This book offers a series of studies focused on the analysis of stone tool technology of the Folsom Culture, bison-hunting inhabitants of the North American prairie grasslands during the terminal Pleistocene. Recent work on Folsom lithic assemblages has revealed considerable complexity in the factors that generated similarities and differences in Folsom chipped stone economy, beyond simply the manufacturing sequence and technique of fluting Folsom projectile points. The analyses presented here use comparative methods to identify patterns of lithic assemblage structure and variation that provide insights into the organization of Folsom technology and lifeways, considering multiple aspects of Folsom technology including: tool manufacture and reduction system modeling, studies of raw material variation, use-wear, technological variation in weaponry assemblages, and the organization of technology. They thus contribute substantially to a growing understanding of the patterns and processes in Folsom technology and the causes of diversity within Folsom lithic assemblages.

Neolithic Horizons investigates some of our most remarkable and iconic archaeological sites: the great public monuments at Stonehenge and Avebury and others like them and places them within their landscape context-the rolling chalklands of Wessex. Rightly famous the world over, these monuments are complemented by less well-known, contemporary, foci such as the earthen circles at Knowlton, in Dorset, or Marden, in Wiltshire and seen to be part of an earth-shifting tradition that extended right across the region and traced back to our very earliest monuments, long barrows and causewayed enclosures. After Stonehenge, the tradition continued with the construction of enormous numbers of circular burial mounds along the river valleys and hillsides. Indeed, few other regions in Europe can match the scale and intensity of development at these ceremonial complexes. These locations, places of ritual, must nevertheless be viewed as part of a wider landscape; one where features of the land are continually changing according to the influence of local inhabitants.Whilst charting a remarkable archaeological legacy, this book reveals the developing landscape of grassland, settlements and fields; the product of the early farming communities who lived their lives in the shadow of the monuments.

Sacrifice is not simply an expression of religious beliefs. Its highly symbolic nature lends itself to various kinds of manipulation by those carrying it out, who may use the ritual in maintaining and negotiating power and identity in carefully staged 'performances'. This Element will examine some of the many different types of sacrifice and ritual killing of human beings through history, from Bronze Age China and the Near East to Mesoamerica to Northern Europe. The focus is on the archaeology of human sacrifice, but where available, textual and iconographic sources provide valuable complements to the interpretation of the material.

An extensive review of the Mesolithic sites in the Iron Gates Gorge of the Danube River, between Yugoslavia and Romania. The important sites of Lepenski Vir, Vlasac, Padina, and Hajducka Vodenica are among the many covered in this comprehensive work, which includes much previously unpublished data. The author offers fundamental re-analyses and interpretations of stratigraphies, relative and absolute chronologies, architecture and settlement organization, the placement and styles of altars and sculptural elements, the chipped and polished stone industries, the bone and antler artifacts, the mortuary practices, ecology, and social organization of this remarkable archaeological culture. In conclusion, all of these materials, analyses, and interpretations are placed both within their broader, European archaeological context, and in an explicit theoretical framework. An important and thought-provoking work.

In this volume, Odell presents a detailed comparative analysis of standardized lithic data from 10 Illinois Valley components spanning 7500 years from the Early Archaic through the Mississippian perhaps the first time that such a comprehensive set of lithic variables has been analyzed for the entire Holocene of a region. A major part of this study constitutes the most extensive application of low-power lithic use-wear analysis to be found in the literature, accompanied by full discussion of the technique and a suite of new experimental data. The results provide significant information on prehistoric mobility and technological organization in mid-continental North America, revealing clearly for the first time a number of significant behavioral trends: e.g., an increase in the hafting of tools, economizing behavior in chert-poor areas, apparent change in projectile technology, changes in tool use intensity, and symboling behavior. These trends are supported by a massive set of easily accessible tables of data located in the appendix."

In this book, Krish Seetah uses butchery as a point of departure for exploring the changing historical relationships between animal utility, symbolism, and meat consumption. Seetah brings together several bodies of literature - on meat, cut marks, craftspeople, and the role of craft in production - that have heretofore been considered in isolation from one another. Focusing on the activity inherent in butcher, he describes the history of knowledge that typifies the craft. He also provides anthropological and archaeological case studies which showcase examples of butchery practices in varied contexts that are seldom identified with zooarchaeological research. Situating the relationship between practice, practitioner, material and commodity, this imaginative study offers new insights into food production, consumption, and the craft of cuisine.

A series of papers by a wide range of authors from different countries and backgrounds focuses firmly on the question of the origin and development of social complexity, from the Neolithic through the Bronze Age, in Iberia writ large. A wide range of specific topics is covered with this specific focus, from results of field projects, laboratory analyses, and theoretical overviews.

A series of papers by a wide range of authors from different countries and backgrounds focuses firmly on the question of the origin and development of social complexity, from the Neolithic through the Bronze Age, in Iberia writ large. A wide range of specific topics is covered with this specific focus, from results of field projects, laboratory analyses, and theoretical overviews.

