Böcker i British Archaeological Reports International Series-serien

This book is concerned with the developments that followed on from the introduction of farming into Britain and Southern Scandinavia (Denmark and Southern Sweden), and the idiosyncratic social and cultural patterns that emerged as the revolutionary potential of the Neolithic was gradually realised. Fundamental to the contributors approach is a concern with the ways in which communities inhabit their landscapes. If the Neolithic involved the introduction of new species of plants and animals and new forms of material culture into indigenous contexts, the longer-term consequences of this development should be gauged through changing practices of dwelling: patterns of occupation and mobility, the organisation of space, the location of ritual activities, the dead, and the sacred; and degrees of impact in ecological conditions. The authors examine the implicit knowledge, habitual practice and material culture as forms of cultural inheritance which are passed between generations, and modified by innovation.

Twenty-five papers presented to the fourth International Meeting of Anthracology held in Brussels at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) between the 8 and 13 September 2008.

India encompasses a lot of hidden treasures, such as amulets, pendants, etched and eye beads - distinct beads. Besides being used for decoration distinctive beads also have religious, therapeutic, superstitious reasons behind their use. While often regarded as the smallest object of civilization, beads in general were always an integral part of any culture. They are found in large quantities in archaeological excavations and are studied in detail in this book.

This book deals with Research into the history of insect synanthropy in Greece and Egypt', more specifically with insect remains from the Late Bronze Age site of Akrotiri and other evidence from ancient and Roman Egypt.

The potential of the scarab seal is still neglected by many archaeologists. They are primarily considered for chronological purposes, and so their capacity as an historical document is under-rated, as is their value as an archaeological tool. Luckily, more recent studies are beginning to assess the archaeological and historical value of scarabs, and in particular design scarabs, revealing them as potential indicators of cultural interaction, and it is within this genre that the anra (identified always bya sequence of hieroglyphs which includes the letters n and r) scarab is considered in this extensive study. The aim of this work is to try and establish the status, function, meaning, and significance of the anra scarab, and possibly offer something new with regard to the nature of the relationships that existed between the countries of Africa and the Levant during the latter part of the Middle Bronze Age.

Paris Monographs in American Archaeology 9Adding to the scarce material available on these remote Mexican sites, this volume (number 9 in the series of Paris Monographs in American Archaeology) is an extensive presentation of the Loma Alta excavations (Zacapu, south-west Mexico) and its rich finds (2nd century B.C - c. 1250 A.D.). The study is divided into two sections. The first concentrates on the Loma Alta site and its funerary remains, while the second analyzes the stylish iconography of the polychrome ceramic finds from the period considered to be the apogee of the region's culture (c. 700 - 1100 A.D).

South Asian Archaeology Series No. 1

with short English abstract

This study examines the lithic assemblage from a cave site, Porc-Epic, located in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. The assemblage is representative of the Middle Stone Age and documents an increased sophistication in lithic production, with greater technological variability shown in the production of blades, flakes, bladelets, points and so on.

Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 56The need for archaeological research in the Hausa area is very real. What work has been done is often casual and cursory. Considering that the modern Hausa heartland includes up to twenty-five million people and is as large as Britain, this neglect cannot be explained in terms of demographics or of scale. Nor can it be excused on the grounds that there is nothing of interest in the soil of the kasar hausa. This volume (the latest in the series of Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology) focuses on the particular site of Kufan Kanawa, in the Republic of Niger, to illustrate how archaeology can contribute to our knowledge of the past. This site stands out among the many archaeological remains of the Hausa area because of its six-kilometre long stone enclosure and its alleged role as the predecessor site to the widely-known Hausa city of Kano. In this volume archaeological excavation, anthropological interviews, and critique of the historiography of the Hausa area are combined in an attempt to explain why, how and when Kufan Kanawa was settled. At the same time, a study of Kufan Kanawa brings to light a number of general points, applicable to any enquiry into the past. African archaeology is coming to the fore as a rich source of data on the different developmental paths taken by human societies, informing our debates on cultural processes such as the rise of social complexity and of urban settlements, or the role of trade and of migrations. It is hoped that the present study of Kufan Kanawa will contribute to this field. Three main topics run through this volume: the nature of urbanism, the role of trade, and the diffusion of political complexity. A single thread in fact unites them all: the idea that major developments in West Africa could be explained as the result of influences from North Africa.

