Books in the British Archaeological Reports International Series series

South Asian Archaeology Series No 6

This book includes papers from the seventh annual conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO), held at the Museum of London in 2005.

This volume publishes the contributions to a research project involving 37 authors to examine the evolution of the idea of the precious stone looking at the role of objects considered to have aesthetic value in a wide range of cultures and time periods although focusing on the emergence of the concept in the palaeolithic. French text.

The spectacular physical presence of the rock engravings of the International Tagus raised, in the 1970s, the need to explain the symbolic expressions of a population that until then had been described as virtually inexistent and, as a matter of course, of little importance to the cultural panorama of Iberian Late Prehistory. This volume gathers together the research effort of the teams that over the past 25 years have developed archaeological interventions in the central area of the International Tagus.

Using northeast Thailand as a model, this work uses stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen to infer paleodietary change in subtropical monsoon Asia. It is hypothesized that in northeast Thailand during the pre-state Metal Age (2000 B.C. to A.D. 500) there are distinct differences among the populations during this time period which coincide with human induced environmental changes and developments of alternative subsistence technologies. It is further hypothesized that female and male diets differed, possibly from social circumstances, such as sex related food accessibility. The archaeological skeletal series is from Ban Chiang, Ban Na Di, Ban Lum Khao, and Noen U-Loke. Stable isotope analysis of local flora and fauna provide a baseline for interpreting stable isotope data from human samples for this and future studies of paleodiet. This work makes a significant contribution to studies of subsistence changes from extensive to intensive agriculture in subtropical monsoon Asia. This research is relevant to debates of agricultural change as well as the effect of cultural changes on subsistence patterns and the evolution of human diet.

This book presents the results of archaeological research in the extreme south of Madagascar between 1991 and 2003, and provides a synthesis of the region's archaeology. Madagascar is an island with many unique species of fauna and flora; its extreme south is a semi-arid region with remarkable vegetational adaptations. Before the arrival of humans, there were many species of megafauna of which the most extraordinary were the flightless elephant birds, the largest avian species in the world. Today the inhabitants of the south have adapted to this aridity with a vibrant culture and strong traditions. The dating of the first colonisation of Madagascar is not certain, but certain sites in the southwest have provided radiocarbon dates towards the end of the first millennium BC. From the tenth to thirteenth century, there was a well-developed civilisation in the south. During the fourteenth century, population numbers fell in the far south and the majority of settlements from this period are found in locations chosen for their defensive aspects. The way of life that evolved in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries is similar to that of recent times and today. Europeans arrived at the beginning of the sixteenth century and, by the mid-seventeenth century, the French had established a colony at Fort-Dauphin on the southeast coast. The people of the south are well known today for their large and elaborate stone tombs and standing stones. However, this is not a particularly ancient tradition. Before the appearance of these monumental funerary constructions, burials were marked by arrangements of small stone uprights or by wooden palisades. The large stone tombs that are such a dominant feature of today's landscape have their origins in standing-stone monuments around the end of the eighteenth century.Mike Parker Pearson with Karen Godden, Ramilisonina, Retsihisatse, Jean-Luc Schwenninger, Georges Heurtebize, Chantal Radimilahy and Helen Smith.With contributions by Irene de Luis, David Barker, Seth Priestman, Lucien Rakotozafy, Bako Rasoarifetra, Alan Vince, Zoë Crossland and Brian Boyd.

Edited by Suzanne M. M. Young, A. Mark Pollard, Paul Budd and Robert A. IxerThe book includes 43 papers which deal with various aspects of metals, metallurgy and metalworking in antiquity. Areas covered stretch from China, Americas to Europe. The general goal was to explore the distribution of metals in the natural environment, extractive metallurgy and fabrication processes, as well as social context, use and deposition of artefacts, and combine anthropology, archaeology and the earth sciences.

Collection of thirteen papers which furnish a comprehensive view of the prehistoric archaeology of Jordan. There are seven overviews of the major periods stretching from the Lower Palaeolithic to the Late Neolithic, followed by summaries of areal investigations and views of Jordanian prehistory from the perspectives of neighbouring regions.

