bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cahokia$s Boom and Bust in the Context of Climate Change
Authors: Benson Larry V. , Pauketat Timothy R. , Cook Edward R.
Published: February 2017

During the early Mississippian Lohmann phase (A.D. 1050-1100), the American Bottom experienced a political and economic transformation. This transformation included the abrupt planned construction of central Cahokia, a large-scale influx of people to "downtown Cahokia," the abandonment of pre-Mississippian village settlements, the reorganization of farming in the Mississippi River floodplain, and the founding of the Richland farming complex in the Illinois uplands. New tree-ring-based records of climate change indicate that this rapid development occurred during one of the wettest 50-year periods during the last millennium. During the next 150 years, a series of persistent droughts occurred in the Cahokian area which may be related to the eventual abandonment of the American Bottom. By A.D. 1150, in the latter part of a severe 15-year drought, the Richland farming complex was mostly abandoned, eliminating an integral part of Cahokia$s agricultural base. At about the same time, a 20,000-log palisade was erected around Monks Mound and the Grand Plaza, indicating increased social unrest. During this time, people began exiting Cahokia and, by the end of the Stirling phase (A.D. 1200), Cahokia$s population had decreased by about 50 percent and by A.D. 1350, Cahokia and much of the central Mississippi valley had been abandoned.
Clovis and the American Mastodon at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky
Authors: Tankersley Kenneth B. , Waters Michael R. , Stafford Thomas W.
Published: February 2017

Contemporaneity of people and the American mastodon (Mammut americanum) at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, has been extensively debated for more than two hundred years. Newly interpreted stratigraphic excavations and direct AMS ¹⁴C measurements on mastodon bones from Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, indicate that the megafauna are a palimpsest of fossils spanning at least 1,200 calendar years (11,020 ± 30 to 12,210 ± 35 RC yr B.P.). The radiocarbon evidence indicates that mastodons and Clovis people overlapped in time; however, other than one fossil with a possible cut mark and Clovis artifacts that are physically associated with but dispersed within the bone-bearing deposits, there is no incontrovertible evidence that humans hunted Mammut americanum at the site.
Antiquity of Communal Pronghorn Hunting in the North-Central Great Basin
Authors: Hockett Bryan , Murphy Timothy W.
Published: February 2017

Communal hunting of small game such as hares has probably occurred for 10,000 years in the Great Basin. Ethnohistoric accounts of the nineteenth century indicate that indigenous peoples communally hunted large game (e.g., pronghorn, mountain sheep, deer, bison) across much of western North America including the Plains, desert Southwest, California, and Great Basin subregions, during and immediately preceding the contact era. Research in the Plains subregion suggests that communal large game hunting occurred there prior to the adoption of the bow-and-arrow between ca. 1,500 and 2,000 years ago, and in fact may have occurred as early as 9,000 to 10,000 years ago. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century ethnohistoric accounts suggest that communal pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) hunts involving the construction of a corral with associated wings were utilized by many Great Basin peoples at the time of historic contact. This paper asks: (1) did communal pronghorn hunts occur prior to the Protohistoric Period (before ca. 600 ¹⁴C B.P.) in the north-central Great Basin? (2) if so, how ancient is this practice? and (3) did the methods or behaviors of the participants of these communal hunts vary through time? Detailed analysis of sites containing dozens, and in many cases, hundreds of projectile points that predate ca. 600 ¹⁴C B.P. found in or near existing juniper branch corrals and wings suggest that communal pronghorn hunting has occurred for at least 4,000 to 5,000 years in the north-central Great Basin. Further, behavioral variability is seen through time in the material remains of these communal hunts, with earlier (Middle Archaic) communal kills characterized by greater use of local toolstone sources, gearing-up just prior to the kill, and perhaps a greater reliance on shooting the trapped pronghorn rather than clubbing compared to Protohistoric communal kills.
The Craft of Archaeology
Authors: Shanks Michael , McGuire Randall H.
Published: February 2017

The idea of archaeology as craft challenges the separation of reasoning and execution that characterizes the field today. The Arts and Crafts Movement of the late nineteenth century established craftwork as an aesthetic of opposition. We establish craft in a Marxian critique of alienated labor, and we propose a unified practice of hand, heart, and mind for archaeology. The debates engendered by postprocessual archaeology have firmly situated archaeology in the present as a cultural and political practice. Many, however, still do not know how to work with these ideas. We argue that a resolution to this dilemma lies in thinking of archaeology as a craft. This resolution does not provide a method, or a cookbook, for the practice of archaeology, as indeed the core of our argument is that attempts at such standardization lie at the heart of the alienation of archaeology. Rather, we wish to consider archaeology as a mode of cultural productión, a unified method practiced by archaeologist, “client” public, and contemporary society.
The New World Conference on Rescue Archaeology
Authors: Gumerman George J.
Published: February 2017

