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First FarmersNeolithic
During the Neolithic, the first domesticated animals and crops appear in the Peak District. In the earlier part of the Neolithic, people still lived mobile lifestyles as before, following a seasonal round similar to their hunter-gatherer forebears. The adoption of farming did not directly lead to people staying in the same place over time.
The main valleys such as the Derwent, would have been heavily wooded and ideally suitable for over wintering, while the more open landscapes of the limestone plateau and eastern gritstone uplands would have been ideal for summer grazing and cultivating their light fertile soils by spade and ard. Finding CluesLarge ceremonial enclosures were constructed that acted as gathering places for people from across the region. A large stone-built bank encloses the top of Gardom's Edge, Baslow, which was probably built during the earlier Neolithic. In the later Neolithic to early Bronze Age henges were constructed, at Arbor Low on the limestone plateau and Bull Ring, near Buxton.
Comparative strangers from different families and communities held ceremonial meetings, exchanged gifts and feasted at these enclosures. Such communities may have had relatively little everyday contact though they may have used some of the same geographical areas during the year. There was the potential for conflicting claims to the same areas so gatherings could give the opportunity to work out where communities intended to go. In the Upper Derwent, during the later Neolithic, a group of small pits was dug and filled with burnt stones and charcoal from hearths or fires. They are located on an area which had been regularly visited during the Mesolithic and have been radio-carbon dated to approximately 2500 BC. These indicate occupation of this area, and could be the remains of fires used for cooking or in sweat lodges. During the end of the Neolithic, smaller burial barrows and stone circles were built by families living in small settlements. The dates of these features overlap into the early Bronze Age. Traditional claims to the most sought-after seasonal pastures, on the limestone plateau, were reinforced by the building of monumental chambered tombs within which the bones of ancestors were stored. Rather than being permanently sealed, as with modern graves, access was maintained into the tombs so that the bones could be used in ceremonies. These may have called on the ancestors to give guidance or justification to social practices and hierarchies, and reinforcing peoples' rights to farm particular areas. The structures of an early Neolithic settlement have been found at Lismore Fields, Buxton. The structures included: rectangular timber buildings, large free-standing posts and pits containing a variety of fills including charcoal and burnt stones from fires. The settlement has been radio-carbon dated to approximately 3500 BC.
Scatters of stone tools and waste from their production are the most common evidence for settlement and other activities. Flint and chert knives, scrapers, borers and arrowheads and sometimes stone axes are found. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
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