Prehistoric Pottery Research Group: Occasional Publication No. 4This volume represents the proceedings of a conference organised by the Prehistoric Ceramics Research Group (PCRG) in conjunction with its sister organisation, the Ceramics Petrology Group. The conference was hosted by the department of archaeological sciences of the University of Bradford in October 2002. In this title, 13 papers from the conference (devoted to the study of prehistoric ceramics from France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Scandinavia, Southeast Asia, Spain as well as the UK) are presented here.The subjects range from technological studies to ethnographies, associations and chronologies, deposition, theory and the scientific analysis of tempers and residues. Devoted to prehistoric pottery, the authors here do indeed look at patterns on the pots as well as in the data. Also reviewed was the purpose of pottery from the point of view of their 'palaeo-contents' and ancient uses. The contributors were ever mindful throughout that archaeology is the study of past human societies through their material remains and therefore never lose sight of the people behind the pots. The papers include: New Dates For Scottish Bronze Age Cinerary Urns: Results From The National Museums Of Scotland Dating Cremated Bones Project; Organic Residues In Storage Vessels From The Toumba Thessalonikis; Patterns Of Spatial Regularity In Late Prehistoric Material Culture Styles Of The NW Iberian Peninsula; New Pots Or New People? - Archaeoceramological Study Of La Tène

Mycenaean culture has been thoroughly studied and is well understood as it relates to the Greek mainland. However, for the Aegean islands, and in terms of this study the South-eastern Aegean, the situation is not so clear. The islands, due to their geographic peculiarities, have a special character and it is essential to appreciate the extent to which their environment affected the local culture. These processes and the way they operate can help us in understanding the character of Mycenaean influence on the islands. Inextricably linked to this line of thinking is the question of migration, colonization and invasion that has been proposed for the islands, entailing population movement from mainland Greece. This ultimately leads to the question of ethnicity and the nature of Mycenaean cultural identity. In order to investigate these ideas, they must be analyzed to find out how they can be applied and perceived in the archaeological record. The South-eastern Aegean, as defined in this study, comprises Samos, Ikaria, Phournoi, the islands of the Dodecanese as well as south-western Anatolia, that is the Carian coast opposite Rhodes, and part of the Ionian coast up to the Küçük Menderes river, Kolophon and Bakla Tepe. Although the main period of study is the Greek Bronze Age, reference is also made to the Neolithic. The book is divided into three parts: Part I, on the environment and movement; Part II, on the landscape; and Part III on burial information. The Appendices provide for the first time all the available data on South-eastern Aegean burials, i.e. the architectural elements of the tombs, their contents and a thorough analysis and presentation of all the finds.

A volume of detailed research and summary into metal farming tools used in Gaul/Upper Germania from the Gallo-Romano period; indeed many of the types are still in use today. 199 finds are investigated and reconstructed to show the various techniques of manufacture, use and efficiency. The new method of analysis has shown that ploughing equipment was capable of turning the soil in Gallia Belgica from the second century. Includes 8 colour plates of metallurgical analyses. An accompanying catalogue is provided by the same author in: BAR - S1236, 2004 "Les instruments aratoires des Gaules et de Germanie Superieure Catalogue des pièces métalliques" (ISBN 1 84171 595 6).

Symposium 2.1 (Pottery Manufacturing Processes: Reconstitution and Interpretation) from the 14th UISPP Conference held in Liège, Belgium, 2-8 September 2001.

This research is based on the comb assemblages from 18 excavation sites, which cover over 80% of the excavated area of Medieval Novgorod (950-1450 AD), Russia. The work outline the chronological trends and stylistic changes in combs themselves and in their relationship to the immediate environment of the properties they originate from, as well as to broader contexts of the town and the entire complex urban community. The research also uses these objects for drawing out the fundamental changes of the comb-making industry in its transition from the late Viking Age and through the Middle Ages and as a background to the development of the urban society. The comb finds are analysed typologically and contextually and the databases are presented in the accompanying download.

An exploration of the social and military role of the Shardana mercenaries in Egypt during the 13th to the 11th centuries BC.

The ways in which the Hominids of the Middle Palaeolithic acquired megaherbivores is still a point of controversy. Did Neanderthals have sufficient intellectual and technological capacities to hunt these huge mammals? This volume presents methods relating to the acquisition and treatment of prey. These are applied directly to the study of three European sites marked by an important population of very large mammals: Hanhoffen (Bas-Rhin), Biache-Saint-Vaast (Pas-de-Calais) and le Mont-Dol (Ille-et-Vilaine). In addition, 73 archeological levels presenting more or less remains of very large herbivores, dated from Middle Palaeolithic of North-Western Europe, are compared.

