The Neolithic of Britain and Ireland provides a synthesis of this dynamic period of prehistory from the end of the Mesolithic through to the early Beaker period. Drawing on new excavations and the application of new scientific approaches to data from this period, this book considers both life and death in the Neolithic. It offers a clear and concise introduction to this period but with an emphasis on the wider and on-going research questions. It is an important text for students new to the study of this period of prehistory as well as acting as a reference for students and scholars already researching this area. The book begins by considering the Mesolithic prelude, specifically the millennium prior to the start of the Neolithic in Britain and Ireland. It then goes on to consider what life was like for people at the time, alongside the monumental record and how people treated the dead. This is presented chronologically, with separate chapters on the early Neolithic, middle Neolithic, late Neolithic and early Beaker periods. Finally it considers future research priorities for the study of the Neolithic.

The Neolithic of Britain and Ireland provides a synthesis of this dynamic period of prehistory from the end of the Mesolithic through to the early Beaker period. Drawing on new excavations and the application of new scientific approaches to data from this period, this book considers both life and death in the Neolithic. It offers a clear and concise introduction to this period but with an emphasis on the wider and on-going research questions. It is an important text for students new to the study of this period of prehistory as well as acting as a reference for students and scholars already researching this area. The book begins by considering the Mesolithic prelude, specifically the millennium prior to the start of the Neolithic in Britain and Ireland. It then goes on to consider what life was like for people at the time, alongside the monumental record and how people treated the dead. This is presented chronologically, with separate chapters on the early Neolithic, middle Neolithic, late Neolithic and early Beaker periods. Finally it considers future research priorities for the study of the Neolithic.

This volume is based on lectures given when the British Summer School of Archaeology was held at Bangor in August 1959. It is a summary account of current knowledge then about ancient Wales written for archaeologists, historians and others, covering the Old Stone Age, Neolithic Wales, the Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Roman Wales and Wales in the fifth to seventh centuries A.D.

It has long been known that all forms of art - rock paintings, carvings and scribings, and also portable sculpture - are present at various locations throughout Africa. This book was the first inclusive survey and brings together in one volume accounts of African rock art which were previously scattered in scholarly monographs, journals and travellers' tales. The range of the coverage is geophysically comprehensive, from the Atlas Mountains to the Cape of Good Hope. The art styles are set into a firm chronological framework, and are displayed against a background of human, physical and cultural evolution. Considerable discussion is also devoted to the varied purposes which the paintings and carvings served in the communities which produced them, looking at the differing interpretations fully and fairly. A fascinating collection of illustrations, some in colour, truly reflects the variety of forms in which African rock art is manifested. Originally published 1984.

This classic book, extensively revised in 1979, includes the most important archaeological discoveries of that time made regarding both the pre-biblical and biblical history of Palestine. The earliest archaeological finds in Palestine reveal man's presence as early as 9000 B.C., about 6000 years before early biblical history is established. This early phase of human activity was first defined by remarkable discoveries in the Mount Carmel caves and later elucidated by the author's own excavations at Jericho. This book traces the development of man from hunter and food-gatherer to the earliest agricultural settlements that grew into towns and city states which were eventually incorporated into the Israelite Kingdom. It also discusses the post-Exilic period down to the early fourth century B.C. This book added considerable knowledge about early phases of Palestinian history, particularly due to the inclusion of Carbon-14 determinations and special study of animal and plant remains from Jericho. This is a detailed guide to twentieth-century archaeology in the Holy Land that remains fascinating, wonderfully illustrated, and a great aid in understanding life in Palestine as revealed by archaeological evidence.

In 1909 the Scottish archaeologist Duncan Mackenzie, Sir Arthur Evans's right-hand man on the excavations of the legendary 'Palace of Minos' at Knossos since 1900, was appointed 'Explorer' of the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF). From the spring of 1910 until December 1912 he was engaged in archaeological fieldwork in Palestine, especially directing excavation campaigns at Ain Shems (biblical Beth Shemesh) - an important site in the Shephelah of Judah at the crossroads of Canaanite, Philistine, and Israelite cultures. Mackenzie published the results of his work in various issues of the Palestine Exploration Quarterly and Palestine Exploration Fund Annual. Because of a financial dispute with the PEF, however, he never submitted a detailed publication of his very last campaign at Beth Shemesh, conducted in November-December 1912. In 1992 Nicoletta Momigliano rediscovered Mackenzie's lost manuscript on his latest discoveries at Beth Shemesh, which one of his nephews had kept for nearly 80 years at his old family home in the Scottish Highlands, in the small village of Muir of Ord. At about the same time, Shlomo Bunimovitz and Zvi Lederman initiated new excavations at Beth Shemesh which considerably changed previous interpretations of the site. This volume presents Mackenzie's detailed discussion of his last excavations at Beth Shemesh in the light of these more recent discoveries. Although written over a century ago, Mackenzie's manuscript deserves to be better known today; it not only provides significant new information on this important site but also constitutes an intriguing historical document, shedding light on the history of field archaeology and of biblical archaeology. Moreover, Mackenzie's pioneering approach to archaeological fieldwork and the significance of his finds can often be better appreciated today, from the perspective of more recent developments and discoveries.