The dry stone structures that are the subject of this book are located in the Mandara mountains of the Extreme North province of Cameroon and are known to the Mafa who live among them as diy-ged-bay, best glossed as "ruins of chiefly residence". From this the term "DGB site" is derived, having the advantages of brevity and of lacking implications regarding function. Following the introduction, chapter 2 presents basic information on all known DGB sites and suggests a typology. Chapter 3 is an account of the excavation and dating of DGB-2 emphasizing its complex sequence of construction and reconstruction. Chapter 4 similarly presents the excavation of DGB-8. In chapter 5 there is an analysis of the artifacts and ecofacts from the excavated sites and the light they throw upon the cultural sequences. Chapter 6 begins by extending the discussion of cultural sequence to the full set of sites. It then briefly evaluates and discards a number of the functional interpretations that were suggested prior to extensive fieldwork and excavation. Finally, by considering the archaeological evidence in the context of regional ethnology and the environmental record, a case is built for their having been centers of community ritual and performance related to water and reproduction. In chapter 7 Gerhard Müller-Kosack investigates concepts and traditions held by the Mafa regarding the population of the region and the builders of the sites. While these traditions throw little or no light on DGB culture, Judy Sterner shows that the DGB sites have had the more recent, turbulent, history of the region projected upon them. Finally, chapter 8 returns to the theoretical questions raised above and, after considering the energetics of DGB site construction, reassesses the sites in terms of the agential processes that brought them into being and the influence that they in turn exerted on their builders. A final section places the DGB culture in its broader archaeological and cultural context.With contributions by Judy Klassen, Scott MacEachern, Jean Maley, Gerhard Müller-Kosack, Andrea Richardson and Judy Sterner

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. In the end, the study offers one perspective on the compatibility of archaeological data and the historical text, and makes some final recommendations for their correlation.

This is the publication of the late Avner Raban's wide-ranging work on the harbour of Sebastos (Caesarea Maritima), completed and edited by his colleagues under the aegis of Michal Artzy.Edited by M. Artzy, B. Goodman and Z. Gal

This volume discusses the role of organic residue analysis in identifying economic activities and subsistence practices associated with the first uses of pottery in the Middle East, and presents the results of analysis of 280 potsherds recovered from 22 Neolithic and early Chalcolithic settlements dating between 7300 and 4300 cal BC.

This volume, edited by John Bintliff and Hanna Stöger, consists of 24 papers and an introduction covering recent developments in the Medieval and Post-Medieval Archaeology of Greece. These are revised and updated articles from a conference organized at the University of Corfu. The contributions are grouped under the following themes: Landscape Studies, Individual Site Studies, Medieval and Ottoman Mytilene, Vernacular Architecture, Ceramics and Material Culture, Early Modern Ethnoarchaeology and Heritage and Perception. The collection provides an excellent introduction into current research in till-recently neglected eras of Aegean Archaeology.

Paris Monographs in American Archaeology 13The site of Caseta in the Sayula Basin (Jalisco, Mexico) was discovered in 1992 and immediately became the focus for a rescue project because of its archaeological importance. Over the following seasons, the funerary assemblages took on an increased significance, representing as they did, finds from the Usmajac phase (300/400 BC) to the Amacueca (1100-1500 AD), and by way of their differences from the usual characteristic features of the vicinity. Analysis of this funerary material revealed socio-cultural as well as archaeo-biological insights into the populations over a relatively long period before the hispanicisation of the Sayula Basin. Chapters 1 & 2 are devoted to a general overview of the region and the site. Chapters 3-5 detail the finds. The cultural and biological nature of the finds are discussed in Chapters 6 & 7, while Chapters 8 & 9 concentrate on comparative studies and synthesis.

Artefacts are meaningless until viewed in their chronological, spatial and functional context. Archaeological interpretation relies unequivocally on the integrity of these affiliations. The archaeological record, however, is not static. It is part of a dynamic natural system that is constantly being changed and reworked. The importance of this fact is that these natural systems can affect the inferences that archaeologists make. Natural site formation processes must be understood before using the archaeological record for interpretations. There are many natural processes that can affect the record, including biological factors and physical agencies. The potential processes available for study are vast and as a result, within this work a selected set of site formation processes are considered in detail. Of the extensive array of natural processes at work in site formation, a predominant part of the equation is the action of sedimentation. Various past studies in site formation are based on sedimentation in a fluvial environment and have dealt with lake margins only in a cursory manner. It is this geomorphological process in a near shore environment that will be examined for its effect upon archaeological sites and the material artefact record. The archaeological remains examined in this work are possibly Plio-Pleistocene occurrences from East and Central Africa. Chapter One sets out to describe the importance of understanding lake margin processes as well as to describe the scope of this work. Chapter Two includes a discussion of the methodology and background for this research. It will provide the necessary information for an understanding of some of the pertinent geomorphological processes at work at a lake margin. Chapter Three is a presentation of the methodology and results of each site formation experiment conducted. It includes a description of each experiment, summary and descriptive statistics, a discussion of the findings and a summary of results as indicators of archaeological site transformation. Since a single model analogue used exclusively in taphonomic and site formation analysis may be a simplistic approach to a complex situation, actualistic studies outlining alternative models are examined in Chapter Four. It is a comparative study of the effects of a lacustrine incursion with all other known agencies that have potential for transforming an archaeological site. Chapter Five is an application of the results to Naiyena Engol from Lake Turkana, Kenya and Senga 5A from Zaire, the first being a Plio-Pleistocene archaeological site and the second being an occurrence that has variously been interpreted as Pliocene to Holocene in age. Chapter Six is a conclusion and summary of the findings.

