There have been many books, movies, and even TV commercials featuring Neandertals--some serious, some comical. But what was it really like to be a Neandertal? How were their lives similar to or different from ours?
In How to Think Like a Neandertal, archaeologist Thomas Wynn and psychologist Frederick L. Coolidge team up to provide a brilliant account of the mental life of Neandertals, drawing on the most recent fossil and archaeological remains. Indeed, some Neandertal remains are not fossilized, allowing scientists to recover samples of their genes--one specimen had the gene for red hair and, more provocatively, all had a gene called FOXP2, which is thought to be related to speech. Given the differences between their faces and ours, their voices probably sounded a bit different, and the range of consonants and vowels they could generate might have been different. But they could talk, and they had a large (perhaps huge) vocabulary--words for places, routes, techniques, individuals, and emotions. Extensive archaeological remains of stone tools and living sites (and, yes, they did often live in caves) indicate that Neandertals relied on complex technical procedures and spent most of their lives in small family groups. The authors sift the evidence that Neandertals had a symbolic culture--looking at their treatment of corpses, the use of fire, and possible body coloring--and conclude that they probably did not have a sense of the supernatural. The book explores the brutal nature of their lives, especially in northwestern Europe, where men and women with spears hunted together for mammoths and wooly rhinoceroses. They were pain tolerant, very likely taciturn, and not easy to excite.
Wynn and Coolidge offer here an eye-opening portrait of Neandertals, painting a remarkable picture of these long-vanished people and providing insight, as they go along, into our own minds and culture.

While "corridor houses" such as the House of the Tiles at Lerna have provoked widespread discussion about the origins of social stratification in Greece, few settlements of the Early Bronze Age (ca. 3100 to 2000 B.C.) have been thoroughly excavated. This important study integrates the presentation and analysis of the archaeological evidence from a single settlement that flourished on Tsoungiza Hill in the Nemea Valley from the Final Neolithic until the end of the Early Helladic period. The first section details the stratigraphy, architecture, deposits, and ceramics of each of the five major periods represented. The second section contains specialist reports on all aspects of material culture including figurines and ornaments, textiles and crafts, metal analyses, chipped and ground stone, and faunal and palaeobotanical remains.

The focus of this research is on the later prehistoric period, from the earliest constructional origins of western Scotland crannogs in the late Bronze Age through to their apparent emergence as status dwellings in the Early Historic period after the mid first millennium AD. The aim is to investigate the ways in which crannogs functioned as settlements, both on a practical, economic as well as a symbolic and socio-cultural level. Throughout, the primary concern is with contextualisation, considering crannogs within their correct chronological and cultural context through the critical analysis of dating evidence as well as the identification of the relevant ritual and symbolic themes- i.e. the Iron Age veneration of water. It is argued in this book that the stereotypical view of a crannog that has largely been derived from the results of work carried out on Irish crannogs has been misleading in the case of the Scottish sites, tending towards a view of crannogs as high-status strongholds, often as royal seats. Though crannogs were certainly a significant feature of the Early Historic period in Scotland, there is as yet no evidence of direct connections to royalty in this period and, based on the currently available evidence, the characterisation of crannogs as high status sites is misguided in the context of their late Bronze and Iron Age origins.

For more than two millennia prior to the Spanish conquest, the southern region of the central Andes was home to dozens of societies, ranging from modest chiefdoms to imperial states. Attempts to understand the political and economic dynamics of this complex region have included at least two major theories in Andean anthropology. In this pathfinding study, Charles Stanish shows that they are not exclusive and competing models, but rather can be understood as variations within a larger theoretical framework.

Stanish builds his arguments around a case study from the Moquequa region of Peru, augmented with data from Puno. He uses the "archaeological household" as his basic unit of analysis. This approach allows him to reconcile the now-classic model of zonal complementarity proposed by John Murra with the model of craft specialization and exchange offered by Maria Rostworowski de Diez Canseco. These models of political economy are analyzed with the concepts of economic anthropology in the tradition of Karl Polanyi.

For students of archaeology, Andean studies, anthropology, and economic history, Ancient Andean Political Economy will be important reading.

