Reconsidering Yeha,c. 800–400 BC

Yeha, in Tigray, is the most impressive site with evidence for South Arabian influence dating to the first millennium BC in the northern Horn of Africa (Eritrea and northern Ethiopia). The evidence from this site was used to identify a ‘Pre-Aksumite’ or ‘Ethiopian-Sabean’ Period (mid-first millennium BC) when an early Afro-Arabian state apparently arose in the region. A ‘Pre-Aksumite Culture’, characterised by South Arabian elements, was also suggested as a distinctive archaeological culture in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. However, recent fieldwork in these countries suggests that a Pre-Aksumite culture actually did not exist and South Arabian features were restricted to a few sites, which were scattered in a mosaic of different archaeological cultures in the first millennium BC. This hypothesis is tested through a comparison between the ceramics from Yeha and those from Matara and other sites of the first millennium BC in Tigray and Eritrea.     

New Light on the Development of Chalcolithic Metal Technology in the Southern Levant

Several decades after the discovery of the spectacular Nahal Mishmar Hoard (a collection of cast metal goods, some quite ornate, found in a cave high in the cliffs of the Judean Desert) many important questions about Chalcolithic metallurgy in the southern Levant remain unanswered. What is the origin of the materials used? Where were the final goods produced and what were the dynamics of production? In fact, new questions have also arisen as recent discoveries force us to reconsider previous interpretations of Chalcolithic metallurgy and the societies within which it evolved. Such will be the focus of this paper.     

8500-year-old Late Mesolithic garment embroidery from Vlasac (Serbia): Technological,use-wear and residue analyses

This paper presents results of contextual, technological, use-wear and residue analyses of body ornaments from two Late Mesolithic burials recently excavated at the site of Vlasac in the Danube Gorges of the central Balkans. Common to both burials are ornaments made from modified and unmodified carp (Cyprinidae sp.) pharyngeal ‘teeth’ along with Cyclope neritea marine gastropods. Experimental and low and high magnification use-wear approaches have been employed in reconstructing the way these ornaments were made and used. The precise contextual distribution of these ornaments has been recorded for the first time. The two examined burials exhibit a number of similarities, particularly in the way ornaments were placed in relation to the body. Both burials are also contemporaneous, dated to the mid-7th millennium BC. Implications of these findings for Mesolithic foragers' corporeal symbolism, group identity and regional and long-distance acquisition networks are briefly examined.     

Post-Socialist Transition in Serbia and Its Unsustainable Path

Since the beginning of its post-socialist transition, Serbia has been going through a major political and economic crisis, thus isolated from the mainstream trends of the European integration and convergence. The country's comparative advantages and competitiveness have worsened in terms of two key aspects, that is, its structural qualities and its territorial capital. The economic recovery after the year 2000 assumed a form of “growth without development”, mostly based on poorly legitimized transition reforms, whereby Serbia's inherent unsustainable spatial development patterns have been perpetuated. Today, Serbia finds itself in the position of an economic, ecological and financial semi-colony of a few powerful international political, economic and financial actors, paralleled by the collapse of its strategic thinking, research and governance. Rather bleak development prospects for Serbia call for prompt further research on predictable development scenarios. Therefore, we have discussed the key issues in the current planning system and practice and analysed the basic elements of the prospective future using the scenario approach.     

New exposure of loess deposits in Boyanychi (Ukraine) — Results of thermoluminescence analyses

The loess site at Boynychi (the Volyn Upland) is of essential importance for the stratigraphy of Middle and Upper Pleistocene in Central Europe. The profile was recently dated by Fedorowicz and Prylypko in 2007 (parallel dating), and by Kusiak in 2009. The Upper Vistulian loesses are much thicker in the exposure from 2009 than in the earlier examined one (2007). The list of results obtained in the Gdańsk, Kiev and Lublin laboratories, respectively, can be divided in two. The first group contains the results obtained for the Horohiv and Korshiv pedocomplexes and for the loess from the penultimate glacial, which separates these pedocomplexes. The results from all laboratories are very similar and rather well describe the real age of dated deposits. The second group contains the widely differing results of dating of the Vistulian loesses. The TL ages obtained by Fedorowicz and Prylypko are considerably older than those obtained by Kusiak in the new exposure. The latter ones excellently correspond to the geologic-stratigraphic interpretation of the profile. Two incompatible series of TL dating results indicate that local variability of loess accumulation conditions in different stages of their formation may have resulted in incomplete luminescence zeroing of mineral material before deposition.     

Luminescence characteristics and dose distributions for quartz and feldspar grains from Mumba rockshelter,Tanzania

Mumba rockshelter is a key archaeological site for the Middle and Later Stone Age occupation of East Africa, but its chronology has remained unresolved. We report the results of a dating study, focussing on the characterisation of the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) properties of quartz- and potassium-rich feldspar grains. Quartz has previously proven troublesome for dating in East Africa. We identified five general types of quartz grain behaviour, based on the shapes of their OSL decay and dose–response curves. Dose recovery experiments and measurement of the natural samples revealed particular problems with quartz grains that had hyperbolic dose–response curves, low characteristic saturation doses and anomalously large changes in sensitivity between regenerative-dose cycles. The use of pulsed irradiation during measurement and standard and additional quality-assurance criteria during data analysis reduced the number of grains that suffered from these problems. We applied these procedures to individual grains of quartz from eight samples and, using appropriate statistical models, identified post-depositional mixing in three samples. The remaining samples had scattered equivalent-dose distributions typical of quartz grains that had received variable beta dose rates during burial. Stratigraphically consistent OSL ages were obtained for all but the deepest sample. Feldspar ages were estimated for the latter sample and three other samples, using the elevated temperature IRSL signal that exhibited low rates of anomalous fading. Fading-corrected feldspar ages for the latter three samples are consistent with their single-grain quartz ages, but single-grain dating is needed to address problems of post-depositional mixing.     

Diet,social differentiation and cultural change in Roman Britain: new isotopic evidence from Gloucestershire

This study uses stable isotope analyses (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) of human bone collagen to reconstruct the diet of three Romano-British (first to early fifth century AD) populations from Gloucestershire in South West England. Gloucestershire was an important part of Roman Britain with two major administrative centres at Gloucester (Glevum) and Cirencester (Corinium) and numerous smaller settlements and farmsteads. To investigate potential dietary differences between the rural and urban populations of Roman Gloucestershire, we compared human bone collagen stable isotope values from 32 individuals from urban Gloucester with those of 46 individuals from two rural cemeteries at Horcott Quarry and Cotswold Community, respectively. Seven individuals from urban Gloucester were buried in a mass grave; all others were buried in single inhumations. Results show small but significant differences in stable isotope ratios between the urban and rural populations which indicate that the urban population might have consumed slightly more marine and/or freshwater resources than the people living in the rural communities. We interpret this difference as a direct reflection of Rome’s influence on Gloucester’s population and the town’s economic status. Subtle differences in stable isotope ratios were also observed at the site level, as burial practice does correlate with diet in some cases. Overall, the results from this study demonstrate that diet, as reconstructed through stable isotope analysis, is a very sensitive, if settlement-specific, indicator of social differentiation and culture change.