bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Some Somerset hoards and their place in the Bronze Age of Southern Britain
Authors: Smith M. A.
Published: February 2015

Two articles published in recent years have drawn attention to distinctive bronzes which are found concentrated in Somerset. Sir Cyril Fox showed in 1941 that sickles cast with an elongated terminal knob for hafting, or pair of conical knobs, are in England entirely confined to the county; and in 1949 Mrs C. M. Piggott discussed types of bronze ornament also commonly found in Somerset, and often in association with such sickles, though distribution of these extends to other parts of southern England as well. As these authors demonstrated, the sickles and some of the ornaments must alike derive from foreign prototypes. The interest of the Somerset hoards in which they occur lies in their combination of other, peculiarly British, bronzes with these foreign-paralleled types, which may serve to link the developments of British industry with the established chronological sequences of Continental Europe.

Somerset hoards of this class are characteristically composed of several types of ornament together with a few bronze implements from a restricted number of forms. Fewer than half the ornaments seem to have been deposited in a pristine condition, and of those damaged some are in fragments. Most often, however, the associated tools are usable, and some (especially sickles) are still untrimmed from the mould.
A Sample Analysis of British Middle and Late Bronze Age Material, using Optical Spectrometry
Authors: Brown M. A. , Blin-Stoyle A. E.
Published: February 2015

Metallurgical analysis of prehistoric material has hitherto been concentrated on examination of early artifacts, presumably made from newly-won metal, which may therefore contain trace elements to indicate the sources and trade-routes of contemporary metal supply. The present study was undertaken to discover whether bronze artifacts from the British Middle and Late Bronze Age, when an important component of the bronzes produced must have been re-used metal, show nonetheless perceptible variations in metal composition, which might correlate with changes of bronze types, or with the successive industries of the archaeological sequence.

Analyses were made at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology in the University of Oxford, using an optical emission spectrometer. Samples of the bronzes studied were examined for the elements copper (Cu), tin (Sn), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb), nickel (Ni), bismuth (Bi), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), silver (Ag), gold (Au) and magnesium (Mg), the only elements found in the bronzes in appreciable quantities.
The Context of some Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Remains from Lincolnshire
Authors: Smith A. G.
Published: February 2015

It has been possible recently to correlate some well known Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age finds from the Ancholme Valley, north Lincolnshire, with the stratigraphy of the valley and with the pollen statistical zone scheme. A digest of the material of archaeological interest is presented here together with an account of the investigation of the site of the dugout canoe at Short Ferry, Fiskerton, near Lincoln.
Early Iron Age ‘C’ in Wessex
Authors: Brailsford John
Published: February 2015

The Early Iron Age of Wessex has been the study of many distinguished archaeologists, and any fresh investigation is bound to be in large part either a synthesis or a development of the results of earlier workers. Among the latter must be included not only such notable scholars as General Pitt-Rivers, the Cunningtons, Professor Hawkes, Sir Mortimer Wheeler and Mr Radford, but a multitude of professional archaeologists and amateurs, whose accumulated labours help to give solidity to the picture. The present writer owes a profound debt to all of these; he would also like to acknowledge personal help especially from Mr Raymond Farrar, Mr J. Stevens Cox, Mr A. L. F. Rivet, Mr J. B. Calkin, and from the Curators of the Museums at Dorchester, Farnham (Dorset), Salisbury, Devizes and Taunton.

The present paper is a study of the ‘C’ cultures, i.e. cultures of the latest phase of the Early Iron Age which are not simply survivals of ‘B’ cultures, in Wessex. For the present purpose I take Wessex to be the area covered by Sheet 11 of the Ordnance Survey ¼ inch map, excluding the area of undoubted Belgic occupation in the East (which I shall attempt to define later), and in addition a westward extension to the River Exe. In other words, it is a study, primarily (Part I) of the ‘Durotrigian’ culture of Dorset and its borders, and also (Part II) of whatever Belgic penetration can be demonstrated in the surrounding area.
Middle Ural Sites and the Chronology of Northern Eurasia
Authors: Gimbutas Marija
Published: February 2015

The investigation of trade relations as they continued onward from the middle of the second millennium B.C. is at present one of the most fruitful methods of establishing the chronological sequence of the Bronze Age in northern Eurasia. In a recent article (Gimbutas, 1956) I attempted to correlate the Seima and Borodino dates with those of the Near East on the one hand, and of China on the other, basing my argument on analogies among widely-distributed artifacts of close affinity. Stratigraphical evidence is of no less importance than the presence of traded objects and deserves special attention. By now numerous stratified sites lying east and west of the Middle Urals have been discovered. In 1956 Raushenbakh's study appeared, a monograph, which, by a thorough description of Neolithic and Bronze Age sites east of the Middle Urals, with special emphasis upon the Gorbunovo peat-bog site, demonstrated clearly the importance of Middle Ural finds for defining the chronology of the forested region of northern Eurasia.

