NEOLITHIC AND BRONZE AGE SETTLEMENT ON THE BURIED FLOODPLAINS OF RUNNYMEDE

In reviewing the evidence from excavations at Runnymede Bridge this paper illustrates the potential of floodplains as archaeological resourceS. The topographic development of the local floodplain is outlined in relation to Flandrian sea level changes in the Thames estuary. Consideration is given to the role of the Middle Neolithic and Late Bronze Age occupations and the influence of physiographical and hydrological factors.     

PUTTING LITHICS TO THE TEST: NON-SITE ANALYSIS AND THE NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND

Summary. The earliest farming communities in Southern England were for a long time represented solely by the structural remains left behind in the form of burial monuments, henges and causewayed enclosures; only recently, through problem-oriented surface collection, has any attempt been made to locate their settlements. This paper suggests that such attempts have been limited by the very desire to locate 'sites' which made the technique attractive in the first place. Instead it is suggested that we should be attempting to 'think Mesolithic', and by using our knowledge of Neolithic settlement and land-use strategies, attempt to locate zones of continuity which undoubtedly occurred in certain 'favourable locations'within the landscape. Case studies from East and West Hampshire are discussed and two types of adaptive behaviour are identified.     

TIMBER MONUMENTS,LANDSCAPE ANDTHE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NITH VALLEY,DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY

This paper considers the impact of landscape and environment upon monuments built during the Neolithic period. Taking a group of timber monuments of Neolithic date in the Nith Valley region, Dumfries and Galloway, it examines their relationship to the topography and environment and seeks to explain their uniquely linear nature, a feature of timber monuments built in this region. It discusses the importance of incorporating plough‐levelled sites into landscape approaches to monuments, the potential impact of vegetation upon visibility patterns, and the value of considering the immediate locations of monuments, arguing that monuments built upon a heightened awareness of landscape topography, arising out of a long‐term relationship with place.     

APPROACHING MONUMENTS IN THE PREHISTORIC BUILT ENVIRONMENT: NEW LIGHT ON THE MINOAN PALACES

Summary.   The palaces are the most distinctive feature of the Minoan civilization, although their functions and meanings remain enigmatic. This paper explores these inhabited monuments with the application of a phenomenological approach. By constructing a series of categories based on data collected from all the entrances, not just the main ones, we can highlight the myriad everyday experiences encountered upon approaching and entering them. Categories based on function, yet also sensitive to experiential qualities of the use of space, are utilized in order to draw out the varied ways in which people perceived four different Minoan palaces (Knossos, Malia, Phaistos and Zakros).     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEOLITHIC AND COPPER AGE SETTLEMENT IN THE GREAT HUNGARIAN PLAIN PART II: SITE SURVEY AND SETTLEMENT DYNAMICS

Summary. Within the region of the Great Hungarian Plain (discussed in the first part of this article) the processes of settlement change can be followed in greater detail from site survey in the Szeghalom area. This central part of the Plain, drained by the Körös and Berettyó rivers, was a major focus of settlement in Neolithic times (6000-4000 BC), and its rising importance can be followed in the emergence of a series of wealthy 'supersites'. During the succeeding Copper Age, the character of sites altered as the role of the area in relation to the rest of the region began to change. Around 3500 BC a dramatic shift in settlement patterns coincided with the appearance of large tumuli of steppe type, which mark a new phase of land use in this region.     

HUMAN MOBILITY AT THE EARLY NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT OF VAIHINGEN,GERMANY: EVIDENCE FROM STRONTIUM ISOTOPE ANALYSIS*

As evidence concerning human mobility during the transition to agriculture in central Europe, we present the results of strontium isotope analysis of human skeletons from the Neolithic village of Vaihingen, Germany. We find significantly more ‘non‐local’⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values from humans buried in a Neolithic ditch surrounding Vaihingen than from those buried within the settlement. These results fit with previous studies showing a correlation between burial circumstances and strontium isotope signatures from LBK cemeteries of southwestern Germany ( Price et al. 2001 ; Bentley et al. 2002 ). A pilot study of Neolithic animal teeth from Vaihingen suggests that either ‘local’⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr signatures were more variable than the analysed human bones suggest, or that these domestic animals themselves were mobile, perhaps ranged by mobile pastoralists.     