This book is one of a series of more than 20 volumes resulting from the World Archaeological Congress, September 1986, attempting to bring together not only archaeologists and anthropologists from many parts of the world, as well as academics from contingent disciplines, but also non-academics from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. This text looks at human-animal interactions, especially some of the less well known aspects of the field. A number of studies in the book document some of the vast changes humankind has wrought upon the natural environment through the movement of various species of animals around the world. These chapters provide contributions to the understanding of contemporary ecological problems, especially the deforestation taking place to provide grazing for live-stock. The 31 contributions offer a shop-window of approaches, primarily from a biological perspective.

This book charts and explains how human activities have shaped and altered the development of soils in many parts of the world, taking advantage of five decades of soil analytical work in many archaeological landscapes from around the globe. The core of this volume describes and illustrates major transformations of soils and the processes involved in these that have occurred during the Holocene and how these relate to human activities as much as natural causes and trajectories of development, right up to the present day. This is done in two ways: first by examining a number of major processes and impacts on the landscape such as Holocene warming and the development of woodland, clearance and agricultural activities, and second by examining the trajectories of these changes in soil systems in different palaeo-environmental situations in several diverse parts of the world. The transformations identified are relevant to prevalent themes of today such as over-development and soil, land and environmental degradation and resilience. The studies articulated relate to Britain, southeastern Europe, the Mediterranean basin, East Africa, northern India and Peru in South America.

The British Archaeological Association's 2013 conference was devoted to the study of Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster. It also embraced Westminster School, which was founded at the Reformation in the Abbey precinct. Collectively, these institutions occupy a remarkable assemblage of medieval and later buildings, most of which are well documented. Although the Association had held a conference at Westminster in 1902, this was the first time that the internationally important complex of historic buildings was examined holistically, and the papers published here cover a wide range of subject matter. Westminster came into existence in the later Anglo-Saxon period, and by the mid-11th century, when Edward the Confessor's great new abbey was built, it was a major royal centre two miles south-west of the City of London. Within a century or so, it had become the principal seat of government in England, and this series of twenty-eight papers covers new research on the topography, buildings, art-history, architecture and archaeology of Westminster's two great establishments - Abbey and Palace. Part I begins with studies of the topography of the area, an account of its Roman-period finds and an historiographical overview of the archaeology of the Abbey. Edward the Confessor's enigmatic church plan is discussed and the evidence for later Romanesque structures is assembled for the first time. Five papers examine aspects of Henry III's vast new Abbey church and its decoration. A further four cover aspects of the later medieval period, coronation, and Sir George Gilbert Scott's impact as the Abbey's greatest Surveyor of the Fabric. A pair of papers examines the development of the northern precinct of the Abbey, around St Margaret's Church, and the remarkable buildings of Westminster School, created within the remains of the monastery in the 17th and 18th centuries. Part II part deals with the Palace of Westminster and its wider topography between the late 11th century and the devastating fire of 1834 that largely destroyed the medieval palace. William Rufus's enormous hall and its famous roofs are completely reassessed, and comparisons discussed between this structure and the great hall at Caen. Other essays reconsider Henry III's palace, St Stephen's chapel, the king's great chamber (the 'Painted Chamber') and the enigmatic Jewel Tower. The final papers examine the meeting places of Parliament and the living accommodation of the MPs who attended it, the topography of the Palace between the Reformation and the fire of 1834, and the building of the New Palace which is better known today as the Houses of Parliament.

