Archaeologists now face a myriad of digital ways of engaging with the public - social media, online TV channels, games, etc. It is critical that this potential and its limitations are closely assessed and utilised to make archaeology a genuinely public activity. Archaeology and Digital Communication examines how archaeology engages the public in the rapidly changing world of communication. This volume proposes digital strategies of public engagement that will be of interest to archaeologists working in various contexts, particularly in collaboration with media professionals and institutions. It identifies some of the most promising uses of digital media in different domains of archaeological communication and the benefits they can generate for participants. Each use is presented through case studies highlighting how media experiences are designed and consumed. While providing specific operational recommendations, Archaeology and Digital Communication also attempts to chart potential new directions for research.

Archaeologists, historians, chemists, and physicists have employed a variety of chemical and physical approaches to study artifacts and historical objects since at least the late 18th century. During the past 50 years, the chemistry of archaeological materials has increasingly been used to address a broad spectrum of anthropological topics, including preservation, dating, nativity, exchange, provenance, and manufacturing technology. This book brings together 28 papers that address how various analytical techniques can be used to address specific archaeological questions. Chemists, archaeologists, geologists, graduate students, and others in related disciplines who are investigating the use of archaeometric techniques will find this book of interest.

First hand anecdotal snap shots offer a taste of daily life during the author's fifteen-year period at the High Down and Woomera rocket test sites. The preparation of eight Black Knight and four Black Arrow rockets up to their liftoff are recounted in detail with relevant diagrams and a few photos. So-called "rocket-science" jargon is deliberately sidestepped throughout. Delays that dogged Black Arrow's birth are touched along with a full explanation for terminating RO's maiden flight. Peripheral issues met during the final two proving flights are also discussed. The launch team's bittersweet feelings as R3 was readied and lifted off to deliver Prospero into earth orbit are chronicled alongside their dismay at the projects unfitting end. Black Arrow was Britain's only home grown rocket to stage an orbital insertion and may also be the only rocket to achieve this using peroxide oxidiser.

This practical introductory guide explains what archaeoastronomy is and gives advice for the beginner in the subject about how to check the astronomy of a prehistoric site. * Contains evidence for archaeoastronomy from around the world * Explains the role of archaeologists * Gives a simple introduction to solar and lunar astronomy * Lists the key dates to visit ancient sites * Explains why alignments have slightly altered over the centuries * Emphasises the links with ancient sea-faring and navigation * Encourages readers to adopt their own site for further research

The present book takes up the long-debated subject of the presence of amber around the Adriatic during the Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC). It offers an exhaustive review of the current state of knowledge about the use of amber by prehistoric communities living on the opposite sides of the sea. The author focuses primarily on the spatial and chronological aspects of amber’s acquisition in Italy and the Balkans, form and function of the artefacts made of it, issues connected to their processing and ways of circulation of these products within the study area. Furthermore, attention is paid to material and symbolic statuses of amber among the local societies. Finally, the role of the circum-Adriatic zone in the long-range transfer of amber from Northern to Southern Europe is assessed.

Archaeological Geophysics for Ephemeral Human Occupations: Focusing on the Small-Scale combines technological advances in near-surface geophysics with recent archaeological scholarship and underlying archaeological premises to provide a practical manual for guiding archaeo-geophysical research design. By proposing the amelioration of communication gaps between traditional and geophysical archaeologists, this book will foment dialogue and participate in bringing about new ways of thinking anthropologically about archaeological geophysics, especially in relation to prehistoric open-air ephemeral sites. Offering a way to begin a dialogue between archaeology and geophysics, Archaeological Geophysics for Ephemeral Human Occupations is an important reference for practicing professionals, instructors, and students in geophysics and anthropology/archaeology, as well as geology.

