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Early Mesolithic The earliest known human burial in Ireland is dated to 7530-7320 BCE. It was on a bend of the River Shannon at Hermitage, County Limerick which shows the early inhabitants had begun to move inland along the rivers and were not confined to the sea shores at this early date. () Later Mesolithic == Chronology & Technology == Prehistoric Ireland’s Later Mesolithic period begins sometime between 7000 BC and 6000 BC with the occurrence of a pan-Ireland and Isle of Man macrolithic (large stone flake/blade) stone tool tradition: no transitional industry has yet been identified that bridges the gap between this industry and the Early Mesolithic microlithic (very small flake/blade) industry that preceded it.〔(Driscoll, K. The Early Prehistory in the West of Ireland: Investigations into the Social Archaeology of the Mesolithic, West of the Shannon, Ireland. (2006) )〕 The Later Mesolithic period ends around 4000 BC and is followed by a Neolithic lithic (stone tool) tradition based on hard and soft hammer percussion, indirect percussion, pressure flaking, and bifacing.〔Woodman, P.C. 1994. Towards a definition of Irish Early Neolithic lithic assemblages. In Stories in Stone, Proceedings of the Anniversary Conference at St. Hilda’s College, Oxford, April 1993, by N. Ashton and A. David (eds.), pp. 213-218. Lithics Studies Society Occasional Paper 4〕 As with the Early and Later Mesolithic, no artefacts have yet been found that represent a transition between the Later Mesolithic and Neolithic. Until recently there have been few signs of variation across the approximately 2,000–3,000 years that comprise the Later Mesolithic period – no identifiable trends toward regionalization or intensification, no noteworthy differences in settlement patterns across space or time. However, as with all static models of human society, this one has reflected data, analytical, and interpretative limitations rather than reality. The island’s extensive bog and alluvial deposits undoubtedly have concealed informative settlement evidence and its acidic soils have decomposed and destroyed significant amounts of organic archaeological material. Furthermore, rising sea levels, which peaked between 4500 and 2000 BC,〔Carter, R.W.G., R.J.N. Devoy, and J. Shaw. 1989. Late Holocene sea levels in Ireland. Journal of Quaternary Science 4(1):7-24.〕 have eroded and submerged most of the coastal and estuarine evidence for foraging (hunting and gathering). These conditions, along with a historical bias towards research in northeastern Ireland,〔Woodman, P.C. 1978.〕〔Woodman, P.C. 1993. The prehistory of South-West Ireland – An archaeological region or a state of mind? In Past Perceptions: The Prehistoric Archaeology of South-West Ireland, by E.S. Twohig and M. Ronayne (eds.), 6-15. Cork University Press: Cork (Available From Amazon )〕 make it quite clear that the record is woefully incomplete. However, the gaps are not evenly distributed across the entire period. Anderson and Johnson 〔Anderson, E. and G. Johnson. 1995. Irish Later Mesolithic flint technology: Further developments. In Annus Archoeologiae: Archaeological Research 1992, by E. Grogan and C. Mount (eds.), Proceedings of the OIA Winter Conference 1993 held in University College Dublin 30 January 1993, pp. 7-21.〕 have pointed out that the best lithic data for the Later Mesolithic are associated only with its last 500 years (4500-4000 BC). Only at Newferry is there a chronological sequence which spans the known Later Mesolithic and except for zone 3, for which there are contemporary sites, there are no comparable assemblages for the remainder of the material. If all the contexted material relates to the final phases of a period which lasted for at least 2,000 years, then with the exception of a very few sites, none of which contain all the elements of a lithic assemblage, there is a possibility that the material representative of the first 1,500 years is missing. Thus, it is fair to say that much of the Later Mesolithic (c.7-6000-4000 BC) is impressively underrepresented. Ironically, it is with the last part of the Later Mesolithic that some workers have become most frustrated, like Whittle,〔Whittle, A. 1990. Proglomena to the study of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Britain and Ireland. In Rubane et Cardial, by D. Cahen and M. Otte (eds.), pp. 209-227. E.R.A.U.L. 39, Liege.〕 who was stymied by his research into Ireland’s transition to the Neolithic: "Much further research is needed, and the outlook is unfortunately gloomy. Key sites of the right date will be hard to locate in river valleys and estuaries, and the funding of problem-oriented research is not easy. We may have to wait patiently for chance discoveries of the appropriate kind". In truth, this pessimism might be better directed at the first three quarters of the Later Mesolithic, rather than the last quarter. The difference is not only in the availability of evidence, but also in the availability of new data arising from the evidence with the application of stable isotope analysis. Indeed, stable isotope analyses, in combination with the advantages of AMS dating, are cutting through the gloom and revealing glimpses of a surprisingly dynamic sixth millennium BP forager lifeway. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Irish Mesolithic」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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