Since World War II continuous excavations at the confluence of the Kama and Chusovaia Rivers have been directed and described chiefly by O. N. Bader and have revealed stratified and unstratified Sub-Neolithic and Bronze Age habitation sites and cemeteries, all encompassed within a small area.
The Apennine Culture of Italy
Authors: Trump D. H.
Published: February 2015

The Apennine Culture of the Middle and Late Bronze Age of Italy extended in space from the Po Valley to the Gulf of Taranto, and from the Gargano to Lipari, and in time from at least 1500 to 1000 B.C. It is represented in the museums by its pottery, and little else. Yet this is sufficient for an examination of it to reveal important regional and chronological variations, which form the subject of the present paper.

The pottery of the Apennine Culture consists of two distinct classes, both invariably hand-made. The first is a coarse, unburnished ware indistinguishable from the corresponding classes of pottery in preceding and succeeding periods. Decoration is common, consisting of cordons, plain or impressed, indentations of the rim and, rarely, applied knobs or bosses which merge imperceptibly into the form of the very common simple lug handles. Shapes include heavy jars of various sizes, from great pithoi for water, oil or grain storage, with lugs only, to smaller mug- or cup-like ones, often with single vertical strap handles. Smallest of all are miniature vessels, as little as an inch high, which may be votive (the Grotta Pertosa produced several hundred examples) or simply children's toys. The second, commoner, and much more important ware is a fine, medium, darkfaced, burnished one, and in this all the more characteristic forms were made. A bold decoration of bands, dotted, hatched, excised or void, is frequent though by no means universal.
The Great Barrow at Bishop's Waltham, Hampshire
Authors: Ashbee Paul
Published: February 2015

The barrow is situated on the eastern fringe of the township of Bishop's Waltham, Hampshire, in the south-western corner of a recreation ground, adjacent to Folly Farm (fig. 1). It is some 190 feet in diameter and 7 feet in height; the grassy slopes (pl. XII, 1) have provided, for many years, a tumbling ground for the local children. At the end of 1953, the Parish Council planned to level the barrow, and lay out a football pitch. In the face of this impending destruction, excavations were undertaken by the Ministry of Works, under the directorship of the writer. He was assisted in this task by Miss D. G. Duckett (Mrs J. G. Hurst), who during the latter part of the operation was in charge of all day-to-day activities. Her good management and shrewd observation, in conditions which were often adverse, ensured the measure of success with which the labours were crowned.
Some observations on the Pleistocene succession in the Somme Valley
Authors: Bordes F.
Published: February 2015

Since the work of Breuil and Koslowski on the Somme Valley and the publication of a summary of this work in the Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, new finds have been made, and new points of view developed. I shall not give here a restatement of Breuil's work, but rather indicate the points where our interpretation differs and give our reasons for differing.
Palaeoliths from Gravel of the Ancient Channel between Caversham and Henley at Highlands near Henley
Authors: Wymer J.
Published: February 2015

With the working of high level dry gravels now such a rarity, students of palaeolithic archaeology have to be extremely grateful for the large collections of implements made from them when various pits were open. Although these collections have drawbacks, the chances of recovering so great a quantity of specimens from so many localities may never occur again. It is well-known that the majority of the large palaeolithic collections were made by the purchasing of specimens from workmen employed in the gravel pits. The provenance or horizon of any artifact may therefore be debatable, as it depends on the integrity of unknown people. There are stories of hand-axes from prolific, famous sites being taken to other sites in order to increase their market value. Some of these stories are undoubtedly true, but it would have required a thorough knowledge of typology and Pleistocene geology to have perpetrated any large-scale fraud and, as none of the large collections of labelled specimens have ever been in marked contrast with more recent finds, their validity can be generally accepted. If forgeries were purchased it is of no consequence for they would be evident as such. The only serious objection to these older collections being used as a basis for palaeolithic study is that they rarely give a true representation of the artifacts contained in the deposit: flakes were rarely preserved and ruder workmanship was often unrecognized.
The use and distribution of Faience in the Ancient East and Prehistoric Europe
Authors: Stone J. F. S. , Thomas L. C.
Published: February 2015

Twenty years have elapsed since H. C. Beck and the present writer published a preliminary paper on the origin of British faience beads with special reference to those of the segmented variety and, except for the discovery and recognition of many new specimens over much wider areas it may be said that nothing has emerged to alter materially the general conclusions there enunciated that an Egyptian origin was the most likely for a number of the beads and that their dissemination to the British Isles took place during the Eighteenth Dynasty around about 1400 B.C.

