4000-2200 BC Neolithic

Much of Wales is upland with a shortage of suitable agricultural land. For this reason evidence of earlier Neolithic activity is mostly found in lowland areas. Later on there is evidence for increasing occupation of the uplands, almost certainly associated with grazing animals such as cattle and sheep. There is evidence for domesticated crops and livestock, although as much of the soil is acidic, preservation of organic matter such as animal bone is poor, so what remains may be an incomplete picture.

However there is good evidence for Neolithic houses, which were probably isolated farmsteads. In the earlier Neolithic period there are substantial rectangular wooden structures, found in the lowlands. Later on in the period slighter, round or irregular structures were built in upland and lowland areas (for example at Walton, Radnorshire).

Wales has important sources of raw materials. During the Neolithic period good-quality stone for axes was quarried, for instance at the large ‘axe-factory’ site at Graig Lwyd, Penmaenmawr. In other areas suitable rocks (‘erratics’) transported from their original source by glaciers proved suitable for axe-making. The availability of stone left its mark in another way; the various types of stone tomb still visible in the landscape, such as the Passage Grave of Bryn Celli Ddu, Anglesey.