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 volume develops a new approach to plant exploitation and early agriculture in a worldwide comparative context. It modifies the conceptual dichotomy between "hunter-gatherers" and "farmers," viewing human exploitation of plant resources as a global evolutionary process which incorporated the beginnings of cultivation and crop domestication. The studies throughout the book come from a worldwide range of geographical contexts, from the Andes to China and from Australia to the Upper Mid-West of North America. This work is of interest to anthropologists, archaeologists, botanists and geographers. Originally published 1989.

In 1937 the author, then aged 19, found the remains of an ancient boat at Ferriby on the Humber shore. This book is his own account of his discoveries, excavations and research over 50 years since the first boat find. The importance of this and the subsequent finds was only fully recognised after World War II, when the new technique of carbon-14 dating revealed that the Ferriby Boats were built before 1000 BC. This makes them the oldest plank-built boats found anywhere in the world apart from Ancient Egypt and the Aegean; they predate any similar craft in Northern Europe by half a millennium and present evidence for a style of boat building previously unknown. The excavation and preservation of the boats presented many problems, not least the constant battle with mud and the tide. Over the years the author pioneered methods of excavating and recording which have since become standard in the field of maritime archaeology. This book also presents a realistic reconstruction of the boats with estimates of its performance. They suggest a capacity for navigation at this time not previously imagined and add a new and fundamental dimension to the history of man's relationship with the sea.

The climax of the Stone Age in Britain, the Neolithic period (4700-2000BC), was a period of startling achievement. The British Isles are rich in Neolithic sites, which give us evidence of a complex and surprisingly developed archaic society. The author surveys 1100 secular and ceremonial sites in Britain, selecting some for detailed explanation; from these a sense of the diversity and dynamism of the living Neolithic communities emerges. He presents a comprehensive, profusely illustrated and up-to-date view of the Neolithic, organised by county.

Archaeologists and prehistorians will find this book of interest and it should prove indispensable to students of archaeology as a source of information about the British Neolithic.

This book is primarily concerned with the craftsmanship of the Bronzesmiths of Britain and Ireland during the period from the beginning of the first century AD until the end of the seventh century. The period covered takes in a number of eras: the pre-Occupation era of the first century; the Romano-British period; and the so-called Dark Ages. What happened during these seven centuries is treated as a continuing story and only external events and political and religious thinking can have any effect on the forms which were fabricated. The Celts are known to have been expert metal workers and from the artistic point of view they are known to have been expert at designing bold eye-catching patterns. Yet the Celt had no art motifs which can be said to have been endemic to his world, but took over a number of classical patterns and by the exercise of his imagination produced motifs with a compelling personality which is at once seen to be thoroughly Celtic.

The book is divided into four parts, each having its own historical introduction. Irish material is included in each period, since there were close links between the bronzesmiths of Britain and Ireland, and the art of one affected the other. Methods of manufacture are examined, as are the range of styles and the origins of forms and motifs, including isolating some as from certain localised workshops. Originally published in 1980.

Focusing on the Mediterranean area where water management is crucial, this pioneering study is the first to show how the supply, distribution, and drainage of water contributed to the urbanization of ancient cities. Drawing from classical archaeology, the theory and history of urbanization, geology, and hydraulic engineering, Crouch examines water-system elements, including springs, fountains, wells, channels and drains, latrines, laundry, and dishwashing, as they relate to each other and to the physical, historical, and social bases of ancient Greek cities. Studying numerous sites including Pompeii, Pergamon, Athens, Samos, Delphi, and Corinth, she concludes that increased knowledge and skill in management of water contributed directly to the urbanization of the ancient Greek world. Illustrated with excellent photographs and line drawings, the discussions of supply, distribution, and drainage of water are organized topically, rather than chronologically or by site, offering an excellent example of the interdisciplinary approach. Crouch's study raises stimulating questions for further research, indicates entirely new directions for established academic disciplines, and suggests useful procedures for modern cities facing problems of water supply and management.