At the time of writing we not unnaturally concentrated on British specimens, as European analogues appeared to be conspicuously absent, and confined our attention primarily to morphological characters. We had, however, projected a wider study to embrace faience objects in general and, if possible, to adduce spectrographic evidence as further proof of identity or otherwise. Unfortunately the sudden death of Mr Beck in 1939 and the intervention of the war years greatly retarded progress in this direction. But the rapid recognition of old finds and the accumulation of new ones, mostly in Europe, in post-war years, coupled with a number of spectrographic analyses that have since been carried out with the help of Mr L. C. Thomas, now renders it desirable to review such progress as has been made in this most difficult and complex subject.
Palaeolithic Spear-Throwers
Authors: Garrod Dorothy A. E.
Published: February 2015

In plate B XIX–XX of Reliquiae Aquitanicae (Lartet & Christy, 1875), a sculptured reindeer antler from Laugerie-Basse was figured with the description, ‘a long, slightly curved Harpoon-head’. Many years later Emile Carthailac found among Lartet's papers in the University Library at Toulouse a letter from a correspondent in Ireland suggesting that the object in question might be a hooked spear-thrower of a type well-known in Australia. Unfortunately the sheet with the writer's signature was missing, so the first person to identify the spear-thrower as a Palaeolithic weapon must remain anonymous (Carthailac, 1903). Since then many more have been found; in 1907 Breuil listed 38 throwers or fragments from various Magdalenian sites (Carthailac and Breuil, 1907), and it is possible now to bring the number up to 66. Of these two, possibly three, are complete, and six are complete in so far as the part made of antler is concerned, but were certainly meant to be lengthened by insertion in a handle, probably of wood. The rest are more or less fragmentary, but in 39 the hook is preserved, and the rest can be identified by comparison with more complete specimens.

The subject of these weapons has been treated at various times by Adrien de Mortillet (1891), Carthailac (1903), Breuil (with Carthailac, 1907: with Lantier, 1951), Begouen (1912), Renaud (1925), Montandon (1934). More recently Guyan (1944) has studied the collection from Kesslerloch in relation to the rest. In addition, individual specimens have been described by their discoverers. Nevertheless, there is room for a more detailed general survey of the whole range now available.
Loess and Palaeolithic Chronology
Authors: Zeuner F. E.
Published: February 2015

In the present paper it is intended to summarize the reasons why loess sections must be regarded as important for the chronology of the Palaeolithic, and to discuss an important problem to which loess sections have contributed in recent years, that of the chronological relations between the Mousterioid and the Upper Palaeolithic industries. This problem has received particular attention in the Geochronological Laboratory of the Institute since its formation by Sir Robert Mond in 1936. Several hundred analyses have been made, some of which will be published shortly in these Proceedings, from sites ranging from the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, Hungary and Poland through France and Germany to southern England, as well as from India, Africa and northern Arabia. During the later stages, the work was supported by the Central Research Fund of London University, whose help is recorded with gratitude.

Loess analysis comprises the study of grain size by mechanical analysis, determination of calcium carbonate and organic matter, the study of its porosity and texture and of the shape and quality of its grains. Two years were spent in the laboratory on the testing and improvement of various methods in use, and especially of mechanical analysis, so that the laboriousness of the work has been much reduced and results can be obtained more quickly.

The aeolian origin of loess is no longer disputed. Loess is essentially rock dust blown about and deposited from an air current. This necessitates a dry environment due either to aridity or to frost, and scarcity of vegetation. Loess dust is thus picked up on bare surfaces and deposited mainly in the steppe, where low and sparse vegetation acts like a comb, slowing down the air current and compelling it to deposit its load. Any dust that reaches the humid forest zone is incorporated in the soil that is forming there, and it thus disappears.
Contributions to a Study of ‘The Problem of Pile Dwellings’
Authors: Pittioni R.
Published: February 2015

The theory of pile-dwellings, first put forward by the Swiss, Ferdinand Keller, is now 100 years old. According to this theory, there existed in prehistoric times buildings erected, not on dry land, but on artificial platforms raised on piles above the surface of the water.

This theory was based on well authenticated discoveries of the remains of settlements along the modern lake shores, in the first place on evidence from the south German, Swiss, French and Italian lakes. The very large number of piles found in connection with organic substances (wooden vessels, textiles, food stuffs and seeds) provided a basis for belief in the existence of such settlements. Moreover, the knowledge of modern pile-dwellings, especially in the South Seas, was cited in support of Keller's theory. So well was it grounded, that for over 70 years no one questioned the existence of prehistoric pile-dwellings.
A Bronze Age House at Poliokhni (Lemnos)
Authors: Brea Luigi Bernabò
Published: February 2015

The Italian School of Archaeology in Athens, under the direction of Prof. Alessandro Della Seta, carried out excavations between 1930–36 on the small hill of Poliokhni near Kaminia on the east coast of the Island of Lemnos. The site was a vast Bronze Age town, without doubt one of the most important and significant that excavation has brought to light in the Aegean. Owing to the premature death of Prof. Della Seta during the war and to the fact that his successor, Professor Doro Levi was fully occupied with the activities of the School and the excavations in Crete, the results of these excavations have remained unpublished.

