Archaeobotanical investigation was conducted on a total of thirty two thousand (n=32,000) pot fragments, baked clay and fired clay collected from different sites belonging to five Cultural Groups in Eastern Sudan. The Cultural Groups include Amm Adam, Butana, Gash, Jebel Mokram, and Hagiz. Soil samples (6 kilos) were also analyzed from various excavation spots at Mahal Teglinos, a major site that rendered data on Butana, Gash, Jebel Mokram and Hagiz Groups. The objective of the study was to reconstruct ancient food systems of the pre-historic inhabitants of a region of Northeast Africa and its environmental milieu. The result of the study demonstrated the subsistence bases of the inhabitants from ca. 6,000 B.C. to 200/300 A.D. Crops like the small seeded millets (Setaria sp., Eleusine sp., Paspalum sp., Echinochloa sp., Pennisetum sp.), Sorghum verticilliflorum, Sorghum bicolor bicolor, Hordeum sp., Triticum monococcum/dicoccum, and seeds and fruit stones (Vigna unguiculata, Grewia bicolor Juss., Ziziphus sp. (mainly Ziziphus spina christi) and Celtis integrifolia) were cultivated for consumption during this period. The study has also shed new light on the domestication history of Sorghum bicolor. The wild Sorghum, Sorghum bicolor verticilliflorum and its cultivated variety, Sorghum bicolor were simultaneously exploited by the Jebel Mokram Group people between 2,000 B.C. and 1,000 B.C. One of the oldest domesticated morphotype of Sorghum bicolor, i.e. an intermediary phase between the wild progenitor and its domesticated variety was revealed by the same investigation. Morphological change that has occurred while the species was evolving from wild to cultivated is measured using a Leica Qwin software.

This volume celebrates and reveals the critical role of Charles C. Kolb in creating and sustaining the knowledge of ceramic studies through his work in writing, reviewing, and fostering an international and interdisciplinary climate of interaction for more than 25 years at the annual meetings of the American Anthropological Association (AAA). The contributions in this volume testify to the enduring influence and value of Kolb's holistic vision to ceramic studies. As has so often been the case in these symposia on ceramics at the AAA, cross-cutting themes emerge from these contributions and unite them into a collection that is greater than the sum of its parts. Particularly prominent themes in the chapters of this volume include (1) the exploration of production and distribution patterns using a variety of physico- chemical techniques, (2) investigations of political economy as revealed in exchange patterns and decorative modes, and (3) the social dimensions of pottery production and ceramic traditions.

The notion of a "crescent-shaped cultural-communication belt" stretching from Northeast China and Korea along the Tibetan borderlands all the way to Yunnan stands as the late Tong Enzheng's most-cited contribution to the Chinese archaeological discourse (Tong Enzheng 1987). In the 1980s, suggesting such long-distance contact was a bold move. At the time, Chinese and Western scholars alike were afraid of being accused of diffusionistic tendencies in their work, and they thus mostly decided to concentrate on local developments. Only in recent years has it again become acceptable and even desirable to discuss far-reaching exchange networks. Interestingly, the emerging scholarship on such topics has some noticeable lacunae. Discussions on China's long distance contacts, for instance, focus mostly on steppe connections and Western influences on the cultures of the Central Plains. By contrast, material from Southwest China has received much less attention and has but rarely been mentioned in connection with Northeast China; neither have Tong Enzheng's considerable theoretical contributions to the understanding of culture contact and cultural exchange received the consideration they deserve. While Tong Enzheng remains a household name to anyone working in the Southwest, in other parts of China his work is less well known, and even though Tong still carries some name recognition outside of China, few scholars are fully aware of his important contributions. This volume stems from the session "Reconsidering the Crescent-Shaped Exchange Belt - Methodological, Theoretical and Material Concerns of Long-Distance Interactions in East Asia Thirty Years after Tong Enzheng" held at the Fifth World Conference of the Society for East Asian Archaeology (SEAA), held in Fukuoka (Japan) in 2012. The papers collected in the present volume touch on four main topics: Tong Enzheng's life and research, and his place within the development of modern Chinese archaeology; recent developments in the archaeology of Southwest China; material traces and geographic, cultural, and historical preconditions of possible movements and inter-group contacts along Tong's crescentshaped cultural-communication belt; and theoretical and methodological issues in the study of culture contacts and cultural exchange, and of their reflections in the material record.

