This books present papers on the archaeology of the region between the river Meuse and the city of Oss (Netherlands), locally known as the "Maaskant". The papers presented in this volume discuss the period from 3000 BC until 1500 AD. The wealth of archaeological data from this region indicated this part of the Netherlands was inhabited by early farmers already 5000 years ago. The strategic location near the river did not only provide fertile grounds but also formed an intersection in transport and communication routes.

From at least 1700 BC, and for several centuries thereafter, a city of substantial houses flanked the palace of Knossos in north-central Crete. Those immediately adjacent to it, like the Royal Villa or the South House, excavated by Sir Arthur Evans, are well known, as are the Little Palace and Unexplored Mansion to the north-west. In fact the whole lower western hill-slope (Bougadha Metochi, the modern village) was terraced with fine, ashlar masonry buildings, served by well-engineered paved roads. The present volume publishes part of one such building, excavated by the Greek Archaeological Service. The pottery within it — as always at Knossos astonishing in quantity and excellent in quality — is particularly important for the first stage of these large buildings, Middle Minoan IIIA (Early and Late), the 17th century BC. One piece also throws light on bull sacrifice at Knossos. Another object, a stone weight, confirms the close relationship of the Minoan, Theran and West Syrian systems of mensuration. A later pottery deposit adds to evidence of wide destruction at Knossos at the final moment of independent Minoan civilisation, Late Minoan IB c. 1440 BC. The history of the building is also set within that of the wider Cretan and southern Aegean regions during the Bronze Age.

Het archeologisch onderzoek in Nederland naar de vroegneolithische Lineaire Bandkeramiek cultuur of LBK (5250-4950 v. Chr.) heeft een lange geschiedenis. Sinds de eerste vondsten in 1925 werken amateur- en beroepsarcheologen er aan om onze kennis van deze cultuur te vergroten. Naast grote opgravingen die door de Universiteit Leiden zijn uitgevoerd, heeft veel (meest kleinschaliger) onderzoek plaatsgevonden dat minstens belangrijke aanvullende gegevens kan bieden, zo niet een ander licht kan werpen op de bestaande beeldvorming. Buiten het onderzoek van de Universiteit zijn publicaties echter summier of ontbreken geheel, ook die betreffende de eerste bandkeramische opgravingen. Het NWO-Odyssee onderzoeksproject Terug naar de Bandkeramiek, ‘vergeten’ onderzoeken van de Bandkeramiek heeft deze ’vergeten’ opgravingen boven water gehaald.Voor dit project is een selectie van deze kleinere bandkeramische opgravingen uitgewerkt en toegankelijk gemaakt voor (aansluitend) wetenschappelijk onderzoek als ook voor een groter publiek; daarnaast is er binnen het project kennisoverdracht geweest op een jongere generatie onderzoekers. In deze publicatie wordt de rijke onderzoeksgeschiedenis besproken en verslag gedaan van de opgravingen van veertien bandkeramische vindplaatsen in de Graetheideregio alsmede het gebied ten noorden van Maastricht. De (her)analyses van de geselecteerde onderzoeken worden per vindplaats gepresenteerd en in een synthetiserend kader geplaatst. De aandacht gaat daarbij uit naar: nederzettingsstructuur en landschappelijke inkadering (Van Wijk & Amkreutz), de chronologie van het bandkeramisch aardewerk (Van de Velde), het vuursteengebruik en de -herkomst (De Grooth), de stenen werktuigen (Verbaas), het non-bandkeramisch aardewerk (Brounen), het gebruik van oker (Wijnen), en de bandkeramische cultuurgewassen (Bakels). Als centraal thema wordt aan de hand van genoemde aspecten de bewoningsdynamiek ten oosten en westen van de Maas belicht Onder de algemene noemer van Lineaire Bandkeramiek blijkt een variabiliteit in het gebruik en herkomst van diverse gebruiksgoederen schuil te gaan die groter was dan aangenomen werd en die nu in onze analyses duidelijk naar voren komt. De ‘vergeten’ onderzoeken van de Bandkeramiek krijgen op deze wijze alsnog de hun toekomende plaats in de onderzoeksgeschiedenis geboden.

Archaeological work ahead of pipeline construction in East and South Devon led to the excavation of over thirty sites spanning the earlier Neolithic to early modern times. Early features included a wide scatter of pits dating to the Neolithic and Beaker periods (c. 3700–2000 BC), and a variety of Middle Bronze Age features that included evidence for land division in the Otter valley and South Devon. Iron Age activity was relatively uncommon but included iron smelting near Dartington in South Devon and piecemeal settlement more widely.Later remains included evidence for a hillslope enclosure close to the River Dart and an open settlement engaging in pewter manufacture close to the River Avon, which were both Roman in date. There was also a medieval sunken outbuilding near Powderham containing charred cereals (believed to be a first for Devon), as well as a cob linhay relating to the mapped 19th-century rural landscape near Exton. Although none of the sites were particularly rich in artefacts, more than fifty radiocarbon dates have added considerably to our understanding of the changes in human activity, land use and environment over the past 5,000 years across these parts of Devon.

