The archaeobotanical assemblage from the Braes of Ha’Breck, Orkney, is among those analysed in a new paper published in the latest edition of the journal Antiquity.
The Wyre Neolithic site was excavated by Dr Antonia Thomas and Dan Lee, both of the UHI Archaeology Institute, between 2006 and 2013.
They revealed a complex of Early Neolithic buildings dating to c3300-3000BC, one of which contained the charred remains of one of the largest assemblages of Neolithic cereal in Scotland.
Antonia and Dan are co-authors of the new paper, Scotland’s first farmers: new insights into early farming practices in North-west Europe, which looks at Neolithic cereals from four sites across Scotland.
Stable isotope analyses of the grain from all four highlights the variety of manuring strategies implemented at the sites – reinforcing the picture of variability in cultivation practices across Neolithic north-west Europe.
The paper, which is published in the October edition of Antiquity, is available to download here.