From the Summer of 1951, with the much valued collaboration of my colleagues in the Syracuse Museum, I have worked through the enormous amount of material recovered and have verified the facts by test excavations. In order to unify the various zones of excavation which had been made, and to fill up the lacunae still existing in our knowledge of the main outlines of the topography of the sites, I carried out further excavations in the summer of 1953, with the collaboration of Dr Giovanni Rizza. The excavations were made in the remaining untouched area near the centre of the town and brought to light the house now to be described.
A Burial with Faience Beads at Tara
Authors: Ríordáin Seán P. Ó
Published: February 2015

The discovery, in the course of the 1955 excavations at Tara, of a necklace which included segmented faience beads around the neck of an inhumed burial is the first recorded instance in Ireland of the occurrence of beads of this type with such a burial. It is, in fact, only the second case in which faience beads of any kind are known to have been found in a grave in this country. Since the discovery is so unusual and because of its implications for prehistoric trade and cultural connexions, it seems fitting that a brief account in advance of the full excavation report, should be offered for inclusion in this volume in honour of Professor Childe, one of whose most significant contributions to the study of prehistory has been to indicate such ancient contacts between different areas and to emphasize their significance.

Excavations at Tara began in 1952. In that year and in 1953 work was carried out on the site known as the Rath of the Synods. In 1955 work was resumed at Tara—this time on the burial mound called the Mound of the Hostages. This site is ascribed to Cormac Mac Airt, King at Tara in the 3rd century of the Christian era. To Cormac also are attributed the building of others of the Tara monuments, including the most important of them—the Fort of the Kings and the Banquet Hall—and in general Cormac looms large in the scribal accounts of Tara. The 1955 excavation showed that the Mound of the Hostages was certainly not built in the 3rd century A.D.
An Iron Anthropoid Sword from Shouldham, Norfolk with Related Continental and British Weapons
Authors: Clarke R. R. , Hawkes C. F. C.
Published: February 2015

An iron sword of anthropoid-hilted type (pl. XXIV, 1, 3) was found in 1944 at Shouldham in West Norfolk, some five miles east of the margin of the Fens, and since 1949 has been on loan to Norwich Castle Museum. It is here published by kind permission of the owner, Mr W. R. O. Woodward. The sword was discovered while gravel was being dug in an arable field about 200 feet south-east of the site of the medieval church of St. Margaret, which fell into ruins after the Reformation. The sword was found at a depth of 1 foot 6 inches lying across the chest of an extended human skeleton inside the boundary of the medieval churchyard, as graves of that period were found adjacent though they had not disturbed this pre-Christian inhumation. There is no indication either on the ground or on air-photographs that a barrow had formerly existed, and the burial is probably to be regarded as an isolated interment.

The overall length of the sword, to the end of the branching arms, is now 21⅜ in. (54 cm.), but this has been slightly diminished by corrosion. The straight-edged blade is 16⅜ in. (44 cm.) long and the hilt measures 3¼ in. (8 cm.). At both ends of the hilt curving arms of round cross-section branch outwards to end in knobs, now of unequal size owing to differential rusting. The surface of the grip bears traces of transverse ribbing, perhaps imitating that found in bronze on other examples of the type.
A Doctor's Grave of the Middle La Tène Period from Bavaria
Authors: de Navarro J. M.
Published: February 2015

In the summer and autumn of 1910 Postinspektor Schild found a small cemetery of the Middle La Tène Period (Reinecke, Phase C) on his property at Munich—Obermenzing, Upper Bavaria. Eight graves were discovered by him; one, if not two of them were cremation burials. A number of the graves yielded no goods or were at best but meagrely furnished and had either previously been disturbed or had belonged to poor people. Later, in 1913 and in 1914, G. von Merhart (on what must have been one of his earliest excavations) continued work there with the aid of Schild. Nine more graves were discovered, two being cremation, the others inhumation burials. It is of interest that the three richest burials all housed cremations. Apart from two graves found by Merhart, this cemetery is as yet unpublished, though references to it have appeared in various periodicals.

The material from the site is in the possession of the Vor- und Frühgeschichtliche Staatssammlung, Munich, and I am more than indebted to its director, Doktor O. Kunkel, for his kindness in allowing me to publish the grave from this cemetery which forms the theme of this paper. My thanks are also due to two other friends, Doktor W. Krämer and Doktor H. Müller-Karpe for help on a number of points and for placing the respective records of the Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege and of the Vor- und Frühgeschichtliche Staatssammlung at my disposal.
The Quaternary Deposits at Hoxne, Suffolk, and their Archaeology
Authors: West R. G. , McBurney C. M. B.
Published: February 2015

The long history of investigations at Hoxne, Suffolk, beginning when John Frere discovered Palaeolithic implements there in the last decade of the eighteenth century, has been described by Moir. Moir himself worked on the deposits at Hoxne, and the results of his investigations, together with those of Reid, have formed the basis for our knowledge of the geology and archaeology of the deposits. From these investigations it is clear that Hoxne is an important site, for it is one of the rare places where there are interglacial lake deposits and Palaeolithic implements in direct association with ground moraines of the older glaciations. Moreover, the deposits occupy a well-known position in the East Anglian Quaternary succession.
Pollen Analysis as an Aid to the Dating of Prehistoric Monuments
Authors: Dimbleby G. W.
Published: February 2015

