FLINT PROCUREMENT AND NEOLITHIC AXE PRODUCTION ON THE SOUTH DOWNS: A RE-ASSESSMENT

Summary. This paper reviews the evidence for Neolithic flint axe production on the South Downs in the light of recent chemical analysis of axes and the author's own research involving surface flint collections. The organisation, status and chronology of the Sussex flint mines is discussed and the distribution of flint axes described. Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age settlement is shown to concentrate on the clay-with-flints which is also a major flint source. It is argued that the production of axes from mined flint was replaced by utilisation of surface deposits in the later Neolithic and case studies are presented.     

Original DocumentsRalph Lord Cromwell

The excavation of four ploughed-out round barrows in Milton Keynes has produced evidence of relevance to barrow design, ceramic chronology, economy, settlement patterns and population in the second millennium B.C.

The chronological usefulness of Longworth's Collared Urn Classification is considered and a long survival of All-Over-Cord Beaker tradition in southern Britain is suggested. Three of the sites produced a mixed flint assemblage ranging in date from Mesolithic to Bronze Age. A local pastoral economy, possibly associated with transhumance, is indicated at two sites. It is suggested that barrow distribution coincided with settlement distribution. An estimate is made of the proportion of the population who received barrow burial and a formula is derived for computing the size of local Bronze Age populations.     

Pre-Columbian Ring Ditches along the Yacuma and Rapulo Rivers,Beni, Bolivia: A Preliminary Review

Abstract

Pre-Columbian farmers built a variety of earthworks in the Llanos de Mojos, part of the Bolivian Amazon. Raised fields, canals, causeways, and mounds of various types in this region date to ca. 800 B.C.–A.D. 1600. In central Mojos, archaeological work was carried out along the Yacuma, a large west-bank tributary of the Mamoré River. Four ring ditches and two areas of associated raised agricultural fields were mapped. The Global Positioning System was used to document earthworks under the forest canopy which were analyzed within a Geographic Information System. Ceramic evidence is also included. The ring ditches in this study expand the known range of such earthworks in Mojos by 200 km. This revised distribution of ring ditches changes interpretations of the long-term history of Arawak speakers in Mojos and throughout Amazonia. While earthworks in Mojos clearly represent systems of intensive agriculture, they cannot be associated only with Arawak speakers or with Arawak languages.     

FIELDWALKING WITHOUT FLINTS: WORKED QUARTZ AS A CLUE TO THE CHARACTER OF PREHISTORIC SETTLEMENT

Although the collection and analysis of lithic artefacts plays an increasing role in studies of prehistoric settlement in the British Isles, almost all this work has been conducted in regions with local sources of flint. This is not the case over large parts of highland Britain. This paper outlines a methodology for investigating the character of prehistoric activity using the evidence of worked quartz and illustrates these procedures with a case study from the Scottish Highlands     

LIME PLASTER AS AN ADHESIVE FOR HAFTING EIGHTEENTH-DYNASTY FLINT SICKLES FROM TELL EL DAB'A,EASTERN NILE DELTA (EGYPT)*

A combination of analytical techniques, including thin-section observations, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence analysis, was applied to study the nature and origin of an adhesive used for mounting flint sickle blades to a wooden handle, recovered from early Eighteenth Dynasty culture layers of the multi-layer settlement at Tell el Dab'a, Lower Eygpt. The results obtained from these investigations led to the conclusion that the adhesive is a pure lime plaster, thus providing the oldest evidence for the use of this material as a binding agent so far known in ancient Egypt.     

Illustrations of Domestic Architecture,from Popular Medieval Writers

Correlation between features excavated in advance of a gas pipeline, and cropmarks photographed some years previously, led to identification of a Saxon rural settlement, occupied from the sixth or seventh century through to the mid-ninth century. It comprised several interconnected enclosures, adjacent to two main trackways. A narrow strip was excavated through the settlement, and five possible sunken-featured buildings, and numerous ditches and pits, were recorded—most ditches delineated enclosures which had been repeatedly redefined. The pottery assemblage spanned the transition between regional early Saxon and middle Saxon wares. Prehistoric occupation in the vicinity was evidenced by pottery (including beakers), flints and a bronze dagger jragment.     