Warfare in Bronze Age Society takes a fresh look at warfare and its role in reshaping Bronze Age society. The Bronze Age represents the global emergence of a militarized society with a martial culture, materialized in a package of new efficient weapons that remained in use for millennia to come. Warfare became institutionalized and professionalized during the Bronze Age, and a new class of warriors made their appearance. Evidence for this development is reflected in the ostentatious display of weapons in burials and hoards, and in iconography, from rock art to palace frescoes. These new manifestations of martial culture constructed the warrior as a 'Hero' and warfare as 'Heroic'. The case studies, written by an international team of scholars, discuss these and other new aspects of Bronze Age warfare. Moreover, the essays show that warriors also facilitated mobility and innovation as new weapons would have quickly spread from the Mediterranean to northern Europe.

This book offers a global perspective on the role food has played in shaping human societies, through both individual and collective identities. It integrates ethnographic and archaeological case studies from the European and Near Eastern Neolithic, Han China, ancient Cahokia, Classic Maya, the Inka and many other periods and regions, to ask how the meal in particular has acted as a social agent in the formation of society, economy, culture and identity. Drawing on a range of social theorists, Hastorf provides a theoretical toolkit essential for any archaeologist interested in foodways. Studying the social life of food, this book engages with taste, practice, the meal and the body to discuss power, identity, gender and meaning that creates our world as it created past societies.

Walter Benjamin observed that it is precisely the modern which conjures up prehistory. From Yanagita's 'mountain people' to Umehara's 'Jomon civilisation', Japan has been an especially resonant site of prehistories imagined in response to modernity. Conjuring Up Prehistory: Landscape and the Archaic in Japanese Nationalism looks at how archaeology and landscapes of the archaic have been used in Japanese nationalism since the early twentieth century, focusing on the writings of cultural historian Tetsuro Watsuji, philosopher Takeshi Umehara and environmental archaeologist Yoshinori Yasuda. It is argued that the Japanese nationalist project has been mirrored by the continuing influence of broader Romantic ideas in Japanese archaeology, especially in Jomon studies.

Clachtoll broch is one of the most spectacular Iron Age settlements on the northern mainland of Scotland. When it became clear that the structure was threatened by coastal erosion, community heritage group Historic Assynt launched a major programme of conservation and excavation works designed to secure the vulnerable structure and recover the archaeological evidence of its occupation and use. The resulting excavation provided evidence of a long and complex history of construction and rebuilding, with the final, middle Iron Age occupation phase ending in a catastrophic fire and collapse of the tower by the early years of the first century AD. The internal deposits span perhaps 50 years of the broch’s final occupation and were remarkably well preserved, with no evidence for secondary re-use or disturbance after the fire. As a result, the excavation provides a remarkable snapshot of life in Iron Age Scotland, with an artefact assemblage attesting to daily agricultural life as well as long-range contacts that sets the broch within a wider Atlantic community. Specialist analysis of the artefactual and palaeoenvironmental evidence coupled with detailed analysis of the structure in its local geographical context combine to provide a major new contribution to the archaeology of north-west Scotland, with wider implications for our understanding of late prehistoric society in northern Britain. This report comprises the results of the archaeological investigations at Clachtoll, compiled by a team of archaeologists and specialists from AOC Archaeology Group, and brings together evidence from a range of specialist analyses as well as environmental and landscape investigations.

The Neolithic period is one of the great transformations in human history - when agriculture first began and dramatic changes occurred in human society. These changes occurred in environments that were radically different to those that exist today, and in northern Europe many landscapes would have been dominated by woodland. Yet wood and woodland rarely figures in the minds of many archaeologists, and it plays no part in the traditional Three Age system that has defined the frameworks of European prehistory. This book explores how human-environment relations altered with the beginnings of farming, and how the Neolithic in northern Europe was made possible through new ways of living in and understanding the environment. Drawing on a broad range of evidence, from pollen data and stone axes to the remains of timber monuments and settlements, the book analyzes the relationship between people, their material culture, and their woodland environment.

The people who inhabited Southwest Europe from 30,000 to 13,000 years ago are often portrayed as big game hunters - and indeed, in some locations (Cantabrian Spain, the Pyrenees, the Dordogne) the archaeological record supports this interpretation. But in other places, notably Mediterranean Iberia, the inhabitants focused their hunting efforts on smaller game, such as rabbits, fish, and birds. Were they less effective hunters? Were these environments depleted of red deer and other large game? Or is this evidence of Paleolithic people's adaptability? This volume explores these questions, along the way delving into the history of the "bigger equals better" assumption; optimal foraging theory and niche construction theory; and patterns of environmental and subsistence change across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.

This book offers a global perspective on the role food has played in shaping human societies, through both individual and collective identities. It integrates ethnographic and archaeological case studies from the European and Near Eastern Neolithic, Han China, ancient Cahokia, Classic Maya, the Inka and many other periods and regions, to ask how the meal in particular has acted as a social agent in the formation of society, economy, culture and identity. Drawing on a range of social theorists, Hastorf provides a theoretical toolkit essential for any archaeologist interested in foodways. Studying the social life of food, this book engages with taste, practice, the meal and the body to discuss power, identity, gender and meaning that creates our world as it created past societies.

