Understanding pit sites: storage, surplus and social complexity in Prehistoric Western Europe.

Abstract

The importance of pits for archaeological inference can hardly be overstated, given their virtual omnipresence in the archaeological record. In Prehistoric Europe pits occasionally form large concentrations known as ‘pit sites’, where they are the most visible, sometimes the sole, remnants of past human activity. If we follow the generally accepted view of pits as grain storage containers, how can we interpret the social role played by places comprising hundreds or even thousands of pits? This paper is an attempt to shed light on this topic by summarising and critically analysing much of the current knowledge on storage of grain in non-industrial societies. We will start by gathering relevant and up-to-date experimental, ethnographic and historical data about the challenges that the storage of grain poses and how pits may have helped Prehistoric communities to overcome them. This will be followed by a discussion of their advantages and disadvantages relative to other methods: why would anybody use airtight pits instead of, for instance, weather-proofed raised granaries? Next, we will undertake an examination of the social and economic contexts in which storage pits are an effective solution as opposed to those in which their performance is far from optimal. The conclusions drawn will serve as a background against which to evaluate current interpretations concerning three selected case studies in Prehistoric Western Europe.