While the Early Neolithic chambered tombs of the Isle of Man are well known and the Late Neolithic has been clearly defined with reference to a distinctive suite of artefacts, little is known about the Middle Neolithic. This article reports on 17 new Neolithic radiocarbon dates from cremated human remains from the Isle of Man. These identify five burials in cists as Middle Neolithic and indicate new sequences of activity at cemeteries starting in the Middle Neolithic. Each of these sites is examined in detail. The dates also spur a reconsideration of the development of Ronaldsway pottery and the integration of Grooved Ware pottery and motifs into early 3rd millennium practice on the island. The paper ends with a consideration of the changing effects of mortuary practices throughout the Neolithic on the Isle of Man and a discussion of connections with Middle and Late Neolithic activity in Ireland and Britain.

The Isle of Man is a largely autonomous dependent territory of the UK. In 2016, Lord Lisvane was commissioned to report on the functioning of the principal organ of governance, the Tynwald. This Lisvane Review has led to substantial constitutional reform within this small democracy, particularly in relation to the unelected second chamber of Tynwald, the Legislative Council. This reflects an ancient tension within the Manx constitution between the House of Keys, since the mid-nineteenth century a directly elected chamber, and the unelected Legislative Council. The Lisvane period saw important changes to the composition and powers of the Legislative Council, as well as gender diversity within Tynwald as a whole. Placing the Manx experience within a broader small democracy theoretical and comparative framework demonstrates not only the possibility of constitutional reform, but also provides insights into resources for constitutional development, the special challenges of managing intimacy, and the dangers of over-concentration of power in a small democracy.

The Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man is an important member of the Legislative Council, the second chamber of the Manx Tynwald. The shape of Tynwald has changed considerably since the mid-nineteenth century, and there have been frequent reviews of the place of ecclesiastical officers in it. The most recent debates illuminate this form of religious representation, but in particular show the importance of ecclesiastical structures – and the contingent status of the Diocese of Sodor and Man – in the lord bishop retaining a vote, as well as a voice, in the principal organ of governance in the Isle of Man. This article argues that a more critical approach is needed in weighing the ecclesiastical structure argument against other constitutional arguments around the constitutional position of the lord bishop.

Baited trap or pot fisheries are considered to have relatively few wider ecosystem effects on the marine environment, particularly when compared with towed mobile fishing gear. However, this assumption is rarely tested in the field. This study aimed to determine the composition of non-target species that occur in crustacean pots and to assess spatial and temporal differences in catches in the waters around the Isle of Man, Irish Sea. The data were collected using fishery independent surveys and a questionnaire study. Based on fishery independent surveys, a total of five taxonomic groups and 43 species occurred as by-catch. The dominant by-catch species was velvet crab Necora puber. The by-catch per unit effort (BPUE) for all of the non-target species was low particularly in comparison to towed bottom gear fisheries around the Isle of Man. BPUE of species composition varied considerably between different locations around the Isle of Man. The results of both the fishery independent and questionnaire data suggested that the by-catch rates varied with season with peak BPUE occurring in spring which then declined into autumn and winter. By-catch composition did not decrease significantly with an increasing target species catch. Overall, by-catch was low relative to target species catch which may be partially attributable to the use of escape panels in pot fisheries in the Isle of Man.

An evolving pattern of fluvial dispersal responsible for the Lower Old Red Sandstone magnafacies has emerged from a stratigraphical and geographical consideration of palaeocurrent structures, clast lithology and fauna, sandstone composition, and sandstone detrital heavy-mineral assemblages. The evidence suggests that the Post-Ludlow (Downton) and lower Gedinnian rocks formed mainly in the joined Dingle–Shannon and Anglo–Welsh basins, fed from metamorphic complexes in NW Britain or beyond. Contemporaneous sedimentation in the Caledonian basin was restricted to its northeastern end. Later in the Gedinnian, the Dingle–Shannon and Angle–Welsh basins appear to have become separated by the uplift of a broad and extensive belt of mainly Lower Palaeozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks; included in this belt were outcrops of Post-Ludlow strata representing the earlier stream of metamorphic detritus. Granite intrusion, which reduced the density of and consequently uplifted the crust, occurred widely in the regions dividing and bordering these basins, and may be causally connected with their separation in the Gedinnian. The Caledonian basin appears to have remained a separate feature.