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'Metropolitan'
and 'Parochial'/'Core' and 'Periphery': a historiography of the Neolithic
of Scotland Energetic Activities of Commoners Excavations at Koongine Cave: Lithics & Land-use in the Terminal Pleistocene & Holocene of South Australia A Prehistoric Field System and Related Monuments on St David's Head and Carn Llidi, Pembrokeshire Excavations at a Neolithic Cursus, Springfield, Essex, 1979-85 A Late Bronze Age Human Skull and Associated Worked Wood from a Lancashire Wetland New AMS dates from Upper Palaeolithic Kastritsa Revisiting the Earliest Human Presence in Mallorca, Western Mediterranean The Lower Palaeolithic Industry from Azé Cave (Saône et Loire) France: a case study of an assemblage without any handaxes A Very Model of a Modern Human Industry: New perspectives on the origins and spread of the Aurignacian in Europe Palaeolithic Archaeology at the Swan Valley Community School, Swanscombe, Kent
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'Metropolitan' and 'Parochial'/'Core' and 'Periphery': a historiography
of the Neolithic of Scotland By Gordon J. Barclay This
paper sets explores some of the ways in which the cultural and political
history of the United Kingdom has affected writing about the Neolithic
in what is now Scotland. It use the terms 'core' and 'periphery' as
they have been applied by historiographers writing about the operation
of the cultural and political relations within the United Kingdom in
the last three centuries. The paper is in two parts. The first part
presents a summary of relevant literature generated by 20 years of debate
about Scottish and 'British' identity, history, literature, and culture.
The second part considers the ways in which the general issues have
affected the writing of Scottish prehistory, concentrating on the Neolithic
of lowland Scotland and examining in particular the writings and influence
of Fox, Childe, Piggott, and Atkinson. Energetic
Activities of Commoners Sir Grahame Clark's interests in wetland archaeology
were not restricted to his pioneering work at Star Carr and much of
his writing was illuminated by his wide knowledge of the fruits of wetland
research in many parts of the world. The paper presents the case for
wetland archaeology, to show how it has expanded our knowledge of the
past and has made prehistory more colourful and dynamic to both archaeologists
and the public. In seeking the patterns of behaviour that existed in
the past, six key elements contribute to our studies: environment and
change; economy and subsistence; stratification and context; structures
and activities; chronology and precision; and range of material culture.
The evidence for all of these aspects is well-preserved in many wetland
environments, and a number of key sites are identified and assessed
for their contribution to prehistoric studies. Excavations at Koongine
Cave: Lithics & Land-use in the Terminal Pleistocene & Holocene
of South Australia Koongine is a sizeable limestone cave set in a low
ridge some 4 km from the sea in the lower South-east of South Australia.
It was used for about 2000 years at the transition from the Pleistocene
to Holocene, and then again during the last millennium. The sequence
at this site exposes issues of the appropriate scale and form of explanation
for changes in site use. The stratified deposits of stone artefacts
provide an opportunity to define for the first time the nature of the
'Gambieran' Industry. This spatially and temporally restricted industry
characterised by large convex scrapers made on large, often asymmetrical,
flakes is otherwise known mainly from older surface collections. The
formal definition of this local industry adds to the growing evidence
of considerable variation in the earlier stone tools of Australia, and
provides an additional basis for rejecting the concept of a widespread
Core Tool and Scraper Tradition, and replacing it with a model which
recognises a mosaic of different tool-making traditions embedded in
local social, economic, and technological contexts. A
Prehistoric Field System and Related Monuments on St David's Head and
Carn Llidi, Pembrokeshire This short paper describes the remains of prehistoric
settlements, chambered tombs, a promontory fort, a prehistoric defensive
wall, a rectilinear field system, and other field systems on marginal
land at St David's Head. Antiquarians and archaeologists have known
of these remains for over two centuries, but it is only through modern
surveying techniques and aerial photography that their true nature can
be appreciated. The defensive wall and associated rectilinear field
system could have originated from the 2nd millennium BC through to the
1st millennium BC. Other field systems and settlements are likely to
be of later prehistoric or Romano-British origin. Elements of the field
systems have influenced and are preserved in the modern 'Pembrokeshire'
landscape which borders the headland. Excavations
at a Neolithic Cursus, Springfield, Essex, 1979-85 A long cropmark enclosure at Springfield, Essex, interpreted
as a Neolithic cursus, was investigated between 1979-85 to confirm its
date and establish a site sequence. The enclosure was c. 690 m long
and 37-49 m wide, the ditch being uninterrupted in all areas examined.