In the course of enquiries into the nature of the primary vegetation of Britain and its associated soils, the soils buried under prehistoric earthworks have provided valuable material. Such work is usually carried out on barrows which can be dated by the archaeological finds in them, but occasionally samples have been examined from undated barrows. Pollen analysis of the old land surface under an earthwork gives a broad picture of the vegetation extant on the site up to the time that earthwork was built, and it has been found that this picture varies according to the impact of prehistoric man upon the vegetation. This effect is, of course, progressive and it is possible to show that the later the earthwork the further removed is the flora from the forest conditions which once prevailed. Once such a sequence has been established, it should be possible, by pollen analysis alone, to allot an undated construction to its approximate position in the sequence.
Celtic fields and farms on Dartmoor, in the light of recent excavations at Kestor
Authors: Fox Aileen
Published: February 2015

The granite upland of Dartmoor has attracted settlers coming into the south-west of Britain from the early Bronze Age (Beaker phase) onwards. The long outline of the moor is visible from the South Devon coast, which with its series of good harbours invites intrusion. The navigable lower reaches of the south-flowing rivers—the Plym, Yealm, Erme, Avon, Dart and Teign—and the ridgeways along their watersheds provide convenient thoroughfares across the intervening coastal belt, the South Hams and the hinterland of Torbay, as far as the foot of the main escarpment. Above this steep ascent, where the granite overlies the Devonian rock formations, and where the rivers run in deep wooded gorges, the moorland mass forms a rolling tableland (1000-1400 feet high), broken only by the profile of the numerous upland valleys or by the fantastic eroded outlines of the tors. It is in this zone (light shading, fig. 1) that the evidence for most of the prehistoric settlement and early cultivation is to be found. Between 1400 and 1500 feet, the ground rises markedly again to the uninhabited northern heights (Yestor 2039 feet) and the southern heights (Ryder's Hill 1692 feet), in which the rivers have their sources and which are now blanketed in peat bog (dark shading, fig. 1). The heights apart, Dartmoor contains a broad tract of elevated open country, well-watered grass and heather moor, ideally suited to sustain a primitive pastoral economy. In many places on the marginal slopes and in the upland valleys a sufficient depth of sandy soil has accumulated on top of the rock to make arable cultivation possible; at present, cultivation ceases at about 1000 feet, which is the normal tres line.
Some Palaeoliths from South Arabia
Authors: Caton-Thompson G.
Published: February 2015

The material here described was found in the Hadhramaut by Elinor Gardner and myself between November 1937 and March 1938. My personal investigation of the Palaeolithic Age was limited by pre-Islamic excavations, and I am therefore indebted to her for the gathering of most of the specimens in situ in terrace gravels, and to her detailed study of their positions.

The collection consists mainly of groups from four fairly widely separated localities; the physiography of these has already been outlined in a comprehensive paper published in the Geographical Journal. Whenever appropriate to the purpose of this account, which is to place for the first time on illustrated record all we observed about the palaeoliths, I have reused in this different context illustrations of Quaternary environment which appeared in that Journal. With thanks I acknowledge the permission of the Royal Geographical Society to do so.
The Prehistoric Culture-Sequence in the Maltese Archipelago
Authors: Evans John D.
Published: February 2015

The present paper is based on a new study of the material from all the prehistoric sites so far excavated in the Maltese Islands. This was made in the course of preparing for publication a Corpus of all the known monuments and material of the islands (for the Royal University of Malta). The results achieved, especially those gained by the intensive study of the pottery (much of it hitherto unpublished), seemed to justify more rapid publication than could be expected for the Corpus itself, and I have to thank the Archaeological Survey Advisory Committee of the Royal University of Malta for very kindly granting me permission to publish this preliminary report on the advances made so far. At the same time I should like to record my best thanks to the Director of the Valletta Museum, Dr J. G. Baldacchino, and his Assistant, Mr C. G. Zammit, for their wholehearted co-operation in granting me every facility for the pursuit of my studies, and for the help which they have given in innumerable ways in forwarding the work of the Survey. Lastly, it is a pleasure to thank Prof. L. Bernabò Brea for his great kindness during a week spent with him in Syracuse and Lipari, and for much help from his unique knowledge of Sicilian archaeology.
Excavations at Kilpheder, South Uist, and the problem of Brochs and Wheel-houses
Authors: Lethbridge T. C.
Published: February 2015

