Causewayed enclosures under the microscope

For over a century the causewayed enclosures have defined an increasing part of the research in Early Neolithic Britain. These enigmatic monuments have been interpreted as all from defensive structures to settlements and rally point. Through use‐wear analysis of flint artefacts from selected sites such as Etton, Staines, Windmill Hill, Caerau in Wales this thesis seeks to characterise some of the activities that these artefacts represent. By generating life‐biographies of the flint artefacts, the thesis explores and compares the tradition of deposition across the Early Neolithic in northern Europe. Therefore, as a comparison, the causewayed enclosure Sarup I from Denmark has been incorporated to accentuate the similarities or differences between the two regions. In addition to the enclosures, two other sites have been selected to investigate the potential similarities in activities between these sites. One site is the long barrow Ascott‐under‐Wychwood, which is a site with settlement areas, such as a house and a midden before a long barrow is constructed over the domestic areas. This site has enabled an insight into the diachronic change from a living space to a space for the dead. The other site is a contemporary settlement, Skaghorn (Denmark), that equally has served to compare activities between the enclosures and more mundane sites.This study has qualified a rare and nuanced understanding of the role that flint artefacts played in the event of deposition at the causewayed enclosures. The flint artefacts are involved in both cycles of curation and immediate use in the event of deposition in the ditches at the monuments.Moreover, the use‐wear analysis of the deposited flint artefacts highlights the selectiveness behind the composition of structured deposit at the selected causewayed enclosures