Ancient Egyptian medicine employed advanced surgical practices, while the prevention and treatment of diseases relied mostly on natural remedies and magical incantations. Following the successful first volume of The Medicine of the Ancient Egyptians, which dealt with surgical practices and the treatment of women and children, this second volume explores a wide range of internal medical problems that the Egyptian population suffered in antiquity, and various methods of their treatment. These include ailments of the respiratory, digestive, and circulatory systems, chiefly heart diseases of various types, coughs, stomachaches, constipation, diarrhea, internal parasites, and many other medical conditions. Drawing on formulas and descriptions in the Ebers papyrus and other surviving ancient Egyptian medical papyri, as well as physical evidence and wall depictions, the authors present translations of the medical treatises together with commentaries and interpretations in the light of modern medical knowledge. The ancient texts contain numerous recipes for the preparation of various remedies, often herbal in the form of pills, drinks, ointments, foods, or enemas. These reveal a great deal about ancient Egyptian physicians and their deep understanding of the healing properties of herbs and other medicinal substances. Illustrated with thirty-five photographs and line drawings, The Medicine of the Ancient Egyptians: 2: Internal Medicine is highly recommended reading for scholars of ancient Egyptian medicine and magic, as well as for paleopathologists, medical historians, and physical anthropologists.

This volume compares two of the most famous cases of civilizational collapse, that of the Roman Empire and the Classic Maya world. First examining the concept of collapse, and how it has been utilized in the historical, archaeological and anthropological study of past complex societies, Storey and Storey draw on extensive archaeological evidence to consider the ultimate failure of the institutions, infrastructure and material culture of both of these complex cultures. Detailing the relevant economic, political, social and environmental factors behind these notable falls, Rome and the Classic Maya contends that a phenomenon of "slow collapse" has repeatedly occurred in the course of human history: complex civilizations are shown to eventually come to an end and give way to new cultures. Through their analysis of these two ancient case studies, the authors also present intriguing parallels to the modern world and offer potential lessons for the future.

Exploring the medieval heritage of Aberdeenshire and Moray, the essays in this volume contain insights and recent work presented at the British Archaeological Association Conference of 2014, based at Aberdeen University. The opening, historical chapters establish the political, economic and administrative context of the region, looking at both the secular and religious worlds and include an examination of Elgin Cathedral and the bishops' palaces. The discoveries at the excavations of the kirk of St Nicholas, which have revealed the early origins of religious life in Aberdeen city, are summarized and subsequent papers consider the role of patronage. Patronage is explored in terms of architecture, the dramas of the Reformation and its aftermath highlighted through essentially humble parish churches, assailed by turbulent events and personalities. The collegiate church at Cullen, particularly its tomb sculpture, provides an unusually detailed view of the spiritual and dynastic needs of its patrons. The decoration of spectacular ceilings, both carved and painted, at St Machar's Cathedral, Provost Skene's House and Crathes Castle, are surveyed through the eyes of their patrons and the viewers below. Saints and religious devotion feature in the last four chapters, focusing on the carved wooden panels from Fetteresso, which display both piety and a rare glimpse of Scottish medieval carnal humour, the illuminated manuscripts from Arbuthnott, the Aberdeen Breviary and Historia Gentis Scotorum. The medieval artistic culture of north-east Scotland is both battered by time and relatively little known. With discerning interpretation, this volume shows that much high-quality material still survives, while the lavish illustrations restore some glamour to this lost medieval world.

Ancient Complex Societies examines the archaeological evidence for the rise and functioning of politically and socially "complex" cultures in antiquity. Particular focus is given to civilizations exhibiting positions of leadership, social and administrative hierarchies, emerging and already developed complex religious systems, and economic differentiation. Case studies are drawn from around the globe, including Asia, the Mediterranean region, and the American continents. Using case studies from Africa, Polynesia, and North America, discussion is dedicated to identifying what "complex" means and when it should be applied to ancient systems. Each chapter attempts to not only explore the sociopolitical and economic elements of ancient civilizations, but to also present an overview of what life was like for the later population within each system, sometimes drilling down to individual people living their daily lives. Throughout the chapters, the authors address problems with the idea of complexity, the incomparability of cultures, and the inconsistency of archaeological and historical evidence in reconstructing ancient cultures.

The Southern Levant was a thriving centre of religious and cultural exchange during the Bronze Age. 'Early Bronze Age Goods Exchange in the Southern Levant' provides an overview of the sources and distribution of commodities. The book presents a study of key production centres and the process of purchase and exchange. The book establishes a theoretical framework - based in political economy, ethnoarchaeology and economic anthropology - for understanding the exchange of commodities in a precapitalist society. 'Early Bronze Age Goods Exchange in the Southern Levant' is unique in presenting archaeological sources and prehistoric economics through modern, notably Marxist, theories of human development.

