Crannogs and Island Duns: Classification, Dating and Function

A recent paper, Islets through Time (OJA 17, 2, 227--44) , by Jon Henderson highlighted the fact that the majority of dated crannogs were occupied in the later prehistoric or early historic period, and offered a new classification of artificial islets. This paper addresses consequential issues of definition and classification and urges that artificial islets, whether classed hitherto as crannogs or island duns, should be seen as complementary elements within a spectrum of settlement types, in particular for the Early Iron Age and the early historic periods. Comparison shows that studies of crannogs and their land-based counterparts have faced similar problems of interpretation and that typological compartmentalization has acted to the detriment of a proper understanding of both.     

Southwest Scottish Crannogs: using in situ studies to assess preservation in wetland archaeological contexts

This paper presents the results of in situ monitoring of waterlogged burial contexts in southwest Scotland. The sites investigated are Iron Age crannogs (lake dwellings) which have a proven waterlogged archaeological component, and which are being assessed as part of a national program of study by the Scottish Wetland Archaeology Programme (SWAP) team. A monthly monitoring program commenced in July of 2004. To date, monitoring of water levels, pH, and redox potential, has been undertaken for a period of 17 months in order to encompass any seasonal variability at the sites studied. The results have proven robust in that an ‘ideal’ site for in situ preservation has been identified from the five sites investigated, and the monitoring has highlighted external variables and seasonal impacts that have the potential to influence the long-term in situ preservation at the remaining sites studied. In general, these results have expanded upon our knowledge of the potential for the preservation of existing archaeological remains within such contexts. This study represents the first stage of monitoring aimed at developing a holistic understanding of in situ conditions at the crannog sites studied in southwest Scotland.     

The Convertible Saint: Expeditus through Time and Space

Expeditus, a Roman soldier who was for centuries simply a name on a list of early Christian martyrs, took on new life in the late eighteenth century in a Catholic cult that expanded greatly in the late nineteenth century and has continued to spread since then. His name linked him with time and the answering of prayers for urgent causes in particularly modern ways, despite growing scholarly scepticism about him. His unforgettable image — a Roman soldier crushing a crow or raven underfoot — has been adopted by Italian fascists and practitioners of Haitian vodou, among many others. Expeditus?s popularity on the internet is only the latest version of this unusual devotion.     

The Malham Pipe: A Reassessment of Its Context,Dating and Significance

The Malham Pipe is a musical instrument formed from the tibia of a sheep, and was discovered in 1950 among artefacts revealed during the excavation of a Bronze Age burial mound at Seaty Hill on Malham Moor in the Yorkshire Dales. On the basis of associated finds the pipe was dated originally to the Iron Age, and in a study published in 1952 the musical properties of the pipe were examined physically at a level of detail that set a benchmark for the characterization of other such objects discovered subsequently. However, in the intervening period the dating of the pipe has been questioned. In this paper, following a detailed reappraisal of the Seaty Hill finds and dating evidence, including burial practice and settlement remains in the locality, and their wider historical context, we have concluded that the Malham Pipe is of post-Roman date. We believe, therefore, that although the Malham Pipe may no longer be claimed to be the earliest known duct flute found in the British Isles, nevertheless it appears to be the first recorded bone flute found in a post-Roman (Anglo-Saxon) burial context.     

The Scottish Parliament,Regulation and Land Use Planning

Constitutional reforms are taking place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These offer the opportunity to bring about a more effective policy framework for a range of policy areas including land use planning. In Scotland, the introduction of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 could allow the improvement of spatial planning policy and practice in a variety of ways, including bringing a more strategic approach at regional level, introducing a national plan and ensuring greater links with innovative community planning exercises. Such improvements could ensure a more sustainable environment as well as a more inclusive society and could offer lessons for similar practice in other contexts.     

Research note: The Scottish household survey

Abstract

My personal recollection of the ‘relevance revolution’ in the 1970s is that it was a reaction to a quantitative geography that was overly-focused on technique and under-concerned with real-world issues. The consequent search for relevance took the form of a commitment to liberal- and left-leaning ideologies and issues. This differed from concepts of relevance as pertinence/timeliness, or as applied geography. Postmodern thought is significant in current debates on relevance in all three of its manifestations: relevance as commitment, pertinence and application.     

后李文化的分期年代与地方类型

后李文化是一支以形态多样的圜底釜为典型陶器的考古学文化,可分为三期四段,绝对年代约为距今8500-7000年.目前可划分出三个地方类型,即月庄类型、小荆山类型和前埠下类型,分别位于泰沂山系北侧的西部、中部和东部.鲁中南地区可能存在后李文化的另一个地方类型,其与月庄类型和前埠下类型的关系可能更为密切.在距今约7000年前...     

Now the Wars are Over: The Past,Present and Future of Scottish Battlefields

Battlefield archaeology has provided a new way of appreciating historic battlefields. This paper provides a summary of the long history of warfare and conflict in Scotland which has given rise to a large number of battlefield sites. Recent moves to highlight the archaeological importance of these sites, in the form of Historic Scotland’s Battlefields Inventory are discussed, along with some of the problems associated with the preservation and management of these important cultural sites.     

Enlightened histories: civilization,war and the Scottish enlightenment

The concept of civil society continues to generate considerable interest, while the concept of civilization attracts comparatively little attention. This has led to a tendency to oversimplify the relationship between civil societies and militarily powerful sovereign states. Civil societies, it is often argued, are those societies that have emerged from a successful process of domestic pacification and effective control of state power. In this paper, it will be argued that some prominent Scottish Enlightenment thinkers developed theories of civilization grounded in more complex historical narratives, in which the accomplishments of civil society were tied to the achievement of state sovereignty based on the successful monopoly of military might. The purpose of this paper is to trace the role of state sovereignty and military monopolization, and the consequent prominence given to the practice of war, in the “historical” theories of civilization articulated by David Hume, William Robertson, Adam Smith and Adam Ferguson.     

Dating and Interpreting Desert Structures: The Enclosures of The Judean Desert,Southern Levant,Re‐Evaluated

Enclosures, single large curvilinear structures, constitute ubiquitous relics of past human societies in marginal environments. Many enclosures suffer from severe scarcity of related artefactual and ecofactual remains, allowing only tentative assessments of their date and function. A case in point comes from the Judean Desert, Southern Levant, where several dozen enclosures were surveyed and described as Chalcolithic cult sites. Using new research strategies, incorporating critical evaluation of previous surveys, test excavations and optically stimulated luminescence dating, we were able to date enclosures to a much broader time span than previously suggested, and reject their proposed ritualistic function.     

Analysing partition: Definition, classification and explanation

Political partitions should be carefully distinguished from secessions, de-colonizations and disengagements—though they may accompany these phenomena. Political partitions involve a fresh cut, an at least partially novel border, ripped through at least one national community's homeland. Partitions of national and multinational polities may be distinguished, as may external and internal partitions. External partitions have been rarer than suggested in conventional accounts, and explanations of their occurrence are evaluated, and recommendations are made that their rarity should persist.