Rhodian amphora stamps found in Mleiha (Sharjah,UAE): old and recent finds

To date Mleiha has yielded eighteen stamps belonging to Rhodian wine amphorae. Eleven of these can be dated to the second half of the third and the first half of the second centuries BC. Rhodian stamps are vital for the chronological framework of the PIR‐A period at Mleiha. Most of them, if not all, belonged to funerary contexts but were unfortunately rarely found in undisturbed contexts. The stamp types of the eponym ?ριστε?? and of the fabricants ?πολλ?νιο? and Φιλοστ?φανο? do not seem to occur very often.     

Catholicisme,protestantisme et laïcité: Réflexion sur la trace religieuse dans l'histoire contemporaine de la France

This article examines the traces of Protestantism in contemporary French history and political culture. After contextualising the legacies of Protestantism and Catholicism and recalling the latter's primary role in conceptions of French identity, the study focusses on how Protestant cultural influences came to bear. The article weighs the contributions of renowned Protestant historians and politicians, in the case of the latter, right down to the contemporary period.     

Ochre,Ground Stone,and Wrapping the Dead in the Late Epipalaeolithic (Natufian) Levant: Revealing the Funerary Practices at Shubayqa 1, Jordan

The appearance of rich and diverse funerary practices is one of the hallmarks of the Late Epipalaeolithic Natufian in the Levant. Numerous burials at a number of sites excavated mostly in the Mediterranean zone of the southern Levant have fed into the interpretation of the Natufian as a sedentary society of complex hunter-gatherers. Here, we report on the human remains recovered from Shubayqa 1, a well-dated early to late Natufian site in northeast Jordan. The majority of the minimum of 23 individuals that are represented are perinates and infants, which represents an atypical population profile. Ground stone artifacts and traces of colorants are associated with some of these individuals, providing a rare insight into funerary treatment of subadults in Natufian contexts. We interpret the Shubayqa 1 evidence in the light of current and ongoing debates concerning Natufian burial practices and the issue of social complexity.     

The Hawaiian case

Ross H. Cordy. A Study of Prehistoric Social Change: The Development of Complex Societies in the Hawaiian Islands. New York: Academic Press, 1981. xii + 274 pp. $29.00     

Discerning geological and geographical sources of Belgian Upper Paleolithic fluorites by rare earth elements and Sr-isotopic geochemistry

Fragments of fluorite (CaF₂) have been found at five Belgian Upper Paleolithic sites (Spy, Chaleux, Trou Magritte, Trou du Frontal and Verlaine caves), primarily of Magdalenian age. These sites are located in a large geographical area. The aim of this study is to isolate one or more primary sources where the mineral could have been quarried prehistorically, and hence try to deduce if time and effort were put into obtaining it, or if it was simply a useful nearby raw material. In order to achieve this objective, isotopic ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and REE ratios are used. A total of four archaeological samples from the Chaleux, Spy and Trou Magritte sites along with geological samples were analyzed (new results and data from the literature), obtained from two distinct stratigraphical units in Belgium: the Givetian limestones (mainly from the Calestian Band), and the Dinantian limestones.