The Parliaments of Cambridge

Re-examination of St-Brieuc and Wilburton metalworking shows they cannot align, and this requires a general reordering of the Atlantic Late Bronze Age sequence. They have many differences, principally sword types. St-Brieuc always has U-butt Kerguérou (Limehouse in Britain) swords, whereas Wilburton always has Wilburton swords. Wilburton must follow St-Brieuc, so a new Limehouse stage is inserted between Penard and Wilburton, to align with St-Brieuc. The combination of U-butt sword and straight-mouthed chape of St-Brieuc and Limehouse is consistent throughout Atlantic Europe. So too are the characteristics of Wilburton metalworking which followed, and its Brécy equivalent in France. In Britain the contemporaneity of Wallington and Wilburton is reaffirmed. Both played a part in the emergence of Ewart Park 1 metal-working, with South Yorkshire/Lincolnshire a vital contact zone. The Atlantic Late Bronze Age unravelled after Wilburton. Iberia effectively dropped out after Huelva, diverted by Phoenician influences. Links between Britain and Atlantic France declined, and their sword and axe preferences diverged. The various weapon complexes of Ewart Park 1 in Britain have no equivalents in France. Ordering and sub-dividing this final phase of the LBA has always been imponderable but has been helped by the identification of St-Philbert (Huelva) swords, which show what are Ewart Park 1 hoards in Britain and contemporary Longueville hoards in France. They also make clear that the Carp's tongue complex must be relegated to the last part of the Late Bronze Age.     

THE LATE BRONZE AGE HOARD FROM CLOS DE LA BLANCHE PIERRE, ST LAWRENCE, JERSEY, CHANNEL ISLES.

Summary. The Late Bronze Age hoard from Clos de la Blanche Pierre, St Lawrence, Jersey was found in 1976. The hoard was found in a pot and the broken objects consisted of weapons, axes, tools, ornaments and casting debris dated to Bronze Final II (10th century B. C.) and represents the only material of this type to be found in the Channel Islands so far. The objects are directly comparable to those of the Saint Brieuc des Iffs industry in Brittany and the Wilburton Complex in England as well as being related to other industries in the Atlantic west. The detailed metal analyses of the objects confirm their affinity to industries in North-western France.     

The Eslington Sword and the Kingdom of Northumbria

NEW DISCOVERIES may indicate the location of a previously unknown early medieval burial ground in central Northumberland. Objects discovered during the course of metal-detecting include an assemblage with a folded, pattern-welded sword and zoomorphic shield mount. Excavation indicated near total destruction of deposits as a result of post-medieval land-use and only Bronze-Age burials inserted into bedrock remained intact. Three putative early medieval burials are identified here, with the largest assemblage associated with a high-status male. The sword and shield mount from this assemblage are comparable with finds from high-status burials in southern and eastern England. Together with the landscape context of the site, the assemblage provides evidence for the burial practices of an emerging Northumbrian elite in the late 6th century ad.     

Late Ordovician linguliformean microbrachiopods from north-central Kazakhstan

An assemblage of well-preserved Devonian trilobites is described from limestones in Satun Province, southern Thailand. The biogeographic implications are briefly discussed. The fauna, which is of Early Devonian age, probably Emsian, includes Decoroproetus, Cornuproetus, Platyscutellum and two species of Reedops, one of which is new. No similar fauna has been described before from the Shan-Thai block. The fauna is a typical Hercynian assemblage with close specific comparisons with Turkey, Morocco and Bohemia.     

Technological,Functional and Contextual Aspects of the K2 and Mapungubwe Worked Bone Industries

Mapungubwe (AD 1220–1290) is generally regarded as the first urban centre in southern Africa, functioning as the seat of power for an extensive but short-lived polity. More than 80 years of excavations here, and at its nearby predecessor K2 (c. AD 1000–1220), resulted in a substantial assemblage of material remains from elite and commoner contexts. This assemblage includes a large collection of worked bone objects, such as needles, awls, tubes and objects of personal adornment. Of particular interest are the bone arrowheads and link-shafts, of which a significant number of specimens were found complete and intact. Such quantities of well-preserved worked bone objects are unique in the archaeological record of the region. The worked bone assemblages from these two sites provide a rare opportunity to study multiple components of the production process as well as the use context of bone objects. In this paper, we characterise the K2 and Mapungubwe worked bone industries through various morphological, technological, use-trace and contextual approaches and discuss the significance of these aspects in terms of raw material selection and manufacture and archaeological use context. In particular, this study shows the complexity of these worked bone industries over time.     