Although the beginning of archaeological studies dates back to very old times, the use and applications of disciplines such as physics, chemistry, geology, and biology in archaeology have rapidly increased during the last sixty years worldwide. Papers that apply methods and techniques of the so-called "hard sciences" to solve diverse problems in Argentine archaeology have become more popular during the last two decades. These studies involve the participation of professionals coming from several fields such as physics, chemistry, geology and biology, as well as archaeologists technically trained in those disciplines. Papers that apply this kind of approach can only be found as isolated contributions in Argentine archaeological meetings, symposia, and in non-specific publications, because there are no local technical journals such as those internationally available. For this reason we organized a Symposium at the XVII National Congress of Argentine Archaeology (October 2010, Mendoza, Argentina) seeking to offer a specialist-oriented arena to share new information and discuss methodological and technical issues regarding the application of physical, chemical, and biological tools in archaeology. This book includes some of the papers presented at that symposium, and partially illustrates the state of the art in the utilization of these analytical markers in Argentina. This book aims at presenting the local research to non-Spanish speaking audiences and at promoting a dialogue between archaeologists trained in chemical, earth and natural sciences who use these methods and techniques around the world.

This volume is based on a session from the 2012 TAG conference (Liverpool University) and includes papers delivered at the conference and others submitted subsequently. Contributors are drawn from both academic and commercial archaeology and the diverse range of subjects is intended to help to bridge the unfortunate gap between some of the sub-disciplines which constitute archaeology in its broadest sense. Papers include: Pots as Things: Value, meaning and medieval pottery (Ben Jervis), Vehicles for Thought: Terrets in the British Iron Age (Anna Lewis), Addressing the Body: Corporeal meanings and artefacts in early England (Toby Martin), All form one and one form all: The relationship between pre-burial function and the form of early Anglo-Saxon cremation urns (Gareth Perry), Plates and other vessels from early modern and recent graves (Beth Richardson), Not so much a pot, more an expensive luxury: Commercial archaeology and the decline of pottery analysis (Paul Blinkhorn), Tradition and Change: The production and consumption of late post-medieval and early modern pottery in southern Yorkshire (Chris Cumberpatch), The organisation of late Bronze Age to early Iron Age society in the Peak District National Park (Kevin Cootes).

Since it was established as a formal discipline, use-wear analysis has become routine practice in archaeological research, under the general heading of Traceology, Wear Trace Analysis, Functional Analysis, etc. Until recently, most of the scientific meetings relating to these themes have taken place in Europe or in North America. This volume, however, represents work from South America, covering a selection of papers from the first session organized within the scope of Commission 33 of the UISPP Functional Studies of Prehistoric artifacts and their Socio-economic inferences on past societies, realized in Brazil during the XVI World Congress of the UISPP (Florianopolis, 4-10 September 2011). During the session, researchers sought to explore and discuss particular approaches to use-wear analysis and its application to different raw materials. The papers also cover the current state of the discipline, the delineation of basic directions of investigation, new technologies and their correct application, modelling technological processes, and paleo-economic reconstructions. As a corollary, the work also explores the differences between European and recently developed Latin American lines of research."

The Neolithic site of Catalhoeyuk in Turkey has been world famous since the 1960s when excavations revealed the large size and dense occupation of the settlement, as well as the spectacular wall paintings and reliefs uncovered inside the houses. Since 1993 an international team of archaeologists, led by Ian Hodder, has been carrying out new excavations and research, in order to shed more light on the people who inhabited the site. This Collection Includes Volumes 7-10: Catalhoeyuk Excavations: the 2000-2008 seasons Catal Research Project Vol 7, BIAA Monograph 46 300p, 350 illus, 9781898249290 Catalhoeyuk excavations: Humans and Landscapes ofCatalhoeyuk excavations Catal Research Project Vol 8, BIAA Monograph 47 320p, 300 illus, 9781898249306 Substantive technologies atCatalhoeyuk: reports from the 2000-2008 seasons Catal Research Project Vol 9, BIAA Monograph 48 300p, 300 illus, 9781898249313 IntegratingCatalhoeyuk: themes from the 2000-2008 seasons Catal Research Project Vol 10, BIAA Monograph 49 180p, 70 illus, 9781898249320

The development of key methodologies for the study of battlefields in the USA in the 1980s inspired a generation of British and European archaeologists to turn their attention to sites in their own countries. The end of the Cold War and key anniversaries of the World Wars inspired others, especially in the UK, to examine the material legacy of those conflicts before they disappeared. By 2000 the study of war was again firmly on the archaeological agenda. The overall purpose of the book is to encourage proponents and practitioners of Conflict Archaeology to consider what it is for and how to develop it in the future.The central argument is that, at present , Conflict Archaeology is effectively divided into closed communities who do not interact to any large extent. These separate communities are divided by period and by nationality, so that a truly international Conflict Archaeology has yet to emerge. These divisions prevent the exchange of information and ideas across boundaries and thereby limit the scope of the field. This book discusses these issues in detail, clearly outlining how they affect the development of Conflict Archaeology as a coherent branch of archaeology.

