The sophistication of Neanderthal behavioural strategies have been the subject of debate from the moment of their recognition as a separate species of hominin in 1856. This book presents a study on Neanderthal foraging prowess. Novel ethnographic and primatological insights, suggest that increasing dependence on high quality foods, such as meat, caused the brain to evolve to a large size and thus led to highly intelligent hominins. From this baseline, the author studies the Neanderthal archaeological record in order to gain insight into the knowledge-intensity of Neanderthal hunting behaviour. In this research, an optimal foraging perspective is applied to Pleistocene bone assemblages. According to this perspective, foraging success is an important factor in an individuals evolutionary fitness. Therefore foraging is organised as efficiently as possible. The prey species that were selected and hunted by Neanderthals are analysed. The author investigates economic considerations that influenced Neanderthal prey choice. These considerations are based on estimates of the population densities of the available prey species and on estimates of the relative difficulty of hunting those species. The results demonstrate that when Neanderthals operated within poor environments, their prey choice was constrained: they were not able to hunt species living in large herds. In these environments, solitary species were the preferred prey. It is striking that Neanderthals successfully focussed on the largest and most dangerous species in poor environments. However, in richer environments, these constraints were lifted and species living in herds were successfully exploited. In order to assess the accuracy of this approach, bone assemblages formed by cave hyenas are also analysed. The combined results of the Neanderthal and hyena analyses show that an optimal foraging perspective provides a powerful tool to increase our understanding of Pleistocene ecology. The niches of two social carnivores of similar size, which were seemingly similar, are successfully distinguished. This result lends extra credence to the conclusions regarding Neanderthal foraging strategies. This book contributes to the debate surrounding Neanderthal competence and ability. It combines an up-to-date review of current knowledge on Neanderthal biology and archaeology, with novel approaches to the archaeological record. It is thus an important contribution to the current knowledge of this enigmatic species.

This publication contains the six main appendices to the PhD thesis "A Living Landscape: Bronze Age settlement sites in the Dutch river area (c. 2000-800 BC)" by Stijn Arnoldussen which was published by Sidestone Press in 2008. That study comprises an analysis of the nature (i. e. the constituent components) and dynamics (i.e. diachronic approaches to settlement dynamics) of the settlement sites. It aims to integrate and synthesize interpretations of Bronze Age settlements based on a number of large-scale excavations. The discussion of the archaeological and geological research on these sites, as well as more detailed source criticism and long-term overviews of the occupation histories of six (c. 30 km2) macro-regions around them, could for sake of conciseness not be incorporated into the main stud's text. However, such discussions contain critical information necessary to interpret the results and to evaluate their representativeness, and this information is now made available in this separate publication. While these texts are primarily appendices to the thesis, they can be read separately by those who are particularly interested in the the excavations at Zijderveld, Rumpt - Eigenblok, Wijk bij Duurstede, Meteren - De Bogen, Lienden - Kesteren or Dodewaard, which have been published in Dutch. In addition, the appendices provide a recent overview of the palaeogeographical development and occupation history of six large macro-regions in the Dutch river area. This information may be of relevance to those studying other sites within these macro-regions for the period under study (c. 2000-800 BC). Stijn Arnoldussen studied the prehistory of northwestern Europe at Leiden University and won the 'W. A. van Es' award for the best Dutch archaeological MA thesis. From 2003 to 2007 he was involved in a research project that focused on the Bronze Age cultural landscape in the Dutch river area. The present book is a result of this project. Stijn Arnoldussen is also co-editor of the book 'Bronze Age settlements in the Low Countries' (Oxbow Books, 2008). He is presently employed as a senior researcher with the Dutch National Service for Archaeology, Cultural Landscape and Built Heritage (RACM) and starting November 2008, he will be employed as a lecturer in later prehistory at the University of Groningen.

Almost fifty years ago J. J. Butler started his research to trace the possible remains of a Bronze Age metalworker's workshop in the Netherlands. Yet, while metalworking has been deduced on the ground of the existence of regional types of axes and some scarce finds related to metalworking, the smith's workplace has remained elusive. In this Research Master Thesis I have tried to tackle this problem. I have considered both the social as well as the technological aspects of metalworking to be able to determine conclusively whether metalworking took place in the Netherlands or not. The first part of the thesis revolves around the social position of the smith and the social organization of metalworking. My approach entails a re-evaluation of the current theories on metalworking, which I believe to be unfounded and one-sided. They tend to disregard production of everyday objects of which the most prominent example is the axe. The second part deals with the technological aspects of metalworking and how these processes are manifested in the archaeological record. Based on evidence from archaeological sites elsewhere in Europe and with the aid of experimental archaeology a metalworking toolkit is constructed. Finally, a method is presented which might help archaeologists recognize the workplace of a Bronze Age smith.