The first New World Conference on Rescue Archaeology was held in Quito, Ecuador in May 1981. The conference was organized in response to the increasing destruction of the archaeological record by industrialization, urbanization, and illegal transportation and sale of artifacts. Various aspects of a system for establishing and maintaining effective rescue archaeological systems were discussed in symposia and workshops. The members of the conference endorsed a number of recommendations addressed to archaeologists, museums, individual governments, and the Organization of American States in order to reduce the damage being done to the cultural resources of the Western Hemisphere.
Large-Game Hunting in the American West: A Comment on Fisher’s (2015) Reassessment of the Ascendance of Hunting Debate
Authors: Hildebrandt William R. , McGuire Kelly R.
Published: February 2017

Fisher’s (2015) reanalysis of data presented by Hildebrandt and McGuire (2002) fails to include the original finding that the Middle Archaic was the trans-Holocene high-point of large-game hunting in southeastern California, nor does his reliance on climatic change contribute anything new to the ascendance of hunting debate.
Preliminary investigation of the plant macro-remains from Dolní Věstonice II, and its implications for the role of plant foods in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Europe
Authors: Mason Sarah L. R. , Hather Jon G. , Hillman Gordon C.
Published: February 2017

For the most part the Pleistocene, and even the earliest post-glacial, is a blank when it comes to evidence of humans eating plants. No wonder the old men's stories, of chaps who hunt great mammals and eat their meat, still dominate our unthinking visions of hunter-gathering in that period. Some real evidence, slight though it is, from a classic European Upper Palaeolithic site provides a more balanced view.
Acorn eating and agricultural origins: California ethnographies as analogies for the ancient Near East
Authors: McCorriston Joy
Published: February 2017

Since cereals and legumes were successful domesticates, archaeologists and botanists have investigated early domestication with particular emphasis on these plants. What about other foods, which may have been staples in their own time, for which we have no simple continuity into a later subsistence in the classic region of Near Eastern domesticates? The mediterranean climate, and the lifeways, of California provide an analogy.
DNA in charred wheat grains from the Iron Age hillfort at Danebury, England
Authors: Allaby Robin G. , Jones Martin K. , Brown Terence A.
Published: February 2017

The genetic history of wheat is the story of the world's temperate staple food. Arcahaeologically, charred grains are the common way wheat is preserved. Study of burnt spelt wheat from the British Iron Age shows DNA is present, and begins to shows the wheat's character.
Natural wonders and national monuments: a meditation upon the fate of The Tolmen
Authors: Evans Christopher
Published: February 2017

A key place in the 19th-century view of the British prehistoric landscape was taken by an ancient wonder which was was not a human or artificial device at all. An account of this anomaly is called for.
Of Lightning Brothers and White Cockatoos: dating the antiquity of signifying systems in the Northern Territory, Australia
Authors: David Bruno , McNiven Ian , Attenbrow Val , Flood Josephine , Collins Jackie
Published: February 2017

Northern Australia is one of the very few regions of the world where an established tradition of rock-art has continued and extends into present-day knowledge. Excavation of deposits under the painted surfaces allows the age of the paintings to be estimated, by linking across to these deposits and their dateable contexts. One can begin to assess the antiquity of those systems of knowledge and of ‘signifying’.
Ancient Maya subsistence diversity: root and tuber remains from Cuello, Belize
Authors: Hather Jon G. , Hammond Norman
Published: February 2017

A first notice of the mushy element in the subsistence base of the Maya realms.
Radiocarbon determinations, luminescence dating and Australian archaeology
Authors: Allen Jim
Published: February 2017

The September 1993 editorial (ANTIQUITY 65: 44–5) made comment on recent Australian dates, by luminescence techniques, significantly older than radiocarbon determinations from elsewhere in Australia and New Guinea, which formed a single continent in the late Pleistocene. (There are hints also from the Americas of a discrepancy between dates by the two methods.) The period involved, c. 30-60,000 years ago, is crucial also in the Old World mainland, where the beginning of the European Upper Palaeolithic is usually set at c. 35,000 years ago by radiocarbon determinations.
Antiquities in the market-place: placing a price on documentation
Authors: Cannon-Brookes Peter
Published: February 2017

To those of us who wish there was no commercial trade in antiquities, colleagues — and those themselves active in the market — say there always has been one and always will be. Since concern largely arises from destruction of context and loss of information, may there be a way forward that both permits the trade and preserves the context?
The change in metal production from the Chalcolithic period to the Early Bronze Age in Israel and Jordan
Authors: Shalev Sariel
Published: February 2017

Distinctive patterns in the nature and composition of early metal objects in Israel and Jordan make it possible to find a chronological order in the celebrated, and hard-to-date, copper-mining sites of the region.
The ‘Obanian Iron Age’: human remains from the Oban cave sites, Argyll, Scotland
Authors: Saville Alan , Hallén Ywonne
Published: February 2017

While the caves round Oban, on the west coast of Scotland, are famous for their Mesolithic artefacts, they have also produced Bronze Age finds and numerous burials. Radiocarbon dates on human bones from one cave show these to be Iron Age, suggesting the Obanian assemblages are composites accumulated over millennia.
Pottery and p-values: ‘Seafaring merchants of Ur?’ re-examined
Authors: Roaf Michael , Galbraith Jane
Published: February 2017

