RITUAL AND REMEMBERANCE AT THE THIRD MILLENNIA BC PREHISTORIC MONUMENT COMPLEX AT FORTEVIOT, CENTRAL SCOTLAND

The third millennium BC is a period of major transition in the human history of Northwest Europe, when many important landscapes, characterized by elaborate complexes of Neolithic ritual monuments, were transformed by the expanding networks of the Bronze Age. The results of a five year landscape project - the excavation of the major prehistoric monument complex at Forteviot, Central Scotland, undertaken as part of the Strathearn Environs & Royal Forteviot project (SERF) (2007-11) - provides unique insights into the nature of the changes that took place during the third millennium BC. The Forteviot excavations are the first comprehensive study of an early prehistoric ritual complex in Scotland and demonstrate a centre that was in use through a period of almost 1000 years across the traditional divide between the later Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age. Analysis of the changes in monument building, settlement and burial evidence at centres such as Forteviot provides an important opportunity for detailed insight into the nature of the shifts in ideology during the third millennium BC, a period crucial to understanding the development of complex societies in Northwest Europe.\nThe culmination of this research, supported by this early career research fellowship, will be an authoritative and detailed account of the prehistoric monument complex at Forteviot. The resulting research monograph will establish Forteviot and its surrounding landscape as a prehistoric centre on a par with landscapes such as the better known (and World Heritage listed) landscapes of Stonehenge and Orkney. The discoveries at Forteviot included a very rare and important later Neolithic cremation cemetery, which appears to be the catalyst for the creation of the monument complex, an important series of timber and earth monuments constructed throughout the third millennium BC, and the unparalleled find of a Bronze Age dagger grave with staggering levels of preservation. The project will provide unique insights into how some of the broad sweeps of Northwest European prehistory were played out at a significant, yet previously unknown, major third millennium BC monument complex that formed the chief regional focus for ceremonial practice throughout this period in central mainland Scotland. \nIn addition to the monograph, the award will also enable the organization of a comparative conference session on the nature of prehistoric monument complexes across Europe at the 17th Annual European Association of Archaeologists meeting in Oslo, and a day symposium in Glasgow, both important events in the wider contextualization of these sites on a European scale. The monograph itself will not only outline the excavated details of an internationally significant site, drawing on the completed work of a broad range of researchers, but the findings of the project will have an impact on a range of research topics of wide debate. As well as academic outputs, the results will be disseminated through non-academic channels, with the production of a summary publication for community participants and other stakeholders. As an early career researcher, this project will form an instrumental element of my career training and research profile, and will allow the opportunity to refocus on future projects that aim to produce similarly high-profile results and research.\n