A facsimile reprint of a classic work on the antiquity of the Netherlands and north west Europe, originally published in 1660, now re-issued and set in context with an Introduction by Wijnand A B van der Sanden. Text in Dutch throughout.

This thesis reviews and re-assesses the Hilversum Culture of the southern Netherlands and Flanders in the second millennium BC. Completed ten years ago, but re-issued with a new introduction by the author. Text in Dutch. In deze studie staan de overblijfselen van prehistorische boerengemeenschappen van omstreeks 3500 jaar geleden centraal. Het gaat om samenlevingen die de pleistocene zandgronden van Zuid-Nederland en Vlaanderen in de periode van 1800 tot 1050 voor Chr. bewoonden. Van hun boerenbestaan van toen rest niet veel, maar het databestand aan archeologische ontdekkingen uit deze periode groeit sinds jaar en dag. Het was de archeoloog Willem Glasbergen die in de jaren vijftig de overblijfselen toeschreef aan de zogenoemde 'Hilversum-cultuur'. Hij deed dit op grond van een aantal nieuwe elementen in de materiële restanten. In eerste instantie was zijn definitie hoofdzakelijk gebaseerd op bepaalde typen grafmonumenten en de urnvondsten daaruit. Nederzettingen waren lange tijd schaars. Dat veranderde halverwege de jaren zestig toen het onderzoek bij de plaatsen Zijderveld en Dodewaard ronde huizen opleverde, die duidelijk afweken van de langgerekte, drieschepige woon-stalboerderijen in Noord-Nederland. Glasbergen zag daarin een bevestiging van zijn hypothese: de ongewone verschijnselen waren ontstaan door een migratie van een Zuid-Engels volk naar het zuiden van de Lage Landen. Veertig jaar na de definitie van de Hilversum-cultuur is het archeologische databestand opnieuw tegen het licht gehouden. Reden daarvoor was het toegenomen gegevensbestand en het veranderde paradigma. De groeiende kritiek op de migratietheorie als verklaringsmodel had de Britse migranten uit het denken doen verdwijnen. De tijd was rijp voor een evaluatie van het begrip Hilversum-cultuur. Met in de ene hand de restanten van het grafritueel, de grafmonumenten en de begravingen, en in de andere hand de overblijfselen van hun boerenerven schetst deze studie een beeld van de boerensamenlevingen van 3500 jaar geleden. Daarnaast gaat de auteur uitgebreid in op het ontstaan en ontwikkeling van het archeologisch cultuurbegrip en dat van de Hilversum-cultuur. Uit de studie is duidelijk geworden dat bepaalde kenmerkende restanten - vooral zichtbaar in het grafritueel - nog steeds archeologische realiteiten zijn. De vondstcomplexen die Glasbergen destijds als bouwstenen voor zijn definitie van de Hilversum-cultuur hanteerde, blijken nog steeds afwijkend te zijn, zowel in de tijd (het gaat om nieuwe verschijnselen) als ruimtelijk (ze kennen een beperkt verspreidingsgebied). Alleen de ronde huizen zijn archeologisch onbewijsbaar. De evaluatie geeft aan dat de Hilversum-cultuur nog steeds als een archeologische cultuur aanwijsbaar is. Ondanks de eigen karakteristieken maken de samenlevingen 'achter' de Hilversum-cultuur onderdeel uit van de uitgestrekte Noordwest-Europese bronstijdtraditie, gekenmerkt door lange woon-stalhuizen, grafheuvelbegravingen en grootschalige netwerkrelaties over lange afstanden. Dit proefschrift is tien jaar na de verdediging opnieuw uitgebracht door Uitgeverij Sidestone en voorzien van een woord vooraf.