A 1977 ANTIQUITY paper included a study of Neutron Activation Analyses of Ubaid pottery from Mesopotamia and the Arabian Gulf (Oates et al. 1977). A re-examination finds that the interpretation of the statistical analysis was mistaken and shows that the data do not prove the existence of ‘seafaring merchants of Ur’ in the Ubaid period.
Changing perspectives on hunter-gatherers in Continental and in Anglo-American archaeology
Authors: Van Reybrouck David
Published: February 2017

How different are the intellectual traditions of Continental and of Anglo-American archaeology, and how is each changing? Counting papers in the standard journals which address aspects of hunter-gatherer archaeology may show.
Identifying Great Auks and other birds in the Palaeolithic art of western Europe: a reply to d'Errico
Authors: McDonald Joan F.
Published: February 2017

The craft of bird-watching lies in the distinctive look any bird has, so it may be recognized even from a passing glimpse. That may help with identifying the prehistoric birds captured as passing glimpses for us in Palaeolithic pictures.
Experimental reconstruction of the casting of copper ‘oxhide’ ingots
Authors: Lokeren Sven Van
Published: February 2017

One of the most crucial elements in the dynamics of the Late Bronze Age metals trade in the Mediterranean was the production and exchange of copper 'oxhide' ingots (Knapp & Cherry 1994). These are basically flat, oblong slabs of nearly pure and unalloyed copper that weigh between 10 and 40 kg. The majority has an average weight of c. 29-30 kg however, and as a result this 'standard' has been traditionally equated with the existence of a 'talent'. They furthermore form a prominent part of the bulk cargo in shipwrecks discovered at Ulu Burun and Cape Gelidonya (Gale 1991). The results of an extensive programme of lead-isotope analyses aimed at determining the provenance of these ingots have led some archaeologists to propose that most of the ingots were produced from the rich copper resources on the island of Cyprus. Based on the same results, the Oxford group has also discussed the possibility of a specialized centre for their production in the Skouriotissa region of the island (Stos-Gale et ~ l . 1997
Microdebris analysis in Early Bronze Age Mesopotamian households
Authors: Rainville Lynn
Published: February 2017

I am interested in the daily activities of the non-Blites to understand ancient Mesopotamian society.Analysing the activities performed within thehouses of the non-6lites is the first step in definingthe social and economic differentiation amonghouseholds and, in turn, a better understanding ofthe role of these households within ancient communities.1 analyse activity areas using a relativelynew method - micro-debris analysis - which analysessmall artefactual and ecofactual remains(Fladmark 1982; Rosen 1989; Matthews 1995).In my dissertation, 365 sediment samples (10litres each) were taken from over 20 structures.The rationale for sampling deposits and countingand weighing the small remains found withinthe earthen matrix is based on a model of depositionalforces. Site formation theorists suggestthat macro-debris left by daily activities are usuallydisturbed and often discarded far from theloci of the original activity. Whereas the large findsmay be scavenged, discarded, or curated in periodsof abandonment, smaller debris is often sweptinto corners or trampled into the surface of afloor. These small items are more likely thanlarge items to remain where they were droppeddue to the difficulty in removing small debriswith traditional cleaning methods (Schiffer 1983;Dunnell & Stein 1989). My research focused onthe analysis of artefacts under 1 cm in dimensionfound in occupational surfaces and featuresin order to define activity areas at severalEarly Bronze Age (c. 3100-1900 BC) sites insoutheastern Turkey
The Stonehenge we deserve
Authors: Wainwright Geoffrey
Published: February 2017

After years of discussion and argument, the fate of Stonehenge and its landscape has been decided. As Professor Geoffrey Wainwright (former Head of Archaeology at English Heritage) describes, there is at last political will to ensure a better future for the monument.
A revised chronological and palaeoenvironmental framework for the Kastritsa rockshelter, northwest Greece
Authors: Galanidou N. , Tzedakis P. C. , Lawson I. T. , Frogley M. R.
Published: February 2017

Archaeological, palynological and palaeolimnological evidence is combined with new AMS radiocarbon dates to shed new light on a long-known, yet only partially understood, Upper Palaeolithic occupation in southeast Europe.
The Tiber Valley Project: the Tiber and Rome through two millennia
Authors: Patterson H. , di Gennaro F. , di Giuseppe H. , Fontana S. , Gaffney V. , Harrison A. , Keay S. J. , Millett M. , Rendeli M. , Roberts P. , Stoddart S. , Witcher R.
Published: February 2017

In 1997 a new collaborative research project was initiated by the British School at Rome. This project draws on a variety of sources of archaeological information to explore the regional impact of the City of Rome throughout the period from 1000 BC to AD 1300. The project provides a common collaborative research framework which brings together a range of archaeologists and historians working in various institutions. In this paper those involved in different aspects of this new project outline their work and its overall objectives.
Colonial Indology and identity
Authors: Chakrabarti Dilip K.
Published: February 2017

