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.     

Conservation and management of prehistoric rock art sites on the World Heritage List: A report on the Côa Valley international symposium, 1999

Abstract

A meeting of managers of prehistoric rock art sites inscribed on the World Heritage List was held at the Côa Valley Archaeological Park in Portugal in May 1999. Site managers from Africa, the Americas, Australia and Europe discussed issues of site protection, visitor management and interpretation to the public. The following report summarizes the experience reported at the symposium, which has led to the proposal to create an international network of site managers responsible for rock art sites.     

Sex inequality in the Māori population in the prehistoric,proto-historic and early historic Eras in a Trans-Polynesian context

This study considers evidence of Māori sex inequality in life chances during the prehistoric, proto-historic and early historic eras in terms of sex differences in bone size and structure, historic reports of sex dimorphism in height, and early census data of ratios of numbers of males to females. The triangulated evidence suggests significant inequality by sex. This evidence is then placed into a contact era Polynesian context. The broader evidence, also triangulated, suggests that sex inequality amongst Māori was not unique in Polynesia. Nor, however, was inequality universal across Polynesia. There are wide differences in sex inequality in different contact-era Polynesian societies. Sex inequality appears to have been less in Tonga, Samoa and Hawai’i than in New Zealand, Tahiti, the Marquesas, Easter Island and the Cook Islands. Sex inequality mostly collapsed by the first third of the 20th century, rendering the cross-island comparisons much more homogeneous.     

Comments on relations West Norway ‐ Western Europe documented in petroglyphs

Dendrochronologic calibration of radiocarbon dates, which is of vital importance when such dates are compared with historical records, is discussed.

The nature and causes of variations in the past atmospheric radiocarbon content are briefly described. Different calibration curves are compared with available high‐precision data on radiocarbon in tree rings, and also with preliminary results from the joint efforts of U.S. scientists to establish an optimal calibration scheme.     

The role of canids in ritual and domestic contexts: new ancient DNA insights from complex hunter–gatherer sites in prehistoric Central California

This study explores the interrelationship between the genus Canis and hunter–gatherers through a case study of prehistoric Native Americans in the San Francisco Bay-Sacramento Delta area. A distinctive aspect of the region's prehistoric record is the interment of canids, variously classified as coyotes, dogs, and wolves. Since these species are difficult to distinguish based solely on morphology, ancient DNA analysis was employed to distinguish species. The DNA study results, the first on canids from archaeological sites in California, are entirely represented by domesticated dogs (including both interments and disarticulated samples from midden deposits). These results, buttressed by stable isotope analyses, provide new insight into the complex interrelationship between humans and canids in both ritual and prosaic contexts, and reveal a more prominent role for dogs than previously envisioned.     

Composition of white paste inlay on the pottery from sites of the 10th–8th centuries bce in the northern Pontic region

For the first time, the mineralogical–geochemical compositions of the white paste inlay found on vessels from sites (10th–8th centuries bce ) in the northern Pontic region are investigated. Samples of the white paste on vessels from settlements, burials of sedentary groups and graves of early nomads were analysed by means of scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. Between the 10th and eighth centuries bce , various innovations occurred in the working area. Iron processing technology and the manufacture of iron products also appeared. Other innovations were changes in the manufacturing technology of ceramics. A high-quality, polished/burnished surface and ornaments with white paste inlay are characteristic of this pottery. When collating white paste mixtures of different European sites, similarities in the preparation of white paste recipes for vessels from the Balkan and northern Pontic regions are evident. During the Early Iron Age, further changes in the manufacture of the white paste were discovered in the northern Pontic region, namely the application of high-temperature firing to obtain more resistant synthesized material such as calcium alumosilicates and silicates (wollastonite). The development of iron metallurgy in this period could provide a basis for the elaboration of new techniques in ceramic manufacture.     

Comments on Two tests of the prehistoric cultural chronology of Varanger,North Norway by Knut Helskog. NAR 7, No. 2, pp. 97–103

Hans Arne Jensen: Catalogue of late‐ and post‐glacial macrofossils of Spermatophyta from Denmark, Schleswig, Scania, Holland, and Blekinge dated 13,000 B.P. to 1536 A.D. Danmarks Geologiske Unders?gelse Series A, No. 6. 95 pp.

Clive Gamble: The Palaeolithic Settlement of Europe. Cambridge World Archaeology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986. 471 pp. 110 illustrations, 91 tables

D. V. Clarke, T. G. Cowie and Andrew Foxon: Symbols of Power at the Time of Stonehenge. With contributions by John C. Barrett, Ian G. Shepherd, Joan Taylor and Caroline Wickham‐Jones. Photographs by Ian Larner, Michael Brooks and Doreen Moyes. National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, Edinburgh 1985: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 334 pp.