Beneath the surface of Aardenburg, a small town in the south-western part of the Netherlands, lie the remains of a Roman settlement that is presumed to have been named Rodanum. Extensive archaeological excavations from the late 1950s to the late 1980s revealed that the settlement was similar in size or even larger than the modern town. Its centre was formed by a large castellum-type fortification wall that enclosed several large stone buildings. The settlement was connected to the sea by a natural watercourse that defined its economic and logistical importance in the region. Rodanum's military function was to secure the regional coast against attacks by Germanic tribes via the North Sea, which occurred around AD 175. It continued to be inhabited until the late third century or the beginning of the fourth century, after which the settlement was deserted until the early Middle Ages. The first part of this study provides an overview of Aardenburg during the Roman period, in which its economic and military functions within the region are explored. In particular, the military and civilian character of the town is discussed. The second part contains a study of the metal objects and aims to present significant additional information. This part concludes with a critical review of the current state of research at this site.

The explosion of research in the field of ancient and historic glasses has opened up glass studies in recent years. However, our deeper understanding of the technology and provenance of Bronze Age Egyptian and Roman glasses in the Mediterranean has not been mirrored by our studies of glasses and other vitreous materials found in the Late Bronze Age Aegean. There are few studies which collate the material culture of the region and still fewer which explore the patterning of vitreous materials in the landscape. Our knowledge of where the material originated and who used it is still incomplete. Therefore, in 2005 a group of scholars in the fields of glass studies and Aegean prehistory came together as part of the Sheffield Centre for Aegean Archaeology's Round Table discussions to bring the subject up to date. The central themes to this discussion were based upon provenance, occurrence and the role of vitreous materials in the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean. Nine papers are presented from the discussions by experts in Bronze Age glass and faience and Aegean specialists, who examine a fascinating and diverse selection of topics surrounding the production, movement, use and role of vitreous materials in the Late Bronze Age Aegean. The contributions from John Bennet, Karen Foster, Paul Nicholson, George Nightingale, Marina Panagiotaki, Mark Peters, Thilo Rehren, Sue Sherratt and Mike Tite bring together our current understanding of these materials and their role in the societies who used them.

Most studies of Roman local administration focus on the formal structures of power: provincial laws, imperial edicts, urban institutions and magistracies. This book explores the interplay of formal politics with informal factors such as social prejudice, parochialism and personal rivalries in the cities of northwestern Asia Minor from the first to the fifth centuries AD. Through a detailed analysis of the municipal speeches and career of the philosopher-politician Dion Chrysostomos, we gain new insights into the petty conflicts and lofty ambitions of an ancient provincial small-town politician and those around him.

The aim of this publication is to stress that cultural, social and cognitive aspects today are important goals and perspectives of technological studies, and that technological studies can contribute vitally to the interpretation of our prehistory. There is today a strong new trend among a young generation of archaeologists towards using the study of technology. This trend focuses on the understanding of the material process -- and sees these processes as logical responses and changes reflecting human behaviour and cognition. Thus, in some ways, this trend is in opposition to former morphological and static studies of artefacts. The book consists of ten case studies, which employ the study of technology as a primary methodology, and discuss issues and problems concerning the methods, results and perspectives of this methodology. The materials analysed in the studies are made from bone, stone and textiles, while the archaeological contexts are ranging from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Viking Age. This publication is a result of the workshop "The study of technology as a method for gaining insight into social and cultural aspects of prehistory", held at the National Museum of Denmark, the 3-4 November 2005.

The fifth volume in the series of final reports on the work of the Joint Expedition to Jerusalem in the 1960s describes the discoveries made in six sites in the ancient city and places them in the archaeological and historical context of Jerusalem and the surrounding lands. Among the most debated issues are the extent of the occupation of the city during the Iron Age, the location of the southern defence line in Herodian and Roman times, and the date of the destruction of an Umayyad palatial structure. There is fresh information on the civic amenities of the southern half of the Byzantine city, and on the structure of the Ottoman city defences built under Sulaiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century. Fine glazed pottery, both locally made and imported, and the wide range of materials reaching Jerusalem through trade and pilgrimage, reflect elite patronage and the high status of the holy city under Islamic rule.

