ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the evidence from the middle Neolithic of Britain and Ireland. This is a period which saw very clear regional trajectories, with significant differences between parts of Britain and Ireland. The end of the middle Neolithic period differs from region to region but will be taken to date to around 3000 bc, although it is arguably earlier in Orkney. The pottery from the middle Neolithic is dominated by Impressed Wares, a type of pottery which is bowl-shaped but as the name suggests is also profusely decorated with impressions in the clay. Impressed Wares retain the round-bottomed bowl form and there is evidence that this pottery continued to be used for cooking and serving food; at Upper Ninepence, Powys, for example, cattle and sheep meat were cooked and in Ireland, pottery continued to be used for processing dairy products. Passage tombs are one of the most iconic types of monument found in Britain and Ireland.
