier.citationHudson, Pears, Jacques, Fonville, Hughes, Alsos, Snape, Lang, Brown. Life before Stonehenge: The hunter-gatherer occupation and environment of Blick Mead revealed by sedaDNA, pollen and spores. PLOS ONE. 2022;17(4):e0266789en_US
dc.identifier.cristinIDFRIDAID 2029045
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0266789
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/26350
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_US
dc.relation.journalPLOS ONE
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccessen_US
dc.rights.holderCopyright 2022 The Author(s)en_US
dc.titleLife before Stonehenge: The hunter-gatherer occupation and environment of Blick Mead revealed by sedaDNA, pollen and sporesen_US
dc.type.versionpublishedVersionen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.typeTidsskriftartikkelen_US
dc.typePeer revieweden_US


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