THE DEVELOPMENT of NEOLITHIC and COPPER AGE SETTLEMENT IN the GREAT HUNGARIAN PLAIN PART I: the REGIONAL SETTING

Summary: This paper describes the development of settlement over the period 6000-4000 BC in part of central Europe. It contrasts the patterns of initial agrarian occupation with the subsequent expansion of population in the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin. This area is of particular interest, both as a major focus of prehistoric settlement, and because it is possible to compare the results of recent local surveys with a well documented series of regional distributions.     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN METALWORK, COPPER SOURCES AND THE EVIDENCE FOR SETTLEMENT IN THE GREEK LATE NEOLITHIC AND EARLY BRONZE AGE

Summary. This paper discusses the evidence for copper- and bronze-working in later Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Greece and seeks to define the relationship between these industries and the copper ore sources which were potentially available. It compares the distribution of metalwork with that of contemporary settlement, and lists the occurrence of copper sources in each region. A contrast is also drawn between the later Neolithic industries, which resemble those of the Balkans, and those of EB II and III, which have essentially a Near Eastern Background. Although the same ore sources may have been used in both periods, the scope and organisation of the industries was markedly different. It is concluded that even though there were enough local and widespread copper sources to meet demand, there is no evidence that any one copper source was systematically exploited in EBA. The extent to which the Laurion copper source influenced the organisation of copper acquisition in MBA is discussed.     

HEROIC TIME: MONUMENTS AND THE PAST IN MESSENIA, SOUTHWEST GREECE

The archaeological structure of a landscape in terms of the history of settlement and burial in a particular locale through time, together with the construction, development and importance of the monuments placed within it, has become a feature of recent landscape archaeology in the study of Neolithic and Bronze Age Britain. The present paper introduces some of these themes into the study of the Messenia, southwest Greece, approaching two main problems. First, how the location chosen for the Late Bronze Age Palace of Nestor related to earlier patterns of habitation of the Middle Helladic period (an issue hitherto ignored by previous 'period-specific'studies) and, secondly, the later relevance of the Bronze Age landscape in the Iron Age when issues such as the 'Past'and 'History'came to be of great significance in Messenia.     

THE BAM: LABOR,MIGRATION AND PROSPECTS FOR SETTLEMENT

The construction of the showcase Baikal-Amur Mainline (the BAM), which spans over 2,000 miles of unsettled, desolate territory, provides an excellent opportunity to study labor management and organization in a centrally planned economy, and illustrates the interplay of central planning with the relatively unhindered migration of workers. Significantly, in the face of a shrinking labor force, the USSR attracted thousands of young people to Siberia to work on the BAM. Now that the rail line is in place, the more difficult task will be to entice workers to settle in the BAM zone. Until the Soviet Government makes a firm commitment to improving the quality of life in Siberia, prospects for settling the BAM region remain uncertain. (The author wishes to thank Holland Hunter, Gilbert Rozman and Theodore Shabad for their generous help and encouragement.)     

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SETTLEMENT SYSTEM IN THE LITHUANIAN SSR: RESULTS,PROBLEMS, AND PROSPECTS

The authors analyze the factors, results, problems, and prospects of the development of a system of settlement in the Lithuanian SSR, a laboratory of sorts for settlement policy in the Soviet Union. Particular attention is devoted to the formation of an inter-rayon settlement system integrating urban and rural settlements. Several methodological and conceptual approaches to the study of settlement systems are examined in this context. (Translated by Andrew R. Bond.)     