Fitful Histories and Unruly Publics re-examines the relationship between Eurasia's past and its present by interrogating the social construction of time and the archaeological production of culture. Traditionally, archaeological research in Eurasia has focused on assembling normative descriptions of monolithic cultures that endure for millennia, largely immune to the forces of historical change. The papers in this volume seek to document forces of difference and contestation in the past that were produced in the perceptible engagements of peoples, things, and places. The research gathered here convincingly demonstrates that these forces made social life in ancient Eurasia rather more fitful and its publics considerably more unruly than archaeological research has traditionally allowed. Contributors are Mikheil Abramishvili, Paula N. Doumani Dupuy, Magnus Fiskesjoe, Hilary Gopnik, Emma Hite, Jean-Luc Houle, Erik G. Johannesson, James A. Johnson, Lori Khatchadourian, Ian Lindsay, Maureen E. Marshall, Mitchell S. Rothman, Irina Shingiray, Adam T. Smith, Kathryn O. Weber and Xin Wu.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of experimental approaches to the study of media histories and their cultures. Doing media archaeological experiments, such as historical re-enactments and hands-on simulations with media historical objects, helps us to explore and better understand the workings of past media technologies and their practices of use. By systematically refl ecting on the methodological underpinnings of experimental media archaeology as a relatively new approach in media historical research and teaching, this book aims to serve as a practical handbook for doing media archaeological experiments. Doing Experimental Media Archaeology: Practice is the twin volume to Doing Experimental Media Archaeology: Theory, authored by Andreas Fickers and Annie van den Oever.

This book offers a plea to take the materiality of media technologies and the sensorial and tacit dimensions of media use into account in the writing of the histories of media and technology. In short, it is a bold attempt to question media history from the perspective of an experimental media archaeology approach. It offers a systematic reflection on the value and function of hands-on experimentation in research and teaching. Doing Experimental Media Archaeology: Theory is the twin volume to Doing Experimental Media Archaeology: Practice, authored by Tim van der Heijden and Aleksander Kolkowski.

The Neolithic of the Near East is a period of human development which saw fundamental changes in the nature of human society. It is traditionally studied for its development of domestication, agriculture, and growing social complexity. In this book Karina Croucher takes a new approach, focusing on the human body and investigating mortuary practices - the treatment and burial of the dead - to discover what these can reveal about the people of the Neolithic Near East. The remarkable evidence relating to mortuary practices and ritual behaviour from the Near Eastern Neolithic provides some of the most breath-taking archaeological evidence excavated from Neolithic contexts. The most enigmatic mortuary practices of the period produced the striking 'plastered skulls', faces modelled onto the crania of the deceased. Archaeological sites also contain evidence for many intriguing mortuary treatments, including decapitated burials and the fragmentation, circulation, curation, and reburial of human and animal remains and material culture. Drawing on recent excavations and earlier archive and published fieldwork, Croucher provides an overview and introduction to the period, presenting new interpretations of the archaeological evidence and in-depth analyses of case studies. The book explores themes such as ancestors, human-animal relationships, food, consumption and cannibalism, personhood, and gender. Offering a unique insight into changing attitudes towards the human body - both in life and during death - this book reveals the identities and experiences of the people of the Neolithic Near East through their interactions with their dead, with animals, and their new material worlds.

Zooarchaeology, or the study of ancient animal remains, is a vital but frequently side-lined subject in archaeology. Many disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, and geography, recognise human-animal interactions as a key source of information for understanding cultural ideology. Archaeological records are also composed largely of debris from human-animal relationships, be they in the form of animal bones, individual artefacts or entire landscapes. By integrating knowledge from archaeological remains with evidence from texts, iconography, social anthropology and cultural geography, Beastly Questions: Animal Answers to Archaeological Issues provides an intellectual tool-kit to enable archaeological students, researchers and those working in the commercial sector to offer more engaging interpretations of the evidence at their disposal. Going beyond the simple confines of 'what people ate', this accessible but in-depth study covers a variety of high-profile topics in European archaeology and provides novel insights into mainstream archaeological questions.This includes cultural responses to wild animals, the domestication of animals and its implications on human daily practice, experience and ideology, the transportation of species and the value of incorporating animals into landscape research, the importance of the study of foodways for understanding past societies and how animal studies can help us to comprehend issues of human identity and ideology: past, present and future.

