The integration of chronological and archaeological information to date building construction: an example from Shetland,Scotland, UK

This paper presents new chronological data applied to the problem of providing a date for the construction of a prehistoric building, with a case study from the Old Scatness Broch, Shetland. The innovative methodology employed utilises the combination of radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates with the archaeological information, which includes the stratigraphic relationships of sampled deposits, context information, and evidence relating to the formation of the deposit. This paper discusses the scientific validity of the dates produced, and the advantages that the methodology employed at this site offers for archaeological interpretation. The combined dating evidence suggests that the broch at Old Scatness is earlier than the conventionally accepted dates for broch construction. More broadly it shows the value of integration of the specialists at the planning stages of the excavation. The application of a Bayesian statistical model to the sequences of dates allowed investigation of the robustness of the dates within the stratigraphic sequences, as well as increasing the resolution of the resulting chronology. In addition, the value of utilising multiple dating techniques on the same deposit was demonstrated, as this allowed different dated events to be directly compared as well as issues relating to the formation of the sampled deposit. This in turn impacted on the chronological significance of the resulting dating evidence, and therefore the confidence that could be placed in the results.     

Geomorphic reconstruction of formation and recession processes of waterfalls of the Kaminokawa river basin on Osumi Peninsula,southern Kyushu,Japan

To assess the geomorphological importance of waterfall recession in volcanic bedrock, we examined recession rates of six waterfalls in the lower reaches of Kaminokawa river basin on the Osumi Peninsula in southern Kyushu. The examination was performed with an empirical equation that uses a dimensionless parameter obtained by dimensional analysis of relevant measured factors, including erosive force, size of waterfall, and bedrock resistance. Welded Ata ignimbrite, formed at approximately 110 ka, may have played an initiating role to maintain such waterfalls because it resists weathering more than other local rocks. Estimated recession rates for the six waterfalls range from 0.2 to 3.0 cm/y, which compare with estimated rates for waterfalls in another region characterised by welded ignimbrite. Comparison of equation‐derived recession rates of waterfalls with actual recession distances from confluences supports the idea that an original waterfall will subsequently split into two distinct waterfalls when it recesses past an upstream junction of two channels. Our findings revealed that all six waterfalls likely would have been at almost the same point lower in the watershed in the past, marking the general site of the original waterfall. Moreover, the ancestral original waterfall is highly likely to have started from a point between the caldera rim and present river mouth. There, a knickpoint was likely caused by the river dropping into an inner part of the caldera, possibly just after the eruption of the Ata ignimbrite. The waterfall erodes upstream away from the caldera basin, and this happens to be to the east.     

Dealing with Soviet Power and Influence:Eisenhower's Management of U.S. National Security

Book reviewed in this article:
Robert Bowie and Richard H. Immerman, Waging Peace: How Eisenhower Shaped an Enduring Cold War Strategy     

Review Article: Re-ordering Europe after 1945

ENNIO DI NOLFO, ed. Power in Europe?: II: Great Britain, France, Germany, and Italy and the Origins of the EEC, 1952–1957. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1992. Pp. viii, 598. DM 238.00;

ALAN S. MILWARD. The European Rescue of the Nation-State. London and New York: Roudedge, 1992. Pp. xv, 477. £35.00;

ALAN S. MILWARD et al. The Frontier of National Sovereignty: History and Theory, 1945–1992. London and New York: Roudedge, 1993. Pp. xi, 234. £40.00;

DAVID WEIGALL and PETER STIRK, eds. The Origins and Development of the European Community. Leicester and London: Leicester University Press, 1992. Pp. ix, 211. £11.95;

PETER DUIGNAN and L. H. GANN. The Rebirth of the West: The Americanization of the Democratic World, 1945–1958. Oxford: Blackwell, 1992. Pp. xii, 733. $69.50 (US);

FRANCIS H. HELLER and JOHN R. GILLINGHAM, eds. NATO: The Founding of the Atlantic Alliance and the Integration of Europe. London: Macmillan, 1992. Pp. ix, 470. £45.00;

WALTER LAQUEUR. Europe in Our Time: A History, 1945–1992. London: Viking, 1992. Pp. xxii, 617. £17.99.     

The Potential for Dating the Old Scatness Site,Shetland, By Optically Stimulated Luminescence

A series of deposits from the agricultural infield of the multiperiod settlement mound, Old Scatness, were investigated for their potential to yield optically stimulated luminescence dates. Luminescence properties of quartz grains were found to vary through the sequence, but dates were successfully obtained from five deposits, including anthropogenic soils, windblown sands and sands within midden deposits. Single‐aliquot equivalent dose measurement was found to be the most appropriate method for dating the deposits. The OSL dates obtained accorded well with the dates provided by archaeological evidence and included the post‐medieval, Iron Age, Bronze Age and Neolithic periods of Shetland, while a substantial midden was dated to the Bronze/Iron Age transition.