This paper argues that Indian identity, as built within the colonial Indological framework of race, language and culture and its Aryan–non-Aryan dichotomy, is unacceptable to modern India and Indians. It is unacceptable because of its emphasis on the notion of Aryan invasion and the subjugation of, and interaction with, the native population. This notion, the key element of ancient Indian history, culture and archaeology, keeps a vast segment of Indian population away from a sense of positive participation in the country's past. Further, the key ingredient of this notion is the Indian Vedic literature, which thus makes it primarily a textual notion, and as long as it persists, the Indian upper castes, who ipso facto are given a place in the Aryan ruling order, have no particular reason to seek a primarily archaeologybased past for themselves. However, before we examine these twin formulations in some detail, it might be useful to look at how the question of identity is emerging as a major phenomenon in India in current years.
Double identity in Orissa's Golden Triangle
Authors: James N.
Published: February 2017

The Medieval Hindu temples of Puri, Rhubaneswar and Konark are promoted as Orissa's version of northern India's ‘Golden Triangle’ of Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Jaipur. One of the less affluent States in India, Orissa stands to benefit from tourism (FIGURE 1). The promotion seeks to appeal to all Indians and foreigners and also to prompt an image of Orissa as a distinct region. Such duality is typical among the diversity of community, ethnic, communal, federalist and national values at issue in India (Chatterjee 1993: 75).

Cultivation of the temples is nothing new. Whatever the original purposes of icons, significance is ascribed, not simply inherent. It depends on economic or political interest and context (Cohen 1985). Harrison (1999) has argued that images of ethnicity tend to be defended as if at risk of pollution or theft by outsiders. Under the influence of European ideology, the commonest symbol for ethnic or nationalist aspiration is language but religion and other markers of culture have been used too (Smith 1981). Other than religion, one of the criteria for invoking the temples is the discipline of archaeology. However, archaeology too is a Western conceptual idiom (Cohn 1983: 209). Although literacy — including in the ‘English medium’ — is spreading, archaeology is not appreciated by everyone in Orissa. Partly for that reason, there have been various views as to how the temples should be presented and to whom.
Archaeology and identity in colonial India
Authors: Lahiri Nayanjot
Published: February 2017

‘How is it that your countrymen steal our gods?’ asked a Brahmin of the Baptist missionary, John Chamberlain who noted the details of this conversation in his diary on 20 November 1817 (Davis 1997: 164):

‘Sir, a gentleman whose name I do not remember, came to me to let him take the image of Lukshinee away, which stood on the point where the river and rivulet meet; and he said he would give me a sum of money if I could consent to it. I told him that I could not take any money for it; that she was worshipped by all the people around, and that several times a year the people assembled from the country at a distance to see the goddess, and to bathe: at which time much was offered to her’. The gentleman persisted. He returned four or five times, offered ample remuneration and even took the brahmin by boat to see the assemblage of gods in his Calcutta house, but still the brahmin refused to sell. Finally, the gentleman ‘got his people together, and took away the goddess by night. There the tree stands, Sir, but the goddess is gone!’
Bangladesh: building national identity through archaeology
Authors: Smith M.L.
Published: February 2017

For a developing nation, Bangladesh has a surprisingly large number of active archaeological excavations and museums. Resources have been invested not only in the capital city of Dhaka, but also in regional centres where there are archaeological museums and sites open for public visitation. These venues, identified by politicians and philosophers as the repositories for symbols of heritage and national identity, provide another significant benefit in the form of open public space for recreation and leisure. The use of these spaces by growing numbers of urban-dwelling Bangladeshis illustrates the often under-appreciated phenomenon of domestic tourism as a component of archaeological heritage management in developing nations.
Palaeolithic perishables made permanent
Authors: Soffer O. , Adovasio J.M. , Illingworth J.S. , Amirkhanov H.A. , Praslov N.D. , Street M.
Published: February 2017

Previous research has documented textile and basketry production at Moravian Upper Palaeolithic sites, c.27,000 BP. Recent research extends these technologies to Russia and Germany, and amplifies information on perishable fibre artefacts from France. Collectively, these data illustrate the ubiquity of perishable technologies across the late Pleistocene world.
Weathering of petroglyphs: direct assessment and implications for dating methods
Authors: Pope Gregory A.
Published: February 2017

Petroglyphs weather at varying rates, compared tothe unengraved host rock into which they are carved. Most petroglyphs are significantly harder or significantly softer than surrounding rock, depending on the nature of weathering. Variability and intensity of weathering probably introduces error into radiocarbon, rock varnis and micreoerosion dating methods.
Pollen and phytoliths in stone mounds at Pouerua, Northland, New Zealand: implications for the study of Polynesian farming
Authors: Horrocks M. , Jones M.D. , Carter J.A. , Sutton D.G.
Published: February 2017

High-resolution pollen and phytolith analyses can provide direct evidence for farming in archaeological landscapes. This is demonstrated here in the analysis of two mounds at Pouerua, northern New Zealand, where evidence indicates both functional and temporal differences between the structures, and the presence of gourd Lagenaria siceraria provides direct, unequivocal evidence that this crop was cultivated and that the site was used as a garden.
Time please
Authors: Wainwright Geoffrey
Published: February 2017

