ON THE ROAD TO PARADIS: NEW INSIGHTS FROM AMS DATES AND STABLE ISOTOPES AT LE DÉHUS,GUERNSEY, AND THE CHANNEL ISLANDS MIDDLE NEOLITHIC

We here report the results of a programme of AMS dating and stable isotope analysis on human remains from the chambered tomb of Le Déhus, Guernsey. An early use‐phase in the range 4100–3900 BC is indicated, confirming the monument's attribution to the Middle Neolithic II as defined in western France. Late Neolithic burial activity is also identified. Stable carbon isotope measurements provide little or no evidence for the consumption of marine foods, although stable nitrogen isotope values are unusually high. These results are situated in the wider context of Neolithic mortuary monuments of the Channel Islands and Normandy.     

The Mesolithic–Neolithic Transition in the Channel Islands: Maritime and Terrestrial Perspectives

This paper investigates the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in the Channel Islands. It presents a new synthesis of all known evidence from the islands c.5000–4300 bc , including several new excavations as well as find‐spot sites that have not previously been collated. It also summarizes – in English – a large body of contemporary material from north‐west France. The paper presents a new high‐resolution sea‐level model for the region, shedding light on the formation of the Channel Islands from 9000–4000 bc . Through comparison with contemporary sites in mainland France, an argument is made suggesting that incoming migrants from the mainland and the small indigenous population of the islands were both involved in the transition. It is also argued that, as a result of the fact the Channel Islands witnessed a very different trajectory of change from that seen in Britain and Ireland c.5000–3500 bc , this small group of islands has a great deal to tell us about the arrival of the Neolithic more widely.     

A Variation on a Basic Theme: The Transition to Farming in Southern Central Europe

This paper attempts to summarize the past years of research on the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Central Europe and to review recent discussions about the origin and spread of the Early Neolithic. Particular emphasis is given to the debate about migration or diffusion. A combined migrationist/diffusionist model is presented, arguing for an emergence of a farming economy among hunter-gatherer populations in Transdanubia and the subsequent spread of this economy through migration. The new settlers interacted with local Mesolithic groups and adopted and incorporated local material culture and sometimes even aspects of local Mesolithic economy, a process which continued throughout the Early Neolithic. With time, population increase, subsequent competition for resources, and climatic instability led to a destabilization of traditional Early Neolithic society and finally to the outbreak of severe intercommunity violence. The only escape from mutual extinction was a rearrangement of subsistence and social and political structures, possibly with contributions from surviving Terminal Mesolithic groups.     

Night Revels and Werewolfery in Calvinist Guernsey

From the mid-sixteenth to the mid-seventeenth century, Guernsey's Calvinist régime sought to control the rival cultural attractions of night-time activities, enjoyed especially by the young. These included the vueille and “gadding” between parishes. Cases of disguising in 1624 and 1630, the former under a mare's skin, when examined alongside examples from the other Channel Islands, England and Wales, demonstrate analogies with hobby horse perambulations and the Mari Lwyd. A unique reference to vouarouvarie [werewolfery] also describes a rowdy nocturnal activity, here with elements drawn from medieval identifications of the werewolf with outlawry and the dead. Werewolfery in Calvinist Guernsey may also have involved the harassment of women.     

Points in Time: The Mesolithic–Neolithic Transition and the Chronology of Late Rod Microliths in Britain

This paper presents the results of the Bayesian statistical modelling of radiocarbon dates associated with diagnostic late Mesolithic rod microliths from England and Wales. These date estimates are compared with results for the earliest evidence for Neolithic material culture and practices in Britain (Whittle et al. 2011; Griffiths 2011; 2014; forthcoming). The chronology of some rod microlith sites indicates a potential overlap between the earliest Neolithic and latest Mesolithic material culture and practices, in the first three centuries of the fourth millennium cal BC across England and Wales. The locations of late Mesolithic sites suggest regional processes of ‘neolithization’ may have occurred. In the region where we have the best chronological evidence for late Mesolithic sites – in Yorkshire – the location of the very latest Mesolithic sites suggests these lifeways may have persisted in landscapes which had been foci of hunter‐gatherer activity for hundreds of years, and which might have been understood as ‘ancestral’ or ‘persistent’ places.     

NEW ASPECTS OF THE MESOLITHIC‐NEOLITHIC CEMETERIES AND SETTLEMENT AT ZVEJNIEKI,NORTHERN LATVIA

The paper reflects upon recent international research at Zvejnieki in northern Latvia, a renowned complex of a burial ground and two settlement sites used in the Mesolithic and Neolithic. Since its discovery and first excavations in the 1960s, Zvejnieki continues to produce evidence that provides new grounds for understanding mortuary practises and ancient lifeways. This information is relevant for other contemporary sites in Europe revealing new and hitherto unexpected elements of burial traditions. It is suggested that the Zvejnieki population was partly mobile, and the site was one of the places to bury the dead. The ancestral link was established through transportation and use of occupational debris from more ancient sites and through the incorporation of earlier burial space or even burials into the new graves. The depth of a burial also appears to be a significant variable in ancient mortuary practices.     

