Iron age farms in Southwest Norway the development of the agrarian landscape on Jæren

In this issue of NAR the development of the agrarian landscape and the farm structure in the Iron Age in Southwest Norway ‐ especially in the district of Jæren ‐ is taken up as a subject for discussion. Two publications by Bj?rn Myhre (Funn, fornminner og ?degårder. Jernalderens bosetning i H?yland Fjellbygd. Stavanger Museums Skrifter 7,1972 and The Iron Age Farm in Southwest Norway. NAR 6, No. 1, 1973) are commented upon by Björn Ambrosiani, Arnvid Lillehammer, Sven‐Olof Lindquist, Perry Rolfsen and Ulf Sporrong. Bj?rn Myhre's reply to the comments closes the discussion.     

Reply to the comments on Rock Carvings in Østfold

Thorleif Sj?vold: Åse‐anlegget på And?ya. Et nord‐norsk tun‐anlegg fra jernalderen. (The Åse‐complex on And?ya. An Iron Age House‐Site Complex in North Norway). Acta Borealia. B. Humaniora, No. 12. Universitetsforlaget, Troms?/Oslo/Bergen 1971. 34 pp. 14 figs     

Micromorphological Study of Concotto Surfaces Protected by the Avellino Eruption in 3945 ± 10 cal. BP at the Early Bronze Age of Afragola Village in Southern Italy

ABSTRACT

The term Concotto refers to fragments or patches of hard heated clay that derive from living surfaces, walls, and ovens. Concotto fragments are found throughout the Italian peninsula and date from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. Current studies express contradictory opinions about whether or not the Concottos on living surfaces represent intentionally constructed surfaces or the secondary products of the contact between hot embers and sediments. This study uses micromorphological analysis to investigate the function and composition of Concotto surfaces from several domestic structures at the Early Bronze Age village of Afragola in southern Italy. Afragola is an exceptionally preserved agricultural village that was covered by almost 1?m of volcanic ash during the Vesuvius eruption in 3945?±?10 cal. BP. The Concottos at Afragola are hard, red surfaces that are typically associated with burned materials. Micromorphological analysis reveals that the Concottos were intentionally made by laying down patches of clay and then heating them to create a hard, flat surface. This study explores the potential uses of the Concotto as cooking surfaces during the Early Bronze Age of southern Italy.     

The site Hein 33: Typological and chronological problems of the New Stone Age of Southern Norway

In this issue of Norwegian Archaeological Review the article Hein 33 ‐ En steinalderboplass på Hardangervidda. Fors?k på kronologisk og kulturell analyse by Svein Indrelid (1973) has been chosen for discussion. The research into the Norwegian Stone Age has always been dependent on the results obtained by studies of the South Scandinavian material. Indrelid's main goal has been to free himself from this dependence when trying to establish local southwest Norwegian chronology. This new approach has given important results also for the understanding of the South Scandinavian Stone Age.

Comments by Egil Bakka, Carl Cullberg, Arne B. Johansen, and Egil Mikkelsen are followed by a reply from Svein Indrelid.     

Prehistoric sites in the lærdal basin. A theoretical and practical approach to the archaeological analysis of a non‐tool lithic material

A major Norwegian archaeological work will be presented in each number of NAR. The author's summary will be followed by comments from invited specialists who have studied similar problems to those treated in the publication in question. Arne Johansen's study of a Stone Age material from the Norwegian mountains (H?yf jellsfunn ved Lærdalsvassdraget I. Den teoretiskc bakgrunn og det f?rste analysefors?k) was chosen as the subject of discussion in this issue of NAR. Comments are written by Carl Cullberg, Svein Indrelid, Knut Odner, Povl Simonsen and Stig Welinder. Arne Johansen's reply closes the discussion.     

Comments on Jan Harding (2005): Rethinking the Great Divide: Long‐term Structural History and the Temporality of the Event. Norwegian Archaeological Review 38, 88–101.

After agreement with Magister Knut Odner, his article was chosen as a subject for review and discussion in the first number of Norwegian Archaeological Review. Offprints of the article were sent to 12 Scandinavian specialists who have worked on problems in Stone Age chronology similar to those discussed by Odner here, and they were invited to participate in the review. We received a positive answer from 5 archaeologists, Egil Bakka, C. J. Becker, Irmelin Martens, Kristen M?llenhus, and Povl Simonsen, and their reviews are published after Odncr's short abstract of his article. Odner's reply follows at the end.     

