Documenting the results of some ten years of fieldwork, this volume explores the prehistoric occupation of a small valley near Broom, on the Bedfordshire gravels. It traces a biography of the landscape from the later Mesolithic through to the Iron Age, a sequence that saw profound changes in the character, scale and temporality of occupation. Undertaken in advance of gravel extraction, the scale of the fieldwork reported here made it possibe to track not only the sequence of occupation, but also how prehistoric communities encountered, appropriated or ignored the 'archaeology' of their time. Set against sequences from across southern England, this work sheds important light on the relationship between local histories and broader processes, and on the complex and geographically varied ways in which the past itself was understood in the past.

The dawn of art is sometimes equated with the birth of the human spirit. But when and how did figuration - sculpture, painting, drawing - actually begin? And did these first figurative creations coincide with the emergence of our own species, Homo sapiens ? Is figuration a general and fundamental feature of the human condition? In this challenging volume leading experts review the evidence now available from the worldwide practice of prehistoric archaeology, and go on to formulate some important conclusions. The scope of this work is global. It sets out to explore the first stirrings of artistic endeavour and of figurative imagery on each continent, and to consider the social context in which they arose. It will be a fundamental resource for all those seeking to understand the origins of art and the beginnings of human spirituality.

Extensively illustrated with colour and black and white images, this book tells Clarendon's story, from the Neolithic through to the present day. It focuses in particular on the palace and deer park's medieval heyday. Soon after the Norman conquest, Clarendon in Wiltshire became the country retreat of the kings and queens of England. Clarendon was large enough to host up to 2000 people, but it also had intimate suites for private life: royalty could govern and relax, whilst indulging their passion for hunting. Here in 1164 Henry II confronted Thomas Becket, and it was here that the Plantagenets sustained their grandest palace outside London and the largest deer park in the kingdom. The visitor to the park today will find this medieval landscape still recognisable and more or less intact. Yet until comparatively recently, it remained secret and undiscovered. This impecably-researched and very readable history draws on multiple sources to bring the past of this great royal landscape to life. The park is rich in Prehistoric remains, but it is the historic period which excites archaeological attention. The authors explore Saxon Clarendon and chart the Norman creation of the deer park and the building of the palace. They also cover the centuries since the Restoration: in 1660 Clarendon became a private country estate that came to express Protestant, Tory and military values.

This book brings to public attention some of the most evocative and threatened features of the landscape of southern England. Water meadows work with nature to improve agricultural productivity, whilst providing rich habitats for wildlife such as water voles, waders and grass snakes. They are areas of low-lying grassland which are regularly 'drowned' - artificially irrigated - at certain times of the year, to stimulate the early growth of grass in the spring. Only a few remain in operation today, though they played a crucial role in Britains past farming economy. Their archaeological remains can be found all over southern England, with Hampshire and Wiltshire having perhaps the best surviving examples. In this book leading archaeologists and scientists - together with one of the last practising 'drowners' - explore the ecology and history of water meadows. They ask when and where the art of floating originated, and explain its hydrology. They also investigate water meadows conservation status and potential for the future.

Kelmscott Manor is forever linked with the name of William Morris, pioneer conservationist and utopian socialist, designer and father of the Arts and Crafts tradition. The manor played a crucial role in shaping his thought: at the climactic moment of his futuristic novel, News from Nowhere, Morris lifts the latch of the Manor's garden gate and finds his personal holy grail. Morris was drawn by the organic relationship between Kelmscott and its landscape: the linkage of stone walls and roof tiles to the geology and the soil, and the honest toil of the people to the agricultural cycle. The fruits of the Kelmscott Landscape Project established in 1996 by the Society of Antiquaries of London, the owners of Kelmscott Manor today, this book is a multi-faceted examination of Kelmscott's history. Archaeology, from prehistory to the present day, the architectural development of the Manor before and after Morris knew it, and the art that the village and Manor have inspired all receive rich, illustrated coverage. The result is a vivid portrait of a Thames-side village transformed by its association with Morris, a book which demonstrates the rich connections between culture and landscape in a particular place.

These two volumes report on five season's excavation and four millennia of occupation at Kilise Tepe, from the Early Bronze Age through the rise and fall of the Hittite Empire and into the Byzantine era when the mound was crowned by a substantial church. The site takes its importance from its position guarding the Göksu Valley, one of the two main routes from the interior of Anatolia to the Mediterranean opposite Cyprus, so that it gives a record of relations between the interior and the seaboard. Of particular interest are the sequence from the Hittite Empire through the end of the Bronze Age and into the classical world, and the Byzantine levels associated with the church. The multi-authored report gives a full account of the stratigraphy and architecture, the ceramics and other artefacts, and various environmental studies.