Archaeometallurgical Investigations in Nakhchivan,Azerbaijan: What Does the Evidence from Late Chalcolithic Ovçular Tepesi Tell Us about the Beginning of Extractive Metallurgy?

The Late Chalcolithic (4400–3950 b.c.) occupation levels from Ovçular Tepesi have yielded a significant assemblage of copper objects and remains of copper production. Together with ore finds, two fragments of nozzle, crucible remains, and a number of small metal artifacts, this assemblage includes the unexpected discovery of three copper axes in an infant burial jar. These axes are the earliest examples of large copper tools known to date in southwestern Asia, whether it is in the Caucasus, Iran, or the Anatolian highlands. More importantly, the fact that these objects were locally produced suggests that significant metallurgical activities were being carried out at Ovçular as early as the second half of the 5th millennium b.c. After presenting the evidence from Ovçular Tepesi, this paper will proceed to a reassessment of the available archaeological and geochemical data concerning the emergence of extractive metallurgy in the southern Caucasus.     

The Åker Assemblage — Fit for a King? A New Account and Discussion of a Collection of Treasure of the Norwegian Merovingian Period

IN THE SECOND HALF of the 19th and the early decades of the 20th centuries, an assemblage of stray finds dating to c ad 600 was collected at Åker in south-eastern Norway. The items included a cloisonné-decorated sword-belt buckle of exceptional quality, a pommel from a ring-sword, and various mounts and fittings from a shield, sword belts and hangers. In the early 1990s several metal-detected finds were made at the site, and it was clear that many of those had originally belonged to the same context as the earlier finds. This article presents and discusses the Åker assemblage on the basis of what has been added to the evidence, and of new knowledge about the site of Åker produced by archaeological excavation. The objective is to gain a better understanding of what the assemblage really represents.     

Toilet Instruments: Symbols of Dissent?

A set of mid‐first‐century AD toilet instruments from Silchester includes tweezers in the form of a sheathed sword and a lanceolate nail‐cleaner with iron core. Other tweezers from the same site confirm the set was made by an innovative local smith. Linking the set to the general sword‐ and spear‐shaped forms and indigenous use of nail‐cleaners, the question is raised of how far these small personal items reflected British disaffection immediately after the conquest, and particularly with the disarmament of the Atrebates and other tribes.     

Notes on four miscellaneous shell and organic objects from Sharm

Four miscellaneous artefacts, which do not correspond to the other major small finds groups, are also included in the Sharm assemblage. Whilst the gastropod shell is positively identified as Tonna luteostoma, the materials and function of the remaining objects are conjectural.     

On Bosses of Roman Shields Found in Northumberland and Lancashire

The paper presents and analyses 46 new radiocarbon measurements undertaken at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit with the aim of critically evaluating the existing chronology for Bronze Age metalwork. Samples chosen, from both old museum collections and more recent finds, were all organics in immediate physical contact with various types of bronze object; indeed the great majority were in direct functional association. Contextual integrity was further monitored by the identification of wood species and the estimation of growth stage, which was found consistently to be modest. The scientific procedures employed allowed the generation of dates with good precision and cross-referenced through control samples to the dendrochronological master curves.

Although one of the first attempts in Europe to radiocarbon date Bronze Age metalwork systematically, the results have yielded a coherent picture which confirms the broad outline of the traditional sequence. However, calibration followed by statistical analysis does point to the need to stretch the chronology of the middle—late bronze age metalwork assemblages backwards, by varying amounts, revisions which were in part anticipated from recent dating research on the continent. Re-dating has been most dramatic for Wilburton metalwork, the dating of which had not been shifted since 1979. For clarity the newly proposed chronology is pegged to a series of single dates each marking the fulcrum of a transition between assemblages. While the current data set suggests that assemblage overlaps were not prolonged, more data will be needed if durations are to be estimated better. The existing results do, however, already show the potential for establishing more subtle trends in the development of Bronze Age metalwork.     