Presented through 20 case studies covering Europe and the Near East, Neighbours and Successors of Rome investigates development in the production of glass and the mechanisms of the wider glass economy as part of a wider material culture in Europe and the Near East around the later first millennium AD. Though highlighting and solidifying chronology, patterns of distribution, and typology, the primary aims of the collection are to present a new methodology that emphasises regional workshops, scientific data, and the wider trade culture. This methodology embraces a shift in conceptual approach to the study of glass by explaining typological change through the existence of a thriving supra-national commercial network that responded to market demands and combines the results of a range of new scientific techniques into a framework that stresses co-dependence and similarities between the various sites considered. Such an approach, particularly within Byzantine and Early Islamic glass production, is a pioneering concept that contextualises individual sites within the wider region. By twinning a critique of archaeometric methods with the latest archaeological research, the contributors present a foundation for glass research, seen through the lens of consumption demands and geographical necessity, that analyses production centres and traditional typological knowledge. In so doing the they bridge an important divide by demonstrating the co-habitability of diverse approaches and disciplines, linking, for example, the production of Campanulate bowls from Gallaecia with the burgeoning international late antique style. Equally, the particular details of those pieces allow us to identify a regional style as well as local production. As such this compilation provides a highly valuable resource for archaeologists, anthropologists, and art historians.

Religion, Material Culture and Archaeology offers a new understanding of the materiality of religion. By drawing on the field of archaeological theory and method, the relationship between religion and material culture is explored. It is argued that the material elements of religious life have been largely neglected by the discipline of religious studies, while at the same time religion has been traditionally seen as problematic for archaeologists. Why do we not talk of the discipline of the archaeology of religion, in the same way we do the anthropology of religion, or the sociology of religion? The volume considers the historical problems of approaching the material elements of religious life and bridges the methodological gap between religious studies and archaeology by proposing a new way of understanding the materiality of religion - as active, engaged and projecting a level of autonomous social agency. Finally, the critical examination of archaeological approaches to the materiality of religion is furthered through the consideration of non-archaeological ways of examining the social roles that material culture plays in human life.

Critically Reading the Theory and Methods of Archaeology stands out as the most thorough and practical guide to the essential critical reading and writing skills that all students, instructors, and practitioners should have. It provides priceless insight for the here and now of the Theory and Methods of Archaeology classes and for a lifetime of reading, learning, teaching, and writing. Chapters focus on rigorous reasoning skills, types of argument, the main research orientations in archaeology, the basic procedural framework that underlies all schools of archaeology, and issues in archaeology raised by skeptical postmodernists.

This volume is based on a session at a 2005 Society for Historical Archaeology meeting. The organizers assembled historical archaeologists from the UK and the US, whose work arises out of differing intellectual traditions. The authors exchange ideas about what their colleagues have written, and construct dialogues about theories and practices that inform interpretive archaeology on either side of the Atlantic, ending with commentary by two well-known names in interpretive archaeology.

Using the example of prehistoric paintings discovered in the late 19th century in Spain and France 'Cave Art, Perception and Knowledge' inquires into epistemic questions related to images, depicting and perception to which this rich material has given rise. The book traces the outline of the doxa of cave art studies.

Museum collections are often perceived as static entities hidden away in storerooms or trapped behind glass cases. By focusing on the dynamic histories of museum collections, new research reveals their pivotal role in shaping a wide range of social relations. Over time and across space the interactions between these artefacts and the people and institutions who made, traded, collected, researched and exhibited them have generated complex networks of material and social agency.

In this innovative volume, the contributors draw on a broad range of source materials to explore the cross-cultural interactions which have created museum collections. These case studies contribute significantly to the development of new theoretical frameworks to examine broader questions of materiality, agency, and identity in the past and present.

Grounded in case studies from individual objects and museum collections from North America, Europe, Africa, the Pacific Islands, and Australia, this truly international volume juxtaposes historical, geographical, and cross-cultural studies.

This work will be of great interest to archaeologists and anthropologists studying material culture, as well as researchers in museum studies and cultural heritage management."