This volume, originally published in 1935, sought to reveal the significance of Scottish prehistory for the development of understanding of European prehistory. Written at a time of rapid accumulation of new relics and monuments and the insights from them, Professor Childe presented some important new data and made tentative conclusions for the future results from these finds. After an introduction to the geography of Scotland the book looks at evidence from cairns, tombs and stone circles and then addresses chronologically the evidence from Early Bronze Age to Late and onto the Iron Age, with a chapter devoted to forts, towns and castles. It ends with a discussion of what happened in the Dark Ages and addresses questions about the Celts and the Picts and the diversity of the peoples in Scotland.

This volume investigates smaller and larger networks of contacts within and across the Aegean and nearby regions, covering periods from the Neolithic until Classical times (6000-323 BC). It explores the world of technologies, crafts and archaeological 'left-overs' in order to place social and technological networks in their larger economic and political contexts. By investigating ways of production, transport/distribution, and consumption, this book covers a chronologically large period in order to expand our understanding of wider cultural developments inside the geographical boundaries of the Aegean and its regions of contact in the east Mediterranean. This book brings together scholars' expertise in a variety of different fields ranging from historical archaeology (using textual evidence), archaeometry, geoarchaeology, experimental work, archaeobotany, and archaeozoology. Chapters in this volume study and contextualize archaeological remains and explore networks of crafts-people, craft traditions, or people who employed various technologies to survive. Central questions in this context are how and why traditions, techniques, and technologies change or remain stable, or where and why cross-cultural boundaries developed and disintegrated.

We live in a world surrounded by remarkable cultural achievements of human kind. Almost every day we hear of new innovations in technology, in medicine and in the arts which remind us that humans are capable of remarkable creativity. But what is human creativity? The modern world provides a tiny fraction of cultural diversity and the evidence for human creativity, far more can be seen by looking back into prehistory. The book examines how our understanding of human creativity can be extended by exploring this phenomenon during human evolution and prehistory.
The book offers unique perspectives on the nature of human creativity from archaeologists who are concerned with long term patterns of cultural change and have access to quite different types of human behaviour than that which exists today. It asks whether humans are the only creative species, or whether our extinct relatives such as Homo habilis and the Neanderthals also displayed creative thinking. It explores what we can learn about the nature of human creativity from cultural developments during prehistory, such as changes in the manner in which the dead were buried, monuments constructed, and the natural world exploited. In doing so, new light is thrown on these cultural developments and the behaviour of our prehistoric ancestors.
By examining the nature of creativity during human evolution and prehistory these archaeologists, supported by contributions from psychology, computer science and social anthropology, show that human creativity is a far more diverse and complex phenomena than simply flashes of genius by isolated individuals. Indeed they show that unless perspectives from prehistory are taken into account, our understanding of human creativity will be limited and incomplete.

Lying midway between Baghdad and the Persian Gulf, the lost city of Ur became the subject of great interest when excavations began in 1922. This book recounts the findings of the joint operation between the University Museum of Pennsylvania and the British Museum.

Space and Time in Mediterranean Prehistory addresses these two concepts as interrelated, rather than as separate categories, and as a means for understanding past social relations at different scales. The need for this volume was realised through four main observations: the ever growing interest in space and spatiality across the social sciences; the comparative theoretical and methodological neglect of time and temporality; the lack in the existing literature of an explicit and balanced focus on both space and time; and the large amount of new information coming from prehistoric Mediterranean. It focuses on the active and interactive role of space and time in the production of any social environment, drawing equally on contemporary theory and on case-studies from Mediterranean prehistory. Space and Time in Mediterranean Prehistory seeks to break down the space-time continuum, often assumed rather than inferred, into space-time units and to uncover the varying and variable interrelations of space and time in prehistoric societies across the Mediterranean. The volume is a response to the dissatisfaction with traditional views of space and time in prehistory and revisits these concepts to develop a timely integrative conceptual and analytical framework for the study of space and time in archaeology.

