Tovesson. R 2012: Orientering av liv och död under mellanneolitikum. Irland, Orkneyöarna och södra England under perioden ca 4000 f.kr – 2000 f.kr. The orientation of life and death- Ireland, Orkney, and Southern England during c 4000-2000 BC. Magisteruppsats i arkeologi. Linnéuniversitetet Kalmar Vt. 2012 Master theses in Archaeology. Linnaeus University Kalmar spring 2012. In this essay I have chosen to study how the orientation between the living and the dead during the Middle Neolithic differed. How were the settlement sites orientated in comparison with the monuments for the dead. I am also studying the way the landscape in the different regions looked like during the time the monuments were used, but also how it looks like today. Were the settlements and the grave/monuments located after a ritual scheme or just randomly. The investigation area is : Ireland as a western point, Orkney as a north point and south England as a south point. I have chose these areas to achieve a geographical approach and to look at different landscapes.   Keywords: Orientation/s, Settlements, Graves, Monuments. Ireland, Orkney, southern England. 4000 BC - 2000 BC.

’Pygmy’, ‘incense’, ‘accessory’ or ‘funerary’ cups are small Early Bronze Age vessels, almost all from mortuary contexts, united by their diminutive size. Although several small-scale and regional studies have previously been undertaken, until recently there has been little attempt to consider such vessels as a whole. The vessels from the north of England were recently examined in detail by Hallam (2015), and the present study of the southern English vessels will complement Hallam’s work with the ultimate goal of producing a national corpus. Details of over three hundred and fifty vessels, from thirty counties, are presented together with a comprehensive literature review. Analysis demonstrates how the form and depositional contexts of such vessels probably arose within Beaker ceramic and funerary traditions. Many have complex biographies, some being deposited ‘fresh’ whilst others are fragmented or otherwise damaged. Perforations, long seen as a key feature of the tradition, appear to be restricted to certain forms only, and it is suggested that fenestration may be a development of this practice. Regional links and networks may be discerned through the distribution of attributes and similar vessel types and probably reflect trade networks. It is suggested that the cups had a primary role within Early Bronze Age funerary rituals associated only with certain individuals, perhaps marked out by the nature of their deaths / The full text will be available at the end of the embargo period: 21st Feb 2023