Professional archaeology in Britain has changed out of all recognition over the last 40 years, from an amateur world with a few paid professionals, to a fully professional activity. The changes have come about through different intiatives — popular and bureaucratic — and have led to new organizational structures, new funds, new people and different approaches. Few individuals have bridged this dynamic period as close to the driving seat as Professor Geoffrey Wainwright, or been able to see from where the many pressures for change came. Rarely were the initiatives widely published or documented, and the present state of things often seem to bear little relation to what went before. We have commissioned Professor Wainwright to review the changes and developments in the archaeology of England — from his perspective — and explain how and why many of the changes that underlie archaeology in 2000 have come about.
Intrasite spatial organization of lithic production in the Middle Palaeolithic: the evidence of the Abric Romaní (Capellades, Spain)
Authors: Vaquero Manuel
Published: February 2017

Spatial organization is a central issue in Palaeolithic archaeology, since it reflects the behavioural capabilities of human groups. We present an analysis of the lithic spatial distribution in a Middle Palaeolithic site, the Abric Romaní. Discussion of these data provides some insights on the variability of settlement patterns among the Neanderthals.
Initial Upper Palaeolithic in south-central Turkey and its regional context: a preliminary report
Authors: Kuhn Steven L. , Stiner Mary C. , Güleç Erksin
Published: February 2017

The earliest Upper Palaeolithic industries of the Levant, which figure prominently in discussions of the spread of anatomically modern humans and the origins of the Upper Palaeolithic, are known from a small number of localities. Two sites in the Hatay region of Turkey have yielded initial Upper Palaeolithic assemblages similar to those found in the Levant. One of the sites, Üçaǧizlı’ cave, has also provided radiometric dates and faunal remains, both relatively rare for sites of this period.
Comments on the interpretation of the so-called cattle burials of Neolithic Central Europe
Authors: Pollex Axel
Published: February 2017

The phenomenon of cattle-depositions in Central Europe (c. 3500-2200 BC) provides an opportunity to explore distinctions between sacrifice, burial and grave goods. Waggon models, sun-symbols and buried pairs of cattle suggest additional ideas about the religious beliefs and behaviour of Neolithic societies in central Europe.
Iron Age inhumation burials at Yarnton, Oxfordshire
Authors: Hey Gill , Bayliss Alex , Boyle Angela
Published: February 2017

Radiocarbon dating of unaccompanied skeletons discovered during the excavation of an Iron Age, Roman and Saxon settlement at Yarnton, Oxfordshire, unexpectedly revealed the presence of a middle Iron Age cemetery (3rd or 4th century cal BC). British Iron Age burials before the 1st century BC are usually found as individuals, often in pits on settlement sites, or are repersented by disarticulated human bone. This paper explores whether cemeteries were a more common part of Iron Age burial practice than hitherto believed, or whether the Yarnton burials were a highly unusual and localized phenomenon? It highlights the merits of obtaining radiocarbon determinations on otherwise undated burials.
Temple mountains, sacred lakes, and fertile fields: ancient Maya landscapes in northwestern Belize
Authors: Dunning Nicholas , Scarborough Vernon , Valdez Fred , Luzzadder-Beach Sheryl , Beach Timothy , Jones John G.
Published: February 2017

Forty-three years later these words still ring true, but are too seldom followed (Fedick 1996). For several years, we have been engaged in a multidisciplinary programme of research in northwestern Belize and neighbouring areas of Guatemala, eliciting a comprehensive, integrated picture of changing ancient Maya landscapes (Scarborough & Dunning 1996; Valdezet al.1997). Our goals include a reconstructive correlation of environmental and cultural history, including the relationship between changes in water and land management and political economic organization. This work is still in progress and our understanding is far from complete (Dunning & Scarborough 1997).
Marine investigations in the Lakshadweep Islands, India
Authors: Tripati Sila
Published: February 2017

The Lakshadweep Islands lie on the sea route between west Asia and Africa on the one hand and south Asia and the Far East on the other. In maritime history, these islands have played a vital role by providing shelter, fresh water and landmarks to navigators through the ages. Recent discoveries made during marine archaeological exploration and excavations in the Lakshadweep have revealed evidences of early settlement and shipwrecks. The findings suggest that the islands had been inhabited much before the early historical period.
Agricultural production and social change in the Bronze Age of southeast Spain: the Gatas Project
Authors: Castro P. V. , Chapman R. W. , Gili S. , Lull V. , Micó R. , Rihuete C. , Risch R. , Sanahuja M. E.
Published: February 2017

This paper presents new data on agricultural production, the palaeoenvironment and social change during the Bronze Age of southeast Spain. The authors argue against the inference of irrigation as the basis for agriculture and relate the emergence of cereal monoculture to the extraction of surplus and the exploitation of human labour.
‘The mystery of husbandry’: medieval animals and the problem of integrating historical and archaeological evidence
Authors: Albarella Umberto
Published: February 2017

Archaeological evidence and historic records are often at variance on the subject of animal husbandry. This paper discusses the problems of integrating the evidence for medieval and later Britain, and offers new discussion on the interpretation of the zooarchaeological data.
The oldest metallurgy in western Europe
Authors: Ruiz-Taboada Arturo , Montero-Ruiz Ignacio
Published: February 2017