The remains of hunter-gatherer groups are the most commonly discovered archaeological resources in the world, and their study constitutes much of the archaeological research done in North America. In spite of paradigm-shifting discoveries elsewhere in the world that may indicate that hunter-gatherer societies were more complex than simple remnants of a prehistoric past, North American archaeology by and large hasn't embraced these theories, instead maintaining its general neoevolutionary track. This book will change that.
Combining the latest empirical studies of archaeological practice with the latest conceptual tools of anthropological and historical theory, this volume seeks to set a new course for hunter-gatherer archaeology by organizing the chapters around three themes. The first section offers diverse views of the role of human agency, challenging the premise that hunter-gatherer societies were bound by their interactions with the natural world. The second section considers how society and culture are constituted. Chapters in the final section take the long view of the historical process, examining how cultural diversity arises out of interaction and the continuity of ritual practices.
A closing commentary by H. Martin Wobst underscores the promise of an archaeology of foragers that does not associate foraging with any particular ideology or social structure but instead invites inquiry into counterintuitive alternatives. "Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology as Historical Process" seeks to blur the divisions between prehistory and history, between primitive and modern, and between hunter-gatherers and people in other societies. Because it offers alternatives to the dominant discourse and contributes to the agenda of hunter-gatherer research, this book will be of interest to anyone involved in the study of foraging peoples.

Richard B Seager excavated the Minoan cemetery on Pseira, a small island off the northeast coast of Crete, in 1907, although this work was never published. More recently, the Temple University excavations (1985-1994) under the direction of Philip P Betancourt and Costis Davaras conducted an intensive surface survey of the cemetery area, cleaned and drew plans of all the visible tombs, and excavated tombs that had not been previously investigated. The results of these new excavations are published in two volumes. This volume, Pseira VI, covers the methodology that was employed in the investigation, the topography of the cemetery area, details of Seager's campaign, the ceramic petrography for the cemetery pottery, and the results of the intensive surface survey. The survey showed that the cemetery was first used in the Neolithic period, and that it was abandoned in Middle Minoan II, before the expansion of the nearby town in the Late Minoan I period. It also demonstrated that the cemetery was larger than the area suggested by Seager, and that the funerary customs included burial in jars, even though no examples of this burial type have been excavated.

The importance of cultural contacts in the East Mediterranean has long been recognized and is the focus of ongoing international research. Fieldwork in the Aegean, Egypt, Cyprus, and the Levant continues to add to our understanding of the nature of this contact and its social and economic significance, particularly to the cultures of the Aegean. Despite sophisticated discussion of the archaeological evidence, in particular on the part of Aegean and Mediterranean archaeologists, there has been little systematic attempt to incorporate anthropological perspectives on materiality and exchange into archaeological narratives of this material. This book addresses that gap and integrates anthropological discourse on contact, examining exchange systems, the gift, notions of geographical distance and power, colonization, and hybridization. Furthermore, it develops a social narrative of culture contact in the Mediterranean context, illustrating the reasons communities chose to engage in international exchange, and how this impacted the construction of identities throughout the region. While traditional archaeologies in the East Mediterranean have tended to be reductive in their approach to material culture and how it was produced, used, and exchanged, this book reviews current research on material culture, focusing on issues such as the biography of objects, inalienable possessions, and hybridization - exploring how these issues can further illuminate the material world of the communities of the Bronze Age Mediterranean.

Islands in Time explores the ecological and cultural development of prehistoric island societies. It considers the prehistory of the Mediterranean and offers an explanation of the effects of isolation on the development of human communities. Evidence is drawn from a broad range of Mediterranean islands including Cyprus, Crete and the Cyclades, Malta, Lipari, Corsica and Sardinia.