This report combines the data from previously recorded earthworks and excavations, with new observations of previously unexplained crop-marks to reasses settlement patterns in the watershed of the Bristol Avon River. The survey identifies several strands of evidence which suggest that the Bristol Avon Region has a distinctive character of settlement which distinguishes it from surrounding areas. The research indicates that the River Avon fulfilled a multiplicity of roles, providing boundaries, route ways, exchange zones and settlement foci for the various communities living within its watershed.

This volume makes available a vast amount of research on the Stone Age of Chukotka to a non-Russian speaking audience. Margarita Kiryak surveys the history of archaeology in the region and introduces the principal archaeological sites, before explaining her model for the periodization of the Stone Age complexes, comparative analysis of palaeolithic sites in neighbouring regions, and a discussion of problems of ethnic identification. Appendices offer illustrations of a rich variety of artefacts from the lithic assemblages.

These essays, from a session of the 15th uispp congress, investigate the ways in which prehistoric rock art interacted with the landscape to define symbolic space. The authors look at how the study of rock art can help to define prehistoric cultures and territories, as well as to symbolicaly demarcate space both in the context of a broad landscape and in, for example, an individual cave. Essays in French and English.

This useful survey aims to bring a vast amount of research and data on the Mesolithic and early Neolithic of eastern Europe to a wider English speaking audience. It consists in the main of a series of regional overviews, each presented by a specialist from that territory. They discuss important and recently excavated sites, and present radiocarbon sequences. The book also contains broader theoretical articles, and syntheses of important issues and approaches which cover the entire eastern European region.

Today the number of pitchstone-bearing sites in northern Britain has multiplied several times and approximately 20,300 worked pieces from c. 350 sites have been found; pitchstone artefacts have been reported from practically all parts of Scotland (apart from Shetland), as well as from northern England, Northern Ireland, and the Isle of Man. This report collates this information and reinterprets the distribution of pitchstone finds and the social context of pitchstone use.

This work focuses on three important British travellers to Crete during the 18th and 19th centuries to establish whether or not they made any significant contribution to the field of research with regard to the archaeological heritage of Bronze Age Crete. It brings these 'lost pioneers' of antiquity to the fore and to recognize their efforts as part of the foundation of the discovery of the island's Bronze Age archaeology prior to the groundbreaking excavations of Sir Arthur Evans. They are Richard Pococke (1704-65), Robert Pashley (1805-59) and Thomas Spratt (1811-88). Having dealt with the terms that these travellers used in describing ancient remains, the work looks briefly at the background to Bronze Age Crete itself. Thereafter the development from antiquarianism into archaeology is followed to establish the motives behind these travellers' wanderings in Crete.

This volume contains papers from two sessions at the 15th uispp congress - The creation of 'significant places' and 'landscapes' in the Northwestern half of the Iberia, during Pre and Proto-historic times. Theoretical, recording and interpretation issues from cases in this region; and Space, Memory and Identity in the European Bronze Age' . Papers come from a wide range of theoretical perspectives including neo-marxist, processualist, phenomenological and contextual.

This book looks at the 942 artifacts of foreign origin - from Anatolia, Cyprus, Egypt, Italy, Mesopotamia, and Syro-Palestine - which have been found in the late Bronze Age Aegean area. These objects represent the only group of material in the LBA Aegean that has not disintegrated or disappeared, and as such are unique in providing information about the complex trade networks of the period. Begining with a discussion of trade and transactions in the LBA, Cline then examines the literary and pictorial evidence for international trade and presents a full catalogue of objects with description, origin, and bibliographic references. Three appendices include information on raw materials, problematic objects, and disputed contexts. This information provides a useful database for those studying Aegean and Mediterranean trade.

The extraordinary wealth of ancient and historical sites on the Welsh island of Anglesey represents a microcosm of British history, from the deep Neolithic past to the Roman occupation, through the rise of the Welsh princes to the heyday of the Victorian resort of Beaumaris. It was on Anglesey that the ancient Druids took their last stand against the Roman invaders. Neil McDonald is an expert on the mythic and historical geography of Anglesey. In this fascinating book, he explores the island's heritage and countryside, providing vivid descriptions and rich historical backgrounds for its landmarks and culture. Anglesey, A Megalithic Journey combines clear writing with excellent historical understanding, the perfect guide to your own tour of the island.

