Continuity or change?
A Microscopic Scale Analysis of Monuments and Ritual in Aberdeenshire
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jsa.v1i2.28258Keywords:
Archaeoastronomy, Archaeology, change and continuity, monuments, prehistoric ScotlandAbstract
General archaeological accounts of Scotland tend to demonstrate broad ideas of the Neolithic transition to farming and the subsequent economic changes in the Bronze Age. Whilst they concentrate on important economic and cultural advancement they tend to lack discussions on cosmological change. This paper looks at one small area in Aberdeenshire to examine four different classes of monument that are found there: long mounds and long cairns; Recumbent Stone Circles; henges and Beaker burial sites. It argues that skyscape archaeology, through the use of archaeoastronomical techniques, can provide clues to cosmological change.
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