The development of key methodologies for the study of battlefields in the USA in the 1980s inspired a generation of British and European archaeologists to turn their attention to sites in their own countries. The end of the Cold War and key anniversaries of the World Wars inspired others, especially in the UK, to examine the material legacy of those conflicts before they disappeared. By 2000 the study of war was again firmly on the archaeological agenda. The overall purpose of the book is to encourage proponents and practitioners of Conflict Archaeology to consider what it is for and how to develop it in the future.The central argument is that, at present, Conflict Archaeology is effectively divided into closed communities who do not interact to any large extent. These separate communities are divided by period and by nationality, so that a truly international Conflict Archaeology has yet to emerge. These divisions prevent the exchange of information and ideas across boundaries and thereby limit the scope of the field. This book discusses these issues in detail, clearly outlining how they affect the development of Conflict Archaeology as a coherent branch of archaeology.

The study of burial practices, of human attitudes and behaviour in the face of death, has been an important part of archaeological research from its very beginnings. Some funerary discoveries have achieved sensational fame. Yet beyond this the archaeological community quickly came to understand that it is possible to gain as much information about the lives of past people from studying their funerary behaviour as it is from studying their daily activities and the resultant artefacts. This volume gathers together the majority of the papers presented at the International Symposium on Funerary Anthropology, 'Homines, Funera, Astra', which took place at '1 Decembrie 1918' University of Alba Iulia, 5-8 June 2011. The theme of the conference, aimed to address the investigation of human osteological remains and burial practices specific to the prehistory and history in Central and Eastern Europe. Contents: 1) Spirituality of Palaeolithic burials: offerings of decorative items and body ornaments (Valentin-Codrin Chirica, Vasile Chirica); 2) Considerations regarding the Palaeolithic anthropological discoveries in Romania and the Republic of Moldova (Madalin-Cornel Valeanu); 3) On Palaeolithic social inequality: The funerary evidence (Mircea Anghelinu); 4) Burial practices in the Iron Gates Mesolithic (Adina Boroneant, Clive Bonsall); 5) Bioarchaeological inferences from Neolithic human remains at Alba Iulia-Lumea Noua (Transylvania, Romania) (Mihai Gligor, Mariana Rosu, Viorel Panaitescu 6) Gendered bodies and objects in a mortuary domain: Comparative analysis of Durankulak cemetery ); (Susan Stratton, Dusan Boric); 7) Adornments from the Hamangia cemetery excavated at Cernavoda - Columbia D. Contextual analysis (Raluca Kogalniceanu); 8) Shell adornments from the Hamangia cemetery excavated at Cernavoda - Columbia D. Techno-typological analysis (Monica Margarit); 9) Traditions, Rules and Exceptions in the Eneolithic Cemetery from Sultana - Malu Rosu (Southeast Romania) (Catalin Lazar, Madalina Voicu, Gabriel Vasile); 10) Anthropological research of the Komariv type (Middle Bronze Age) tumular cemetery, at Adancata (Suceava County, Romania) (Angela Simalcsik, Bogdan Petru Niculica); 11) Coins and pebbles from the Anglo-Georgian excavations at Pichvnari (Michael Vickers); 12) Funerary rite and rituals of the Early Sarmatians (second and first centuries BC) in the area between the mouths of the Don and the Danube (Funerary customs of Scythians and Thracians: a lexical analysis (Vitalie Barca); 13) Infant Burials in Roman Dobrudja. A report of work in progress: The case of Ibida (Slava Rusa) (Alexander Rubel, Andrei D. Soficaru); 14) Aspects of everyday life in Scythia Minor reflected in some funerary discoveries from Ibida (Slava Rusa, Tulcea County) (Dan Aparaschivei, Mihaela Iacob, Andrei D. Soficaru, Dorel Paraschiv); 15) Early Roman and Late Roman child graves in Dobrudja (Romania) (Irina Achim).

The idea for this volume emerged from critical self-reflection about diverse archaeological practices in a session presented at the 13th European Association of Archaeologists Annual Meeting (Zadar, Croatia, 2007), in particular the conflicting relationship between the 'mainstream' and the 'alternative'. The field of so-called 'fringe' or 'alternative' archaeology is vast and multifaceted, ranging from pseudoarchaeology, 'bad' archaeology practices, conspiracy theories and claims about lost civilizations to extraterrestrial cultures, (neo)shamanism, religious and/or nationalist demands. All these agendas have in common the fact that, through their differentiated readings and appropriations of the past, they create solidarities amongst their supporters.

