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Digital Archaeology and the Neolithic of the Peak

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Digital Archaeology and the Neolithic of the Peak Digital Archaeology and the Neolithic of the Peak Graham Francis Xavier McElearney Volume 1 The Thesis Dissertation submitted to The University of Sheffield for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2007 For Mark and Roger ii Volume 1 Contents For images, bibliography and appendices, see Volume 2 Title Page ......................................................................................................... i Dedication ........................................................................................................ii Contents .......................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................... viii Abstract ...........................................................................................................ix Chapter 1 - Introduction ................................................................................... 1 1.1 - Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 1.2 - Introducing Landscapes ....................................................................... 3 1.2.1 - Conceptions of Landscape ............................................................ 3 1.2.2 - Time and Landscape ..................................................................... 6 1.2.3 - Experiencing Landscape ............................................................... 7 1.2.4 - Defining and Representing Landscapes ..................................... 11 1.3 - New Technologies ............................................................................. 14 1.4 - Aims of This Study ............................................................................ 17 Chapter 2 - Introduction to Study Area and Past Archaeological Research .. 20 2.1 Introduction to the Peak District ........................................................... 20 2.1.1 Geology ......................................................................................... 21 2.1.2 Past and current land-use and Archaeological Visibility ................ 21 2.1.2.1 The Higher Limestone Plateau (White Peak) .......................... 22 2.1.2.2 The Shale Valleys and Lower Limestone Shelves .................. 23 2.1.2.3 The Eastern and South-Western Gritstone Uplands ............... 24 2.1.2.4 The High Northern and Western Gritstone Uplands (Northern Massif) ................................................ ; ............................................... 25 2.1.2.5 The Western Moors ................................................................ 25 2.1.3 Summary ....................................................................................... 25 2.2 Previous archaeological research in the Peak District ......................... 26 2.2.1 Antiquarians .................................................................................. 26 2.2.2 Culture history ............................................................................... 27 2.2.3 Surface Collection, Field Survey, and Excavations between the 1950s and 1980 in Britain's first National Park ....................................... 28 2.2.4 - Field Survey ................................................................................ 29 2.2.5 New Archaeology ............................................. ;'............................ 30 2.2.5.1 - Hawke-Smith ........................................................................ 30 2.2.5.2 - Bradley and Hart ................................................................... 32 2.3 Moving Beyond the Monuments - Post-Processual and Landscape Archaeology in the Peak Since the 1980s ................................................. 34 2.3.1 Understanding the Neolithic .......................................................... 34 2.3.2 - Reappraisal of Old Evidence ...................................................... 36 2.3.2.1 - Monuments and Surface Scatters in the White Peak ........... 36 2.3.2.2 - Environmental Evidence ....................................................... 39 2.3.3 Beyond the Plateau - Later Prehistory and the Gritstone Eastern Moors ..................................................................................................... 40 New Lithic Evidence ........................................................................... 41 Rock Art .............................................................................................. 42 iii A Housing Estate in Buxton ................................................................ 42 2.3.3 Monuments and Mobility in the Peak District Landscape .............. 44 Location .............................................................................................. 47 Monuments in complex ....................................................................... 47 The Shale Valleys and Lower Limestone Shelves .............................. 48 The Higher Limestone Plateau (White Peak) ...................................... 48 The Eastern and South-Western Gritstone Uplands ........................... 49 The Northern Massif ........................................................................... 49 2.4 The current state and future questions for the rest of this thesis .......... 50 Chapter 3 - Beyond the Map ......................................................................... 52 3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 52 3.1.1 - A Brief History and Key Definitions of GIS and Viewshed Analysis ............................................................................................................... 52 3.2 A Brief History and Summary of the Uses of GIS in Archaeology ........ 54 3.2.1 The Attraction of GIS in Archaeology ............................................ 54 3.2.2 Summary of Uses In Archaeology ................................................. 56 3.2.2.1 Cultural Resource Management (CRM) ..................................... 56 3.2.2.2 Landscape Archaeology ............................................................. 56 3.3 The Critique of GIS .............................................................................. 57 3.4 Viewshed Analysis ............................................................................... 59 3.4.1 Early Studies in Viewshed Analysis .................................................. 60 Critique ............................................................................................... 63 3.4.2 Problems with Viewshed Analysis ................................................. 63 3.4.2.1 Pragmatic Problems ................................................................ 64 3.4.2.2 Procedural Critiques and Issues ............................................. 65 3.4.2.3 Theoretical Critiques and Issues ............................................. 67 3.5 Ravello and Beyond ............................................................................. 69 3.5.1 Higuchi and Directional Viewsheds ............................................... 70 3.5.2 Modelling the Effects of Vegetation ............................................... 72 3.5.3 Prominence and Visualscapes ...................................................... 73 3.5.4 The Neolithic Landscape of the Carnac Region ............................ 75 3.5.5 Viewsheds and Dwelling around Southern Romanian Neolithic Tells ............................................................................................................... 76 3.5.6 Visibility and Movement in East yorkshire ..................................... 77 3.5.7 Orcadian Tombs ............................................................................ 78 3.5.8 Stonehenge Landscapes ............................................................... 79 3.6 Chapter 3 Discussion and Conclusion ....... " ........................................ 81 3.6.1 Methodological Advances .............................................................. 81 3.6.2 Theoretical Advances .................................................................... 84 Chapter 4 - Viewshed Analysis of Neolithic Monuments of the White Peak .. 88 4.1 Introduction ............................................ ~ ............................................. 88 4.2 - General Description of Neolithic Tombs ............................................ 89 4.2.1 - General Typology ....................................................................... 89 4.2.2 - Peak District Typology ................................................................ 90 Name ...................... : ................ · ....... · .. ·· .. ·· ...... · .. ·· .. · .... · ....................... 91 Type ........................................ ·········· ..... ···.···.·.·.·· .. ···.·· ....................... 91 4.3 - Burial Monuments - From Economy to Phenomenology ................... 91 4.3.1 - Tombs and territories ................................................................. 92 iv 4.3.2 Tombs for the Living ...................................................................... 93 4.3.3 - Ancestors in the Landscape ....................................................... 94 4.4 - Neolithic Tombs in the Peak District - Current Models ...................... 95 Monuments in complex ....................................................................... 97 4.5 -Viewshed analysis ............................................................................. 98 4.5.1 - Introduction and Methodology
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