bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
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 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.
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.
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.
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.