Selective reburial: a potential approach for the in situ preservation of waterlogged archaeological wood in wetland excavations

Excavations at Dispilio, a prehistoric lakeside settlement in northern Greece, have revealed a significant number of vertical wooden piles that need to be protected during and after excavation. Lifting of the piles is not possible and approaches such as reburial, cannot currently be implemented as excavation is still in progress. In 2005, several posts were “selectively buried” on an experimental basis, by encasing them in PVC pipes and backfilling with the surrounding sediment. This approach appeared to be capable of protecting the piles during excavation and be a potential solution for their post-excavation preservation. This preliminary study sets out to asses if this alternative approach to reburial could be an effective in situ preservation method.     

Zooarchaeology and Modernity in Iceland

This paper follows the lead of the increasing numbers of scholars utilizing the methods and theory of environmental archaeology within historical archaeology. This paper addresses the issue of ??modernity?? in early modern Iceland through the analysis of faunal assemblages from historic sites in Iceland. It examines the idea of modernity through the ideas of commoditization of animals as well as the improvement of domestic animals as seen through these faunal assemblages. There are a number of possible faunal indications of processes associated with modernity in the existing historic assemblages of Iceland though at least some of these have deep roots in the medieval period. Examining the idea of modernity through the faunal assemblages of historic-period Iceland both help refine the idea of modernity as well as reveal the medieval roots of much of what we term ??modern??.     

Reading Margaret Oliphant

Margaret Oliphant's fiction has been steadily undergoing critical reassessment since the 1990s. The advent of the Selected Works from Pickering & Chatto testifies to the growing significance of this great novelist within the scholarly community. The inquiries of several researchers, especially Elisabeth Jay and Joanne Shattock, have transformed our understanding of this prolific author's achievements. Yet the larger proportion of Oliphant's novels await the critical attention they deserve. The present discussion focuses on the main reasons why her seemingly minor works of prose fiction possess a psychological understanding that is as great as that which we find in her more famous narratives, such as Miss Marjoribanks (1866). The recognition of divided minds, of the games the mind plays, and her dramatization of them, is part of what gives her novels power that general critiques of her work often miss. This point becomes clear when we broaden our perspective on Oliphant's novels beyond the six fictions that comprise her Chronicles of Carlingford (1862–76). Here the analysis concentrates on The Ladies Lindores (1883) and, more expansively, the little-known For Love and Life (1874).