A question of scale. New perspectives on the Mesolithic of Britain

HARDY K, ESTÉVEZ J, MANSUR M. E., PIQUÉ R., VILA A

Santander

Congreso; 8th Internacional Conference on the Mesolithic in Europe MESO 2010.; 2010

Universidad de Cantabria

Today though the world is ‘getting smaller’ our understanding of regional distance is very much based on our personal experience. Most Europeans today are city dwellers; many of us own cars and we have little or no affinity or understanding of the sea, either as a means of moving around, or as a resource base, even on an island such as Britain. Added to this, we have also largely lost the ability to read the natural signs which can predict the weather. This means for example that the idea of embarking on a 20 mile boat trip in a small rowing boat, for example from one Scottish island to another, is beyond comprehension for many of us.  Additionally, in ‘larger’ continental places, such as in parts of North or South America for example, perspectives of distance can be broader and may correspond more closely with prehistoric perspectives as travelling is more likely to be based on geographical constraints rather than modern political boundaries.  These differing perspectives can feed into the way we perceive and interpret communication and mobility, both terrestrial and maritime, in prehistory.  We will discuss the Mesolithic of the North West corner of Europe and we will evaluate current perspectives on mobility in the light of these different perspectives.