AN APPRAISAL OF THE PROBLEMS INVOLVED IN THREE-DIMENSIONAL GROUND PENETRATING RADAR IMAGING OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL FEATURES

There are a number of problems that are due to the physics involved in the ground penetrating radar (GPR) technique which result in the recorded data giving a distorted representation of the true subsurface structure. Many of these problems are reduced by the experience of the person interpreting the data. This paper is an attempt to remove some of the subjectivity from this process by considering how the distortion in the data could be reduced by applying a migration routine. The amount of data, and the time needed to collect it, place a restriction on the use of the migration process to two dimensions only and result in a compromise approach to the use of GPR. This compromise may, however, result in better integration of GPR with the other geophysical techniques available.     

COMPOSITION AND ORIGIN OF IAPYGIAN POTTERY FROM ROCA VECCHIA,ITALY

We have studied 35 samples of fragments of ceramic containers dated between the eleventh and the eighth centuries BC, found at the archaeological site of Roca Vecchia, some 20 km from Lecce along the Adriatic (Salentine) coastline. Analysis of the elemental composition of the finds has been performed by means of atomic emission spectroscopy in plasma and the results obtained have been treated with diverse multivariate statistical techniques. Except for some minor differences, the statistical analysis confirms the grouping structures indicated by typological and stylistic evaluations of the samples, in accordance with the validity of the above methods.     

THE BRITISH ARCHAEOMAGNETIC CALIBRATION CURVE: AN OBJECTIVE TREATMENT

This paper examines the limitations and deficiencies of the current archaeomagnetic calibration curve in use in Britain and explores a different approach to its construction, drawing on recent advances in this subject, in particular the use of a weighted moving window method of averaging. The main advantage of this method is shown to be its ability to take into account uncertainties in both the magnetic direction and the archaeological date of data used in the calibration curve, leading to a secular variation curve with an associated error estimate. Hence, when dating a magnetic direction, the uncertainties in the calibration curve can be taken into account, as well as the uncertainties in the magnetic direction to be dated.     

GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY AT BODEN VEAN,CORNWALL, INCLUDING AN ASSESSMENT OF THE MICROGRAVITY TECHNIQUE FOR THE LOCATION OF SUSPECTED ARCHAEOLOGICAL VOID FEATURES*

A geophysical survey was conducted at Boden Vean, St. Anthony Meneage, Cornwall, over the site of a buried chamber thought to be the remains of a souterrain or fogou. A combination of geophysical techniques was successfully applied including an experimental microgravity survey over the location of the buried chamber itself. Magnetometer survey revealed a complex palimpsest of archaeological activity extending throughout the surrounding landscape, centred on a rectangular ditched enclosure containing the fogou. A series of gravity anomalies were recorded in the vicinity of the latter which were consistent with the collapsed section of the feature recorded by the Cornish Archaeological Unit. Further gravity anomalies suggested the presence of additional void features, possibly related to the extended passages of the fogou.     

RELIABILITY AND REPEATABILITY IN DENDROCHRONOLOGICAL ANALYSIS: TESTS USING THE FLETCHER ARCHIVE OF PANEL-PAINTING DATA

Research into the dates of timber used for art-historical objects has provided a large data set on which to test standard dendrochronological techniques. Some 177 sets of tree-ring measurements, originally analysed by the late Dr J. M. Fletcher at Oxford University, have been re-examined independently in the tree-ring laboratories at the University of Sheffield and the Museum of London Archaeology Service. The results show a high level of agreement between the laboratories. In contrast, many of the dates produced by Dr Fletcher for the paintings are not confirmed. The two different approaches described here also resulted in remarkably similar internal groupings of the dated material. These groupings probably reflect the provenance of the timbers and suggest that two different areas of the eastern Baltic supplied the bulk of the material with smaller quantities of panels originating in Britain and central Europe.     

