Metallurgical findings from a Viking Age chieftain’s farm in Iceland

The metalworking, metal import, and use of metal in medieval Iceland is still little understood. When the Scandinavian settlers colonized Iceland in the 9th c. AD, the island was found to contain no useful metal deposits save for bog iron, and the deforestation that followed the settlement resulted in a scarcity of wood. Only in the last decades have archaeological excavations begun to unravel how the first Icelanders dealt with this lack of resources. This paper presents the metallurgical findings from a Viking Age chieftain's farmstead at Hrísbrú in the Mosfell valley, located just outside Iceland’s present-day capital Reykjavik. The excavated metal objects had all been crafted with good workmanship employing technology similar to that used in mainland Scandinavia. However, most excavated metal finds show evidence of re-use, which together with the second-grade metal in some of the objects indicates a shortage of raw material that prompted the Icelandic colonizers to improvise and make do with whatever material was at hand.     

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THE ECOLOGY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION. F. W. Riggs. Under the auspices of the Indian Institute of Public Administration. Bombay, Asia Publishing House, 1961. Pp. viii + 162. Price 20/‐ sterling.

THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY. C. A. W. Manning. London, G. Bell & Sons Ltd., 1962. Pp. xi + 220. English price 30/‐.

STRUCTURE OF AMERICAN FEDERALISM. M. J. C. Vile. London, Oxford University Press, 1962. Pp. x + 206. Australian Price 46/6.

AMERICAN DIPLOMACY IN A NEW ERA. Stephen D. Kertesz (ed.). University of Notre Dame Press, 1961. Pp. 601. U.S. $10.00.

ENCYCLOPAEDIA OP RUSSIA AND THE SOVIET UNION. Michael T. Florinsky (ed.). New York, McGraw Hill Book Company Inc., 1961. Pp. xiv + 624. U.S. $23.

THE TAPROOT OP SOVIET SOCIETY. Nicholas P. Vakar. New York, Harper & Bros., 1961. Pp. xiii + 204. U.S. $4.75.

INDONESIAN ECONOMICS: THE CONCEPT OF DUALISM IN THEORY AND POLICY. Selected Studies on Indonesia by Dutch Scholars, Vol. VI. The Hague, W. van Hoeve, 1961. Pp. xii + 443. U.S. $7.50.

KAUTILYA: A REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS.

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNIST CHINA 1949–1960. T. J. Hughes and D. E. T. Luard. Under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. London. O.U.P., 1961. Pp. viii + 215. Second Edition. Australian price 41/6d.

TOJO AND THE COMING OF THE WAR. R. J. C. Butow. Princeton University Press, 1961. Pp. 540.

PARTIES AND PEOPLE: A SURVEY BASED ON THE LA TROBE ELECTORATE. Creighton Burns. Melbourne University Press, 1961. Pp. x + 173. Australian price 28/6d.     

Mechanisms of Failure and Slope Development in Rock Masses

This paper examines the mechanisms of failure in jointed rock slopes. The distribution of discontinuities is a significant control of rock-mass stability, determining the mechanism by which blocks fail from a cliff, and the consequent slope development through time. It is often assumed that the principles of single-block movements are geomechanically similar to those of larger, multiple-block rock-mass failures, under a given set of boundary conditions and controlling variables. Results presented here, based on computer modelling using the Universal Distinct Element Code (UDEC), show that such assumptions are not always correct. After a theoretical modelling exercise, real-world rock slopes were studied from the Portland Limestone outcrop of the Isle of Purbeck, England. There is good association between the theoretical results and model output for the fieldsites. The conclusions are thus useful in enhancing knowledge of jointed rock-mass failure conditions, and improving understanding of rock-slope development.     

Performance tests using the Lexsyg luminescence reader

This study presents test measurements on a Lexsyg luminescence reader, acquired by the Giessen luminescence group. The reader is of the type Standard, hence designed for routine determination of palaeodoses using quartz or K-feldspars. The tests include measurements of the stimulation powers, preheat temperatures, OSL- and TL-curves, as well as dose recovery tests and calibration measurements using highly sensitised calibration quartz. A comparison of D _e values determined using a Lexsyg reader with single grain D _e-values, which have been previously obtained on a Risø reader, is also presented. The results imply that the Lexsyg reader is a highly reliable measurement device with high reproducibility, yielding instrumental uncertainties of around 0.3%.     

Wave Hindcasting and Anchoring Activities in Ancient Harbours: The Impact of Coastal Dynamics on Ancient Carthago Nova (Cartagena,Spain)

Journal of Maritime Archaeology - This study analyses nautical harbour activities and their spatial distribution using a high-resolution method of wind-wave hindcasting, in order to identify the...