Hanan Eshel (z"l) was a prolific scholar in the field of Dead Sea Scrolls, Classical Archaeology of the Near East and many other topics. During his terminal illness, friends and colleagues got together to present him with a collection of studies on topics that were close to his fields of interest, as an expression of deep friendship and admiration. The volume contains the 22 papers presented to Hanan before his death, covering topics in archaeology, history, and textual studies, with a particular emphasis on aspects relating to the Dead Sea Scrolls, spanning the late Iron Age through late Antiquity.

Statistics in Practice A new series of practical books outlining the use of statistical techniques in a wide range of application areas:

• Human and Biological Sciences
• Earth and Environmental Sciences
• Industry, Commerce and Finance

The authors of this important text explore the processes through which archaeologists analyse their data and how these can be made more rigorous and effective by sound statistical modelling. They assume relatively little previous statistical or mathematical knowledge. Introducing the idea underlying the Bayesian approach to the statistical analysis of data and their subsequent interpretation, the authors demonstrate the major advantage of this approach, i.e. that it allows the incorporation of relevant prior knowledge or beliefs into the analysis. By doing so it provides a logical and coherent way of updating beliefs from those held before observing the data to those held after taking the data into account. To illustrate the power and effectiveness of mathematical and statistical modelling within the Bayesian framework, a variety of real case studies are presented covering areas of common interest to archaeologists. These case studies cover applications in areas such as radiocarbon dating, spatial analysis, provenance studies and other dating methods. Background to these case studies is provided for those readers not so familiar with the subject. Thus, the book provides an examination of the theoretical and practical consequences of Bayesian analysis for examining problems in archaeology. Students of archaeology and related disciplines and professional archaeologists will find the book an informative and practical introduction to the subject.

Written by the world's leading expert, this is an accessible introduction to optical dating for earth scientists who rely on the results given without needing to understand the technicalities of the technique. The basic notions and procedures are outlined through illustrative case histories. In addition the book provides active practitioners with a full understanding of the theory, through a series of technical notes, and brings together the various strands of ongoing research.

Osteoarchaeology: A Guide to the Macroscopic Study of Human Skeletal Remains covers the identification of bones and teeth, taphonomy, sex, ancestry assessment, age estimation, the analysis of biodistances, growth patterns and activity markers, and paleopathology. The book aims to familiarize the reader with the main applications of osteoarchaeology and provide the necessary knowledge required for the implementation of a broad range of osteological methods. It is ideal as a complement to existing textbooks used in upper level undergraduate and graduate courses on osteoarchaeology, human osteology, and, to some extent, forensic anthropology. Pedagogical features include ample illustrations, case study material, revision exercises, and a glossary. Additional features comprise macros that facilitate data processing and analysis, as well as an extensive chapter on applied statistics.

This book explores different aspects of LA-ICP-MS (laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry). It presents a large array of new analytical protocols for elemental or isotope analysis. LA-ICP-MS is a powerful tool that combines a sampling device able to remove very small quantities of material without leaving visible damage at the surface of an object. Furthermore, it functions as a sensitive analytical instrument that measures, within a few seconds, a wide range of isotopes in inorganic samples. Determining the elemental or the isotopic composition of ancient material is essential to address questions related to ancient technology or provenance and therefore aids archaeologists in reconstructing exchange networks for goods, people and ideas. Recent improvements of LA-ICP-MS have opened new avenues of research that are explored in this volume.

The application of statistical techniques to the study of manuscript books, based on the analysis of large data sets acquired through the archaeological observation of manuscripts, is one of the most original trends in codicological research, aiming not only to reconstruct on a sound basis the methods and processes used in book manufacture and their tendential evolution in space and time, but also to interpret them as the result of a dynamic interplay between various and often incompatible needs (of cultural, technical, social and economic nature) that book artisans had to reconcile in the best possible way. The present collection of essays in English translation was guided by the desire to offer a multifarious well-articulated picture of the application of statistical methodology to the various aspects of manuscript production, namely analysis of materials, characterization of book types, manufacturing techniques, planning and use of layout characterization of scripts and scribal habits. The volume aims to present to a wider readership a series of significant papers which have appeared over the last fifteen years, by means of which the statistical approach continues to demonstrate its vast potential.