江苏六合程桥东周菱形纹青铜剑的修复

南京六合县程桥东周时期的墓葬,出土了一把青铜剑,其剑身满饰菱形纹饰、剑首为同心圆、剑格部铸夔龙纹并镶嵌绿松石,出土时分为六截,锈蚀严重。为了保护修复此剑,并观察剑上菱形纹的形成工艺,故将保护分为:剑纹饰、锈层的分析,残块的粘结与修补和表面仿旧三个步骤。通过此剑的保护更加证明了金属膏剂涂层工艺就是东周吴越青铜兵器表面菱形纹饰的形成方法,同时又发现了在剑首的背面有一圈麦束形的纹饰,该纹饰的成形工艺将有待于进一步的探讨和研究。     

Big fish and great auks: Exploitation of birds and fish on the Isle of Portland,Dorset, during the Romano-British period

Abstract

The paper considers the assemblage of bird and fish bones from a Romano-British settlement on the Isle of Portland, on the southern coast of England. Compared with contemporary sites, the assemblage includes an unusually large number of fish bones from a wide range of marine species, including large cod, other Gadidae, several species of seabream, scad and bass. The bird assemblage includes bones of a butchered great auk. This provides the first evidence that this extinct species was nesting off the shores of central southern England and being exploited for food in this period. Other seabirds identified included razorbill, great northern diver and gannet. The species represented are discussed in relation to other Romano-British sites, particularly the Roman town of Dorchester, situated 15 km away. Many of the species have been discovered on only a few contemporary sites and the presence of the seabream in particular indicates that seawater temperatures may have been warmer than until very recently. Possible cultural changes in diet and food procurement in the Roman period are also considered.     

Material Culture from the Al Hallaniyah Island Early 16th‐Century Portuguese Indiaman Wreck‐site

Excavation of an underwater site on Al Hallaniyah Island, Oman, conducted from 2013 to 2015, confirmed the presence of at least one early 16th‐century shipwreck. The location is believed to be where Vincente and Brás de Sodré’s Esmeralda and the São Pedro, both part of Vasco de Gama's second voyage to India, were wrecked in 1503. This article describes the ceramic and other domestic material assemblage. It is a study of the objects used by sailors on board in their daily lives. The non‐European ceramics also give indications of supplies, cargoes, and plunder acquired during the voyage. These aspects of the assemblage provide two different perspectives on the new era of maritime global trade.     

‘To Clapham’s I go’: a mid to late 18th-century Cambridge coffeehouse assemblage

SUMMARY: The recovery of a large closely dated assemblage that can be unambiguously associated with a mid to late 18th-century Cambridge coffeehouse provides the first opportunity for a detailed consideration of material associated with these significant institutions. A cellar located off All Saints’ Passage in Cambridge, England, backfilled c. 1775–80, produced a substantial assemblage of over 500 objects; principally ceramics, but also including vessel glass, clay tobacco pipes, animal bone and other material. Marked items and assemblage composition allows this material to be unambiguously associated with Clapham’s Coffeehouse, run by William and Jane Clapham c. 1746/48–79. Relatively few archaeological assemblages related to these important 18th-century socioeconomic institutions have been recovered and the material associated with Clapham’s Coffeehouse possesses a distinctive ‘signature’, albeit one that is not necessarily generally applicable to other coffeehouses. There were a substantial number of ceramics associated with tea drinking. Coffee-drinking vessels were frequent but less common and there was relatively little evidence for chocolate drinking. A range of alcoholic drinks were also consumed and dining was common, with a particular emphasis on snacks, whilst smoking appears to have been uncommon. The assemblage is compared with other groups associated with coffeehouses, a series of groups from earlier inns in the vicinity and broadly contemporary domestic assemblages from Cambridge and inn groups from England. The archaeological evidence indicates that the materialities of coffeehouses were not significantly different to that of other establishments, such as inns, and challenges some currently held views of coffeehouses derived from documentary sources.     

NORTH AND SOUTH AT THE END OF THE MYCENAEAN AGE: ASPECTS OF AN OLD PROBLEM

Summary. The end of the Mycenaean age calls for an explanation outside the immediate Aegean area. The evidence is more likely to come from changes in habit than in the importation of objects of bronze or pottery. In order to understand events it is necessary to look beyond Greek frontiers to the Danube and Balkans. Among important changes are those in fighting tactics with a return to the sword in the Aegean and new workshop practice in Europe with more bronze forging against casting. Evidence for actual arrival of people is never likely to be conclusive; various alternatives are considered.     