In the preceding 25 years to this book's publication in 1985 there was an extensive and unprecedented burst of archaeological activity in evidence from below-ground deposits, above-ground structures, and artefacts. During the boom of the late 1960s and 1970s, which led to go much central town redevelopment, it was buried remains which yielded the most dramatic information. In the recession of the 1980s it was realised that upstanding remains had a lot to offer as well and they were being subject to ever more sophisticated study techniques. This book examines those recent developments in archaeology and assesses their bearing on the study of medieval English and Welsh history. Taking a series of important themes such as government, religion and the countryside, the book offers a chronological approach from the coming of the Vikings, 850 AD, to the Reformation in 1530. This approach focuses on the impact of man on the urban and rural landscape. An important text for students of ancient history.

There has long been controversy about the nature and pace of the transformation from Roman Britain to Saxon England. Some scholars argue that there were few instances of major conflict and that the transition took place relatively peacefully over a long period of time. Others argue that the Romano-Britains and the early Anglo-Saxon invaders lived side by side for a century or more with little contact. This book, based largely on archaeological evidence, presents an interpretive history of the transition period and demonstrates how Roman Britain evolved into Anglo-Saxon England over the fourth and fifth centuries. The emphasis is on the archaeological evidence because this is the physical and material legacy of man's activities and, unlike the scanty written sources, is not a reflection of political events. The author argues that much of the past uncertainty about this crucial period stems from the sharply conflicting interpretations of the chronicles.

This unique collection applies globalization concepts to the discipline of archaeology, using a wide range of global case studies from a group of international specialists. The volume spans from as early as 10,000 cal. BP to the modern era, analysing the relationship between material culture, complex connectivities between communities and groups, and cultural change. Each contributor considers globalization ideas explicitly to explore the socio-cultural connectivities of the past. In considering social practices shared between different historic groups, and also the expression of their respective identities, the papers in this volume illustrate the potential of globalization thinking to bridge the local and global in material culture analysis. The Routledge Handbook of Archaeology and Globalization is the first such volume to take a world archaeology approach, on a multi-period basis, in order to bring together the scope of evidence for the significance of material culture in the processes of globalization. This work thus also provides a means to understand how material culture can be used to assess the impact of global engagement in our contemporary world. As such, it will appeal to archaeologists and historians as well as social science researchers interested in the origins of globalization.

The northern borders of China - known as the Northern zone - were a key area of interaction between sedentary and nomadic people during the late second and early first millennium BCE. During this period the region's unique economy, socio-political systems, local cultures and identities took shape. 'Prehistoric Societies on the Northern Frontiers of China' analyses the archaeological record to examine the changes that took place in Northern China in the first millennium. Drawing on field work in the Chifeng area of Inner Mongolia, the book explores dramatic changes in the construction of identities alongside more gradual changes in subsistence strategies and political organization. The book is unique in integrating the archaeological data and historical records of this period with anthropological theory to examine the role of identity construction and the use of symbol in the shaping of East Asian society.

Animals have been used to human advantage for thousands of years. 'Animal Husbandry in Ancient Israel' presents an analysis of caprines and cattle husbandry in the Southern Levantine Bronze and Iron Age. The book employs key methodological approaches - comparative analysis, taphonomy, Geographic Information System spatial analysis, and ethnographic studies - to challenge prevalent views on the Southern Levantine ancient economy. 'Animal Husbandry in Ancient Israel' argues that the key concern of nomadic, rural and urban populations was survival - the common household maintained a self-sufficient economy - rather than profit, specialization or trade. The book will be of value to all those interested in the dynamic relationship between humans and animals in ancient Israel.

The year 2008 marks the 40th anniversary of Mabada Plains Project archaeological research in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Madaba Plains Project is one of the longest-lived, continuously running archaeological excavation projects in the Middle East. Spanning four decades, the project, with its beginnings at Tall Hisban in the late sixties, has engaged 1,500 participants, produced scores of publications and spawned a dozen other projects. Its legacy includes being one of the first major Near Eastern archaeology projects to adopt a multi-millennial, regional approach; to incorporate ethnoarchaeology and environmental studies; to construct data around a food-systems' approach; and to computerize procedures for archaeological data acquisition and analysis, thus helping advance both the theoretical underpinnings and the field methods of archaeology in the southern Levant and beyond. Madaba Plains Project directors, wishing to celebrate this major scientific and historical milestone, have produced this anniversary volume which: highlights the value of ongoing collaborative research across the region of central Jordan, attempting to explain life and survival from the Bronze ages through the Islamic and early modern periods and features the latest results from ongoing research; enlivens the discussion by hearing from major scholars in the field who, in the process of assessing the contributions of the project to the archaeology of the southern Levant, broaden the discussion in the context of ancient Near Eastern archaeological research; and, expands the horizons of the project's research by presenting the ever enlarging number and extent of projects conducted by dig directors once on staff with the Madaba Plains Project, thereby taking readers all over Jordan and beyond.