Rock Art of the Waterberg: Rites and Transformation is a landmark archaeological study that unveils the nuanced world view and rituals practised by local Bushman groups living in the Waterberg area of
northern South Africa millennia ago. Through unprecedented documentation of 130 rock art sites – many photographed for the fi rst time – Lyn Wadley and Ghilraen Laue reveal a complex narrative of
human creativity and cultural interaction.

Strategically located along river corridors leading to the Limpopo River, these sites off er an extraordinary glimpse into the lives of Bushman hunter-gatherers, Iron Age farmers and Khoekhoe herders.

Their intricate visual languages span three distinct painting traditions:

delicate Bushman fi ne-line art, robust Iron Age fi nger paintings and enigmatic geometric works that speak to millennia of cultural exchange.

Beyond mere documentation, the book explores profound themes of human experience – hunting, initiation, healing and spiritual transformation. Archaeological evidence illuminates how these diverse
groups coexisted and influenced one another’s cultural practices over two thousand years, challenging simplistic narratives of cultural isolation.

Richly illustrated with archival photographs, enhanced views of the rock sites using cutting-edge photographic technology and original artworks by local artists, Rock Art of the Waterberg is a powerful
testament to early human creativity and off ers a crucial argument for preserving these fragile cultural archives. This ground-breaking study redefi nes our understanding of South African rock art and cultural
heritage, off ering scholars and enthusiasts an unprecedented journey into a forgotten world.

Tools of data comparison and analysis are critical in the field of archaeology, and the integration of technological advancements such as geographic information systems, intelligent systems, and virtual reality reconstructions with the teaching of archaeology is crucial to the effective utilization of resources in the field. ""E-Learning Methodologies and Computer Applications in Archaeology"" presents innovative instructional approaches for archaeological e-learning based on networked technologies, providing researchers, scholars, and professionals a comprehensive global perspective on the resources, development, application, and implications of information communication technology in multimedia-based educational products and services in archaeology.

Soils, invaluable indicators of the nature and history of the physical and human landscape, have strongly influenced the cultural record left to archaeologists. Not only are they primary reservoirs for artifacts, they often encase entire sites. And soil-forming processes in themselves are an important component of site formation, influencing which artifacts, features, and environmental indicators (floral, faunal, and geological) will be destroyed and to what extent and which will be preserved and how well. In this book, Holliday will address each of these issues in terms of fundamentals as well as in field case histories from all over the world. The focus will be on principles of soil geomorphology, soil stratigraphy, and soil chemistry and their applications in archaeological research.

The 1992 publication of Pottery Function brought together the ethnographic study of the Kalinga and developed a method and theory for how pottery was actually used. Since then, there have been considerable advances in understanding how pottery was actually used, particularly in the area of residue analysis, abrasion, and sooting/carbonization. At the 20th anniversary of the book, it is time to assess what has been done and learned. One of the concerns of those working in pottery analysis is that they are unsure how to "do" use-alteration analysis on their collection. Another common concern is understanding intended pottery function-the connections between technical choices and function. This book is designed to answer these questions using case studies from the author and his colleagues for applying use-alteration analysis to infer actual pottery function. The focus of Understanding Pottery Function is on how practicing archaeologists can infer function from their ceramic collection.

This volume represents the most important deliverable of the European-funded project Radio-Past (www.radiopast.eu). It is intended to disseminate the key results achieved in the form of methodological guidelines for the application of non-destructive approaches in order to understand, visualize and manage complex archaeological sites, in particular large multi-period settlements whose remains are still mostly buried. The authors were selected from among the project research staff but also from among leading international specialists who served as speakers at the two international events organized in the frameworkof the project (the Valle Giulia Colloquium of Rome 2009 and the Colloquium of Ghent 2013) and at the three Specialization Fora, the high formation training activities organized in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

As such, the book offers contributions on diverse aspects of the research process (data capture, data management, data elaboration, data visualization and site management), presenting the state of the art and drafting guidelines for good practice in each field.