Early medieval T⊘nsberg — dating problems and the results

According to the 13th century Icelandic Saga writer Snorre Sturlasson, there was a marketplace (in old Norwegian: Kaupstadir) in the T?nsberg area by the end of the 9th century. The origin of the medieval town of T?nsberg has therefore been much discussed in the light of this statement. Viking Age and early medieval settlements often lack material datable by archaeology alone. In T?nsberg radiocarbon dating has been used to distinguish between Viking Age deposits and medieval deposits, when stratigraphy alone does not state the differences. However, this dating method has produced various results and there is obvious need for a local calibration.     

Preservation Status and Priorities for In Situ Monitoring of the Weapon Sacrifice in Illerup Ådal,Denmark

Abstract

Excavations of the southern part of a very rich sacri?cial bog in Illerup Ådal, Denmark between 1950 and 1985 recovered approximately 15,000 Iron Age artefacts. At the time, 60 per cent of the area was left unexcavated and thousands of objects are now preserved in situ, but the present preservation status has not been investigated for approximately twenty-?ve years. Extensive in situ monitoring was carried out for one year in order to present a prioritized plan for further monitoring of the unexcavated areas, producing documentation of groundwater table variations, water quality and vegetation in the area. Results show that the remaining artefacts are generally well preserved in a waterlogged and anaerobic environment. However, in the north-eastern part of the bog, the groundwater table is too low even in a year when net precipitation and hydrological conditions were near normal. In the centre of the bog elevated salt concentrations have been measured in the groundwater.     

The relative abundance of Onthophagus species in British assemblages of dung beetles as evidence for Holocene climate change

Abstract

The ratio between scarabaeid beetles of the genera Aphodius and Onthophagus in European dung faunas is influenced by summer climate, such that individuals of Aphodius species predominate in Northern Europe but are largely replaced by Onthophagus species in the Mediterranean region. Detailed study of insect assemblages from Neolithic to Saxon date showed a changing ratio between the genera with time. For the Neolithic and most of the Bronze Age, individuals of Onthophagus contributed around 16% of the sum of Aphodius and Onthophagus, but during the Iron Age the proportion of Onthophagus fell to around 3% and remained low. This decline of Onthophagus was probably the result of a slight cooling of mean summer temperature and agricultural intensification. However, the proportion of Onthophagus peaked at over 60% during the middle Bronze Age around 1450 BC. This is argued as reflecting a brief warm episode with mean July temperatures for Central Southern England at least 2°C warmer than at present.     

Global scarcity and modern technology: Crisis or opportunity?

William Ophuls. Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1977. xi + 303 pp. Figures, tables, references, and index. $6.95 paper.

L. S. Stavrianos. The Promise of the Coming Dark Age. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1976. x +211 pp. Footnotes and index. $4.95 pape     

Reviews

Hans Christiansson &; Povl Simonsen: Stone Age Finds from Spitsbergen. Acta Borealia B. Humaniora No. 11. Troms?/Oslo/Bergen, Universitetsforlaget, 24 pp., 11 Figs.

Ellen Karine Hougen: Leirkarmaterialet fra Kaupang (The Pottery from Kaupang). Viking XXXIII (1969). 22 pp. 6 Figs. English summary     

Faunal Remains from Karataş-Semayük In Southwest Anatolia: An Interim Report

Abstract

Karata?-Semayük is a Bronze Age site near Elmali-Antalya in southwestern Anatolia in the region of ancient Lycia. The chief period of occupation was in Early Bronze II. The Bryn Mawr College excavations there began in 1963 and are directed by Machteld J. Mellink.     

Iron production in scandinavian archaeology

Several sites of the historic and prehistoric periods exist at the vicarage of Borg on Vestvåg?y, North Norway. The settlement site Borg I, which is at present being investigated within the framework of a Scandinavian research project, is believed to be a Late Iron Age chieftain's residence.     