Our current world is characterized by life in cities, the existence of social inequalities, and increasing individualization. When and how did these phenomena arise? What was the social and economic background for the development of hierarchies and the first cities? The authors of this volume analyze the processes of centralization, cultural interaction, and social differentiation that led to the development of the first urban centres and early state formations of ancient Eurasia, from the Atlantic coasts to China. The chronological framework spans a period from the Neolithic to the Late Iron Age, with a special focus on the early first millennium BC. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach structured around the concepts of identity and materiality, this book addresses the appearance of a range of key phenomena that continue to shape our world.

Originally published in 1921, this book presents a detailed discussion of antiquities, must notably stone circles, discovered in the area around Dunecht House, Aberdeenshire. The text was prepared by the archaeologist and bishop George Forrest Browne (1833-1930), following an initial invitation to create a basic guide to the discoveries for visitors to Dunecht. Illustrative figures and notes are incorporated throughout. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in archaeology and the prehistory of Aberdeenshire.

In the mountainous border region between France and Italy lies the Vallee des Merveilles. Still surprisingly remote, and dominated by Mont Bego, it contains alpine meadows, rare flora and fauna, spectacular glaciated rock formations, and over 35,000 Bronze Age rock engravings that are only free of snow for a few months of the year. Though this major archaeological site was mentioned in print around 1650, the first thorough guidebook was published in 1913 by Clarence Bicknell (1842-1918), a Cambridge graduate and Anglican clergyman who had settled on the Riviera around 1880. Bicknell published several books on the botany of the region, but it was not until the 1890s that he began in earnest to explore the petroglyphs, a project he continued into his seventies. He built up a collection of over 12,000 drawings, rubbings and photographs, which form the basis of the 46 plates that illustrate this book.

Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.

The fifth Baron Abercromby (1841-1924), a soldier and keen archaeologist, published this two-volume work in 1912. His especial interest was prehistoric pottery, and he introduced the word 'beaker' as a term to indicate the late Neolithic/Chalcolithic western European culture which produced these characteristic clay drinking vessels. His aim was to produce a chronological survey of British and Irish ceramics from the late Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Age, to classify these by type and geographical area, and to examine the goods associated with dateable pottery in burials and cremation urns. This heavily illustrated work also puts the British beakers into their European context and considers the possible indications of movements of people given by variations in style. Volume 2 discusses cinerary urns, and the grave goods, including the so-called 'pygmy urns', associated with them.

The fifth Baron Abercromby (1841-1924), a soldier and keen archaeologist, published this two-volume work in 1912. His especial interest was prehistoric pottery, and he introduced the word 'beaker' as a term to indicate the late Neolithic/Chalcolithic western European culture which produced these characteristic clay drinking vessels. His aim was to produce a chronological survey of British and Irish ceramics from the late Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Age, to classify these by type and geographical area, and to examine the goods associated with dateable pottery in burials and cremation urns. This heavily illustrated work also puts the British beakers into their European context and considers the possible indications of movements of people given by variations in style. Volume 1 examines burials, the associated grave-goods, and skeletal remains, especially skulls, which may provide ethnographic information.

Studies of creativity frequently focus on the modern era yet creativity has always been part of human history. This book explores how creativity was expressed through the medium of clay in the Bronze Age in the Carpathian Basin. Although metal is one of the defining characteristics of Bronze Age Europe, in the Carpathian Basin clay was the dominant material in many areas of life. Here the daily experience of people was, therefore, much more likely to be related to clay than bronze. Through eight thematic essays, this book considers a series of different facets of creativity. Each essay combines a broad range of theoretical insights with a specific case study of ceramic forms, sites or individual objects. This innovative volume is the first to focus on creativity in the Bronze Age and offers new insights into the rich and complex archaeology of the Carpathian Basin.

The son of a Turin lawyer, Bartolomeo Gastaldi (1818-79) initially followed in his father's footsteps but then abandoned the law to pursue his passion for geology and palaeontology. Later one of the founders of the Italian Alpine Club, Gastaldi was especially interested in the geology and glaciology of the Alps in his native Piedmont. The mineral gastaldite is named after him. This work, first published in Italian in 1862, is reissued here in the 1865 English translation prepared by Charles Harcourt Chambers (1826-76) for the Anthropological Society of London. Its importance lies in the meticulous descriptions, by Gastaldi and others, of the human remains and artefacts discovered at Stone Age and Bronze Age settlements on the site of lakes and peat bogs to the south of the Alps. Featuring engraved illustrations throughout, the work also includes Gastaldi's summary of discoveries since his book's first appearance.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfectionssuch as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed worksworldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ British Barrows: A Record Of The Examination Of Sepulchral Mounds In Various Parts Of England William Greenwell, George Rolleston Clarendon press, 1877 Craniology; England; Mounds