Zooarchaeology of the Middle Stone Age in Magubike Rockshelter,Iringa Region,Tanzania

African Archaeological Review - The analysis of the faunal remains from Middle Stone Age deposits of Magubike rockshelter was undertaken to contribute to the modern human behavior debate....     

UBI SUNT MACELLA? THE CONTRIBUTION OF NON‐INVASIVE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY TO THE IDENTIFICATION AND STUDY OF ROMAN FOOD MARKETS

While the remains of the well‐preserved and excavated towns of Pompeii, Ostia and Herculaneum provide us with a fascinating impression of their once bustling economic life, the study of urban economic space requires a more extensive geographical and methodological framework. This paper investigates whether the systematic use of non‐invasive techniques at other, often neglected, urban sites can deliver a meaningful contribution to the study of Roman urbanism, especially by revealing previously unknown foci of commercial activity in the Roman city. To illustrate the effectiveness of certain non‐destructive strategies, including geophysical prospection and aerial survey, we focus on a specific type of market building that was quite common in the Roman world, the macellum. The case studies presented here demonstrate how non‐invasive archaeological investigation, often in combination with other topographic operations, can facilitate the identification of macella and enhance studies of economic architecture and space in Roman towns in Italy and the provinces.     

The mechanics of innovation: clover cultivation in Wales before 1750

Welsh agriculturists were more responsive to the introduction of new crops in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries than is generally assumed. In particular, they appreciated the nutritious fodder that could be provided for their livestock by the sown grasses, notably clover, sainfoin and perennial rye grass. These legumes were tried on Welsh estates at least as early as 1668. The initial mechanics of innovation are explored: what were the processes by which knowledge was gained, distributed, tested and used in the decision-making of those who first cultivated the grasses? On the Trevor estates the stages of adoption included the inception of trial plots of sainfoin; observation and enquiry with several English growers; assessment of soils and seeds; parallel experiments at two sites; close reference to the printed word about the crop, in papers of instruction and books. Welsh initiators also followed patterns of imitation, in some cases based on clover cultivation already established in Wales, in others on the classic model of Herefordshire. The scale of adoption is indicated by data from every Welsh county, and for landowners and farmers at different levels of operation. The literature of improved agriculture was directly influential, as were the ties of family kinship, language and religion among adopters. The working of a three-step flow of communication is suggested.