Recently, Palaeolithic and Mesolithic archaeology has been breaking boundaries worldwide. Finds such as the Mesolithic house at Howick, the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome, and the recently discovered footprints at Happisburgh all serve to indicate how archaeologists in these fields are truly at the cutting edge of understanding humanity’s past. This volume celebrates this trend by focusing on recent advances in the study of the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic. With contributors from a diverse range of backgrounds, it allows for a greater degree of interdisciplinary discourse than is often the case, as the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic are generally split apart. Wild Things brings together contributions from major researchers and early career specialists, detailing research taking place across the British Isles, France, Portugal, Russia, the Levant and Europe as a whole, providing a cross-section of the exciting range of research being conducted. By combining papers from both these periods, it is hoped that dialogue between practitioners of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic archaeology can be further encouraged. Topics include: the chronology of the Mid-Upper Palaeolithic of European Russia; territorial use of Alpine high altitude areas by Mesolithic hunter-gatherer; discussing the feasibility of reconstructing Neanderthal demography to examine their extinction; the funerary contexts from the Mesolithic burials at Muge; the discovery of further British Upper Palaeolithic parietal art at Cathole Cave; exploitation of both lithics and fauna in Palaeolithic France; and an analysis of Mesolithic/Neolithic trade in Europe.

Archaeology has long dealt with issues of identity, and especially with ethnicity, with modern approaches emphasising dynamic and fluid social construction. The archaeology of the Iron Age in particular has engendered much debate on the topic of ethnicity, fuelled by the first availability of written sources alongside the archaeological evidence which has led many researchers to associate the features they excavate with populations named by Greek or Latin writers. Some archaeological traditions have had their entire structure built around notions of ethnicity, around the relationships existing between large groups of people conceived together as forming unitary ethnic units. On the other hand, partly influenced by anthropological studies, other scholars have written forcefully against Iron Age ethnic constructions, such as the Celts.The 24 contributions to this volume focus on the south east Europe, where the Iron Age has, until recently, been populated with numerous ethnic groups with which specific material culture forms have been associated. The first section is devoted to the core geographical area of south east Europe: Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia, as well as Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The following three sections allow comparison with regions further to the west and the south west with contributions on central and western Europe, the British Isles and the Italian peninsula. The volume concludes with four papers which provide more synthetic statements that cut across geographical boundaries, the final contributions bringing together some of the key themes of the volume. The wide array of approaches to identity presented here reflects the continuing debate on how to integrate material culture, protohistoric evidence (largely classical authors looking in on first millennium BC societies) and the impact of recent nationalistic agendas.

How may Bohuslän rock art and landscape be perceived and understood? Since the Bronze Age, the landscape has been transformed by shore displacement but, largely due to misunderstanding and certain ideas about the character of Bronze Age society, rock art research in Tanum has drawn much of its inspiration from the present agrarian landscape. This perception of the landscape has not been a major issue. This volume, republished from the GOTAC Serie B (Gothenburg Archaeological thesis 49) aims to shed light on the process of shore displacement and its social and cognitive implications for the interpretation of rock art in the prehistoric landscape. The findings clearly show that in the Bronze Age, the majority of rock art sites in Bohuslän had a very close spatial connection to the sea.Much rock art analysis focuses on the contemplative observer. The more direct activities related to rock art are seldom fully considered. Here, the basic conditions for the production of rock art, social theory and approaches to image, communication, symbolism and social action are discussed and related to palpable social forms of the “reading” of rock art. The general location and content of the Bronze Age remains indicate a tendency towards the maritime realm, which seems to have included both socio-ritual and socio-economic matters of production and consumption and that Bronze Age groups in Bohuslän were highly active and mobile. The numerous configurations of ship images on the rocks could indicate a general transition or drift towards the maritime realm. Marking or manifesting such transitions in some way may have been important and it is tempting to perceive the rock art as traces of such transitions or positions in the landscape. All this points to a maritime understanding of Bronze Age rock art in northern Bohuslän.

This volume is the outcome of collaborative European research among archaeologists, archaeobotanists, ethnographers, historians and agronomists, and frequently uses experiments in archaeology. It aims to establish new common ground for integrating different approaches and for viewing agriculture from the standpoint of the human actors involved. Each chapter provides an interdisciplinary overview of the skills used and the social context of the pursuit of agriculture, highlighting examples of tools, technologies and processes from land clearance to cereal processing and food preparation. This is the second of three volumes in the EARTH monograph series, The dynamics of non-industrial agriculture: 8,000 years of resilience and innovation , which shows the great variety of agricultural practices in human terms, in their social, political, cultural and legal contexts.

