The re-examination of extant human skeletal remains from excavated earlier neolithic long barrows and chambered tombs in southern Britain

Abstract

A series of seven published peer-reviewed papers and reports are presented. The body of work to be considered is concerned with the reexamination of previously excavated Earlier Neolithic human remains from Southern Britain. These form the subject of a Synoptic Overview.
The Synoptic Overview places the papers within the context of academic debate and knowledge as it stood in the mid 1980s and 1990s. The background events surrounding the writing of the papers and the extent of the author's involvement in collaborative papers are detailed. The papers present new information concerning Ecirlier Neolithic mortuary assemblages and their formation and subsequent taphonomic histories, new information concerning the extent of interpersonal violence in the Earlier Neolithic and new chronological data and interpretations. The contribution to knowledge of each of the papers is summarised and critically reflected on.