The current conception of the absolute chronology of the Italian Copper Age to the end of the Early Iron Age is set out in this new title from the British Museum. Some 850 objects have been arranged chronologically from the Copper Age, through the Bronze Age, to the Early Iron Age. Within these headings, the objects are organised typologically e. g. axes, swords etc. A major result of this study has been the reassembly of several groups of bronzes probably originally from hoards. Each entry includes a description, bibliogrpahy and comparanda and line drawing or photgraph.

Redevelopment of Paternoster Square in 2000-2001 provided the opportunity to reassess 1960s work at the site and review Roman activity on the western hill, south of the main east-west road from London to Silchester. Natural stream channels recorded at Paternoster and nearby sites drained south-westwards towards the Fleet river, rather than to the Thames as had been previously thought. The earliest Roman activity was associated with the c. AD 50 establishment of the main road, contemporary quarries and boundary ditches. One ditch contained two young male inhumation burials and a dog skeleton. Rudimentary buildings south of the road may have been briefly used during initial construction activity. Clay and timber strip buildings along the south side of the main road, and secondary roads leading southwards, date to the pre-Boudican period. The roads and roadside properties were re-established after the Boudican fire. Late 1st-century buildings included residential, commercial and small-scale industrial activities. Two 2nd-century kilns may be associated with brass making and include a crucible. Glassworking debris and furnace material was probably redeposited from nearby. Post-Hadrianic occupation included substantial buildings with tessellated floors and painted plaster walls set back from the roads. Activity declined in the later Roman period and five 4th-century burials cut into a disused secondary road. The southwest part of the site was largely external, with evidence for animal husbandry and bread wheat preparation, rare within Roman contexts. The large assembly of pre-Boudican pottery and other finds from the site includes Lyon ware and types of hinged brooches often associated with the military. A copper-alloy name-tag identified an auxiliary soldier, probably from the lower Rhineland or Cologne, and the early animal bone assemblage was made up of high status kitchen waste of the sort produced by army supply trains, but the overall evidence could indicate a civil context which includes some military involvement.

This edited volume of 16 papers provides an introduction to the techniques and methodologies, approaches and potential of environmental archaeology within Ireland. Each of the 16 invited contributions focuses on a particular aspect of environmental archaeology and include such specialist areas as radiocarbon dating, dendrochronology, palaeoentomology, human osteoarchaeology, palynology and geoarchaeology, thereby providing a comprehensive overview of environmental archaeology within an Irish context. The inclusion of pertinent case studies within each chapter will heighten awareness of the profusion of high standard environmental archaeological research that is currently being undertaken on Irish material. The book will provide a key text for students and practitioners of archaeology, archaeological science and palaeoecology.

Excavations 1976-90 at the priory of St Mary Merton revealed much about the layout and development of this monastery from the 12th century to the Dissolution. Founded on its present site beside the Wandle river, c 11.3km south-west of London, in 1117, Merton was one of the most influential of all the English houses of regular canons, and was much favoured by Henry III. Of particular interest are the monastic infirmary complex - hall, chapel, cloister and ancillary buildings - and the large number (700+) of burials excavated from the external cemetery, church, cloister and chapter house.

Dates form the backbone of written history. But where do these dates come from? Many different calendars were used in the ancient world. Some of these calendars were based upon observations or calculations of regular astronomical phenomena, such as the first sighting of the new moon crescent that defined the beginning of the month in many calendars, while others incorporated schematic simplifications of these phenomena, such as the 360-day year used in early Mesopotamian administrative practices in order to simplify accounting procedures. Historians frequently use handbooks and tables for converting dates in ancient calendars into the familiar BC/AD calendar that we use today. But very few historians understand how these tables have come about, or what assumptions have been made in their construction. The seven papers in this volume provide an answer to the question what do we know about the operation of calendars in the ancient world, and just as importantly how do we know it? Topics covered include the ancient and modern history of the Egyptian 365-day calendar, astronomical and administrative calendars in ancient Mesopotamia, and the development of astronomical calendars in ancient Greece. This book will be of interest to ancient historians, historians of science, astronomers who use early astronomical records, and anyone with an interest in calendars and their development.