Recent excavations at the Neolithic site of Cerro Virtud (Almería, southeast Spain) have produced new information about the development of metallurgy that may change ongoing research not only in the Iberian Peninsula but also in the rest of western Europe. The discovery of metallurgy in this region in the first half of the 5th millennium BC poses serious challenges to the interpretation of how this industry developed and spread, given that the nearest European region with similar evidence is the Balkans. This study presents the archaeological context of the discovery and the various analytical techniques (XRF, SEM, 14C) that have been applied to it.
Pleistocene settlement in the Australian arid zone: occupation of an inland riverine landscape in the central Australian ranges
Authors: Thorley Peter B.
Published: February 2017

Recent excavations at the Kulpi Mara Rockshelter in the Palmer River catchment of central Australia have produced radiocarbon determinations spanning an archaeological sequence of 30,000 years. These results enable re-assessment of models addressing the how, where and when of arid zone colonisation, and human adjustments to environmental change in the later Pleistocene. Whilst the evidence supports early occupation of the central arid zone during wetter conditions, doubts are raised about the continuity of occupation during the height of glacial aridity.
A high-status Anglo-Saxon settlement at Flixborough, Lincolnshire
Authors: Loveluck C. P.
Published: February 2017

Excavations at Flixborough, Lincolnshire (1989–91) revealed an important Anglo-Saxon settlement. Here the various interpretations are discussed, ranging from monastic to ‘magnate’.
New formulae for estimating prehistoric populations for lowland South America and the Caribbean
Authors: Curet L. Antonio
Published: February 2017

The estimation of past population levels continues to be an important aspect of archaeological research. Here Antonio Curet offers new formulae for estimating prehistoric populations in lowland South America and the Caribbean using data derived from houses and settlements.
‘The mechanism of (Celtic) dreams?’: a partial response to our critics
Authors: Megaw J. V. S. , Megaw M. R.
Published: February 2017

Readers of recent issues of ANTIQUITY will have doubtless been struck by the passions which can be aroused by discussions concerning concepts of prehistoric as well as present-day ethnicity. Here the Megaws round off a Celtic trilogy of papers with what will surely not be the last word in an important debate.
The Experimental Earthworks revisited
Authors: Ashbee Paul , Jewell Peter
Published: February 2017

Few archaeological projects set out with the intention of running for decades. The committee of the Experimental Earthwork project, however, developed an elaborate programme from 1960 until well into the 3rd millennium AD, designed to study the long-term processes of earthwork construction and change. Paul Ashbee and the late Peter Jewell present their personal view of the aims, experiences and some results of this project.

Sadly Peter Jewell died on 23 May 1998, and this paper is a fitting tribute to his major role in the enterprise.
Death as a rite of passage: the iconography of the Moche Burial Theme
Authors: Hill Erica
Published: February 2017

The application of van Gennep's Rites of Passage structure to iconography and mortuary contexts in the Late Moche period of Peru offers an original means of exploring prehistoric concepts of death.
Brazilian archaeology from a Brazilian perspective
Authors: Barreto Cristiana
Published: February 2017

Archaeology in Brazil shares many empirical similarities with Latin American and North American research but, as a social science, it has remained isolated from mainstream theoretical and methodological advances. The large size of the country, the lack of resources and government support, the difficulties of working in tropical environments, the lack of monumental architecture, and Brazil's being neither a Spanish- nor an English-speaking country have all been thought of as shaping Brazilian archaeology and its failure to integrate into a larger, Latin American or international context.
The Tupi: explaining origin and expansions in terms of archaeology and of historical linguistics
Authors: Noelli Francisco Silva
Published: February 2017

Interest in explaining scientifically the enormous territorial expansion of the Tupi has been an issue since 1838, now with a consensus: a common centre of origin existed, from which the Tupi fanned out, differentiating through distinct historic and cultural processes whilst keeping several common cultural features. But there is no consensus as to where the centre was located and where passed the routes of expansion.

Scholars have often asserted this hypothesis, but contributed very little scientific proof. Since 1960, archaeological (site location, radiocarbon and thermoluminescent dating) and linguistic data (glottochronology, relationships among languages) have been brought to the scene.
Archaeology: the loss of isolation
Authors: Tilley Christopher
Published: February 2017

It is interesting to reflect that only nine years separate David Clarke’s paper ‘Archaeology: the loss of innocence’ and the publication of Symbolic and structural archaeology (Hodder 1982), which may be taken to mark the beginning of a ‘post-processual’ archaeology. Many of the ideas put forward in that book were being discussed and developed at Cambridge from around 1978. David’s paper, and its publication in ANTIQUITY, may be taken as representing the highwater mark of ‘new’ or processual archaeology in the academy. Almost as soon as the ideas had been presented, and not really very well developed in the practice of doing archaeology, they were under fire and being replaced. Yet David was still attacking ‘traditional’ archaeology, fighting for his own position in the 1973 paper, and putting foward an agenda for the future of archaeology. It was a manifesto for future work. New Archaeology was then 11 years old and had already achieved a certain hegemony in Anglo-American archaeology, at least among younger academics more interested in ideas than recovering and describing evidence. In 1998 what is labelled ‘post-processual’ archaeology differs fundamentally from many of the ideas presented in the Hodder volume and it is doubtful whether anyone would still wish to follow David’s agenda or advocate early ‘post-processual’ ideas. The pace of thinking has inexorably heated up. Both David’s paper and the Hodder book are now primarily of historical interest in the development of a disciplinary consciousness in which archaeology is becoming increasingly self-reflexive, critically interrogating its intellectual presuppositions, procedures and practices.
From Croatia to Cape Town: the future of the World Archaeological Congress
Authors: Kitchen Willy
Published: February 2017