Eighteen essays from the 15th uispp congress which look at the iconography and symbolism of prehistoric art, focusing in the main on rock art. Papers include reports on new discoveries, such as some schematic Neolithic and Chalcothic engravingson the Ibor River in Spain, on particular symbols, such as Neolithic cruciform designs, and broader theoretical papers on issues such as the interplay between art and shamanism or the use of new techniques such as optical 3D measurements in the interpretation of rock art. Papers in English, Spanish and French.

This volume, containing a selection of nineteen papersfrom a session at the 15th UISPP congress, tries to approach some of the building techniques, methods, and spatial organization of early architecture in Eurasia. Its goal is not to present this subject as a grand narrative of an evolutionary process of Eurasian architecture, but as a series of semiotic case studies of the building process (i.e. as studies of the geometrical forms, in two dimensions or spatial, and of the materials employed), to help the readerunderstand the importance of the materiality of the geographic formative contexts, together with the influence of social changes upon the built forms.

This volume publishes papers from a session at the 15th uispp congress which examined prehistoric fuel management. Several papers combine anthracological study with findings from modern anthropological surveys, whilst there are also two experimental papers investigating the use of bone as a fuel source, as well as one offering prehistoric evidence for this possibility. Other papers review the evidence for the management of wood as a fuel sources from excavations at Kebara and Hayonim caves in Israel and from various sites in the south of France.

Despite their ubiquitous presence among prehistoric remains in Greece, ground stone tools have yet to attract the same kind of attention as have other categories of archaeological material, such as pottery or lithics. Flexible Stones provides a detailed analysis of the material discovered during the excavations at Franchthi Cave, Peloponnese, Greece. Approximately 500 tools, the raw material used for their manufacture, as well as the byproducts of such manufacture were found. Most of this collection comes from the Neolithic component of the site including a small number of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic cases with a large number of the studied tools indicating multiple uses. Anna Stroulia sees the multifunctional character of these tools as a conscious choice that reflects a flexible attitude of tool makers and users toward tools and raw materials. A CD-Rom with 209 additional plates is included."

This study aims to reconsider current reconstructions of the Iron Age Northern Levant and the role that ceramics studies have played in these interpretations. The author presents a regional ceramic typology for the Iron Age (including the Persian period) and undertakes an analysis of the distribution patterns of this typology across the Northern Levant. An alternative interpretation of the ceramic data is offered, before being compared with the conventional historical model. This alternative reconstruction focuses on theories of practice, and foodways, whilst appreciating the dynamic manner by which material culture is used to constantly negotiate and consolidate social structures.

This study looks at the processes whereby archaeology became a formal academic subject in which degrees are awarded, and the pioneering role played by Cambridge University in this. More particularly it traces the careers of three Cambridge archaeologists crucial to this process, Miles Burkitt, Dorothy Garrod and Grahame Clark, looking at both their expeditions and excavations and their contributions to teaching and theoretical issues. Appendices publish the transcripts of interviews with archaeologists discussing their experiences of this time and of the personalities which encapsulated it.

This volume, the result of a symposium held at the University of Edinburgh in 2002, presents new research and new perspectives on prehistoric settlement in the Iron Gates region which straddles the Danube between Serbia and Romania. Although comparatively little recent fieldwork in the region has been undertaken, the contributors show how much more can be gained from existing results by using new scientific techniques.

During 1992/3 nine Later Stone Age (LSA) coastal midden sites ranging in age from 6960 BP to 290 BP, and representing 28 depositional units were excavated in the Blombosfontein Nature Reserve and in the directly adjacent Blombos Estates, situated 20 km to the west of Still Bay, southern Cape, South Africa. This monograph is based on the results derived from the author's research of these sites, including more recent data. In this monograph the term Blombosfontein i s used to cover both the Blombosfontein Nature Reserve and the Blombos Estates. The original excavations of 1992 revealed Middle Stone Age deposits but excavation in these levels was limited and the age of the deposits could not be determined. Subsequent excavations of the MSA levels show that the BBC deposits range in age from over 140 000 years to less than 300 years. Excavation of these MSA levels is continuing . The primary objectives of the initial research at Blombosfontein were to examine the economic and cultural diversity present within and across these nine coastal middens. The core of the project revolved around the excavation of the 9 sites and the subsequent analysis and interpretation of the recovered data. Contents: Chapter 1. Introduction; Chapter 2. Environment and Palaeoenvironment; Chapter 3. Ethnohistory of the Southern Cape; Chapter 4. Holocene Archaeology of the Southern Cape; Chapter 5. Site Descriptions and Radiocarbon Dates; Chapter 6. Shellfish Analysis; Chapter 7. Fauna: Mammals, Reptiles & Fish; Chapter 8. Cultural Artefacts; Chapter 9. Seasonality and Oxygen Isotope Analysis; Chapter 10. Summary & Discussion.

