Neolithic Seafarers, Grave Goods, Crannogs | INTERVIEW: Duncan Garrow |

It's our pleasure to share with you this interview with Professor Duncan Garrow, of Reading University. We first met Duncan at an archaeology conference organised by the Prehistoric Society back in November 2019. We were fascinated by his talk about how the concentration on the high-end 'bling' of burial deposits has blinded archaeologists to the wealth of information contained in the more everyday, domestic stuff. We talk to him about his perspective on this, his work on the Channel Islands and the Scilly Isles and of course ... the crannogs!
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[@lazenbytim]

yeh your first dig is always the best one. I found a Roman cavalry man burial. Half a horses head at his left foot and Fibula brooch. Very good.

[@luparabianca229]

I was once at a country fair where a couple were selling home made flint tools. I told him of my interest in history for some time and he showed me how to knapp, pressure ect, but my own knapp on a piece of obsidian I eventually knapped a blade. He told of of the sharpness how obsidian came about and that the surgeons scalpel is still based on the blade but the obsidian blade is sharper. It is now in my collection of historic pieces but obsidian is still used in a few places around the world. Great show. Grazie.

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

Thank you!

[@dianespears6057]

You know, interviews in this format are, actually, very interesting. One can see the expressions on each person's face. Who would have thought it? Very good. P.S. Any pictures that are held to the camera of sites, finds, etc. are always helpful.

[@aidanmacdougall9250]

A great delight to listen to 😊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@deborahrussell2507]

What a discovery! Loved this podcast. So refreshing to hear someone of Duncan Garrow's calibre talk in such an accessible way. I hope you invite him back.

[@mkrmkr3805]

I'm a recent subscriber to your channel because your content is so stimulating. That was a cracking interview too btw. Thank you and please keep it rolling (as I trawl through your back catalogue.) 👍

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

Thanks and welcome!

[@alastairbrewster4274]

Absolutely fascinating

[@suzylogan3524]

Absolutely fantastic talk so much to consider. After lock down will make a trip to British museum for sure.

[@MrCropper]

Lockdown will not end anytime soon. War first.

[@carolinesmyth127]

Speaking of the interactions with their dead, just a thought... Many people today, who have near death experiences speak of meeting up with their relatives who have passed on. It's likely the same phenomena happened back then. Could those interactions have something to do with that? Maybe, as was suggested, not simply burial sites but communal sites for communing with ancestor wisdom. The Egyptian "coming forth in the day" eludes to travelling (in a shamanic sense) to the land of the dead, without physical death, and then returning...

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

Absolutely that's a possibility. Thank you Caroline.

[@weethree2070]

Revisiting this a year later, it's still fascinating! Would love to know more about the crannogs.

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

So would we! And we look forward to doing more with Duncan.

[@paullee5449]

You learn so much listening to this channel Question guys - where crannogs' dwelt upon for safety / security or where there other factors. ?

[@theknave4415]

Great question. I often wonder if large predators - or, even large herbivores - were also a threat, at the time.

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

It's a good question and it has to be possible. As @The Knave said, animals could also have been a risk factor, but strangely, the small amount of excavation carried out so far, seems to show that these we places of ritual, at least some of the time. Undamaged pots have been found in the water, implying that they were placed deliberately as offerings... it's an intriguing one. On the plus side, we hope to be doing some filming on one of the crannogs on Lewis in 2021, where Duncan will be working.

[@theknave4415]

There was nothing simple about our ancient ancestors. ;) The more you dig into it, the more their complexity is revealed. Much of their behavior will never be completely understood by anyone, imo. The best we can do in those situations is to guess, and not too take our own guesses about them too seriously. ;)

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

Very wise words.

[@gw5751]

Any chance you guys could do a podcast focusing on excarnation?

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

That's not a bad idea at all, thanks for the suggestion!

[@jeroid]

The "disturbance in the Force" is telling you to put the link in the description...!

[@StuartChignell]

When you said "their life spans were so much shorter" who were you talking about? Many early farming communities had a short life span but many hunter gathering societies had quite a long life span. Has anyone done any work in the UK of life spans during the transition from primarily hunter gathering to supplemental farming to primarily farming?

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

Yes - I think that's right. Doesn't only apply to UK though - I think David Miles has quite a bit to say on the subject in 'The Tale of the Axe'. Farming brings larger, more stable populations, but not necessarily more healthy ones. Michael

[@bonitareardon5987]

Pots set carefully in the water may have been cold storage for meat or live storage for fish...

[@deormanrobey892]

Scilly Isles... 🤪

[@jennycoffey1443]

Star port bias to this day a N.W. entrance seems convention is in denial.

[@chronosschiron]

12000 years back was not water levels far lower you would not have much water to get round and islands might be far larger and some not even islands no more neat talk

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

Where did you get the 12000 yeras ago? That's before the event that caused Britain to separate from the continent. We're talking here about the early Neolithic - 6,000 years ago.

[@chronosschiron]

@@ThePrehistoryGuys ya i see that as i watch ya ....my bad teches me to open yack before i realize neolithic is later time lol

[@suzannecooke2055]

When you plan an on-line interview, pick someone, um, who can do public, um, speaking without the "um",& the stuttering. A good touchstone would be a TED talk veteran.

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

We pick for the authority and knowledge, not for speaking perfection I'm afraid. We'd have to cull an awful lot of experts from our lists if we did. Authority and TED talk mastery don't necessarily coincide.

[@SMartypAntsPants]

RUDE!

[@johnjones9782]

This is not the place to be critising presenters

[@bartholomewtott3812]

The umfortunate ums could be edited out.

[@karencove7197]

@@ThePrehistoryGuys Agreed! I don't mind the "um's" and "er's", as it was clear he was wanting to be accurate and precise.

[@josephturner4965]

Unbearable to listen to. To many ums.