‘Ruffled feathers’ seem to be part of the World Archaeological Congress. Here we present two different assessments of the forthcoming World Archaelogical Congress in Cape Town in January–one from an observer, Willy Kitchen, and one from the WAC Secretary, Julian Thomas, which set out some of the ideals and current realities of this highly political enterprise.
Postcards from Beazley and other electric dreams: notes from the 15th International Congress of Classical Archaeology
Authors: Rajala Ulla
Published: February 2017

Classical archaeologists gathered in Amsterdam at their quinquennial congress this summer. Some of the key papers contributed to the on-going theoretical and methodological debate between traditionalists and relativists, while other speakers presented new computer techniques and interesting findings.
‘The changing face of clay’: continuity and change in the transition from village to urban life in the Near East
Authors: Wengrow David
Published: February 2017

In the Near East, the inherent dualism of clay as both symbol and instrument was a feature of its use from the inception of farming villages to the formation of cities, and the extensive record of its ‘changing face’ allows us to trace the continuous history of development between them.
Lithic technology and discard at Marki, Cyprus: consumer behaviour and site formation in the prehistoric Bronze Age
Authors: Webb Jennifer M.
Published: February 2017

Lithic studies all too often ignore the material of later prehistory. Here an exploration of ideas of curation and expediency offers a new insight into material from Bronze Age Cyprus.
Notes on new advancements and revelations in the agricultural archaeology of early rice domestication in the Dongting Lake region
Authors: Anping Pei
Published: February 2017

The Liyang plain, located in the northwest of Hunan province, is part of the plain on the north of Dongting Lake. It is situated at longitude 111°22′30″E to 111°51′30″E, and latitude 29°35′31″N to 29°47′30″N. It is made up of the Li River, its tributaries and the alluvial plain, and occupies about 600 sq. km in area (FIGURE 1).

The plain is saucer-shaped and surrounded by small hills on three sides, joined at the eastern part to the plain north of Dongting Lake. The area is a classic ‘plate-basin’ structure. Inside its boundaries, the land is broad and flat, with small streams winding in different directions, and lakes and ponds dotting the landscape. It is 32–45 m above sea level, with an incline of 2° to 3°.
TheCommunist manifesto, 150 years later
Authors: Gilman Antonio
Published: February 2017

TheCommunist manifestodoes not have much to say about the pre-capitalist societies most archaeologists deal with, and still less about the primitive societies that interest most prehistorians. (Nothing from theManifestomakes its way, for example, into the useful compendium brought together by Godelier (1973).) Much of what Marx and Engels had to say directly about antiquity consists of unpublished sketches and passing references, and even the systematic treatment ofThe origins of the family, private property and the state(1884) must be considered provisional: the changes that reading Morgan (1877) had on the discussions of theFormen(1857–58) and theAnti-Dühring(1878) can only suggest that the accumulation of positive evidence in the course of a century and a half of archaeological research would have caused Marx and Engels to revise substantially every one of their specific claims.
Muck ‘n’ molecules: organic geochemical methods for detecting ancient manuring
Authors: Bull I. D. , Simpson I. A. , van Bergen P. F. , Evershed R. P.
Published: February 2017

The detection of manuring in antiquity can provide important information concerning the agricultural and waste disposal practices of ancient communities. Faecal biomarkers provide a reliable and highly diagnostic method for detecting ancient faecal inputs to soils irrespective of any morphological remnants of manuring.
Radiocarbon dating: avoiding errors by avoiding mixed samples
Authors: Ashmore P. J.
Published: February 2017

Chronology and its refinement continues to be important, especially in the methods by which the dates are actually achieved. Here, the question of whether single object/bone samples provide more accurate dates than mixed samples is debated, and applied to samples from prehistoric Scotland.

In an appendix, the recent radiocarbon dating of samples from within the Calanais stone circle on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, opens up further debate on phasing and occupation.
Archaeological theory in France and Britain
Authors: Scarre Chris
Published: February 2017

British archaeologists have long been puzzled by the contrast between the way in which the theoretical underpinnings of the discipline are discussed and explored on the French side of the Channel. Theory might he considered one of the most significant issues in British archaeology over the last 30 years, since the work of David Clarke in the late 1960s. There has sprung up a healthy tradition of debate, of polemic and counter-polemic, inspired by a desire to understand the epistemological and methodological underpinnings of our subject. In France, by contrast, theory has been a much less prominent part of the archaeological scene. This is all the more surprising given that France is the homeland of some of the key figures who have been espoused by British post-processualists: Foucault, Derrida, Lacan, and Althusser to name hut a few. Why should this he?
Cost, benefit and value in the organization of early European copper production
Authors: Shennan Stephen
Published: February 2017