This report publishes the 1937–8 excavations in Colliton Park, Dorchester, Dorset, which revealed one of the best preserved late Roman town houses so far discovered in Roman Britain. Extensively decorated with mosaics, the building has recently been re-displayed in a new cover building by Dorset County Council. In addition to the town house and its mosaics, the report publishes the surrounding buildings in the north-west quarter of the town, also mostly of late Roman date, and associated occupation along with an extensive collection of artefacts, including outstanding finds of coins, glass, iron and Kimmeridge shale.

A volume in the East Jutland Museum Publications Series. This volume takes a new look at causewayed enclosures in South Scandinavia based on a research area restricted to the Djursland Peninsula in eastern Jutland. The Djursland Peninsula in eastern Jutland was selected as region of concentration because of the richness of the region in terms of megalithic graves and burial mounds and because it has the largest number by far of known Neolithic enclosures within the northern TRB Group distribution area. Given that the awareness of as many enclosures as possible is necessary in any attempt to evaluate their significance for Neolithic societies within a given area, a major part of this work is devoted to the development of predictive modelling for the detection of enclosures in the landscape. It is only in relation to this step that it is possible to engage with such questions as the reasons for which certain locations were chosen as enclosure sites and how these relate to the history of Neolithic settlement within the wider region. The latter is at the heart of practically all settlement archaeological studies of the period under consideration in South Scandinavia. However, it has never been critically reviewed nor tested by comparisons with the results from other regions. A separate section is devoted to examining the European dimension of the Scandinavian enclosures in closer detail.

The magnificent tomb of Khnumhotep II has never been completely recorded in drawing and photographs since its pioneering publication by P. E. Newberry in 1893. This report comprises detailed coloured plates, complete line drawings as well as the translation and interpretation of all the scenes and inscriptions in the tomb. The commentary includes studies on the tomb architecture, the extensive biography of the owner, the represented arrival of the Asiatics, and the depicted flora and fauna.

Over 150 years of research in the Circum-Alpine region have produced a vast amount of data on the lakeshore and wetland settlements found throughout the area. Particularly in the northern region, dendrochronological studies have provided highly accurate sequences of occupation, which have correlated, in turn, to palaeoclimatic reconstructions in the area. The result has been the general conclusion that the lake-dwelling tradition was governed by climatic factors, with communities abandoning the lakeshore during periods of inclement conditions, and returning when the climate was more favourable. Such a cyclical pattern occurred from the 4th millennium BC to 800 BC, at which time the lakeshores were abandoned and never extensively re-occupied. Was this final break with a long-lasting tradition solely the result of climatic fluctuation, or were cultural factors a more decisive influence for the decline of lake-dwelling occupation?Studies of material culture have shown that some of the Late Bronze Age lake-dwellings in the northern Alpine region were significant centres for the production and exchange of bronzework and manufactured products, linking northern Europe to the southern Alpine forelands and beyond. However, during the early Iron Age the former lake-dwelling region does not show such high levels of incorporation to long-distance exchange systems. Combining the evidence of material culture studies with occupation patterns and burial practices, this volume proposes an alternative to the climatically-driven models of lake-dwelling abandonment. This is not to say that climate change did not influence those communities, but that it was only one factor among many. More significantly, it was a combination of social choice to abandon the shore, and subsequent cultural developments that inhibited the full scale reoccupation of the lakes.

After the success of Medieval Costumes, 1320-1480, comes another highly-anticipated volume. Once again, we discover the materials, the accessories (and jewels), the shoes, and various outfits for men, women, and children that characterize this period of history. Additionally, an appendix included with the volume details military dress and equipment of the era. TEXT IN FRENCH

This volume presents the proceedings of a conference hosted by the American School of Classical Studies, Athens and the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Athens in 2004. There are additional contributions from Patricia Butz, Robin Osborne, Katherine Schwab, Justin St. P. Walsh, Hilda Westervelt and Lorenz Winkler-Horacek. The contents are divided into four sections I. Structure and Ornament; II. Technique and Agency; III. Myth and Narrative and IV. Diffusion and Influence. Highlights include Robin Osbornes discussion of What you can do with a chariot but can't do with a satyr on a Greek temple; Ralf von den Hoffs consideration of the Athenian treasury at Delphi; and Katherine Schwabs presentation of New evidence for Parthenon east metope 14. The papers not only cover a great variety of issues in architectural sculpture but also present a range of case studies from all over the Greek world. The result is an important collection of current research.

This book brings together a selection of twenty-eight previously disparate articles by Nicholas Postgate that represent some thirty years of engagement with the nature of Assyrian society and government. Most are broadly synthetic and deal with general issues; they are a tremendous body of work, and this will be an invaluable collection for everyone interested in Assyria.

A comprehensive re-evaluation of the objects discovered in the 1886 excavation at Tell Dafana and a new assessment of the site’s significance from the seventh to the fifth century BC.