Many individuals buried in the same monument showed no close genetic relationship. Social belonging seems to have carried strong weight in determining burial practices. . . .

Researchers describe these communities as socially flexible, with family arrangements that do not fit a simple biological model. The findings resemble forms of blended or extended households in which social kinship shaped community life.

– Dario Radley, ‘Patchwork families’ lived in Europe over 5,000 years ago, Neolithic DNA study finds https://archaeologymag.com/2026/05/patchwork-families-in-europe-over-5000-years-ago/

#Archaeology #Europe #Neolithic #family #DNA

Evidence that the North Sea was divided by a peninsula from Doggerland to the Atlantic Ocean. This separated Norwegian coastal waters from British coastal waters until around 3000BC. 

#neolithic #archaeology #Orkney #prehistory

https://orkneyriddler.blogspot.com/2025/06/archaeology-in-north-sea.html

Evidence that the North Sea was divided by a peninsula from Doggerland to the Atlantic Ocean. This separated Norwegian coastal waters from British coastal waters until around 3000BC.

#neolithic #archaeology #Orkney #prehistory

https://orkneyriddler.blogspot.com/2025/06/archaeology-in-north-sea.html

The location of Walkable land between eastern England and Holland is suggested here, with evidence that supports the theory. 

Finding evidence for land between Britain and Europe makes it easier to justify land between Scotland and Orkney .

#neolithic #Orkney #prehistory #archaeology

https://orkneyriddler.blogspot.com/2025/06/walkable-land-in-north-sea.html

How ancient communities adapted their diets and farming strategies in prehistoric Poland

Archaeologists and bioarchaeologists have reconstructed three thousand years of diet and economy in Kuyavia, north-central Poland, tracing how communities adapted between about 4100 and 1230 BCE. The project examined 84 individuals from the Middle Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age

More info: https://archaeologymag.com/2026/02/farming-strategies-in-prehistoric-poland/

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#archaeology #archaeologynews #bioarchaeology #Neolithic #BronzeAge

The Pentland Firth is the channel of water that separates Orkney from Scotland.
It is a rough crossing, and in the days of sailing ships, was avoided at all costs for its ability to cause havoc to seaborne traffic.
The possibility of this particular piece of water being crossed by any neolithic craft is somewhere south of zero.
Here's why.

#Neolithic #archaeoloy #Orkney #prehistory

https://orkneyriddler.blogspot.com/2025/12/pentland-firth.html

Tomb of the Eagles Welcome Day: Thanking the Local Community

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://theorkneynews.scot/2026/05/23/tomb-of-the-eagles-welcome-day-thanking-the-local-community/