* exposes students to both methods and interpretation involved in archaeology, allowing for a more rounded and engaging introduction to archaeology * Coverage of both archaeology and prehistory provides an attractive mix for students studying archaeology for the first time * Well illustrated and written by a proven textbook author in a style suitable for students without specialist knowledge

Mayan culture is known for its spectacular art, impressive architecture, and sophisticated mathematical and astronomical systems, the archaeological study of which has undergone a revolution during the past twenty years. There are now more than 5,000 different Maya archaeological sites and those in Mexico's Yucatan Pensinsula are among the most visited and studied as they include the spectacular sites of Chichen Itza and Uxmal. The Ancient Maya of Mexico presents the results of these new and important archaeological, epigraphic, and art historical studies in the Mexican states of Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo to a broad audience of scholars and students. The volume consists of original and timely contributions by experts whose presentations are intended to be lively and approachable so as to be accessible and of particular use to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as to more advanced scholars. The organization of the volume is chronological (from the Middle Preclassic to colonial and modern periods), so that readers will understand how new data and interpretations have changed the whole of our understanding of Maya history.

It may be surprising to learn that this book is the first ever survey of the Atlantic Iron Age: this tradition is cited in archaeology frequently enough to seem firmly established, yet has never been clearly defined.With this book, Jon Henderson provides an important and much-needed exploration of the archaeology of western areas of Britain, Ireland, France and Spain to consider how far Atlantic Iron Age communities were in contact with each other. By examining the evidence for settlement and maritime trade, as well as aspects of the material culture of each area, Henderson identifies distinct Atlantic social identities through time. He also pinpoints areas of similarity: the possibility of cultural 'cross-pollination' caused by maritime links and to what extent these contacts influenced and altered the distinctive character of local communities. A major theme running through the book is the role of the Atlantic seaboard itself and what impact this unique environment had on the ways Atlantic communities perceived themselves and their place in the world. As a history of these communities unfolds, a general archaeological Atlantic identity breaks down into a range of regional identities which compare interestingly with each other and with traditional models of Celtic identity. Bringing together the Iron Age settlement evidence for the Atlantic regions in one place for the first time, this excellent and original book is certain to establish itself as the definitive study of the Atlantic Iron Age.

Early Human Behaviour in a Global Context will be of use to students and professionals who are interested in prehistory, Paleolithic archaeology, and paleoanthropology. Those interested in our ancestors and their place in the natural world will also benefit from the information presented in this book. Chapters focus on: * the nature of archaeological evidence * stone tool technology * subsistence practices * settlement distributions.

This book presents ten papers about prehistoric Aegean people, technologies, and social networks. The geographical, chronological and methodological approaches employed in all papers weld them together into a single research theme. These papers demonstrate the value and the beauty of employing, to a more or lesser degree, the combined methodologies of cha ne op ratoire (operational chain) and cross-craft interaction. It is the theoretical underpinnings, though, that move this volume well beyond Aegean boundaries and open it up to wider anthropological and archaeological interests in pre-industrial technologies and their linked-in social networks.

This dynamic collaboration resulted in what we hoped for; opening windows on people 's past interactions with each other and material worlds, while our contemporary lives intertwined with cross-fertilized ideas, as the unique outcome of our efforts.

This volume brings together the expertise of ten people and presents a holistic approach to materials and technology studies on ceramics, orality, stone tools, figurines, music, gender issues, weights, apiculture, leftovers, and warfare. We believe that having teamed up on a search for such past social networks through multiple technologies, we have brought this past somewhat closer to our present.

A long-overdue advancement in ceramic studies, this volume sheds new light on the adoption and dispersal of pottery by non-agricultural societies of prehistoric Eurasia. Major contributions from Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia make this a truly international work that brings together different theories and material for the first time. Researchers and scholars studying the origins and dispersal of pottery, the prehistoric peoples or Eurasia, and flow of ancient technologies will all benefit from this book.

The result of the synergy between four doctoral projects and an advanced MA-level course on Bronze Age Europe, this integrated assemblage of articles represents a variety of different subjects united by a single theme: movement. Ranging from theoretical discussion of the various responses to and reactions from the circulation of people, objects and ideas to the transmission of the spiral and the trade in crafting expertise, this volume takes a fresh look at old questions. Each article within this monograph represents a different approach to mobility framed within a highly mobile and dynamic period of European prehistory. In so doing, the text not only addresses transmission and reception, but also the conceptualization of mobility within a world which was literally Rooted in Movement.