In 1951 Dr Werner Kissling, who for many years has been studying and collecting specimens of the old folk culture of the Outer Hebrides, asked me to undertake the excavation of some site on South Uist (fig. 1) to encourage the local people to take an interest in their antiquities. The site chosen was a large midden among the dunes in the Kilpheder machair (sandy coastal plain). Five hundred yards to the northward a midden with a few stones is all that remains of a wheel-house, known as Bruthach an Tigh Tallan (the brae of the buried house), which was completely removed some years ago. Half a mile to the north of this another wheel-house, Sithean a Phiobaire (the piper's fairy hill), was removed to build a wall round a nearby grave-yard. The middens of both these wheel-houses have produced ring-headed bronze or iron pins similar to ones found in the North Uist wheel-houses and approximately dated at Traprain Law in Haddingtonshire to between A.D. 100–200. To the south-west of our site, one about 150 yards distant, the other some 200 yards further on, are two more middens with traces of building stones. One of these produced a specimen of the well-known long-handled weaving comb. Yet another midden of the same period, two hundred yards to the south east, is now completely buried. It will be seen that this was once a highly populated area. I have not enumerated all the sites which are known to exist.
A Mesolithic Chipping Floor at The Warren, Oakhanger, Selborne, Hants
Authors: Rankine W. F.
Published: February 2015

The object of this paper is to record and discuss the investigation of an unusually prolific Mesolithic chipping floor recently located on War Department land between Bordon Camp and the hamlet of Oakhanger, near Selborne, on the Hampshire Greensand. These lands are particularly sterile and undulating, and are dissected by a stream which emerges from Oakhanger Ponds to enter the Oakhanger Stream about a mile to the north (fig. 1). The section west of this stream is named the Warren, and that on the east is called the Slab. The site now being discussed is one of five located on the Warren and Slab, and is known as Site V. The group forms part of a series fringing the watercourse known sectionally as the Oakhanger Stream, Kingsley Stream, Oxney Stream, and the Slea, which eventually feeds the Frensham Wey. Thus the Oakhanger sites integrate with the important network investigated in West Surrey.

The Warren, together with the Slab, forms a roughly quadrangular area with its northern side coinciding, for about a mile, with the Bordon-Oakhanger road. Together they make up, approximately, a square mile of rough ground which is marshy along the course of the dividing stream. Geologically it is on Folkestone Sands which, in this area, are extensively covered by blown-sand deposits. Towards Oakhanger, half a mile to the north, these deposits are unusually thick and form dunes. In the Folkestones there is much carstone in thin layers which, here and there, tend to induce marshy conditions. The nearest chalk outcrop is some two miles to the westward in the Selborne district.
Prehistoric Settlements on Dartmoor and the Cornish Moors
Authors: Radford C. A. Ralegh
Published: February 2015

It is not my intention in this paper to deal with the whole field of antiquities found on the southwestern moors and I shall only refer to the sepulchral and other remains of a ritual character in so far as they have a direct bearing on the interpretation of the settlements (fig. 1). Inclusion of the Cornish moors is prompted by the fact that certain stages in the development of the settlements are not represented on Dartmoor but can be illustrated from the lower moorlands further west.

The material on which my interpretation is based is largely the result of work carried out by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee of the Devonshire Association. Beginning in 1894 this Committee, in addition to other work, explored some 20 settlements excavating nearly 150 hut circles. The objects discovered are mostly in the City Museum at Plymouth and some of the pottery is now illustrated for the first time. Most of the Committee's work was carried out in the first ten years of its existence, but the excavation of a site now flooded by the Torquay Corporation's reservoir was undertaken as late as 1933 and the Committee remained in existence until 1950, when the Association reconstituted its arrangements in respect of Dartmoor. As the last surviving member of the old Dartmoor Exploration Committee it is perhaps fitting that it should fall to my lot to interpret the results then obtained in the light of more modern knowledge and methods. The Association has kindly sanctioned the republication of figs. 4, 5, 6 and 9.
A Hoard of Metalwork of the Early Iron Age from Ringstead, Norfolk
Authors: Clarke R. Rainbird
Published: February 2015

The widespread adoption of deeper ploughing has led to the discovery during recent years of many remarkable antiquities in East Anglia. Prominent among recent discoveries resulting from this practice have been a series of finds of metal objects of the Early Iron Age in north-western Norfolk. These have ranged from an iron anthropoid sword with an inhumation burial at Shouldham through isolated finds, such as tores at Bawsey and North Creake, to the impressive group of hoards of ornaments and coins at Snettisham and the small hoard here studied found at Ringstead five miles from Snettisham and two miles east of Hunstanton.

Few remains of the latter part of the Iron Age from about 100 B.C. to A.D. 43 had previously been recorded from north-west Norfolk. Within a ten-mile radius of Ringstead only indefinite traces of human occupation had been noted, such as pottery from Hunstanton and coins of the Iceni from Brancaster, Burnham Thorpe and possibly Ingoldisthorpe. A much-damaged hillfort at South Creake has been attributed to this period, though on very little direct evidence. Actual indications of settlement at this period are still very scanty.
British Prehistory half-way through the Century: Presidential Address
Authors: Hawkes C. F. C.
Published: February 2015