NAS Monograph Series No.2Gerhard Kapitän, born in Meissen (Dresden, Germany) on the 23rd April 1924, is a scholar whose main field of study is maritime archaeology and ethnography. This book is Gerhard Kapitän's inventory of traditional Sri Lankan watercraft and his great achievement. Prepared for publication by Gerald Grainge, in association with Somasiri Devendra, the volume represents Kapitän's collection of scale drawings and photographs of traditional watercraft from west and south Sri Lanka. The material submitted consisted of Kapitän's drawings, photographs and captions - still the centrepiece of the book - together with a brief introductory overview by the author (Chapter 2) and an early draft of his classification of the watercraft of Sri Lanka (Chapter 4) along with brief notes on each of the drawings. The editor has written up a brief introductory comment to each of the chapters, based on what Gerhard Kapitän had previously published. Kapitän passionately believed in the importance of the traditional watercraft of Sri Lanka in terms of heritage, not only for Sri Lanka, but for the world. His vision of a maritime museum to preserve these craft was realized in 1992 in the old Dutch warehouse, situated near the Old Gate of Galle Fort, but unfortunately it was devastated by the 2004 tsunami. This volume, an important contribution to nautical archaeology, presents a unique record of the traditional craft that plied, and in many cases still plies, around the coastal waters of Sri Lanka.

Society for South Asian Studies Monograph No 2

Report of the 1995 and 1996 excavations at the site of Lao Pako, situated c. 40 km from Vientiane at the bank of Nâm Ngum River in Laos. The artefacts and other material give evidence of many different kinds of activities going on about 1600 years ago. The importance of the site in manufacturing of or trading with pottery is indicated by the 45 complete buried jars and 270 kilos of pottery sherds. Further finds include slag, iron artefacts etc. The inhabitants belonged to the same large cultural group as those occupying sites such as Ban Na Di, Ban Chiang and Ban Chiang Han. This culture is distinctively different to groups living at the same time in southern China.

Intrigued by this mundane, ubiquitous vessel, the author of this study began to collect data from amphora related burials with the intention of drawing parallels between Roman lifestyles and changing funerary practices in Gaul. As the data collection grew, it became apparent that not all of the burial contexts that contained amphorae qualified as élite burials. Some contained sherds rather than complete amphorae, together with potsherds and fragmentary goods. Convinced that sherd burials hinted at a localised tradition, details were added to the growing database of evidence. This study therefore aims to understand this relationship through interrogation of the reasons for the selection of amphorae and their treatment in the light of mortuary practice. While amphorae are still the key to this study, it is recognised that the significance of the vessels must be relative to cultural and social contexts; therefore the focus of this study widens from being a study of amphora in burials to a study of funerary behaviour and attitudes in which amphorae are incidental. The work is divided into three parts. The first section explores the development of feasting rituals in Iron Age Europe using the evidence of mythic literature, classical texts and iconography. Chapters 2 and 3 identify, describe, differentiate and analyse the feasting customs of Greek and Roman societies in order to lay a foundation for a comparative interpretation of Celtic or Gallic feasting ritual in Chapter 4. Chapter 4, as well as reviewing the classical observation of authors such as Tacitus and Strabo who describe the Gauls through Roman eyes, also introduces the corroboration of later Irish mythic in which 'Celtic' feasting plays a part. In Chapter 5 the textual sources are supported by the artefactual evidence of feasting vessels, furnishings and accommodation which were particular to feasting. Chapter 6 comments on the rise of powerful individuals and the social changes which may have culminated in a series of Gallic burials containing wine-related vessels. In part II three chapters are concerned with the disposal of both human and non-human material. Chapter 7 lists 265 Late Iron Age burials of Gallic Europe which contain amphorae, either in complete or sherd form. Though the initial recording of interments may have been included in a cemetery record, in this instance each burial is treated as a unique ceremony and is accorded an individual account. The amphora burials of the Champagne region are considered in full detail in Chapter 8. A body of evidence presenting similar ideology to that of amphorae burials is that of 'funerary' pits, which contain artefactual deposits associated with wine. These are considered in Chapter 9. Part III, the concluding Chapter 10, provides an interpretation of the assembled evidence, and attempts to justify conclusions.

