Scotland in Ancient Europe: The Neolithic and Early Bronze Age
of Scotland in their European Context, edited by Ian A G Shepherd & Gordon J Barclay
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 2004. 321 pages,
150 illustrations including 4 colour plates. hb ISBN 0-903903-31-8. £55 (£40 to
Fellows of the Society)
This volume presents the proceedings of a conference held in Edinburgh in March
2003 - one of a series of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland conferences reviewing
Scotland’s past within its broader context. The previous, and first, was held in
1999 and was published by the Society in 2004 as Mesolithic Scotland and its Neighbours
(edited by Alan Saville); the next is due to take place in 2008, and will cover
the Later Bronze Age and the Iron Age.
The Scotland in Ancient Europe conference was held in honour of Stuart
Piggott, the second Abercromby Professor of Archaeology (after Gordon Childe) at
the University of Edinburgh’s Department of Archaeology. The editors (who, like
several of the contributors, had studied under Piggott) carefully selected contributions
that would embody the tradition of open-minded scholarship that Piggott had worked
so hard to promote. Now is an appropriate, if sad, time to be reviewing this volume,
because Piggott would doubtless have been horrified to learn of the radical changes
that are currently affecting that Department and its Abercromby Professorship (as
alluded to in the current Editorial of Antiquity, volume 80) changes
that have included the recent dismantling of the Drummond Library that Piggott helped
to develop, in order to make space for computer terminals. But perhaps he would
not have been surprised: an extract from one of his letters (p. 15) reveals that
University problems are nothing new:
‘Less successful was my running battle with the University authorities for adequate
accommodation and more staff, where with one or two notable exceptions I found a
total incomprehension of the needs of a modern archaeological department...’
The volume is a third Festschrift for Piggott – the first being Coles and
Simpson’s Studies in Ancient Europe published in 1968, and the second,
Megaw’s To Illustrate the Monuments (1976). It nods to both: its introductory
and concluding sections are titled ‘Scotland in Ancient Europe 1’ and ‘Scotland
in Ancient Europe 2’ respectively, and the latter ends with a bibliography (by Marjorie
Robertson) of Piggott’s later (post-1975) publications, to complement her list
of earlier publications that had appeared in Megaw's 1976 volume.
‘Scotland in Ancient Europe 1’ comprises two chapters, starting with an excellent
evaluation, by Richard Bradley, of Piggott’s philosophical and methodological approach
to Scottish prehistory, comparing and contrasting it with that of Childe. This contribution
also lays to rest some misconceptions wrought by Sharples’ harsh critique of Piggott
(Sharples 1996). Chapter 2 is a highly entertaining ‘appreciation’ of Piggott by
Ian Ralston and Vincent Megaw, developed from their after-dinner speeches during
the conference dinner. This affectionate review of the man and his poetry reveals
a lot about his character, and particularly his wit; it includes the legendary photograph
of ‘Piggins’ posing as a crouched inhumation, accompanied by a bottle of beer as
a grave good, taken at Croft Moraig and used as his 1965 Christmas card (fig. 2.1.6).
At the other end of the book, ‘Scotland in Ancient Europe 2’ comprises the aforementioned
bibliography, together with two contributions by Roger Mercer – a Summary and Conclusion,
and a quirky, engaging piece on ‘The bronze doors of No. 9 Millbank, London…’, offered
to Piggott’s ghost as a little something that the great man would have found amusing.
This piece is not irrelevant to the main themes of the book, as it offers a reading,
and a biography, of a specific piece of material culture.
The structure and rationale of the rest of the book are set out in the editors’
Preface (xvi–xix): the aim was to consider certain themes ‘which Piggott had illuminated
during his career and which are still relevant today’, namely: i) Beginnings, narratives,
environment, settlement and chronology; ii) Tombs, monuments and their landscapes;
and iii) Artefacts, art and their connections. These themes are amply covered in
the 19 chapters in question, written by leading ‘players’ in their respective areas.
It is not proposed to review each of these in detail, but it is worth pointing out
some noteworthy features. For example, both Barclay’s history of the study of the
Scottish Neolithic, and Clarke’s paper on the construction of narratives, make points
of fundamental importance regarding archaeological approaches to understanding the
past, and their relevance extends far beyond Scottish archaeology. The environmental
chapters (by Edwards and by Tipping and Tisdall) offer useful summaries of our state
of knowledge, and touch on long-standing issues such as the elm decline; pre-elm
decline cereal pollen; and the impact of climatic and other environmental change
at different periods. Mike Richards’ contribution highlights the importance of biomolecular
approaches to archaeology in furthering our understanding of prehistoric diet, and
of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. Warren’s paper on the start of the Neolithic
in Scotland confirms the enormity of the changes involved, and also comments that
Piggott’s definition of the earliest Neolithic in Britain and Ireland is still valid
in many respects, because he ‘was one of a number of writers who defined archaeological
discourse to such an extent that we are still largely operating within the terms
he established’ (p. 99).