Prehistory, in Great Britain, is usually taken to denote the whole story of human activity in our country before its invasion, or before the invasion of any given part of it, by the Romans in the 1st century A.D.; it may also denote the totality of research upon, and interpretation of that story. The adjective Prehistoric was first popularized in the 19th century by Sir John Lubbock, the first Lord Avebury, and it and its cognate substantive Prehistory have been found so convenient, that we take their use for granted. Yet to a strictly logical mind they are tiresome and problematic words. Since what is Prehistoric must precede in time what is Historic, Prehistory should precede History; and History, to Lubbock, was evidently History in its restricted sense of the story of human activity known to us from written documents. But History can mean more than that: even the original Ancient Greek word historía did not mean history only in Lubbock's sense—the word for that was syngraphé—but rather, anything found out by enquiry. Thus to-day in the 20th century, when the range covered by documentary history has been enormously extended, both in time and space, by archaeology and anthropology in all their branches, we can speak also, as Elliot Smith did in his book of twenty years ago, of Human History as covering all the human story—all of What Happened in History, as Professor Childe's book called it in 1942—without restriction. In other words, History in the broad sense includes Prehistory, which must yet precede History in the narrow sense. We, as prehistorians, are of course quite used to this; and we seldom notice the patient smile on the face of the logician.
The Henge Monument of The Bull Ring, Dove Holes, Derbyshire
Authors: Alcock Leslie
Published: February 2015

In March 1949, work was carried out at The Bull Ring, Dove Holes, Derbyshire, by members of the Oxford University Archaeological Society, as part of the general survey of ‘henge“ monuments, undertaken by Mr R. J. C. Atkinson. The site was surveyed and was found to be of the ‘double-entrance’ class of Henge Monument. No stone-holes were found, but it is known from an 18th century account that the monument once had a stone setting similar to that at Arbor Low, Derbyshire. Trenches revealed the form of the ditch and bank, but the dating evidence was confined to two fragments of pottery, one of them a rim sherd, probably related to Beaker fabric.
The Geographical Study of the Older Palaeolithic Stages in Europe
Authors: McBurney C. M. B.
Published: February 2015

Most prehistorians would probably agree that one of the most promising developments in the theory of the subject in recent years has been the increasing use of geographical concepts and methods. By this I do not mean merely the compilation of distributions—naturally suggested by the growing body of observations—but rather the deliberate attempt to use such distributions as an indication of the part played by various natural and social factors in stimulating and moulding the cultural traditions.

Probably the best known work of this description is Sir Cyril Fox's Personality of Britain, but the same general tendency is implicit in many other recent studies of prehistoric material both here and on the Continent. Roughly speaking the underlying principle might be described as a combined interpretation of the traits themselves with that of various elements in the environment, including its general structure.

In general it is likely that the most obvious fields for work of this sort will occur in the later periods of prehistory. Apart from somewhat increased chances of preservation, the remains of later societies tend to be of a more specialised character which greatly facilitates their attribution to this or that specific cultural tradition. At the same time it may be argued that the ultimate problems at issue during the earlier phases are of a somewhat simpler nature.
Palaeoliths and Terraces near Bournemouth
Authors: Calkin J. Bernard , Green J. F. N.
Published: February 2015

Upwards of three thousand palaeolithic implements are known to have been obtained from gravels within 8 miles of Bournemouth. The largest proportion, probably a majority, come from the gravels of the 130-ft. terrace which constitutes the greater part of the ‘Palaeolithic Terrace’ of Reid (1) and is correlated with the Boyn Hill terrace of the Thames. Most of the less rolled of these belong to Middle Acheulian types, especially Acheul III of Breuil, and, though their exact position is rarely known, the correspondence is so usual that the gravels of this terrace near Bournemouth have been dated by them with some confidence.

On the other hand the palaeolithic dating of other terraces has been the subject of some doubt. Recently the terraces have been mapped on the six-inch scale and their morphology measured with improved accuracy (2). It is the object of this paper to record some further implements from the local gravels, and in the light of the latest geological and archaeological evidence, to date the gravels in two critical areas, as a step towards more complete chronology here and elsewhere.
Experimental Clactonian Technique
Authors: Baden-Powell D. F. W.
Published: February 2015

The exact way in which ancient man made stone implements has occupied the interest of many prehistorians. One way of helping to solve this problem is by trying to make implements oneself. Although several investigators have done isolated and rather sporadic work along these lines, there seem to be few accounts of any systematic series of experiments. The most complete descriptions known to me are those by J. Reid Moir (hand-axes and Levallois flakes) and Sir Francis Knowles (Neolithic arrow-heads). Although M. Coutier's experiments have been filmed, no written account of them seems to be available.

As I have been experimenting for some years with the making of various types of stone implements, some of my results can now be described; only one short reference to this work has been published so far. My objects in making these investigations have been to find out as much as possible about the way in which Palaeoliths were made, and about the conditions under which the work was done. Information about conditions was obtained by doing the flaking ‘in the field’ rather than in a laboratory or workshop, that is to say, the stone was usually worked at the place where it was found in quarries or natural exposures. The main conclusion derived from this aspect of the investigation was that until early man learned to mine for flint, for instance, he would find very little suitable raw material in country covered by grass, trees or bushes, and my work proved that if artificial gravel pits and chalk quarries were not used, the best sources of stone were in river beds or on the shores of lakes or the sea.
Excavations at Esh Shaheinab, Sudan (1949)
Authors: Arkell A. J.
Published: February 2015

A full report of the excavations at Khartoum undertaken by the Sudan Government Antiquities Service in 1944–5 has recently been published. The present paper summarises the results of a subsequent excavation made by the same service at the early occupation site at Esh Shaheinab on the west bank of the Nile 30 miles north of Omdurman.

