A survey of the Neolithic pottery of eastern and central Scotland

Abstract

Pottery from at least sixteen sites in eastern and central Scotland can be attributed more or less certainly to the Earlier Neolithic. Although the quality of much of the evidence precludes detailed classification, at least some of the groups, characterised by the presence of carinated bowls, may be presumed to date from an early stage of the Neolithic. Other types, including a range of heavy unshouldered bowls, were certainly current by the mid-- to late fourth millennium BC, in terms of calibrated radiocarbon dates, while the evidence from other regions suggests that some decorated pottery may have made a similarly early appearance. The Later Neolithic pottery from the region is discussed briefly, mainly to highlight some of the problems which may be resolved by future discoveries. Major domestic assemblages of Earlier Neolithic pottery are yet unknown; some material derives from intact contexts involving structured deposition, but much is from residual and unrepresentative scatters.