Neolithic rock art in context: Landscape history and the transition to agriculture in Mediterranean Spain

Rock art is one of the most salient features of Neolithic societies in eastern Spain and an explicit form of landscape history. This paper summarizes current debates of Mediterranean rock art chronology and interpretation and explores the contextual differences in two areas of Neolithic settlement with rock art: the Canyoles Valley (Valencia) and the Alcoi Basin (Alicante). Large-scale survey of the Canyoles Valley resulted in a clearer understanding of agricultural land use during the Neolithic that contrasts with evidence from the Alcoi Basin. By analyzing Neolithic rock art in its archaeological context, we discuss the significance and limitations of rock art analysis for understanding and characterizing landscape histories and the transition to agriculture in the region.     

Stone Age fishhooks – how were they dimensioned? Morphology,strength test,and breakage pattern of Neolithic bone fishhooks from Ajvide,Gotland, Sweden

The late Stone Age Pitted Ware site at Ajvide, Gotland, in the Baltic Sea, Sweden, has revealed a large deposit of fishbone and approximately 400 bone fishhooks, complete and incomplete. Cod (Gadus morhua), which is one of the most abundant fish species in the bone assemblage, was probably caught with hook and line fishing. To investigate the fishhooks' field of application, a morphological and morphometric study was performed on 384 available hooks. Two sets of replicas made of four selected original fishhooks were submitted to a strength test. A breakage study of the incomplete hooks in comparison with the strength-tested hooks was carried out in order to distinguish fresh breaks from dry breaks. It seems that a certain morphology for fishhooks was preferred at Ajvide, indicating they were produced by skilled craftsmen for special usage. The strength test showed that the hooks had a weight bearing capacity more than the average size of cod caught at Ajvide. Using results of these tests, we predicted that the mean breaking strength of 46 intact Ajvide hooks was 96.6 ± 26.1 (s.d.) Newtons (equivalent to 9.85 ± 2.7 kg). The design of fishhooks changed somewhat over time, being slightly larger in the oldest layers of the site. The breakage patterns of the hooks show that the bow was the most common area of breakage. The design and weight bearing capacity of the hooks point to a specialized cod fishery from boats in deep water.     

Same island, different diet: Cultural evolution of food practice on Öland, Sweden, from the Mesolithic to the Roman Period

The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe has been described as rapid and uniform, entailing a swift shift from the use of marine and other wild resources to domesticated terrestrial resources. Here, we approach the when, what and how of this transition on a regional level, using empirical data from Öland, an island in the Baltic Sea off the Swedish east coast, and also monitor changes that occurred after the shift. Radiocarbon dating and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of bones and teeth from 123 human individuals, along with faunal isotope data from 27 species, applying to nine sites on Öland and covering a time span from the Mesolithic to the Roman Period, demonstrate a great diversity in food practices, mainly governed by culture and independent of climatic changes. There was a marked dietary shift during the second half of the third millennium from a mixed marine diet to the use of exclusively terrestrial resources, interpreted as marking the large-scale introduction of farming. Contrary to previous claims, this took place at the end of the Neolithic and not at the onset. Our data also show that culturally induced dietary transitions occurred continuously throughout prehistory. The availability of high-resolution data on various levels, from intra-individual to inter-population, makes stable isotope analysis a powerful tool for studying the evolution of food practices.     

宜兴西溪遗址试掘简报

西溪遗址文化遗存可分为早、晚两个时期,早期时代相当于马家浜文化早期,晚期相当于马家浜文化向崧泽文化的过渡阶段,其资料证明太湖西部地区史前文化有着自身独特的内涵。     

浅谈新石器时代出土陶器的考古修复

根据陶器质地、火候的差异使用不同的粘接剂是陶器修复的关键;补配材料及作色材料的应用得当,将使出土陶器再现当年风采。     

湖北秭归何家坪遗址发掘简报

何家坪遗址位于湖北省秭归县郭家坝镇楚王井村11组。1996～2000年,湖北省文物考古研究所分三次对遗址进行了发掘。三次发掘面积1600平方米,清理新石器时代至明代墓葬5座、灰坑3个、窑址1处,出土了陶、石、瓷、银、铜、铁等不同质料的文化遗物百余件。该遗址年代跨度长,遗存特征比较典型,是三峡地区一处比较重要的考古发现。     

重庆云阳乔家院子遗址唐宋时期遗存

重庆市云阳乔家院子遗址是三峡库区需要抢救发掘的重要遗址之一。本着重报道了该遗址第四次发掘的唐宋时期遗存,其中以唐代瓷器和建筑材料为主。特别是瓷器,其形制与釉色兼具当地和北方地区特色,既反映了当时该地区的制瓷水平,也反映出大一统化面貌下的地区化交流。大量的唐代遗存证明,乔家院子遗址在这个时期是一个较大村落,对于当时的村镇聚落考古研究有非常重要的意义。     

Molluscan calendars: The use of growth-line analysis to establish seasonality of shellfish collection at the Mesolithic site of Morton,Fife

The technique of growth-line analysis is used to examine seasonal growth patterns in modern specimens of the edible cockle, Cerastoderma edule L. The modern control work provides a basis for the interpretation of seasonal collection in archaeological cockles, and is applied to shells from the Mesolithic site of Morton, Fife. The seasonal use of the site is shown to be clearly related to site function.     

Fish and crayfish from the Washpool Midden site,New Zealand: Their use in determining season of occupation and prehistoric fishing methods

A method is suggested whereby modern ecological information on fish behaviour and distribution, together with commercial catch figures, may be used to assess season of occupation of archaeological sites. Monthly catch probabilities for each species are scaled by minimum numbers from prehistoric osteological assemblages to yield an overall likelihood of the fish being caught at different months of the year. A test case on two assemblages from Palliser Bay, New Zealand, suggested year-round habitation, and this was consistent with individual qualitative seasonal markers. The fishbone evidence can also be used to comment on aspects of prehistoric technology connected with marine foods, such as the use of canoes, baited traps, long line hauling, rock fishing and seine netting. In addition, the fish information substantiated subtle environmental changes which are believed to have taken place in this region.     

Size differences between limb bones of recent and subfossil mute swans Cygnus olor

Limb bones of Mute Swan Cygnus olor from neolithic to bronze age Cambridgeshire peat were larger than those of a recent sample when compared biometrically. The decrease in overall size that this may indicate could be part of an evolutionary trend.