This work examines the post-palatial phase of Late Helladic IIIC middle. During this phase in Greek prehistory, Greece undergoes important changes that will transfer the palace administrative system of the Mycenaean era to that of the city-states of the early Greek period. At the time of its publication much of the material evidence known today was still unpublished and although the material examined provided a most thorough account of what was known at the time it was still limited as a result of the lack of publications or as often was the case the lack of LH IIIC, or so defined, deposits. This phase of the Bronze Age has been periodically examined either through the investigation of specific sites or in certain cases with the study of a particular type of material find such as pottery. What this publication aims to provide is a more synthetic study of the middle phase in its entirety within the regions of the central and southern Aegean. By examining the archaeological material from settlements and burials of the middle phase, together with their associated finds of pottery, terracotta figurines, jewellery and weapons, it is hoped that they will provide valuable insight into this phase and provide information concerning the new social and economic structures that arose in response to the loss of the Mycenaean administrative centres.

Society for South Asian Studies Monograph No 4The site of Anuradhapura, NW Sri Lanka, is important, from two principal points of view. In the first place it has played a significant role in the history and cultural traditions of Sri Lanka as a whole. Secondly, Anuradhapura has a more immediate, specific importance from an archaeological point of view on account of the extent, depth and richness of the occupation deposits. This has been demonstrated by the research done there by archaeologists during the last century. This work has opened the way to achieving a better understanding of Early Historic Sri Lanka than was hitherto possible and provided an excellent basis for further investigation. Indeed, it is upon this basis that the investigations described here have been undertaken and have carried forward the study of this remarkable site, leading to a more detailed and comprehensive understanding of its long history and development. The investigations described here had the advantage of a number of modern techniques, including geophysical methods of surface survey, three-dimensional recording of levels and finds in excavation, and ample radiocarbon measurements. On account of the depth and continuity of the dated cultural sequence described in the two volumes that make up the report, each of which deals with specific aspects of the excavation as a whole, it is possible to relate Anuradhapura to a wider archaeological context. The present, second volume, The Artefacts, describes the artefacts and other finds and relates them to the dated sequence ofarchaeologically identified layers, thus clothing the dated structural framework with cultural material. An important discovery was that of a small number of short inscriptions on pottery and other objects in Brahmi script. The record provided by the Anuradhapura sequence makes it possible to look outward at its historic links and their implications. For example, it is now possible to study the city of Anuradhapura's cultural and trading links with other parts of the ancient world. In sum, the excavations at Anuradhapura provide a wonderful database of evidence relating to the Iron Age and Early Historic periods of South Asia and from it we can study the stages of the emergence of a city and its subsequent growth. (Volume I, The Site, provides the archaeological framework and is firmly based on the carefully recorded cultural sequence, the longest and most fully recorded so far available in Sri Lanka, and indeed in the entire southern half of the Indian subcontinent. This work is available as BAR S824 1999: Society for South Asian Studies Monograph 3 Anuradhapura The British-Sri Lankan Excavations at Anuradhapura Salgaha Watta 2. Volume I: The Site by Robin Coningham. ISBN 1841710369.)

Prehistoric Ceramics Research Group: Occasinoal Paper 5In October 2004 over 70 delegates met in the Department of Archaeological Sciences at the University of Bradford for the second International Conference on Prehistoric Ceramics. The conference was the second major biannual conference to be organised by the Prehistoric Ceramics Research Group. The call for papers was deliberately broad in its scope - recent research - and such is the amount of work currently taking place on Prehistoric Ceramics across Europe (and indeed further afield) that the conference organisers were inundated with offers of papers. In such a developing subject as is modern ceramic studies, it is logical to assume that papers will be wide-ranging and varied. It is hoped that in the papers presented in this volume, readers will find much to stimulate the mind and their own directions of study even if the subject matter is not directly relevant to their own specific fields. This is the unifying beauty of ceramic research.

This work investigates the excavated archaeological record of the northern Levantine littoral for specific evidence of continuity or change in the regional economic structure after the period of destruction that enveloped the Eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Late Bronze Age. It also integrates relevant textual evidence and seeks to place this area within its regional context as part of the Eastern Mediterranean and Ancient Near Eastern trading networks by comparing the northern Levantine evidence with that from the south and from Cyprus.

The subject of this work is the way that symbolism operates in official representations of the pharaohs' sons and daughters, during the historical period widely known as the New Kingdom (1550-1069 BC). The use of symbols in different expressions of Egyptian culture has been widely mentioned, and has been discussed from many different angles. Scholars have also analysed the identity and function of various royal children through historical and genealogical works. However, there has been little attempt to associate general ideas about visual and verbal symbolism with a socially homogeneous group such as the royal children. The author therefore aims to explore and explain what lies beneath the choice, the variation and the evolution of symbols used in the royal children's iconography and imagery. The area of Egyptian culture that was most affected by this symbolism is essentially the royal ideology. In the course of the five chapters of this work the author explains not only the role of royal children in analogies between divine and royal families, but also how the royal children became an official link between the king and leading non-royals.

