PARTICLE SIZE AND PHOSPHATE ANALYSIS-EVIDENCE FOR THE EVOLUTION OF A TELL

Soil samples were collected from a deep sounding through the centre of a tell, 11 m in height, at Sitagroi in north-eastern Greece. These samples were analysed for particle size and total phosphate in order to elucidate the formation of the tell. The phosphate results, though very varied, indicated that the tell evolved entirely as a result of occupation of the site. It is proposed that the main process of accumulation was from house collapse and that local alluvium was used for house construction. A similarity is shown between local alluvium, a remnant of a house wall and most of the samples from the deep sounding. Pearson type 1 curves are fitted to the particle size data and this permits a grouping of soil samples. Some of the divisions between the groups coincide not only with occupation phase changes but also with localized lower phosphate contents. Two periods of site abandonment are suggested.     

Holism and individualism in ecological anthropology

Rappaport, Roy A. Pigs for the Ancestors: Ritual in the Ecology of a New Guinea People, enlarged edition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984. xviii + 501 pp. including illustrations, appendices, bibliographies, and index. $30.00 cloth, $9.95 paper.

Ellen, Roy. Environment, Subsistence and System: The Ecology of Small‐Scale Social Formations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982. xvi + 324 pp. including bibliography and indices. $42.50 cloth, $13.95 paper.

Jochim, Michael A. Strategies for Survival: Cultural Behavior in an Ecological Context. New York: Academic Press, 1981. x + 233 pp. including bibliography and index. $18.50 cloth.     

Women and children,war and peace: political agency in time of conflict

The four books under review focus on different aspects of war and conflict, but they all make it clear that women and children are more than their victims. They can be, and often are, active participants in all dimensions of conflict, from taking up arms to working for peace. While all four books paint an appropriately grim picture of war and its impact, there is also some optimism to be found in the resilience shown by women and children as they face the brutality of war and often actively seek to work for peace. Three of the books examine women's involvement in conflict, war, peace and peacemaking, and the aftermath of these events, albeit in very different ways—although all view women as active participants in the process rather than as victims. The fourth book included in this article, Children and global conflict, is not only relevant to the discussion, but also provides another important lens through which we can examine issues of conflict, war and peace. This review article provides insight into the contrition made to the field by these recent books individually, as well as when considered as parts of a whole.     

LEAD ISOTOPE RATIOS AS A MEANS OF SOURCING ANTHROPOGENIC LEAD IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOILS: A PILOT STUDY OF AN ABANDONED SHETLAND CROFT*

Results from soil chemical analysis have demonstrated enhanced concentrations of lead (Pb) associated with archaeological sites. However, interpretation of these Pb concentrations is difficult because of the multitude of possible Pb sources. This pilot study of an abandoned croft in Shetland suggests that Pb isotope ratios have the potential to identify sources of anthropogenic Pb. The results highlight two different Pb associations. The first includes hearth, house floor and house overburden soils, with end members of fuel materials and an unidentified material with a low (< 1.126) ²⁰⁶ Pb/ ²⁰⁷ Pb ratio. The second includes byre, kailyard (garden) and arable soils, with end members of hearth materials and local wind‐blown sand.