This volume derives from a session held at the 2010 Theoretical Archaeology Group conference (Bristol University). The aims of this session were to explore occurrences of compromise (or making do) and repair (mending) in the past, with a particular focus on material culture. This original scope broadened to encompass reuse - inextricably linked to the central themes, particularly when considered through a biographical approach. Contents: Introduction: Archaeologies of Compromise, Repair and Reuse (Ben Jervis and Alison Kyle); 1) What did the apocrypha know? Glued pottery vessels from Springhead and other Romano-British sites in south and eastern England (Kayt Marter Brown and Rachael Seager Smith); 2) Modifying Material: Social biographies of Roman material culture (Lousia Campbell); 3) Reuse, Repair and Reconstruction. Functioning aqueducts in post-Roman Spain (Javier Martinez Jimenez); 4) A Hole for the Soul? Possible functions of post-firing perforations and lead plugs in early Anglo-Saxon cremation urns (Gareth Perry); 5) Riveting Biographies. The theoretical implications of early Anglo-Saxon brooch repair, customisation and use adaptation (Toby Martin); 6) Making-do or Making the World? Tempering choices in Anglo-Saxon pottery manufacture (Ben Jervis); 7) More Than Just a Quick Fix? Repair Holes on Early Medieval Souterrain Ware (Alison Kyle); 8) Beyond a 'Make-do and Mend' Mentality. Repair and reuse of objects from two medieval village sites in Buckinghamshire (Carole Wheeler); 9) When is a Pot Still a Pot? (Duncan H Brown); 10) Survival and Significance: Some Concluding Remarks on Reuse as an Aspect of Cultural Biography (Mark A Hall).

Clothing was crucial in human evolution, and having to cope with climate change was as true in prehistory as it is today. In Climate, Clothing, and Agriculture in Prehistory, Ian Gilligan offers the first complete account of the development of clothing as a response to cold exposure during the ice ages. He explores how and when clothes were invented, noting that the thermal motive alone is tenable in view of the naked condition of humans. His account shows that there is considerably more archaeological evidence for palaeolithic clothes than is generally appreciated. Moreover, Gilligan posits, clothing played a leading role in major technological innovations. He demonstrates that fibre production and the advent of woven fabrics, developed in response to global warming, were pivotal to the origins of agriculture. Drawing together evidence from many disciplines, Climate Clothing, and Agriculture in Prehistory is written in a clear and engaging style, and is illustrated with nearly 100 images.

Museum collections are often perceived as static entities hidden away in storerooms or trapped behind glass cases. By focusing on the dynamic histories of museum collections, new research reveals their pivotal role in shaping a wide range of social relations. Over time and across space the interactions between these artefacts and the people and institutions who made, traded, collected, researched and exhibited them have generated complex networks of material and social agency.

In this innovative volume, the contributors draw on a broad range of source materials to explore the cross-cultural interactions which have created museum collections. These case studies contribute significantly to the development of new theoretical frameworks to examine broader questions of materiality, agency, and identity in the past and present.

Grounded in case studies from individual objects and museum collections from North America, Europe, Africa, the Pacific Islands, and Australia, this truly international volume juxtaposes historical, geographical, and cross-cultural studies.

This work will be of great interest to archaeologists and anthropologists studying material culture, as well as researchers in museum studies and cultural heritage management."

Through her professional capacity as a Curatorial Archaeologist employed by three separate English local authorities over the last 17 years, the author has recognized the necessity for further analysis and improvement of current pre-determination Field Evaluation approaches. This book investigates the effectiveness of Field Evaluation through an assessment of its Decision-making processes.

Information and its Role in Hunter-Gatherer Bands explores the question of how information, broadly conceived, is acquired, stored, circulated, and utilized in small-scale hunter-gatherer societies, or bands. Given the nature of this question, the volume brings together a group of scholars from multiple disciplines, including archaeology, ethnography, linguistics, and evolutionary ecology. Each of these specialties deals with the question of information in different ways and with different sets of data given different primacy. The fundamental goal of the volume is to bridge disciplines and subdisciplines, open discussion, and see if some common ground-either theoretical perspectives, general principles, or methodologies-can be developed upon which to build future research on the role of information in hunter-gatherer bands. Volume 5 in the Ideas, Debates and Perspectives series.

In this extensively revised third edition of The Viking Age: A Reader, Somerville and McDonald successfully bring the Vikings and their world to life for twenty-first-century students and instructors. The diversity of the Viking era is revealed through the remarkable range and variety of sources presented as well as the geographical and chronological coverage of the readings. The third edition has been reorganized into fifteen chapters. Many sources have been added, including material on gender and warrior women, and a completely new final chapter traces the continuing cultural influence of the Vikings to the present day. The use of visual material has been expanded, and updated maps illustrate historical developments throughout the Viking Age. The English translations of Norse texts, many of them new to this collection, are straightforward and easily accessible, while chapter introductions contextualize the readings.