FROM MIDDENED POTTERY TO PIT DEPOSIT: A STUDY OF TWO NEOLITHIC SITES IN NORTHUMBERLAND, UK

This paper presents the analysis of a highly significant early Neolithic midden from Threefords in the Milfield Basin, Northumberland, UK. The midden, unique in the region for its association with an early Neolithic building, sheds new light on the practice of pottery curation prior to later pit deposition. Using metric and abrasion analyses the effects on potsherds of temporary deposition in a midden are examined, before their potential removal and reburial in one of the region's Neolithic pits. The paper demonstrates statistically that a midden was a potential locale for the curation of potsherds as a valuable resource for later social practices, and that the metric properties of the pottery from the midden match those of the pottery from a major pit site in the immediate vicinity.