Monumentality in Europe with the Growth of Agriculture during the Neolithic

The transition to farming provided the foundation for evolution of modern complex societies. This process, also known as a change from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic involved a radical shift in subsistence practices, from hunting and gathering to management of domesticated plants and animals. In north-western Europe, the development of farming was accompanied by a significant change in culture, with the construction of large megalithic monuments. This tradition emerged in France with the growth of farming here during the 5th millennium BC. It subsequently spread across the Channel to Britain and Ireland as farming arrived in these regions (from c. 4000 BC).Despite very many decades of excavation, the question of why monuments began to be constructed with the growth and expansion of agriculture remains uncertain. It is hypothesized that this tradition may have emerged through the interaction of Mesolithic communities and migrant Neolithic groups in north-western France, as farming developed in this region. How people were chosen for burial in these immense and impressive monuments remains unknown. It has been suggested that these tombs were used for the burial of a dynastic elite, indicating that the growth of agriculture provided the foundations for development of social inequality in Europe.A breakthrough in archaeological approach is needed to investigate these important questions. The methodology required must push beyond conventional excavation techniques to reveal how monuments were used, who is buried in these iconic monuments and why this tradition spread across north-west Europe. This project takes an interdisciplinary approach, combining multi-isotope and ancient DNA analysis to answer these questions. Using these methods MEGALITH will provide new direct evidence for population ancestry; social organization; gender relationships; mobility; settlement patterns and diet, to understand how monuments were used and why they were constructed.