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.     

MARINE RESOURCES IN THE MESOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC AT THE GROTTA DELL’UZZO (SICILY): EVIDENCE FROM ISOTOPE ANALYSES OF MARINE SHELLS*

Oxygen isotopes in shell carbonate samples from the marine rocky‐shore intertidal gastropod Monodonta turbinata (Born) are investigated in both modern analogue specimens and in archaeological specimens from the Grotta dell’Uzzo (Sicily). Variations in shell edge values of δ¹⁸O in living specimens collected monthly over two years are closely correlated with monthly seawater temperatures measured at the time of collection, showing that the species can be used for palaeoseasonality studies. Analyses of shell edge δ¹⁸O values in archaeological specimens, from Mesolithic through to early Neolithic phases at the Grotta dell’Uzzo, enabled the inference of various seasons of collection of shellfish and how such seasonality varies between the different phases of occupation. Interesting similarities and differences exist between the seasons of marine shellfish exploitation and the seasons inferred from the vertebrate zooarchaeological assemblages. A major inference drawn from the analyses and discussion is that the exploitation of all marine resources (fish and shellfish) increased in the later Mesolithic and early Neolithic periods.     

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 Living and The Dead,Memory and Transition: Bayesian Modelling of Mesolithic and Neolithic Deposits from Vlasac,the Danube Gorges

The paper applies Bayesian statistical modelling to radiocarbon dates obtained for a stratigraphic sequence comprising occupation features and superimposed burials from the Late Mesolithic (c.7400–6200 cal BC) to the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition (c.6200–5900 cal BC), from Vlasac in the Danube Gorges region of the north‐central Balkans. This sequence, investigated in the course of excavations at the site in 2006–9, yielded stratigraphic evidence of the transformation of local forager populations as a result of contact with Neolithic communities. Our paper provides a reliable chronological framework for changes from Late Mesolithic burial rites to new, Neolithic types of ornamental beads at the top of the sequence. The use of the same burial location and continuities in burial rites over a considerable period of time raise significant questions about the role of tradition and the potential for enduring practices in prehistoric societies.     

STRUCTURE AND AGENCY: CONTESTED CONCEPTS IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

The concepts of ‘structure’ and ‘agency’ have been of central significance to geographic research. This paper focuses on recent debates in critical social geography, and the contributions of Marxist, feminist, and postmodern perspectives to rethinking the structure-agency question. Significant changes in conceptualizing structure and agency are outlined, from early work in Marxist geography to current efforts to grapple with postmodern culture and identity. The paper demonstrates that critical geographic approaches to structure and agency have become more inclusive and nuanced, as researchers have addressed challenges posed by critiques and new perspectives. It concludes by considering the significance of place, space, and social difference in mediating processes of social change and thus in concrete explanations of how the ‘dialectical dance’ of structure and agency unfolds within particular locales. Les concepts de «structure» et d' «action» ont une importance capitate dans les recherches en géographie. Cet article porte sur les débats qui ont récemment eu cours dans le domaine de la géographie sociale critique et sur les contributions apportées par les tenants des points de vue marxiste, féministe et postmoderne dans la reconceptualisation du rapport entre la structure et faction. On y mentionne les importants changements qui ont eu lieu dans le domaine de la conceptualisation des structures et des actions, des premiers travaux effectués en géographie marxiste jusqu'aux récents efforts dé-ployés pour mieux saisir la culture et I'identité postmoderne. Ce texte démontre que dans le domaine de la géographie critique, on voit la structure et faction d'une manière plus englobante et plus nuancée à mesure que les chercheurs se sont penchés sur les défis soulevés par les critiques et les nouvelles perspectives. Nous finissons par évaluer la place qu'occupent I'endroit, I'espace et la différence sociale dans la médiation des processus du changement social - et ainsi dans les explications concrètes des variations de la « danse dialectique » de structure et de faction dans des milieux particuliers.     