The Romney Marsh / Dungeness Foreland depositional complex comprises an extensive tract of marshland and associated sand and gravel barrier deposits, located in the eastern English Channel. This monograph presents the results of a programme of palaeoenvironmental investigation aimed at improving our understanding of this internationally-significant coastal landform. The focus is on the evidence for landscape change during the late Holocene, from c. 3000 BC onwards, and on identifying the local, regional and global driving mechanisms responsible for the changes observed. The research details the results from two related projects, each funded as part of English Heritage's Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund scheme. The first project concerns the late Holocene evolution of the port of Rye, located in the southeast part of the complex, and the second the depositional history of the gravel foreland. Topics explored include the vegetation and land-use history of the study area, methodological issues relating to the collection and interpretation of radiocarbon dates from coastal lowlands, the role of compaction in influencing landscape and sea-level change, and the effects of medieval storms on coastal flooding and landscape change. This monograph is intended for students and researchers interested in Holocene coastal evolution and sea-level change, coastal vegetation history and land-use history, and the development of new techniques for reconstructing past environmental change in coastal lowlands.

This is the catalogue to an outstanding collection of Medieval art from a private collection. Ranging from paintings and sculpture to stained glass, manuscripts and caskets, many of the objects presented here are of absolute rarity, some are previously unpublished and - until recently - unknown.Of particular interest are: the recently discovered Anglo-Saxon Chrismatory, the first significant piece of its kind to come to light in well over a century; the walnut Casket painted with Illustrations of the Prise d'Orange, uniquely dating from the thirteenth century and a miracle of survival; the beautiful, ninth-century Byzantine Silk Samite of Confronting Birds; and the panel of The Dream of Joseph which formed part of the programme of stained glass installed at the Abbey of St-Denis in the twelfth century - considered one of the most important of all monuments of medieval art.

This fascinating portrait of the Society of Antiquaries of London, founded in 1707, assesses the impact that individual Fellows and the Society as a whole have had in influencing the way we visualise and understand the past. There are, for example, essays on the Society's pioneering role in recording monuments and antiquities for posterity, in establishing the scientific and empirical basis of archaeological studies, in replacing Biblically based timeframes with a clearer understanding of deep time measured in millions of years, in drawing up the first legislation protecting ancient monuments, and in funding and publishing the great excavations of the last one hundred years, from Stonehenge, Maiden Castle, Richborough and Sutton Hoo to Aksum (Ethiopia) and Mons Porphyrites (Egypt). All the papers represent fresh and original scholarship and they tell us much about the Society's achievements (and some of the accompanying conflicts between personalities and ideas) over three hundred years. They are based on diaries, letters, minute books and confidential government papers and on portraits that chart the changing image of the antiquary from a figure of fun to heroic seeker of forgotten people and civilizations. Visions of Antiquity reveals astonishing echoes across time - from the repeated and continuing attempts to record all ancient buildings and monuments to the continuity of the title 'antiquary' to describe scholars who build bridges between different branches of knowledge based on the study of material remains of the past and of a Fellowship whose numbers have included prime ministers, bishops, peers and parliamentarians, as well as radicals and free thinkers, such as William Morris and many of the founders of modern conservation.

It is difficult to imagine modern archaeology without radio-carbon dating, geophysics, analytical chemistry, or the input of the social and historical sources. Archaeology is inevitably an interdisciplinary enterprise, perhaps more so than any other field. But with the ever-increasing specialisation of modern research in general, it becomes more and more difficult to communicate across disciplinary doundaries; this is one of the major challenges modern archaeology faces today. This volume is the outcome of a two-day conference held at the University of Oxford that focused on the opportunities and challenges of interdisciplinary approaches to archaeology.

The papers in this book result from a conference held in Istanbul in 2004, and are the product of collaboration between the British Academy Black Sea Initiative (BABSI) and the City and Regional Planning Department of Istanbul Technical University. They cover a period from the first appearance of human settlers in the Black Sea region to the present day, and all emphasize the significance of the Black Sea itself as a source of unity, linking communities and histories in a wider regional context, extending westward along the Danube basin, northward into the Ukraine and south Russia, east into the Caucasus and southward over the Anatolian hinterland. A major introductory paper re-examines the evidence for the Black Sea flood hypothesis. A group of four papers evaluate new evidence for the economic and cultural relationships between Greeks and native populations in the Black Sea region from the seventh to the fourth centuries BC. The next group of studies is concerned with the interconnectedness of the Black Sea between medieval and modern times, highlighting Seljuk and Ottoman trade, and the roles of the ports of Odessa and Trabzon. Four papers deal with the economic and social development of the Turkish Black Sea region in recent times. The final section places Black Sea history in a long perspective both from a cultural and a political viewpoint.