The distribution and sources of archaeological obsidian from southern France

One-hundred-and-sixty-two pieces of obsidian have been found at 50 archaeological localities in southern France. The distribution is concentrated in the Rhône Valley, but includes sites in Drôme and in southwest France. The obsidian is mainly from sites of the Chassey culture (4th and 3rd millennium Neolithic), but there is one Impressed Ware site (Early Neolithic) and four Copper Age sites with obsidian. Only a small proportion of the obsidian (31 pieces) consists of waste pieces, providing little evidence for on-site working. 10 pieces of obsidian were analysed by instrumental neutron activation analysis to determine their geological provenance. Seven pieces proved to be from the Sardinian SA source, one from Lipari, and two from Pantelleria. Chronologically there is some division between sources used: all three pieces of Liparian obsidian so far identified from southern France, in this work and by earlier researchers, belong to Early Chassey contexts, and the two Pantellerian pieces are from a Copper Age dolmen. Sardinian and Liparian obsidian probably reached France by way of northern Italy. where both types were in use in contemporary cultures. The two Pantellerian pieces are evidence of some type of contact between France and the southern Mediterranean in the Copper Age, despite earlier suggestions of a very restricted distribution for the Pantellerian source. Obsidian was probably imported to southern France with other goods since the small amounts used would not warrant a separate trading network for obsidian alone.     

Dental disease evidence for agricultural intensification in the Nubian C-Group

The results of this study reveal significantly greater frequencies of caries, periapical abscesses and ante-mortem tooth loss in the Lower Nubian C-Group (ca. 2000–1500 BC) compared with the preceding Classic/Terminal A-Group (ca. 3100–2500 BC). More severe tooth wear in the C-Group, which traditionally would be interpreted as consistent with a hunting-gathering subsistence base, can instead be attributed to grit in the diet resulting from the processing of agricultural produce with sandstone and quartzite mortars and grinding stones, and perhaps also to the intentional addition of grit to grain in order to facilitate grinding. The results of this study, when evaluated in the context of complementary archaeological and osteological evidence, indicate that both groups practised a mixed economy but that the C-Group relied more heavily on cereal cultivation.     

PAUL RABINOW (1944–2021): A MEMOIR

In this narrative, the author reminisces over her collaboration on AIDS-HIV initiatives with recently deceased Paul Rabinow.     

Marine geophysical investigation of the inshore coastal waters of Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has been subject to significant maritime influences throughout its 9000-year known human history. In 1997 the University of Ulster in partnership with the Environment and Heritage Service (DOE, NI) embarked on a programme of seabed mapping in an attempt to record the submerged and buried archaeological resource using a suite of geophysical equipment including a side-scan sonar, a Chirp sub-bottom profiler and a proton precession magnetometer. The geophysical research programme has successfully imaged 80 19th- and 20th-century wrecks, and 20 targets of further archaeological potential. These data will aid the production of wreck-prediction indices for the coastline of Northern Ireland based on site formation processes and site stability. This information will make valuable additions to both Sites and Monuments Records and to the shipwreck database currently under consideration at the University of Ulster.