Late Mesolithic burials at Casa Corona (Villena,Spain): direct radiocarbon and palaeodietary evidence of the last forager populations in Eastern Iberia

Current knowledge about the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in the Central and Western Mediterranean European regions is deeply limited by the paucity of Late Mesolithic human osteological data and the presence of chronological gaps covering several centuries between the last foragers and the first archaeological evidence of farming peoples. In this work, we present new data to fill these gaps. We provide direct AMS radiocarbon dating and carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) stable isotope analysis were carried out on bone collagen samples of two single burials from the recently discovered open-air Late Mesolithic site of Casa Corona (Villena, Spain). The results shed new light on the chronology and subsistence patterns of the last Mesolithic communities in the Central Mediterranean region of the Iberian Peninsula. Radiocarbon results date the human remains and funerary activity of the site to 6059–5849 cal BC, statistically different from other Late Mesolithic sites and the earliest Neolithic contexts, and bridging the 500 yrs chronological gap of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition from the area. Isotopic evidence shows that diet was based on terrestrial resources despite the proximity to the site of lagoon and marine ecosystems. This and previous isotope studies from the region suggest a lower reliance upon marine resources than for Atlantic and Cantabrian sites, although intra-regional patterns of neighbouring Mesolithic populations exhibit both fully terrestrial diets and diets with significant amounts of aquatic resources in them. We hypothesize that in the Central Mediterranean region of Spain the Late Mesolithic dietary adaptations imposed structural limits on demographic growth of the last foragers and favoured rapid assimilation by the earliest Neolithic populations.     

EXPLORING IDENTITY AND PLACE: AN ANALYSIS OF THE PROVENANCE OF PASSAGE GRAVE STONES ON GUERNSEY AND JERSEY IN THE MIDDLE NEOLITHIC

Summary. This study examines the provenance of rock types used in the construction of Middle Neolithic passage grave stones on the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, focusing on the social dimensions of stone selection. The use of stones in passage grave construction includes both local and non-local rock types, which at some sites are organized in distinctive patterns. It is argued that the choice of stones was bound by concepts of identity, and that the communities which gathered to build these monuments may have used specific rock types to represent their community and their local mythologies. The relationship between identity and stone selection is supported both by analogy and by research into the role of landmarks in the development of local landscapes and ideology. The success of megalith provenance studies on Guernsey and Jersey suggests considerable potential for future research in other geologically diverse regions.     

A MICROSCOPIC STUDY OF REMAINS OF TEXTILES MADE FROM PLANT FIBRES

Summary. Plant fibres in textiles from the following sites were investigated and those not already identified as flax were identified as such: Tybrind (Mesolithic Denmark)-unidentified; Çatal Hüyük (Neolithic Turkey); the Kerma civilization of Nubia (2000 BC); Kings Road, Guernsey (Iron Age) (mineralised cloth), and eighteenth-century England. Some Bronze Age nettle fabric from Denmark was examined.
The Scanning Electron Microscope provided an invaluable aid to identification, particularly in the mineralised material. Fibre diameter measurements in the form of distributions, like those used with wool, also assisted identification, but no evolutionary changes with time were evident in these. It was possible also to make such measurements on SEM photomicrographs of the mineralised fibres.     

The Mesolithic of Southern Scandinavia

The Mesolithic of Southern Scandinavia, with comprises Denmark and Southern Sweden, has been an attractive area for research for several reasons, including the good preservation conditions at many sites. Most of the work has been concentrated on the southwestern part of Southern Scandinavia, but results from more recent investigations mean that other areas can also be analyzed. New finds in the last few years have given us a greater understanding of the Late Paleolithic settlement and of its relation of the Mesolithic. For the Early Mesolithic (10,000–8000 B.P.), interest has focused primarily on the small inland bog sites in the southern part of the area, where the coast has since been submerged. Farther north, where the land has been uplifted, evidence of coastal settlement has been documented. The Late Mesolithic (8000–6000 B.P.) is known chiefly on the basis of its large coastal settlements. In this period, there is also a larger and more varied collection of finds, which makes it possible to discern clear regional differences. There has also been considerable research on the transition from Mesolithic to Neolithic.     

VISUAL AFFORDANCE, LANDSCAPE, AND THE MEGALITHS OF ALDERNEY

The core of this paper seeks to make a methodological contribution to the GIS-based analysis of visibility as a potential locational factor in past landscape placement, an area of study whose utility and value have been hotly debated by archaeologists keen to promote more experiential approaches to the interpretation of past landscapes. In doing so it seeks to break with recent discussions on the topic by not show-casing new or technically more sophisticated sets of approaches. Instead it backtracks to reclaim a methodology introduced over a decade ago, yet rarely applied in routine archaeological practice – a case of taking one step back to advance two steps forward. An important subtext is that for the utility of GIS-based work to be appreciated, it has to be driven by a clear archaeological research programme. To this end the study is fully embedded in a current research initiative exploring the megalithic monuments of prehistoric Alderney, the northernmost of the Channel Islands.     