LASER ARGON DATING AND GEOLOGICAL PROVENANCING OF A STONE AXE FROM THE STONEHENGE ENVIRONS*

The recently-developed laser microprobe ⁴⁰argon-³⁹ argon technique has been used to give a geological date for a rhyolitic tuff stone axe fragment from the Stonehenge environs. The method requires only milligramme-sized samples and gives dates of sufficient accuracy to aid in provenancing artefacts to sources, as well as information on the heating history of samples. The axe sample is of Lower Carboniferous date (341 ± 5 Ma) and this limits possible sources to outcrops within the Scottish Midland Valley and small altered exposures in Dartmoor. X-ray fluorescence analysis of the axe suggests the Scottish Midland Valley as the more likely source. The laser argon analysis also shows that the implement had not been heated in antiquity. Laser argon-argon dating can, therefore, be a useful tool in artefact study.     

The dating of Doggerland – post-glacial geochronology of the southern North Sea

Abstract

The landscapes and archaeological sites of the southern North Sea, drowned in the period 12–6 ky BP, represent an almost unexplored field of research. Published palaeoenvironmental reconstructions are largely speculative, being based on few published sea-level index points and in the absence of detailed physical and chronological surveys. In this paper, we review the post-glacial geochronology for the southern North Sea, which includes 54 radiocarbon ages derived from peat, 17 from molluscs and one known dated artefact. The lack of detailed contextual information for many dated samples means that there remains uncertainty in some elevation data, and thus in the resulting interpreted sea level. The archaeological artefacts are mostly derived deposits and thus are of limited use in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Overall, the data are consistent with current models of relative sea-level change back to about 10 ky BP (～45 m depth) but beyond this, there is very little published data. Much more detailed stratigraphic, microfossil and geochemical analysis is needed to help verify chronological data, help interpret the sedimentary settings in which fossils and artefacts are found, and contribute towards more reliable palaeoenvironmental and archaeological reconstructions of the history of the southern North Sea.     

The water chestnut (Trapa natans L.) as a food resource during the 4th to 1st millennia BC at Lake Federsee,Bad Buchau (southern Germany)

Abstract

During archaeological excavations at several wetland sites around Lake Federsee, remains of water chestnut were detected. The finds are dated to between the 4th and 1st millennia BC. Until recently the starch-containing nuts of water chestnut were used for human nutrition in Europe. The nuts can easily be harvested in autumn. Pollen and plant macrofossil remains from several sites are proof of a wide distribution during the Holocene, probably influenced by humans. Nowadays this annual water plant is extinct in many parts of Europe. The growing conditions of water chestnut are strongly restricted with regard to water quality, depth and temperature, and therefore finds of this plant have the potential to allow reconstruction of former ecological conditions.     

Endurance in the Canyon: Assessing preservation at a multi-component site on the Southern High Plains,USA

Abstract

Preservation decisions often have to be made regarding the long-term status of deeply buried sites. However, the opportunity to evaluate these decisions practically, decades later, is rare. The Nash site, on the Southern High Plains of the USA, is one site where reinvestigation has permitted the assessment of a well-stratified site after an intervening period of thirty years during which it was impacted by dredging and impoundment. The current condition of the site has generated challenges in both recovery and conservation of material. Renewed fieldwork at the Nash site highlights the need to evaluate preservation options while critically considering the effects of geomorphic, taphonomic, and cultural processes.     

The Miners' Lockout in 1926 in the Cumberland Coalfield

Abstract

The General Strike of 1926 was a pivotal point in the history of the British labour movement. However, the miners' lockout that underpinned the dispute has been under-researched. This article seeks to address two themes. Firstly, it provides the first detailed account of the Cumberland coalfield and its role in the 1926 conflict. As such the article contributes to the growing literature on individual districts of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain that has led to a questioning of the dominant characteristics of miners implicit in some of the classic works of coal mining historiography. Through an examination of the social, cultural and political developments in the Cumberland coalfield we get a sense of the complexity, drama and tragedy of industrial strife. Secondly, this study of Cumberland illuminates a number of generic issues that are relevant to the study of coal communities in a more general sense. Through an exploration of the role of colliery deputies in the workplace and community, women's autonomous action in social conflict, and the sociology of outcropping, the article signposts areas of coal mining history that require further research.