NEOLITHIC SOILS, MIDDENS AND ALLUVIUM IN THE LOWER WELLAND VALLEY

Summary. The soil micromorphological analysis of buried soils and probable 'midden' deposits buried beneath alluvium from six sites in the lower Welland valley between Maxey and Etton (Cambridgeshire) has revealed a deforested early Neolithic landscape which quickly became subject to seasonal alluviation. This paper suggests that the Neolithic/Bronze Age use of this landscape is directly related to its interpretation as an alluviated floodplain rather than an alluviated, former dry-land landscape.     

PERFORATED STONE AXE-HEADS IN THE BRITISH NEOLITHIC: THEIR DISTRIBUTION AND SIGNIFICANCE

Summary. This paper investigates the ways in which stone axes were modified in areas of Britain distant from their original sources. One small group was turned into pendants and another seems to have been converted into maceheads. This has implications for studies of the 'axe trade' that assume that such artefacts had a fixed value throughout their distribution.     

THE MESOLITHIC of the CHANNEL ISLANDS: ECONOMY and SETTLEMENT IN A CHANGING LANDSCAPE

Summary: Results of recent surveys, combined with a re-evaluation of lithic assemblages from earlier surface collections, suggest the existence of several Mesolithic sites in the Channel Islands. the lithic assemblages from these sites find parallels on the mainland of North-Western France, suggesting that most of the Channel Island sites date to the 'Middle Stage'Mesolithic (c 8500-10,000 BP). the evidence for Mesolithic activity in the island is discussed in the context of the evidence for changing sea-levels and environmental conditions. It is argued that sites were preferentially located at the junction of several ecozones and that, for a short period of time during the 8th & 9th Millennia BP, sea-levels and environmental conditions in the area were particularly favourable for the exploitation of a broad range of resources.     

STONE AXES OF THE CHANNEL ISLANDS: NEOLITHIC EXCHANGE IN AN INSULAR CONTEXT

Summary. The petrology of stone axes found in the Channel Islands is examined. Recent research has resulted in the identification of an axe production centre at Le Pinacle, Jersey, and axes produced there have been recorded on Guernsey, Alderney and Sark. The Channel Island assemblages also include axes of Type A dolerite, flint, jadeite, eclogite and fibrolite, produced at known centres on the European mainland: together, these 'exotic' axes account for around 32% of the total Channel Island sample. A marked fall-off is noted between Jersey and the other islands in terms of the occurrence of these imported axes, and this can perhaps be explained in relation to factors affecting navigation. The social significance of inter-island and island/mainland interaction is explored.     

THE SITING OF NEOLITHIC STONE QUARRIES—EXPERIMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY AT GREAT LANGDALE, CUMBRIA

Summary. Although the general distributions of stone axes and their sources have been studied for many years, it is not clear whether the production of these artefacts was carried out by specialists. One way of resolving the problem may be to consider the efficiency with which raw material was extracted. This paper describes an attempt to assess the factors influencing the siting of the Group VI stone quarries at Great Langdale. It is concluded that there is only a limited relationship between the most suitable locations, as suggested by detailed sampling of the outcrop, and those sites where stone working actually took place. This suggests that some of those using such sites may have lacked a detailed knowledge of the area.     

THE SHEPHELAH IN THE IRON AGE: A NEW LOOK ON THE SETTLEMENT OF JUDAH

Abstract

The Shephelah was densely settled in the Late Bronze Age, but most of the settlements were gradually abandoned during the transition to the Iron I period. Only a few Iron I settlements existed in the eastern part of the region (excluding the Philistine sites at the northwestern edge of the Shephelah), forming a small Canaanite enclave. During the Iron II period the region was gradually resettled, and it became part of Judah. This process lasted until the 8th century BCE, when the region reached an unparalleled demographic peak. Sennacherib's campaign brought wide-scale destruction, and the region recovered only partially before being devastated by Nebuchadnezzar. After reconstructing the region's settlement history, the article reassesses its political and demographic history in comparison to the neighbouring regions of the Judean highlands and the southern coastal plain, it is concluded that the Shephelah had a lesser role in the history of Judah than some recent studies suggest.