Sherborne Old Castle,Dorset. Archaeological Excavations 1930–90

Abstract

THIS is an account of both the history and the recent findings of the Mosfell Archaeological Project. Excavation is part of an interdisciplinary research approach that uses archaeology, history, anthropology, forensics, environmental sciences and saga studies to construct a picture of human habitation, power relationships, religious and mortuary practices, and environmental change in the region of Mosfellssveit in south-western Iceland. The valley system with surrounding highlands and lowland coastal areas has interlocking natural and cultural components which developed from the 9th-century settlement of Iceland into a Viking Age chieftaincy dominated by the family at Mosfell/Hrísbrú. Excavations of both pagan and Christian sites are providing significant information on the changing periods of occupation, with implications for the larger study of Viking North Atlantic. During the Viking Age, Mosfell was a self-contained social and economic unit connected to the rest of Iceland through a network of roads, including a major E.–W. route to the nearby assembly place for the yearly Althing. With its ship's landing or port at Leirvogur, in the bay at the valley's mouth, the region was in commercial and cultural contact with the larger Scandinavian and European worlds.     

Comments on Gro B. Jerpåsen: ‘Application of Visual Archaeological Analysis: Some Results’

Owing to their large number, gold bracteates should be well suited to form the framework of a style chronology for the Migration Period which is not based on typological development. Where copies from the same die appear in different finds they indicate contemporaneity. The relative time of production of the associated objects in the finds may be judged from the wear on the loops and rims of the bracteates. On the basis of this a sort of stratigraphy may be established in relation to which other objects such as relief brooches may also be placed.

The development of style should then be investigated through an analysis of the motives down to the smallest detail as well as an evaluation of their stylistic content. In both cases precise definitions should be applied. In the process of this work one may distinguish different workshops on the basis of consistent similarities, such as mirror image dies or specific rare details.     

Musealizing Archaeological Sites. Considerations on Research,Conservation, and Dissemination: A Case Study from the Gavà Mines Archaeological Park

This paper offers some considerations on the concept of musealization at archaeological parks. It focuses on aspects of the design and development of a musealized archaeological site: conservation, security, museological techniques, communication, and, above all, the role of research as the basis to develop continuously renewed and high-quality content for public dissemination. The case of the Gavà Mines Archaeological Park (Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) is used to exemplify the reflections presented in this article.     

All-Russian Archaeological Congress “current issues in Russian archaeology” (23rd–28th October, 2006, Novosibirsk)

Information

All-Russian Archaeological Congress “current issues in Russian archaeology” (23rd–28th October, 2006, Novosibirsk)     

Catharina Raudvere,Anders Andrén and Kristina Jennbert: Myter om det nordiska. Mellan romantik och politik . Vägar till Midgård I. Nordic Academic Press,Lund, 2001. 191 pp. ISSN 1650-5905, ISBN 91-89116-19-4

A method of grouping early post‐glacial settlements is described. This is based upon Quaternary geological, archaeological and statistical methods. Hakes were measured from settlements dated ‐with a high degree of certainty through the agency of the natural sciences, and the results obtained were treated statistically.