On “Economic Types of Rural Settlement”

Topographic maps are found not to be a reliable guide to rural settlement patterns associated with definite types of economic types. In the case of Eastern Siberia, the rural settlement map of V.S. Valov, discussed in the preceding paper, does not correctly reflect the specialization and distribution of economic activity. The discrepancy is explained in part by the incomplete information on ethnic groups and portable dwellings on topographic sheets. However, apparent conflicts between settlement patterns on topographic maps and the actual type of economic activity can serve as a useful guide to correcting or reconstructing settlement patterns to bring them more in line with the particular type of economy.     

The Foundation of Roman London: Examining the Claudian Fort Hypothesis

This article addresses the problems with the theory that London was founded as a Claudian fort, recently reiterated by D. Perring (2011). The main issues addressed are the chronological and functional assumptions of ditches, as well as the significance of military artefacts necessary to consider Perring's argument. Additionally, isolating a small number of features from the pre‐Boudican period can be misleading, and this article briefly contextualizes the ditches cited within all known contemporaneous large ditches from Claudian/Neronian London. An assessment of Perring's interpretation of the character of the early settlement and an alternative portrayal based on the author's research are presented briefly.     

Roman Interaction in North-Western Iberia

The Iron Age in the North-West of Iberia is characterized by settlement patterns in which small hilltop enclosures or castros were dominant. Recent field-survey work has revealed more about the distribution of rural settlement sites in part of this area, and an analysis has been made of the pattern of rural site distributions in relation to the castros. This confirms the continued focal role of castros into the Roman period. An explanation for the settlement pattern in this region and the absence of typically Roman features like developed villas is sought in the nature and extent of Roman military recruitment from the region.     

The Order of Battle in the Roman Army: Evidence from Marching Camps

The Iron Age in the North-West of Iberia is characterized by settlement patterns in which small hilltop enclosures or castros were dominant. Recent field-survey work has revealed more about the distribution of rural settlement sites in part of this area, and an analysis has been made of the pattern of rural site distributions in relation to the castros. This confirms the continued focal role of castros into the Roman period. An explanation for the settlement pattern in this region and the absence of typically Roman features like developed villas is sought in the nature and extent of Roman military recruitment from the region.     

First Insights into the Technique Used for Heat Treatment of Chert at the Solutrean Site of Laugerie‐Haute,France

The earliest evidence of flint and chert heat treatment was found in the ~21.5–17 ka old European Solutrean culture. The appearance of pyrotechnology as part of the production of stone tools has important implications for our understanding of Upper Palaeolithic technological evolution and the specific adaptations during the last glacial maximum in Europe. However, the techniques and procedures used to heat‐treat rocks during the Solutrean remain poorly understood. No direct archaeological evidence has so far been found and the most promising approach is to understand these techniques by determining the parameters with which flint and chert were heated at that time. In this study, we investigate the heating temperature of 44 heat‐treated laurel‐leaf points from Laugerie‐Haute, using a non‐destructive technique based on infrared spectroscopy. Our results document that most of the artefacts were heated to a narrow interval of temperatures between 250 °C and 300 °C. This indicates a standardized technique that allowed to created similar conditions during successive heating cycles. The implications of these results for our understanding of the technical complexity during the Solutrean must be discussed in the light of different heating techniques used at different places and periods.     

OPTICAL DATING OF ANTHROPOGENIC SEDIMENTS AT THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF HERRENBRUNNENBUCKEL,BRETTEN-BAUERBACH (GERMANY)*

Optical dating was applied to natural and anthropogenic silts at an Iron Age settlement in southern Germany. The natural sediments were dated accurately and allowed study of the human impact on the landscape. The studied anthropogenic sediments were infills of cellars and ditches. Again, deposits derived from soil erosion proved to be datable using infrared-optically stimulated luminescence. However, optical dating of fine grained sediments was at its limits when sediments consisted of a mixture of bleached and unbleached grains. This is shown on sediments of known age originating from cellar infills. Improvements were obtained when using the 560 nm emission and a partial bleach approach. Experimental evidence shows that the D_E versus shine-time plot discloses insufficient bleaching only in cases in which all grains are insufficiently bleached to the same degree.     

A Bronze Age Round Barrow Cemetery,Pit Alignments,Iron Age Burials,Iron Age Copper Working,and Later Activity at Four Crosses,Llandysilio, Powys

Excavation undertaken at the Upper Severn valley round barrow cemetery at Four Crosses, Llandysilio, Powys, between 2004 and 2006 has increased the known barrows and ring ditches to some twenty-seven monuments within this complex, and revealed additional burials. Based on limited dating evidence, and the data from earlier excavations, the majority of the barrows are thought to be constructed in the Bronze Age. The barrows are considered part of a larger linear cemetery. The landscape setting and wider significance of this linear barrow cemetery are explored within this report. Dating suggests two barrows were later, Iron Age additions. The excavation also investigated Iron Age and undated pit alignments, Middle Iron Age copper working and a small Romano-British inhumation cemetery and field systems. Much of this evidence reflects the continuing importance of the site for ritual and funerary activity.     

