This thesis combines a landscape archaeology and artefact-based study, synthesising a range of evidence; sites, settlements and artefacts, but with a central focus on multi-period lithic scatter assemblages. It includes a primary analysis of previously unstudied private collections and museum collections, together with the lithics recovered as part of the Somerset Levels Project and the Shapwick Project totalling c.20,000 stone tools and waste. This is analysed alongside pottery assemblages, some from primary analyses and bronze and stone artefacts. These artefacts provide the basis for a landscape synthesis enabling the reconstruction of a socially constructed landscape in central Somerset. The time-frame for the study covers the Mesolithic to later Bronze Age and processes of settlement, c.4300 to c.700 cal. BC. The author has identified four themes that also extend backwards in time representing the unique character of the archaeological record in the study area. These themes are linked to the specific regional nature and social identity of communities in the study area.