High-carbon steel and ancient sword-making as observed in a double-edged sword from an Iron Age megalithic burial in Tamil Nadu,India

An iron sword from an Iron Age megalithic burial at Thelunganur in Tamil Nadu, India, was examined using metallographic techniques. The sword was made of ultra-high-carbon steel with a fairly uniform microstructure consisting primarily of fine cementite particles in a ferrite background free of notable non-metallic inclusions. The morphological control, however, was not perfect and frequently allowed cementite to precipitate in the form of a network along austenite grain boundaries. It was also observed that carbide particles of varying size and shape often caused microscopic layers to develop, forming a visible pattern to the naked eye on the polished and etched surface of the iron sword. This pattern likely inspired the later development of various surface markings such as the damask. This paper presents a detailed account of the analytical data to show that the iron sword under consideration was an early example of high-carbon steel employed in the manufacture of a functional object where the divorced eutectoid transformation technique, rediscovered recently, was used for the control of cementite morphology. It is also proposed that technologies for making and handling high-carbon steel were in existence at a much earlier date than previously supposed.     

A Late 17th‐Century Trade Cargo from Ponta do Leme Velho,Sal Island,Cape Verde

In 1973, while recovering copper cargo from a 20th‐century ship wrecked off the Ponta do Leme Velho on the south‐east side of Sal Island, Cape Verde, explosives revealed an earlier ship cargo with dozens of Portuguese faience plates and bowls, glass beads and metal objects, including buckles, ammunition and copper manillas. The assemblage, including the ceramics and a marked silver tastevin, provide a site date between 1680 and 1700. The research presented here is a result of collaboration between CPAS and the authors in 2008 to analyse this assemblage in the context of late 17th‐century maritime trade.     

Family assemblages

Abstract

In this paper, we develop and extend the emerging concept of ‘family assemblages’ to theorise the bodies, objects, habits, spaces, technologies, discourses and affects that participate in family life. We argue that existing conceptualisations of the family tend towards anthropocentrism, a sundering of the world into active human subjects and passive non-human objects. Assemblage theory offers a means of overcoming this anthropocentrism in order to generate richer accounts of the more-than-human dynamics of family life. From this perspective, anything that participates in the action of family life can be considered a member of the family assemblage, establishing the ontological ground for a non-anthropocentric and relational view of the family. We elaborate these arguments with reference to ethnographic research on fathers’ mental health conducted in Melbourne, Australia. Our ethnographic material provides a rich empirical context for the development of the notion of family assemblages. We conclude by suggesting that the concept of the family assemblage is not simply a provocation to the human-centric assumptions that guide most studies of family life, but may also prove useful for human and health geographers already attuned to the materiality of family life.     

ARCHAEOMETALLURGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF HELLENISTIC METAL OBJECTS: THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE BRONZE OBJECTS FROM RISHON LE‐ZION (ISRAEL)*

An archaeometallurgical analysis is presented of 14 bronze artefacts retrieved from an Early Hellenistic–period farmstead in controlled archaeological excavations at Rishon Le‐Zion, Israel, and dated to the first quarter of the third century bce according to coins and pottery vessels. The bronze assemblage includes a needle, pins, spatulas and fibulas. The aims of the research are to determine the composition, microstructure and manufacturing process of these artefacts, and to discover their place of production. This will provide a better understanding of Hellenistic technological abilities and material culture. The examination included optical microscopy, microhardness, SEM including EDS, and XRD. The results show that the collection consists of Cu–Sn binary alloys, with evidence for a controlled alloying process and the absence of recycling. Furthermore, the microstructure of the objects indicates that all artefacts were produced by a cold‐working process. Moreover, the manufacturing process of the rectangular cross‐section fibulas included sophisticated joining techniques of copper and iron.     

青铜文物研究中CT成像的几个作用

通过计算机断层扫描(CT)检测与成像分析后发现:陈璋圆壶的组成构件有26个,而非最初考古报告表述的19个,分三个部分合成;吴王僚剑的剑体腐蚀严重,剑上铭文为铸造而并非后刻;春秋青铜盘修复前的状态清晰可见。由此说明,CT技术在研究古代青铜器铸造工艺、鉴定青铜器真伪、检验保护修复技术路线等三个方面能起到关键作用。