THE SYMBOLIC AND SOCIAL MEANINGS OF THE INTERMEDIATE BRONZE AGE COPPER DAGGERS

Abstract

The transformation of hard, durable natural substances, such as stone or metal, into cultural objects with symbolic value has played an important role in human social development. This paper attempts to understand the symbolic and social meanings of copper daggers during the Intermediate Bronze Age, and the reasons for their widespread use within a burial context. A multidisciplinary approach is taken, combining and processing different areas of research, and employing a range of archaeological and ethnographic parallels. This paper allows also for a more comprehensive understanding of the social organisation during the Intermediate Bronze Age.     

Oraculorum Sibyllinorum fragmentum Osloense 1

This article discusses some textual questions in Ajax leading to the following conclusions: I. 54 add ?τ?? after λε?α?. – II. 208 the emendation ?ρεμ?α? (“rest”, “quietude”) suggested by Thiersch. – III. 405a–b the proposal κρ?τη / μοι to fill the lacuna. – IV. 476 defence of the line as transmitted. – V. 546 τοσ?νδε to go with ??νον. – VI. 719 ?νδρε?, ??λον τι πρ?τον instead of ?νδρε? ??λοι, τ? πρ?τον. – VII. 869 instead of με write γε. – VIII. 951 ?σ?ν? ?χθο? as a reference to Tecmessa’s heavy burden of woe.     

The failure of the Scandinavian defence union, 1948–1949

Knut Kjeldstadli: Jerntid. Fabrikksystem og arbeidere ved Christiania Spigerverk og Kvtemer Brug fra om lag 1880 til 1940. (Iron Age. Manufacturing system and laborers at Christiania iron works and the Kvaxrner factory from 1880 to 1940.) Pax forlag Oslo 1989. ISBN 82–530–1451–1. 594 pp., NKr. 198.     

Book reviews

D. J. Shepherd: Funerary Ritual and Symbolism. An Interdisciplinary Interpretation of Burial Practices in Late Iron Age Finland. BAR International Series 808. Oxford. 1999. ISBN 1 84171 113 6. 133 pages, 19 maps.

Vladimir N. Bulatov, Russkij Sever, Vols. 1–3. Archangel 1997–99. Izdatel'stvo Pomorskogo Universiteta. 352+352+336 pages.     

Anti-ism thinkers: The post-May Fourth schism in political thought

Abstract

This article is a continuation of “Advent of the Age of Isms,” which primarily discusses a period teeming with various “isms” (主義 zhuyi). During this time, there were in fact a number of figures who held overtly or covertly opposing attitudes, in both cases giving rise to a phenomenon of fragmentation and asystematicness. Whether consisting of negative responses to the new political theory of “isms,” this “remedy for all ills,” or of piecemeal, asystematic criticism, the phenomenon itself served as a foil to the colossal intellectual forces of the Age of “Ismization.” This article offers a preliminary discussion of this phenomenon.     

Economic structures in Western Norway in the early iron age

In this issue of Norwegian Archaeological Review the book Økonomiske strukturer på Vestlandet i eldre jernalder (Economic structures in Western Norway in the Early Iron Age) by Knut Odner (1973 a) has been chosen as subject for discussion. The book is the second part of a major work on the settlement in a rock shelter called Ullshelleren in a Norwegian mountain valley; the first part of the publication (Odner 1969) has previously been reviewed and discussed in NAR (Myhre 1972, Bakka 1973, Odner 1973 b).

As an introduction to the discussion we reprint with a few editorial alterations the second part of Odner's article, Ecological settings for economic and social models (1972, pp. 637–649), previously published in Models in Archaeology edited by David L. Clarke. We are grateful to Mr. David L. Clarke and the publisher, Methuen &; Co. Ltd., for the permission to reproduce parts of this article.

Comments by Berta Stjernquist, Carl‐Axel Moberg, Gutorm Gjessing, Charlotte Blindheim, Heid Gj?stein Resi, Magnús Stefánsson and Axel Sommerfelt are followed by a reply from Knut Odner.     

Preservation of the Stone Age site of Isimila,Tanzania

Abstract

The Stone Age Acheulean site of Isimila is one of the most important sites in Tanzania. Excavated in the late 1950s, it has been open to the public since 1958. This note reviews the problems of preserving in situ the open-air activity floors excavated at Isimila, and describes measures taken by the Tanzanian authorities to manage and protect the site.