Summary: Settlements General
Key dates:
The people of the New Stone Age differed from their Mesolithic ancestors in that they were farmers, had developed pottery making skills, and a more settled way of life. They lived mainly in scattered individual farmsteads, each large enough to house one extended family. One such is the large round timber structure found at Donegore Hill, Co Antrim.
Five features are common to the location of these dwellings. There needed to be
a source of fresh water, arable land, grazing land, fuel and building materials
They also required a sheltered position with a favourable, usually southern, aspect. Many sites were close to a river or lake. It is possible that they may have wished to be near to a neighbouring community.
For most single families an area within a kilometre of the farmstead seems to have been adequate. The home was usually located in the centre. Where several families lived in a community, their homes were usually about 2 kilometres apart. Some settlements had a number of families on the one site and may have practised collective or co-operative agriculture on a farm of about 5 kilometres radius.
Temporary sites were often used for summer grazing as at the Glencloy area of Co Antrim. Tombs are found near to habitation sites.
Almost all these settlements had a rubbish pit, an external work area and, sometimes, ancillary buildings used as work huts or for storage.
They seemed to have been an egalitarian, classless society until about 3500BC when larger huts appeared, possibly for the use of tribal leaders.
|