Was the decline of Rome and the fall of the western Empire partly the consequence of declining troop numbers? This is one of the questions which Coello asks. Although there is some documentary evidence for unit sizes in the early period very little is known about the third century and following.

Pre-Columbian pottery figurines from Peru occur in astonishingly large numbers in museum and private collections. However in the published literature they generally occupy a place of 'also ran'. The reason for this may be that -because of their scarcity in controlled excavations -their potential importance has been undervalued. The main purpose of this work therefore has been to fill this gap in the archaeological record by presenting a Corpus of Peruvian pottery figurines. This volume analyses material from the north coast of Peru and two subsequent volumes are planned to cover the central coast and the southern coast. For each geographic area the figurine groups are presented in chronological order. The periods covered are: The Preceramic Period; The Formative Period (subdivided into: The Lower or Early Formative, also known as Initial Period, The Middle Formative, incorporating the Early Horizon, The Epiformative, straddling Lumbreras's Upper Formative and the beginning of the Early Intermediate Period); The Early Intermediate Period; The Middle Horizon; The Late Intermediate Period; The Late Horizon or Inca Period. Each figurine is listed on a Table, containing all the relevant data (collection, site provenance, sex, measurements, surface colour, manufacturing technique, special features and reference to publications) and illustrated on a Plate. The analytical part lists the group characteristics and discusses special features, links with other groups, context, geographic distribution and chronology of each group or sub-group. Additional data are presented in four Appendices: Appendix 1: Gives details about specific museum collections (acquisition of figurines, reliability of given provenances, etc.). Appendix 2: Describes some of the sites, with the location of successive excavations, dating of features etc. Appendix 3: Lists and briefly describes all the recorded gravelots containing figurines. Appendix 4: Quotes references to idols found in the chroniclers.

The first in a series of five volumes of inventories of 'First Neolithic Sites' in Europe. The series will consist of I) Bulgaria, II) Romania, III) Eastern Hungary, IV) Eastern Slovakia, V) Southeastern Poland. The main themes of each volume will be: 1) General information about cultural evolution at the onset of the Neolithic, 2) Additional data on cultural and economic problems specific for a given region, 3) A list of radiometric dates, 4) A catalogue of sites in alphabetical order.

This study presents a completely new classification system for Egyptian watercraft models based on their nautical construction attributes. It is based on a full analysis and catalogue (which is included as an appendix) of all 586 known examples.

In this extensive study, the author aims at a comprehensive analysis of funerary archaeological evidence in Early Iron Age Capua, the ancient city in the modern province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, situated some 25 km north of Naples. The main difficulty results from the entity of the burials, which includes different burial grounds belonging to three different cemeteries, in turn investigated by different methods and times; the information about them is often incomplete and that conditions the critical interpretation. Another problem is that the sample is composed of a majority of 2nd local phase burials and this condition might alter the outline with a faked under representation of the tombs of the 9th century BC: in fact, only in 2005-2006 most of "Nuovo Mattatoio" necropolis, the main first Capuan phase graveyard, was excavated and works (excavation and restoration) are ongoing. However, the examined 1st phase graves well symbolize the development of community in the pre-protourban period. Among the main goals of this research is a comprehensive re-examination of relative and absolute chronology for the early Capuan phases. Another goal is to shed some light on our knowledge of the amount of archaeological contexts identified over the last fifty years by subjecting the material to statistical analysis, which necessitated an alternative reading of the problem of diachronic and synchronic development in the society investigated.

This book contains papers in English and papers in German

Analysis of the morphology, manufacture and use of selected categories of domestic wooden artefacts with particular reference to the material from Roman Britain.

The Poseidonian chora encompasses the plain South of the Sele River, which formed the ancient boundary between the Greek lands and the Etruscan territory to the North, East to the Alburnus Mountains and South to the Punta Licosa. The aim of this study is to understand the nature of the relationship between the Greek settlers of Poseidonia, founded at the turn of the sixth century BC in the Sele Plain (in modern Campania), and the Italic peoples indigenous in the plain. The Greek city flourished from its foundation until about 400 BC when it came under the control of Lucanians from the nearby Apennines. Recent attention has focused on its three well-preserved temples, the rich cemeteries, and the sanctuaries outside the walls. This present study examines the hypothesis that not only was the relationship cordial during the 200-year tenure of the Greeks, but that the indigenous groups actually collaborated in the founding of the city.