Distribution, Context and Regionality: complex flint knives of the Scottish Neolithic and Early Bronze Age
This research project was developed by Rob Engl, AOC Archaeology Group’s in-house lithics specialist, in collaboration with David Clarke of the National Museums of Scotland, to address an under-researched group of lithics in Scotland, which could provide insights into social organisation in the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods and assist future interpretations of such artefacts.
It was Richard Bradley who first developed the term 'complex artefacts' to describe a wide variety of lithic objects such as knives, polished axes, arrowheads and maceheads which could be singled out due to notions of specific selection of form and raw materials, means of production, and the archaeological context in which they were found. As part of this group of artefacts, flint knives have played an important part in the archaeological recognition of social developments undergone during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Flint knives are a good material with which to test assumptions of distribution, context and regionality within Scotland during this period.
In this study a database was compiled of known complex flint knives from Scotland, including those in published sources and within museum collections. These museums included the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, the Kelvingrove and Hunterian Museums in Glasgow, the Marischal Museum in Aberdeen and a number of smaller regional collections. This resulted in a data-set which comprised 406 individual entries, a far higher number than expected. The artefacts were divided into three general classes; polished flint knives, bifacially flaked knives and plano-convex knives. A number of sub-divisions were also recognised.
The dataset appears to show the possibility of four main sources of flint represented in Scottish assemblages during these periods; these consist of Antrim, Buchan, Yorkshire Wolds and the south-east of England. Nevertheless many knives were of probable locally derived material from secondary sources such as glacial gravels and beach deposits, which are common throughout Scotland. Concentrations of artefacts were noted in the south of Scotland, the north-east, Argyll and Orkney mirroring known areas of intensive prehistoric activity. With the exception of Orkney these distributions also suggest a ready access or physical closeness to the main identified sources of flint.
The identification of regionality, through the examination of complex knife forms was achieved through a combination of artefact distribution, context and macroscopic identification. North-east Scotland was recognized as a major area of origin for complex knives of all classes. This was due to the direct exploitation of the Buchan Gravels for sizeable nodules of flint in the Later Neolithic. Although there is no current evidence for specific Scottish production areas as there has been in East Anglia and the Yorkshire Wolds, the numerous examples of all three types of complex knives made on the characteristic flint of north-east Scotland suggest that this is more than likely. The Buchan Gravels often provide artefacts of red or honey coloured flint although the majority and better quality of flint in this area is grey. This coloured flint was extremely noticeable within the data set. The deliberate choice of material on grounds of colour above functional quality is a conspicuous part of many Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age assemblages and can be seen as part of the move towards elaboration of form.
By the Early Bronze Age, individual burial had become the dominant mortuary practice and the deposition of knives had become largely restricted to obviously singular inhumations and cremations. Flint knives developed further, with elaborate dagger forms made in response to the appearance of metal items. Within the Early Bronze Age the power of flint as a media for social production was failing as old social practices were replaced. The appearance of plano-convex knives in similar contexts throughout Scotland suggests a degree of cultural homogeneity at least within the use of such objects for social expression.
A full account of this research will be submitted to an appropriate academic journal for publication shortly.
AOC Archaeology Group Project Supervisor: Rob Engl
Research grants: Historic Scotland
