1. For how long did the indigenous Mesolithic lifestyle continue after the arrival of farming groups around 3800 BC, and how, if at all, did the farmers and hunter-fisher-foragers interact?
2. How, if at all, did settlement patterns, land use and subsistence strategies change over the nearly 1500 year period after farming was introduced? For example, did coastal inhabitants start to exploit marine resources at any point during this period?
4. To what extent can any changes to settlement patterns, land use and subsistence strategies be related to climate change over this period?
5. How did society change over this period; in particular, what kind of society is suggested by the construction of the massive Late Neolithic timber enclosure at Meldon Bridge?
5. What was the impact of the arrival of Continental, metal-using incomers – the so-called ‘Beaker People’ – from around the 25th century BC, and what was the local farmers’ reaction to their arrival?