Ground stone artefacts were widely used in food production in prehistory. However, the archaeological community has widely neglected the dataset of ground stone artefacts until now. 'New Approaches to Old Stones' offers a theoretical and methodological analysis of the archaeological data pertaining to ground stone tools. The essays draw on a range of case studies - from the Levant, Egypt, Crete, Anatolia, Mexico and North America - to examine ground stone technologies. From medieval Islamic stone cooking vessels and late Minoan stone vases, to the use of stone in ritual and as a symbol of luxury, 'New Approaches to Old Stones' offers a radical reassessment of the impact of ground-stone artefacts on technological change, production and exchange.

A considerable proportion of the authors of this book are either Africans or live in Africa, and all of them carry out fieldwork there. Its size and coverage allows not only a wide overview of development in Africa from around 8000 BC to the present-day, but also some review chapters and in-depth studies. Contrary to common perception, it is intended that Africa's past should emerge as anything but a vast barren area, open to all extraneous influence, and eager to welcome incoming innovations and colonizers in order to be pushed into some kind of development. Instead, the book aims to show that the continent emerges as the possessor of a complex interweaving of peoples and cultures, practising a diversity of economic and social strategies in a number of environmental situations. In some areas, hunting and gathering was a successful adaptation, in some, pastoralism, in others, small agricultural communities, and in still others, urbanism. The archaeology of Africa has revealed enough of the continent's unwritten past to confound many preconceptions about it.

Being a Character shows how each person unconsciously invests the ordinary objects of life with particular and private meaning. As each person subsequently voyages through the environment, he encounters objects that are already laden with previously invested meaning. In this sense the individual is evoked by encounters with objects. Taking Freud's theory of the dream work as a model for all unconscious thinking, Bollas argues that we dream work ourselves into becoming who we are, and he illustrates how the analyst and the patient use unconscious processes to develop new psychic structures that the patient can use to alter his or her self experience. Building on this ground, the latter part of the book describes very special kinds of self experience, including the tragic madness of women cutting themselves, the odd experience of a cruising homosexual in bars and baths, the demented ferocity of the Fascist state of mind, and every person's self experience as a member of his or her historical epoch. He includes a seminal chapter on the Oedipus Complex, arguing that Sophocles and Freud point to an entirely different 'resolution' than heretofore argued in any of the schools of psychoanalytic thought. The main purpose of Being a Character is to rethink the nature of the individual's creation of a lived environment, and the author draws on his clinical experience as well as the notebooks and the writings of poets, scientists, painters, sculptors, and anthropologists to support his view that each person dreams himself into existence and walks about in his own private dream.

In "The Near East: Archaeology in the "Cradle of Civilization', Charles Maisels charts the emergence of modern archaeology from antiquarianism and anthropology during the 19th century. He examines the intellectual background which created the Ages System of Stone, Bronze and Iron and which first organized archaeology as an historical discipline, highlighting the work of 19th and 20th century pioneers in the field whose skill and imagination provided the basis of what we know of Near Eastern prehistory. Charles Maisels' research provides a straightforward developmental account of the period which saw the transition from foraging, farming and neolithic village to city-state. He details the causes and effects - environmental, organizational, demographic and technical - which resulted in the world's first village farming cultures some 8000 years ago. Beyond this, he explains how cities such as Uruk and Ur, Nippur and Kish formed by exceptional nucleation on the arid silt plains between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, in what is now Iraq.

This book offers a unique, critical perspective on the history of Peruvian archaeology by a native scholar. Leading Peruvian archaeologist Henry Tantalean illuminates the cultural legacy of colonialism beginning with "founding father" Max Uhle and traces key developments to the present. These include the growth of Peruvian institutions; major figures from Tello and Valcarcel to Larco, Rowe, and Murra; war, political upheaval, and Peruvian regimes; developments in archaeological and social science theory as they impacted Andean archaeology; and modern concerns such as heritage, neoliberalism, and privatization. This post-colonial perspective on research and its sociopolitical context is an essential contribution to Andean archaeology and the growing international dialogue on the history of archaeology.