‘Not Just a Load of Old Balls’: Late Neolithic Developments and the Creation of a New World Order

‘Not Just a Load of Old Balls’: Late Neolithic Developments and the Creation of a New World Order in Orkney

The remarkable complex of large structures at Ness of Brodgar in Orkney has justly attracted worldwide attention and has led to some contentious claims on popular TV programmes.

This lecture investigates the emergence of the competitive, adventurous, innovative elite in Orkney who were responsible for building Ness of Brodgar and other iconic structures including Maeshowe-type passage tombs and the Stones of Stenness.

It explains how Orkney took over from the Boyne Valley in Ireland as a major ceremonial centre, and how Orcadian innovations including Grooved Ware pottery were rapidly adopted elsewhere, as far away as south-west Ireland and the far south of England.

If you have any questions about this lecture, feel free to email us at [email protected]
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The Rhind Lectures 2020, “Neolithic Scotland: the Big Picture and Detailed Narratives in 2020”, are presented by Dr Alison Sheridan FSA FRSE FSAScot MDAI FBA ACIfA. Recorded in the National Museums Scotland auditorium by Mallard Productions Ltd. Sponsored by AOC Archaeology Group.
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The Rhind Lectures 2020:
The Scottish Neolithic clearly fascinated Alexander Henry Rhind and he made important, and very early, contributions to its understanding. In the 170 years since Rhind’s prehistoric exploits, our understanding and perception of this fascinating period in Scotland’s past have been utterly transformed. This series of six lectures will offer an in-depth assessment of the current state of our knowledge about the period c.4000-2500 BC, when new ways of living and of making sense of the world appeared and developed in Scotland.

The Lecturer:
Dr Alison Sheridan FSA FRSE FSAScot MDAI FBA ACIfA recently retired as Principal Archaeological Research Curator in National Museums Scotland, having worked there since 1987 after obtaining her doctorate from the University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on the Scottish Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age in their wider European context, specialising in pottery, stone axeheads, and jewellery of jet, faience and gold. Past President of the Prehistoric Society and Vice-President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, she became a Fellow of the British Academy in 2019.