Hypogean Archaeology No 1Written by Roberto Basilico, Luigi Bavagnoli, Stefano Del Lungo, Gianluca Padovan and Klaus Peter WilkeTranslation by Ivana Micheli

Translated from Russian by N.S. Makhortykh

A unique study of 26 rare wooden mosques from Samsun, in the Central Black Sea Region, and as much a travel account of the author's personal ambition to record these vanishing structures as it is a detailed study of these charming monuments themselves. "I began this study with travelling and finished it in the same way. During the journeys I took along the Istanbul-Samsun, Istanbul-Melbourne and Istanbul-Amasya routes, my heavy bag filled up with an ever increasing number of documents that took up the most important corner of the places where I stayed. Even during the times I was not able to work for a number of weeks due to health problems and other reasons, they were always on my mind and before my eyes." (from the author's Foreword)

Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 75During 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 is 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.

Written records of knowledge in the pre-Columbian New World are virtually non-existent (in contrast to an abundance of such records for ancient China and the Near East). Consequently chemical knowledge in the Americas, prior to the arrival of Europeans, is poorly documented. The arts and technologies discussed in this volume are those known to have existed in pre-Columbian times, as well as those thought to have been developed by native peoples (independently of foreign influence) during the five centuries since the European conquest of the Americas began.

South Asian Archaeology Series No. 10

La necropoli di Capestrano (AQ), celebre per la famosa statua di guerriero, rappresenta il sito archeologico più noto dell'età preromana dell'Italia medio-adriatica. Fin dal 1934 gli scavi archeologici hanno scoperto una complessa area funeraria databile al periodo tra VIII sec. a.C. e gli inizi del II sec. d.C. per un totale di circa 500 tombe. Nel primo volume gli autori offrono un catalogo completo degli scavi condotti nell'area di Fossascopana, il settore centrale della necropoli, tra il 2003 e il 2009. La completa documentazione delle indagini archeologiche qui condotte include: storia delle ricerche, aspetti del rituale funerario, tipologia degli oggetti di corredo, indicatori dell'organizzazione sociale, analisi tafonomica, dati antropologici e paleopatologici.The necropolis of Capestrano (AQ, Abruzzo), well-known for its warrior statue, is the most famous archaeological site of the pre-Roman middle-Adriatic area of Italy. From 1934 onwards, archaeological investigations have uncovered a complex funerary area dating to the period between the 8th century BC and the 2nd century AD, with a total of about 500 burials. In this first volume, the authors offer a complete catalogue of the excavation in the Fossascopana, a central sector of the necropolis, investigated between 2003 and 2009. They present a documented review of the history of research on the site, archaeological artefact typologies, funerary aspects, burial rituals and social organization, alongside taphonomic, anthropological and palaeopathological data.With contributions by Silvia D'Alessandro, Francesca Delle Grazie, Serafino Lorenzo Ferreri, Francesca Mancini, Stefania Montanaro, Federica Properzio, Elena Rossi, Laura Sagripanti and Serena Torello Di Nino

Proceedings of the International Congress Verona (Italy) 20-23 April 2005This book includes papers from the congress: Prehistoric Technology 40 Years Later: Functional Studies and the Russian Legacy held in Verona (Italy), 20-23 April 2005. Sessions: Methodology (seven contributions); Hunter-Gatherers (nine contributions); Food Producers (eight contributions); Complex Polities (six contributions); Burial Context (six contributions); Posters (thirty-two contributions); Round Table (eight contributions).Edited by Laura Longo and Natalia Skakun with the assistance of Massimo Saracino and Martina Dalla Riva.

The building process of the Egyptian pyramids has been the subject of many publications. However, a thorough review of this literature reveals that only certain aspects of this process have been studied in isolation, without taking into account the interaction between various activities involved, such as quarrying, transportation and building and without a sound quantitative basis. The present study aims at filling this gap by means of an integrated mathematical model. Attention is focussed on the largest pyramid, the one built by Cheops. The model simulates an efficient project co-ordination by balancing supply and demand of the building material, with all the activities related to the growth of the pyramid and by assuming a constant total workforce. It enables the reader to determine the effects of different building methods and of the productivity of the workers. Three building methods have been studied, successively making use of a linear ramp, of a spiral ramp and of levers. These methods are compared in terms of the number of men and man-years required. Calculations have been carried out for two sets of input data, indicated as base case and maximum case. In addition to the development of a comprehensive model for the construction of the pyramids,this work also contains a comparative analysis of other publications dealing with this subject.

The book analyses exchange and trade in their social contexts, during the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, with a professed interest in long-term changes occurring over a vast area of central and eastern Europe. Different areas of central Europe were united by symbolic and commercial systems.