| Period | No. flint and chert artefacts | No. human generations (25 years) | No. flint and chert artefacts per generation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Later Mesolithic (c. 6500-c. 4300 cal. BC) | 10 | 88 | 0.1 |
| Later Mesolithic and/or earlier Neolithic (c. 4300-3800 cal. BC) | 4 | 20 | 0.2 |
| Earlier Neolithic and/or middle Neolithic (c. 3800-2900 cal. BC) | 97 | 36 | 2.6 |
| Middle Neolithic and/or later Neolithic (c. 2900-2400 cal. BC) | 10 | 20 | 0.5 |
| Later Neolithic or early Bronze Age, including Beaker (c. 2400-2000 cal. BC) | 10 | 16 | 0.6 |
| Early Bronze Age or middle Bronze Age (c. 2000-1000 cal. BC) | _ | 40 | _ |
| Totals | 131 | 220 | 4.1 |
i. The interpretation of these data is based on the assumption that each lithic scatter was used intermittently, as part of a cycle of settlement; use, reuse and abandonment;
ii. Human generations are assumed to equal 25 years;
iii. The numbers expressed in this table are an approximate index of the level of activity at a multi-period lithic scatter. That is, it is assumed artefacts were discarded at regular intervals through successive generations. 'Continuity' is taken to mean intermittent use or reuse of a scatter over the long term, as stated in note ii. The interpretation here is that the settlement and subsistence pattern of any period was linked into a cycle of discovery, use, reuse and abandonment at each locale (cluster of lithic scatters). At this scale of chronological resolution it is contentious to assume all scatters were contemporary at any one period. But, it is suggested here that all scatters were most probably understood as social places across the periods, until places were permanently abandoned;
iv. Note the true totals per generation, taking into account the estimated original quantities of material discarded in the ploughsoil (Boismier 1997) would have been something like twenty times those listed above. No attempt is made here to extrapolate ploughsoil populations. However, what is clear from the function and relationship between the calculations is that the scale and ratio of reduction or increase would stay the same;
v. Data quality and period sets are combined to create six groupings, to fit calendar years and the currency of overlapping technologies and typologies; later Mesolithic (1), later Mesolithic and/or earlier Neolithic (2), earlier Neolithic and/or middle Neolithic (= earlier Neolithic+earlier Neolithic and/or middle Neolithic (3)), middle Neolithic and/or later Neolithic (=middle Neolithic and/or later Neolithic+later Neolithic (4)), later Neolithic or early Bronze Age (=indeterminate later Neolithic or early Bronze Age+Beaker (5)), early Bronze Age or middle Bronze Age (6).