There is a little Neanderthal in all of us. Although they have been extinct for 40,000 years, our genetic inheritance means that they are not entirely gone. Since the publication of the first Neanderthal genome in 2010, our understanding of the Neanderthals - and our connection to them - has changed dramatically. Once stereotyped as simple and brutish, recent discoveries by archaeologists and geneticists have painted a different picture of Neanderthals, and one more familiar to us: they buried their dead, cared for the sick, and even painted cave walls. We can now delve into their DNA to trace their evolution in Europe and movements across Asia, and piece together how they lived and died in amazing detail. This fully updated edition presents cutting-edge research on our fascinating hominin relatives: their interbreeding with humans and other species including the recently discovered Denisovans, their social behaviours such as smiling to indicate friendliness, and the genes they have passed down to us that could be affecting our health. By confronting our differences and similarities to the Neanderthals, this book addresses the biggest question of all: what it means to be human.

Humans are unique in that they expend considerable effort and ingenuity in disposing of the dead. Some of the recognisable ways we do this are visible in the Palaeolithic archaeology of the Ice Age. The Palaeolithic Origins of Human Burial takes a novel approach to the long-term development of human mortuary activity ? the various ways we deal with the dead and with dead bodies. It is the first comprehensive survey of Palaeolithic mortuary activity in the English language.

Observations in the modern world as to how chimpanzees behave towards their dead allow us to identify ?core? areas of behaviour towards the dead that probably have very deep evolutionary antiquity. From that point, the palaeontological and archaeological records of the Pliocene and Pleistocene are surveyed. The core chapters of the book survey the mortuary activities of early hominins, archaic members of the genus Homo, early Homo sapiens, the Neanderthals, the Early and Mid Upper Palaeolithic, and the Late Upper Palaeolithic world.

Burial is a striking component of Palaeolithic mortuary activity, although existing examples are odd and this probably does not reflect what modern societies believe burial to be, and modern ways of thinking of the dead probably arose only at the very end of the Pleistocene. When did symbolic aspects of mortuary ritual evolve? When did the dead themselves become symbols? In discussing such questions, The Palaeolithic Origins of Human Burial offers an engaging contribution to the debate on modern human origins. It is illustrated throughout, includes up-to-date examples from the Lower to Late Upper Palaeolithic, including information hitherto unpublished.

Humans are unique in that they expend considerable effort and ingenuity in disposing of the dead. Some of the recognisable ways we do this are visible in the Palaeolithic archaeology of the Ice Age. The Palaeolithic Origins of Human Burial takes a novel approach to the long-term development of human mortuary activity -- the various ways we deal with the dead and with dead bodies. It is the first comprehensive survey of Palaeolithic mortuary activity in the English language. Observations in the modern world as to how chimpanzees behave towards their dead allow us to identify core' areas of behaviour towards the dead that probably have very deep evolutionary antiquity. From that point, the palaeontological and archaeological records of the Pliocene and Pleistocene are surveyed. The core chapters of the book survey the mortuary activities of early hominins, archaic members of the genus Homo, early Homo sapiens, the Neanderthals, the Early and Mid Upper Palaeolithic, and the Late Upper Palaeolithic world. Burial is a striking component of Palaeolithic mortuary activity, although existing examples are odd and this probably does not reflect what modern societies believe burial to be, and modern ways of thinking of the dead probably arose only at the very end of the Pleistocene. When did symbolic aspects of mortuary ritual evolve? When did the dead themselves become symbols? In discussing such questions, The Palaeolithic Origins of Human Burial offers an engaging contribution to the debate on modern human origins. It is illustrated throughout, includes up-to-date examples from the Lower to Late Upper Palaeolithic, including information hitherto unpublished.

* Provides a short and simple, but entertaining, account of the prehistoric past from human origins to today from a global perspective in contrast to the current lengthy textbooks on the subject * Shows how such contemporary issues such as biological and cultural diversity, gender, and climate change have deep roots in the remote past and thus resonates with the concerns of readers * Short and low cost introductory text for students studying the subject for the first time from two experienced textbook writers