Features within the interior at the eastern end included an incomplete
ring of substantial post-pits which it is suggested originally formed
a complete circle. Peterborough pottery, predominately Mortlake style,
Grooved Ware, a small amount of Beaker pottery, earlier Bronze Age urn
sherds, and flint artefacts of the late 3rd-early 2nd millennium were
recovered from the cursus ditch and other features. Collectively the
evidence indicates a prolonged period of use. The results of the excavations
are described, the site is discussed in its local and regional context
and the implications of the excavation for our understanding of cursus
monuments are considered. A
Late Bronze Age Human Skull and Associated Worked Wood from a Lancashire
Wetland A recurring theme of the Late Bronze Age is the apparent
association between deliberate deposition of material and wet places.
Recently, a human skull has been discovered within the basal sediments
of a relict mire at Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, dating to the later
Bronze Age (c. 1250-840 cal BC). The find, which belonged to a c. 25-35
year old male, was located within a layer of silty wood peat c. 1 m
deep, representing the ancient root system of a hazel copse and containing
many hazelnuts and some charcoal. Palaeopathological investigation established
the likelihood that the skull had decomposed before deposition and there
are strong parallels between the find and its context and other prehistoric
skulls recorded from British wetlands. The connection of the human remains
with considerable amounts of hazel wood may also be of significance
when viewed within the wider context of similar associations recorded
from European bog-bodies. During the course of excavation and survey
of the site worked wood fragments were recovered indicating both human
and animal (beaver) activity, dating to the later Bronze Age and Early
Iron Age respectively. The stratigraphic sequence indicated that organic
sedimentation resulted from the rapid flooding of a formerly relatively
dry landscape, perhaps as a result of the effects of beaver damming
- a possibility which may hold wider implications for the archaeological
interpretation of prehistoric pollen data. New AMS dates from
Upper Palaeolithic Kastritsa This paper discusses the implications of recently
obtained AMS radiocarbon dates from Kastritsa that push the earliest
and latest occupations back by c. 2000 years from previous determinations.
According to the new dates, human use of Kastritsa did not continue
into the Late Glacial (c. 15,000-10,000) as has hitherto been thought.
As a result, ideas about Upper Palaeolithic settlement in Epirus are
revised. Revisiting the Earliest
Human Presence in Mallorca, Western Mediterranean A new date for the assumed first humans in Mallorca
disagrees strongly with the earliest dating of them. New light on the
first settlement of Mallorca comes from the discussion of datings and
the review of the empirical evidence for that settlement. We conclude
that human arrival on Mallorca must be situated in the 3rd millennium
cal BC. The Lower
Palaeolithic Industry from Azé Cave (Saône et Loire) France:
a case study of an assemblage without any handaxes The Azé Cave (Saône-et-Loire, France)
has yielded, among other archaeological and palaeontological remains,
a Lower Palaeolithic industry within a layer dated through faunal remains
to 400-350 kya. This industry is made up of local rocks, mostly poor
quality flint, and also chert and crystalline rocks. A Very Model of a Modern
Human Industry: New perspectives on the origins and spread of the Aurignacian
in Europe This paper accepts the position that the European
Aurignacian should be seen as a reflection of behaviour connected to
a modern human dispersal. A two-phase dispersal model ('Pioneer' and
'Developed' facies) is proposed to explain the variations in artefactual
diversity and spatio-temporal patterning, enacted by directional, rapid
movement across the continent rather than by a 'Wave-of-Advance'. Presumed
behavioural signatures of this population dispersal, notably what is
here termed 'behavioural flexibility', are also explored. Palaeolithic Archaeology
at the Swan Valley Community School, Swanscombe, Kent This paper reports on the recovery of Palaeolithic
flint artefacts and faunal remains from fluvial gravels at the base
of a sequence of Pleistocene sediments revealed during construction
works at two sites to the south of Swanscombe village. Although outside
the mapped extent of the Boyn Hill/Orsett Formation, the newly discovered
deposits can be firmly correlated with the Middle Gravels and Upper
Loam from the Barnfield Pit sequence dating to c. 400,000-380,000 BP.
This increases greatly the known extent of these deposits, one horizon
of which produced the Swanscombe Skull, and has provided more information
on their upper part.
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