New bone analysis challenges long-held theory on farming's arrival in Ireland and Great Britain
phys.org
Bones long assumed to mark farming's arrival in Ireland and Britain have been reanalysed — and the dates don't hold up the way prehistorians thought.
Diffusion of InnovationsDemographic Replacement TheoryRadiocarbon Dating MethodologyNeolithic Transition Models
Theory Briefing
- University College Dublin researchers reanalysed bones previously used to date farming's arrival in Ireland and Great Britain, finding the evidence was misread.
- The study rewrites a key chapter in Irish prehistory, suggesting the accepted timeline for when agriculture spread to the British Isles needs revision.
- Bone dating is notoriously sensitive to contamination and diet effects, meaning old conclusions drawn from the same remains can collapse under new methods.
- The findings raise fresh questions about how — and how quickly — Neolithic farming cultures actually displaced or mixed with hunter-gatherer populations.