土默特平原聚落分布形态演变及其驱动因素分析(1934—2019)

选取土默特平原1934、1982和2019年的聚落人口数据,运用GIS空间分析法,定性与定量结合分析研究区聚落分布形态演变及其驱动因素,结果表明,1934—2019年土默特平原以小聚落为主,大规模聚落数量和比例逐年增加,人口等级结构由“扁平”向“长高”金字塔形转变。聚落空间分布整体呈现集聚分布特征,大规模聚落集聚性不显著,其他规模的聚落分布模式由随机向集聚转变,研究区人口极化现象显著;聚落空间分布非均衡发展趋势明显,呈现由极核式向点轴式演变的迹象;聚落网络联系的空间近邻效应显著,人口规模较大的中心城区成为强联系节点。地形、河流、交通是研究区聚落分布形态演变的主要驱动因素,聚落低海拔、邻河流、邻干道、邻城镇的指向性强。该研究便于厘清土默特平原近百年聚落分布形态的演变脉络,为当地聚落的空间布局优化与调控提供一定参考价值。     

江西樟树国字山墓地考古调查勘探简报

筑卫城遗址位于江西省樟树市大桥街道办事处彭泽村委会洪光塘自然村东南,为全国重点文物保护单位,地理坐标为北纬28°02′07″,东经115°36′14〃,海拔约55米。遗址处在赣北平原与赣中丘陵交接区域,位于大姑山北坡余脉土岗上、赣江东岸丘陵山地的西侧边缘地带。其南20公里为新干牛城遗址和大洋洲商墓,西南30公里为吴城遗址,周围还有新干战国粮仓遗址、丰城丽村古城遗址等(图一)。     

A REVIEW OF THE LATER UPPER PALAEOLITHIC IN THE ODER AND VISTULA BASINS IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT RESEARCH

Summary. The withdrawal of the Vistulan ice-sheet some 15,000 years ago permitted colonisation of the Oder and Vistula basins by a succession of Late Upper Palaeolithic peoples, amongst whom various distinct groups can be recognised. Magdalenian, Shouldered Point, Curved Back Point and Tanged Point technocomplexes are distinguished by the author, who discusses them with reference to the salient features of the archaeological assemblages, comments on the dating evidence, and considers both internal variability and possible relationships with industries in Western and Eastern Europe. The populations of this region, which coincides approximately with the boundaries of modern Poland, were hunter-gatherers exploiting late glacial and early postglacial game resources, but there is evidence that systematic use was made of other local resources, such as ochre (mined at Rydno), Jurassic flint and the chocolate flint of the Holy Cross Mountains. In this process some of the Late Upper Palaeolithic peoples travelled long distances and established wide contacts. Use of the chocolate flint by Swiderian groups of the Tanged Point technocomplex is proving to be a particularly worthwhile study: flint of this kind is found at some 300 out of 700 Swiderian sites. Actual quarrying places are known in the source area, with working and living sites occurring at various distances from them, offering considerable potential for a study of contemporary economic and social organisation and seasonal migration.     

Mesolithic in South‐Eastern Norway

This article discusses the reliability of shore‐line displacement curves based on pollen analysis in the Oslo Fjord area. The conclusion is that only small parts of the curves ‐ in the late Atlantic period ‐ are fairly reliable for the purpose of dating Mesolithic coastal sites.

Twelve Mesolithic settlement sites from Østfold, south‐eastern Norway are classified morphologically. The author suggests a chronological lineal model with four succeeding phases: 1. The Fosna culture, 2. Late Boreal/early Atlantic group, 3. The N?stvet culture, 4. Late flint‐point using group. A connection between the Fosna culture and early Maglemose culture is claimed.

A study of the ecological adaptation in the four phases is based on topographical conditions, on the distribution and situation of settlement sites, and on animal bones from three Mesolithic sites in south‐eastern Norway. Hypotheses on seasonal migrations are suggested.     

An ahrensburgian-type tanged point from shieldaig, wester ross, scotland, and its implications

Summary A newly recognized tanged flint point from Shieldaig in north-west Scotland is described and discussed in terms of its potential as an indicator of Lateglacial human settlement.