LITHIC RESOURCES IN THE EARLY PREHISTORY OF THE ALPS*

Rocks, which are ubiquitous in archaeological sites as chipped or polished tools, were important factors in the prehistoric Alpine economic system. Archaeometric characterization and identification of source areas open the path to a more detailed understanding of the production and diffusion mechanisms behind Alpine lithic industries. An overview of the situation from the eastern to the western Alps in the Mesolithic, the Neolithic and the Copper Age illustrates current debates and issues.     

New Insights into Mesolithic Human Diet in the Mediterranean from Stable Isotope Analysis: The Sites of Campu Stefanu and Torre d'Aquila,Corsica

Mesolithic human remains are rare in the archaeological record of the French Mediterranean. Only the island of Corsica has so far produced relatively well‐preserved burials, and recent archaeological excavations have brought to light new Mesolithic human remains. The site of Campu Stefanu , located in Sollacaro in the southeast of the island, contained a collective burial of seven to eight individuals in a previously unobserved funerary context. A re‐evaluation of collections in regional museums yielded the remains from another Mesolithic individual from the site of Torre d 'Aquila , excavated at Pietracorbara, in the northern part of the island, at the beginning of the 1990s. These two discoveries presented the rare opportunity to obtain new radiocarbon dates and paleodietary insights from this crucial time period using stable isotope analysis (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) on collagen. From Campu Stefanu, one individual had sufficient collagen preserved for radiocarbon dating, revealing that it is the oldest Mesolithic human known on the island, dated to 10216–9920 cal. BP. At Torre d'Aquila, radiocarbon dates indicate that the individual belonged to a younger Mesolithic phase than Campu Stefanu, dated to 9903–9596 cal. BP. δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N isotope ratios are similar between the Campu Stefanu and Torre d'Aquila individuals and indicate a diet dominated by the consumption of terrestrial animal protein and a lack of marine resources. These findings are in contrast with the previous results from two other Mesolithic individuals from Corsica from the sites of Araguina Sennola and Monte Leone , for which about 25–30% of the consumed proteins came from a marine diet. The dietary variability recorded in Corsica is consistent with results obtained from Mesolithic human remains of Sicily and the Iberian Peninsula. We can hypothesise, that despite the nomadic lifestyle, the distance to the sea played a major role in Mesolithic food choices in Corsica. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

LE GARDIEN DU TOMBEAU: FURTHER REFLECTIONS ON THE INITIAL NEOLITHIC

Summary. The unique carving of an armed human figure on a capstone in the Déhus passage grave, Guernsey, has been known for some 70 years but has hitherto eluded parallels and explanation. With the stimulus of recent researches in Brittany, it is now possible to suggest that here too is an example oficonoclasm and incorporation associated with the inception of the Neolithic and the formative stages of megalithic traditions.     

HONOURING ‘ONE OF THE GREAT FORCES OF THE DOMINION’*: THE CANADIAN PUBLIC MOURNS McGEE

Urban publics - the self-conscious interest groups that emerged to characterize much of the social and political climate of city life - claimed attention, contended for influence, and celebrated their values through performances of a wide variety of rituals in urban public space. In this paper our attention will focus on one dramatic and important episode expressing the nature of public ritual in Confederation-era Canada: the memorialization of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, assassinated in Ottawa, and buried in Montreal on Easter Monday, April 13, 1868. In paying homage to McGee, urban publics in Montreal and across the Dominion seized an almost unparalleled opportunity to bear witness to their images of themselves, in the very particular circumstance of an intensely felt moment in time. The nature of this ritual allows us to explore one significant aspect of a social geography of the city that is otherwise not easily recoverable and often forgotten: the evanescent but powerfully signifying geography of behaviour in public space. Les publics urbains - ces associations gênées qui ont émergé pour dépeindre I'essentiel du climat politique et social de la vie en ville - se faisaient remarquer, préten-daient à I'influence, et célébraient leurs valeurs à travers des performances de rites d'une grande variété dans un espace urbain public. Dans cette dissertation nous exa-minerons surtout un épisode dramatique et important qui exprime la nature du rituel public dans le Canada de I'ère de la Confédération: La commémoration de Thomas D'Arcy McGee, assassinéà Ottawa, et enterréà Montréal le 13 Avril 1868 - le lundi de Pâques. En rendant hommage à McGee, les publics urbains à Montréal et à travers la Confédération profitèrent d'une occasion sans pareil pour porter témoignage des images qu'ils se faisaient d'eux-mêmes, dans la circonstance très particulière d'un moment perçu très intensément dans le temps. Le caractère de ce rituel nous permet d'explorer un aspect important d'une géographie sociale de la ville qui, autrement, n'est pas facilement récupérable et sou-vent oubliée: La géographie éphéèere, et pourtant puis-samment significative, du comportement dans I'espace public.