How can archaeologists evaluate the ‘cost of production’ in prehistory? Stephen Shennan explores ethnographic examples, Ricardo's Law of Comparative Advantage and archaeological evidence from the eastern Alps in a stimulating discussion of Bronze Age production and exchange.
A reconstruction of Middle Preclassic Maya subsistence economy at Cahal Pech, Belize
Authors: Powis Terry G. , Stanchly Norbert , White Christine D. , Healy Paul F. , Awe Jaime J. , Longstaffe Fred
Published: February 2017

The recovery of animal and plant remains from the site of Cahal Pech provides data on early diet and subsistence practices in the Belize Valley region of the Maya lowlands. Analysis of the material remains suggests that the Middle Preclassic Maya were practising a mixed subsistence economy relying on agricultural foodstuffs, local terrestrial game species, freshwater fish and shellfish and marine reef fishes. Isotopic analysis of human bone is used to aid in the reconstruction of actual food consumption.
Ivory production & consumption in Ghana in the early second millennium AD
Authors: Stahl Ann B. , Stahl Peter W.
Published: February 2017

In the eighteenth to nineteenth century West Africa was the scene of the infamous Atlantic trade in ivory and slaves. The authors' researches show a different situation in the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries, when the people of Ghana were engaged in the indigenous procurement, manufacture and trade in ivory with neighbours across the Sahara
The degradation of archaeological bronzes underground: evidence from museum collections
Authors: Ullén Inga , Nord Anders G. , Fjaestad Monica , Mattsson Einar , Borg Gunnar Ch. , Tronner Kate
Published: February 2017

This interdisciplinary project, initiated by the National Heritage Board in Sweden, was undertaken to determine the environmental factors affecting the deterioration of archaeological bronzes in Scandinavia – while they still lie underground. The possible influence of soil acidification was obviously of special interest. The method was to examine 3200 prehistoric bronze artefacts from different museum collections in Sweden and Norway and compare the condition of specimens dug up in different areas at different times. The results showed that the condition of excavated bronzes had greatly deteriorated during the last 50–60 years, particularly along the North West Coast of Sweden, where the soil is very sensitive to pollutants. The archaeological context, e.g. the burial rite, was also among the factors influencing the preservation of the artefacts.
The repatriation of human remains – problem or opportunity?
Authors: Smith Laurajane
Published: February 2017

The editor’s question “who do human skeletons belong to?” (Antiquity78: 5) can be answered positively, but it must be answered in context. The question was prompted by reports from theWorking Group on Human Remainsestablished by the British government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in 2001 to review the current legal status of human remains held in all publicly funded museums and galleries, and to consider and review submissions on the issue of the return of non-UK human remains to their descendent communities (DCMS 2003: 1-8). In effect, the report was primarily concerned with human remains from Indigenous communities, using a definition which follows the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as “distinct cultural groups having a historical continuity with pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories” (DCMS 2003:7). Consequently, the report deals primarily with the Indigenous communities of Australia, New Zealand and North America.
Handle with care: thoughts on the return of human bone collections
Authors: Payne Sebastian
Published: February 2017

The repatriation of human remains (Editorial Antiquity 78: 5) is a matter in which two viewpoints, both equally valid, are confronted. Human skeletal remains are part of the record of our past. They tell about our shared past – about the story of human adaptive radiation and dispersion. Recent research using modern and ancient DNA evidence is adding considerably to this understanding, and puts our diversity into context by the finding that we share something like 99 per cent of our genetic makeup with all other human beings. Research on human skeletal remains tells us also about how our predecessors lived and died, and has considerable potential to contribute to medical research. Medieval skeletons from a deserted medieval village in Yorkshire, for instance, have showed that osteoporosis was just as common among medieval women as it is now, giving fresh insight into the causes of osteoporosis and calling into question ideas that blame our modern lifestyle. The techniques used in this study were not available when the remains were first excavated; this illustrates the value of long-term retention of skeletal material, which allows application of new techniques so that new information can be obtained from old collections.
Discovery of the first Neolithic cemetery in Egypt’s western desert
Authors: Kobusiewicz MichaƗ , Kabaciński Jacek , Schild Romuald , Irish Joel D. , Wendorf Fred
Published: February 2017

The authors report the discovery of a cemetery of richly furnished graves in the western desert of south Egypt. Artefacts, burial rites and radiocarbon dates relate the cemetery to pastoralists practising transhumance in the later Neolithic period. The first such cemetery to be investigated, its cultural affiliations offer a pre-echo of what would become the Egyptian civilisation.
Ochre in hafting in Middle Stone Age southern Africa: a practical role
Authors: Wadley Lyn , Williamson Bonny , Lombard Marlize
Published: February 2017

Ochre is well-known as a substance used in Stone Age symbolism, but it can be shown to have had practical functions too. The authors used microscopic examination of Middle Stone Age tools to show they had been hafted, making use of an adhesive compound which included ochre in its recipe.