Esh Shaheinab was chosen after study of numerous eroded occupation sites in Khartoum Province, because it appeared to be a one-period site, having a characteristic brown burnished and incised pottery with stone implements including gouges typical of Miss Caton-Thompson's Fayum Neolithic, and to have been less disturbed than other sites attributable to the same culture. Besides amply confirming the connection with the Fayum Neolithic, the new excavation made clear that the pottery characteristic of the site, which at first sight appeared to have nothing in common with the pottery of early Khartoum, except its brown colour and the fact that it is decorated with an incised pattern, is derived from that pottery. Other connections with the early Khartoum culture are recorded below, as well as four important novel features, viz:—bone axe-heads, shell fish-hooks, zeolite? lip-plugs and granite maceheads with flat tops.
An Early Bronze Age Burial in a Boat-shaped Wooden Coffin from North-east Yorkshire
Authors: Elgee H. W. , Elgee F.
Published: February 2015

In 1937 the writers, with the help of members of the technical staff of I.C.I., Billingham, and of a W.E.A. Class on local prehistory, excavated Loose Howe, a large round barrow which, as shown on the Map (Fig. 1), stands above the head of Rosedale almost at the centre of the Eastern Moorlands of Yorkshire.

Permission to excavate was kindly granted by the landowners, Milburn Estates Ltd., Newcastle-on-Tyne, with the proviso that we began after the close of the grouse-shooting season. We were therefore obliged to carry out the work in October and November, and then only at week-ends when our helpers were free. The weather was often bad, and this considerably increased the difficulties of what proved to be an arduous excavation.

The Howe is situated in Lat. 54° 23′ 53″ N. and Long. 0° 55′ 04″ w. where Danby High Moor to the north adjoins Glaisdale Moor to the east on the central watershed of the Eastern Moorlands. It stands on rising ground a few yards north of the road from Ralph Cross to Rosedale Abbey and is a conspicuous landmark for miles around. Its elevation, 1400 feet, makes it one of the highest in the whole of Eastern Yorkshire. In this respect it is only exceeded by Drake Howe (1427 feet) on the Cleveland hill, Cranimoor, and by four small barrows at 1480 feet on Urra Moor where, above Ingleby Greenhow, the moorlands reach their greatest elevation of 1489 feet.
Some Grooved Ware Pottery from the Woodhenge area
Authors: Stone J. F. S.
Published: February 2015

In a recent article a description was given of the contents of two pits found by Mr A. St. J. Booth in his garden at Woodlands, Countess Road, Amesbury within 300 yards of the centre of Woodhenge. These pits produced a remarkable assemblage of objects of neolithic B Grooved Ware type, and the apparent care which had been expended upon their deliberate burial induced the suggestion that they represented the sacred or hallowed relics of feasts held in connexion with rites at Woodhenge itself.

Deliberately buried deposits of this type in the vicinity of the monument suggested further that many other pits might exist in the neighbourhood of this and other comparable sites. No surprise was therefore felt when Mr Booth reported the discovery of two more pits of similar character within a few feet of the first two. These were examined during June 1948.
The Atlantic Bronze Age in South-west Europe
Authors: Savory H. N.
Published: February 2015

It may well seem presumptuous to attempt a fresh analysis of the Late Bronze Age in the Iberian peninsula, after the numerous contributions which the subject has received in recent years from Spanish archaeologists, and in view of the fact that the Civil War prevented the writer, when Maclver student in Iberian Archaeology, from visiting Spain at all. In fact he would not have dared to make such an analysis, if the recent output of well illustrated books and articles by Spanish archaeologists had not made study from a distance somewhat less hazardous. But the itinerary which political conditions in 1936–8 imposed on him—Portugal first, then south-western France and finally the Rhône basin—at least showed him an aspect of the Late Bronze Age in south-western Europe which is perhaps less obvious to archaeologists who look from Madrid and Barcelona with eyes trained in Central Europe.

Long ago Louis Siret was impressed by the typological lacuna between the copper and bronze implements of early forms in the Iberian peninsula and those which appeared to represent the second and last phase of the local bronze industry. He drew what most archaeologists now recognize to be the right conclusion, namely, that the Early Bronze Age industry of El Argar stagnated and was replaced at a relatively late date by an industry, which had passed through the earlier stages of its development elsewhere, but soon took on a strongly local character. In his recently enunciated Esquema Paletnológico de la Peninsula Iberica Professor Santa Olalla has taken account of this new conception.