A defining characteristic of the Neolithic is the appearance of domesticated plants and animals, alongside changes in material culture and mortuary practices. Although there has been huge debate about the mechanisms of the transition to agriculture, there has been relatively less discussion of what happens after its arrival. What was the nature and timing of activities in terms of subsistence economy, settlement patterns and the nature and scale of the effects of these on the wider landscape and environment? Did these vary across space and time? What was the climate context associated with early agriculture?

Here, we explore these issues by reference to Ireland and its wider context, drawing upon published and unpublished evidence. The work forms part of the Republic of Ireland's Heritage Council INSTAR 2008-2010 research programme. The nature of the evidence analysed is diverse, multi-strand and complimentary: palaeoecological data (pollen, stratigraphic, dendrochronological), archaeological (‘domestic’ structures, alongside burial and ritual monuments) and associated economic data (in particular, macro-botanical remains). A major new dating programme, focusing on short-lived samples, has allowed to examine the sequence of archaeological and palaeoecological events in much greater detail than previously revealing an abrupt transition to agriculture, from c. 3800 cal BC, in particular associated with the early ‘house horizon’, 3715-3625 cal BC. Prior to this, evidence is ephemeral and limited. Bayesian analyses of palaeoenvironmental and archaeological 14 C data have allowed us to examine the linkages between environment, economy and settlement within a much stronger chronological framework, whilst pollen modelling and GIS have allowed us to explore the spatiality of this highly resolved dataset.

Further information on the project can be found at www.chrono.qub.ac.uk/instar.