Arenas of Action? Enclosure Entrances in Neolithic Western Francec. 3500–2500 BC

Abstract

Recent research has led to a re-evaluation of the defensive role formerly assigned to the Late Neolithic enclosures of western France. Excavation of the distinctive pince de crabe entrances which are a feature of many of these enclosures has suggested that these were not single but multi-phase structures, with a purpose which must have been monumental or ceremonial rather than protective. Human remains in the enclosure ditches underline their significance as symbolic as well as physical boundaries. The chronology of the elaborated entrances indicates that they belong to a period of social competition in which decorated pottery had a particular importance. This phase came to an end early in the 3rd millennium BC when the enclosure ditches were backfilled, and western France became integrated into a wider world of social and raw material exchange.