Free Thinking

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Free Thinking: Neolithic Revelations

Neolithic Revelations

BBC Radio 4 - Free Thinking, Neolithic Revelations

A lack of dental floss in the Neolithic era proves to be a boon for archaeologists.

Penny Bickle and Jim Leary from the University of York describe some surprising findings deduced from pig bones and dentistry. New Generation Thinker Hetta Howes presents.

Hetta Howes learns that the absence of dental floss in the Neolithic era has left archaeologists with invaluable information about how our ancestors lived and where they travelled to. While piles of pig bones near Stonehenge reveal a communal society that used feasting as a form of negotiation. Penny Bickle and Jim Leary, who both lecture in the University of York's Department of Archaeology, uncover their findings from research projects in the Vale of Pewsey, Alsace and Stonehenge. 

Penny's current project is 'Counter Culture: investigating Neolithic social diversity', while Jim has been working on 'Neolithic Pilgrimage? Rivers, mobility and monumentality in the land between Avebury and Stonehenge'. 

This episode is one of a series of conversations - New Thinking - produced in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of UK Research & Innovation.

Producer: Torquil MacLeod

You might be interested in other conversations about archaeology in the Free Thinking archives. Seek out The Power of Ancient Artefacts episode in which Mike Pitts sharing insights about key digs in Britain and the long history of our connections across Europe https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009c8t

Archaeology:  Alexandra Sofroniew, Damian Robinson, Raimund Karl & New Generation Thinker Susan Greaney join Rana Mitter to share their experience of digs and the challenges facing the profession. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03xpn5p 

The Legacy of the Trojan War https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000bg2k 

Holes in the Ground hears from the engineer Professor Paul Younger from Glasgow University ; Ted Nield editor of the bi-monthly magazine Geoscientist and MIT's Rosalind Williams https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06vs6g0

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