Eoin Grogan’s review of Irish Neolithic houses and their implications provides a
valuable summary of the evidence that had mushroomed, and continues to mushroom,
through developer-funded archaeology in Ireland; and although Scotland has had no
such ‘housing boom’, the approaches that Grogan proposes to understanding Neolithic
settlement are relevant to Scotland. Magdalena Midgley offers a broader review of
houses, and funerary monuments, in north-west Europe during the later sixth and
fifth millennia BC; and Patrick Ashmore’s contribution teases out from the burgeoning
population of radiocarbon dates some fascinating themes (such as dates relating
to barley; to cattle; to types of structure; and to pottery styles). Ashmore also
usefully reminds us of the factors that need to be taken into account when considering
radiocarbon dates (and when submitting samples for new dates) (p.125). Incidentally,
this is the first year when Discovery and Excavation in Scotland will not
be featuring the invaluable annual round-up of Scottish archaeological radiocarbon
dates (other than those obtained for the National Museums Scotland) that Ashmore
had produced since 1996: his relocation, upon retirement, to deepest France means
that his input is sadly missed.
The ‘Tombs, Monuments and their Landscapes’ section starts with a brief and characteristically
incisive piece by Ian Kinnes in which he exhorts prehistorians (including this reviewer)
to ‘Forget strict parallel-chasing’ (p.142) and to focus on constructing meaningful
narratives. As in many of his recent publications, he cuts to the heart of issues
concerning the origins of the British and Irish Neolithic, and does so from the
basis of a solid knowledge of the Continental Neolithic – a knowledge which is sadly
rare among today’s prehistorians.
Kenny Brophy’s light-hearted but scholarly review of monuments in today’s landscapes
– and the way in which people react to them – includes the wonderful spoof reconstruction
(by David Hogg, for Gordon Barclay) of one of the Balfarg Riding School structures
as a swimming pool. More seriously, he pays homage to Gordon Barclay for posing
the question ‘Do I really believe what I’m saying?’ This is, of course, an invaluable
question to bear in mind when constructing any kind of narrative. Indeed, it is
the inattention to this question, and the resulting low quality and sloppy construction
of some Neolithic narratives of late, that has resulted in Barclay’s recent defection
from the world of Scottish Neolithic studies: his input is missed.
Alex Gibson’s paper concerns the all-important issue of visibility with respect
to monuments – not just questions of creating imposing monuments, or of directing
people’s physical approach to them, but also the role of distant reference points,
including planets at certain times in their cycles, in monument design. This is
an approach that has been followed by others who have worked in Scotland, such as
Richard Bradley; and although most of Gibson’s exemplars are non-Scottish, he demonstrates
that much more can be learnt about Scottish monuments by pursuing this line of enquiry
rigorously.
Julian Thomas’ ‘The ritual universe’ includes a valuable discourse on the performance
of ritual as illustrated through the construction, burning and rebuilding of certain
monuments such as the Holm Farm cursus. It also includes nuggets of information
that have been difficult to find elsewhere; the imminent publication of his report
on his excavations in south-west Scotland is most welcome, as it will fill in the
details on a fascinating group of monuments, mentioned in this paper.
Jo Brück’s contribution highlights the variability in Scottish Early Bronze Age
funerary practices – a rewarding topic in need of further work, building on the
invaluable research of Ian and Lekky Shepherd in Aberdeenshire, for instance – and
she compares and contrasts Scottish practices with those of north-west Europe.
The ‘Artefacts, Art and Connections’ section comprises chapters on stone axe production
(Cooney), on Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age metalwork (O’Connor with Briggs;
Needham; and Cowie), and on faience (this reviewer with Andrew Shortland). As it
is invidious to review one’s own work, no comment will be offered on the faience
chapter (other than to thank the Editors warmly for including the splendid colour
spread). The chapter by Cooney directs our attention to the various ways in which
we can approach stone quarrying sites, and usefully situates the Scottish sites
within a broader geographical framework. O’Connor’s paper on the earliest Scottish
metalwork provides an invaluable summary of advances in our state of knowledge since
Coles published his studies in the 1970s, including recondite information on Continental
(non-) comparanda for Scottish basket-shaped ornaments that only Brendan
could track down, with his encyclopaedic knowledge of Continental material. Stuart
Needham’s ‘Migdale-Marnoch: sunburst of Scottish metallurgy’ forms one of a whole
series of definitive studies of Copper and Bronze Age artefacts to have been published
by Needham over the past decade: his profound knowledge of British and Irish (and
Continental) metalwork is amply illustrated in this contribution. A similarly profound
understanding of Scottish Bronze Age metalwork and of depositional practices marks
Trevor Cowie’s study of the special landscape locales chosen for the deposition
of Bronze Age metal objects.
Overall, Scotland in Ancient Europe is a treasure chest of information,
insights and experience, and it will take some considerable time before its contents
could be regarded as out of date, even though Scottish archaeology moves on apace
and much new information has been obtained since its publication. Of course, there
are areas where one might have wished for more information on a specific topic:
the papers dealing with the Continental background to the Scottish Neolithic could
have presented more details of structures and material culture dating to around
4000 BC, for example. However, there are sufficient tantalising loose ends of this
kind to stimulate fresh researches.
All credit is due to the editors, and to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland,
for having produced – so very promptly and efficiently – an attractive, coherent,
grammatically correct (hurrah!) and outstandingly well edited volume, complete
with a very useful Index. It successfully avoids being a hagiography of Piggott,
and it most assuredly meets the exacting standards of the ‘Scholar and Master’.
Alison Sheridan
National Museums Scotland
References
Sharples, N M 1996 ‘Nationalism or internationalism: the problematic Scottish experience’, in J Atkinson, I Banks & J O’Sullivan (eds), Nationalism and Archaeology, 77–88. Glasgow: Cruithne.
Review Submitted: January 2007
The views expressed in this review are not necessarily those
of the Society or the Reviews Editor.
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