This study examines the relationship between the Mycenaean palatial administration and the relgious sector, asking whether the religious sector should be considered as a subsidiary part of the central administration, or with, in fact it had its own power and economic independence. The study reassesses linear B tablets, particularly those related to land-holding to reconstruct he economic activities of the sanctuaries and their religious personnel, showing them to have been involved in agriculture, animal husbandry, textile manufacture and bronze working, interacting with the palatial administration in much the same way as the secular collectors.

Papers from the session 'The Early Neolithic in the Iberian Peninsula Regional and transregional components' held at the XV UISPP World Congress, September 2006. Contents: 1) The Portalon at Cueva Mayor (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain): a new archaeological sequence (Ortega, A. I.; Juez, L.; Carretero, J. M.; Arsuaga, J. L.; Perez-Gonzalez, A.; Ortega, M. C.; Perez, R.; Perez, A.; Rodriguez, A. D.; Santos, E.; Garcia, R.; Gomez, A.; Rodriguez, L.; Martinez de Pinillos, M. & Martinez, I.); 2) Torca l'Arroyu: A new holocene site in the centre of Asturias (North of Spain) (Rogelio Estrada Garcia, Jesus F. Jorda Pardo, Joan S. Mestres Torres and Jose Yravedra Sainz de los Terreros); 3) From "Inland Neolithic" to "Neolithic dwelling in the inland": the role of homogeneous and heterogeneous elements on the explanation of earlier agricultural stages in Central Spain (Enrique Cerrillo Cuenca); 4) Neolithisation et structure sociale: donnees et discussion dans le nord-est de l'Espagne pour (Clop, Xavier; Gibaja, Juan Francisco); 5) El Valle de Ambrona (Soria, Espana): un referente cronologico para la primera ocupacion neolitica del interior peninsular (Manuel A. Rojo-Guerra, Rafael Garrido-Pena e Inigo Garcia-Martinez-de-Lagran); 6) Neolithisation process in lower Tagus valley left bank: old perspectives and new data (Cesar Neves, Filipa Rodrigues, Mariana Diniz); 7) Early Neolithic at the Serpis Valley, Alicante, Spain (J. Bernabeu Auban, LL. Molina Balaguer, T. Orozco Kohler, A. Diez Castillo, C.M. Barton); 8) Sources of monumentality: standing stones in context (Fontainhas, Alentejo Central, Portugal) (Manuel Calado, Leonor Rocha); Castelo Belinho (Algarve, Portugal) and the first Southwest Iberian Villages (Mario Varela Gomes).

A study of tenure through analysis of land divisions in Bronze Age Dartmoor. Methods used include spatial analysis of land division and settlement patterns, metrological analysis, experimental reconstruction and synthesis of palaeoenvironmental, excavation and artefactual data. The findings suggest that tenure on Dartmoor was not an exclusive individual right, but involved inclusive claims and obligations held in persons and groups - in short that it should be seen more in terms of identity.

Pampa Grande, the largest and most powerful city of the Mochica (Moche) culture on the north coast of Peru, was built, inhabited, and abandoned during the period A.D. 550-700. It is extremely important archaeologically as one of the few pre-Hispanic cities in South America for which there are enough reliable data to reconstruct a model of pre-Hispanic urbanism. This book presents a "biography" of Pampa Grande that offers a reconstruction not only of the site itself but also of the sociocultural and economic environment in which it was built and abandoned. Izumi Shimada argues that Pampa Grande was established rapidly and without outside influence at a strategic position at the neck of the Lambayeque Valley that gave it control over intervalley canals and their agricultural potential and allowed it to gain political dominance over local populations. Study of the site itself leads him to posit a large resident population made up of transplanted Mochica and local non-Mochica groups with a social hierarchy of at least three tiers.