New Archaeological Research Project into the Neolithic and Bronze Ages

New Archaeological Research Project into the Neolithic and Bronze Ages

Thu, 06 Oct 2016

A bowl buried along with cremated human remains in the Early Bronze Age round mound, Cronk Aust (c. 2280-2036 BC)

Culture Vannin are helping to fund the first comprehensive osteological analysis of human remains from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages on the Isle of Man.

Funded by both Culture Vannin and Manx National Heritage, the project is being led by Drs Chris Fowler at Newcastle University and Rachel Crellin at Leicester University. The project aims to investigate sites known as “round mounds” on the Isle of Man (and their associated burials, people and artefacts) and what they can tell us about life on the Island and interaction with other communities across Britain and Ireland (and potentially beyond) in the Neolithic and Bronze Age. 

Round mounds are found throughout the British Isles and on the Continent.  They are mostly earthen mounds built over human burials.  First appearing in the Neolithic (c.3500 BC), their use continued in some form into the Bronze Age.  Over 160 such mounds have been identified on the Isle of Man, with four excavated between 30 and 60 years ago.  No modern research using systematic survey and excavation has been carried out.

The 2016-17 research will include osteological analyses of human remains from historic excavations in the Manx Museum collections, radiocarbon dating, isotopic analyses and aDNA analyses of a sample of these, a new assessment of Neolithic and Bronze Age mortuary evidence from the island, new geophysical surveys of Manx round mounds, and landscape analyses using LiDAR imagery and other map data. Contributors will include Dr Francesco Carrer (LiDAR analysis: McCord Centre for Landscape), Kate Chapman (geophysical survey: Northern Archaeological Associates), Dr Michelle Gamble (osteology), Prof. David Reich (aDNA: Harvard Medical School), and Alex Turner (ground penetrating radar: McCord Centre for Landscape).

There will also be a series of workshops in Manx schools in 2017 exploring what archaeologists can learn about our past from human skeletal remains.