From 1997 to 2006 the Danebury Trust, under the direction of Barry Cunliffe, excavated seven sites on the chalk downland of eastern Hampshire to explore the rural settlement of the region in the Roman period. The project was designed to build upon our knowledge of the area following the excavation of the Iron Age hillfort of Danebury and of eight Iron Age settlements in the region. The results of the present project are published in two volumes. Volume 1 offers an overview of the programme together with a series of studies exploring the results in their wider contexts. Volume 2 is presented in seven separate parts each dealing with the results of one specific excavation. The sites covered include the Early Iron Age settlement of Flint Farm, the Early Iron Age and Roman site of Rowbury Farm and the Roman villa establishments at Houghton Down, Grateley South, Fullerton, Thruxton and Dunkirt Barn. Together the sites enliven our understanding of the development of the Iron Age and Roman rural landscape especially corn production and processing, the use of water power for milling, status and Romanness, ancestor cults, lineages and land-holding, and the social implications of the great aisled halls which dominated the Hampshire landscape. The volumes make a major contribution to our understanding of Iron Age and Roman Britain.

This is the third in the five-yearly series of surveys of what is happening in rock art studies around the world. As always, the texts reflect something of the great differences in approach and emphasis that exist in different regions. The volume presents examples from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the New World. During the period in question, 1999 to 2004, there have been few major events, although in the field of Pleistocene art many new discoveries have been made, and a new country added to the select list of those with Ice Age cave art. Some regions such as North Africa and the former USSR have seen a tremendous amount of activity, focusing not only on recording but also on chronology, and the conservation of sites. With the global increase of tourism, the management of rock art sites that are accessible to the public is a theme of ever-growing importance.

Data from molecular genetics have changed our views on the origin, spread and timescale of our species across this planet. But how can we reveal more detail about the demography of ancient human populations? For example, is it possible to determine when and how many people arrived at a certain continent, and which route they took from a choice of geographically plausible options? One of the most promising tools for such investigation is computer simulation incorporating various demographic scenarios. The simulation outcomes must be evaluated by teams with archaeological expertise, since archaeological evidence is generally the best evidence currently available on the population histories of geographical regions. This book is a summary of the landmark conference held in Cambridge in 2005, where specialists in simulations and molecular genetics as well as archaeologists came together to present and evaluate the state of the art, and to discuss future possibilities.

Beneath the Bronze Age 'Palace of Minos', Neolithic Knossos is one of the earliest known farming settlements in Europe and perhaps the longest-lived. For 3000 years, Neolithic Knossos was also perhaps one of very few settlements on Crete and, for much of this time, maintained a distinctive material culture. This volume radically enhances understanding of the important, but hitherto little known, Neolithic settlement and culture of Crete. Thirteen papers, from the tenth Sheffield Aegean Round Table in January 2006, explore two aspects of the Cretan Neolithic: the results of recent re-analysis of a range of bodies of material from J.D. Evans' excavations at EN-FN Knossos; and new insights into the Cretan Late and Final Neolithic and the contentious belated colonisation of the rest of the island, drawing on both new and old fieldwork. Papers in the first group examine the idiosyncratic Knossian ceramic chronology (P. Tomkins), human figurines from a gender perspective (M. Mina), funerary practices (S. Triantaphyllou), chipped stone technology (J. Conolly), land and-use and its social implications (V. Isaakidou). Those in the second group, present a re-evaluation of LN Katsambas (N. Galanidou and K. Mandeli), evidence for later Neolithic exploration of eastern Crete (T. Strasser), Ceremony and consumption at late Final Neolithic Phaistos (S. Todaro and S. Di Tonto), Final Neolithic settlement patterns (K. Nowicki), the transition to the Early Bronze Age at Kephala Petra (Y. Papadatos), and a critical appraisal of Final Neolithic 'marginal colonisation' (P. Halstead). In conclusion, C. Broodbank places the Cretan Neolithic within its wider Mediterranean context and J.D. Evans provides an autobiographical account of a lifetime of insular Neolithic exploration.

Excavations at Spring Road Municipal Cemetery, Abingdon, Oxfordshire have revealed activity extending from the Mesolithic to the Saxon period. The most significant discovery was an arc of substantial postholes which formed part of one of very few middle Bronze timber circles known in southern Britain. The most important earlier evidence was a Beaker burial containing a copper awl which is amongst the earliest metal artefacts from Britain. Mesolithic flint, an oval Peterborough Ware bowl and a Grooved Ware pit were also found. A group of three middle Iron Age crouched inhumation burials are amongst the most interesting later finds, which included also an early-middle Iron Age roundhouse, a Roman field system and Anglo-Saxon sunken-featured buildings.

This catalogue makes available more than 600 complete or fragmentary stone vessels kept in the British Museum. Most of them were excavated at Nineveh and other major sites in northern Iraq and Syria, and are presented here for the first time. They range in date from prehistory down to the Persian and Hellenistic periods; the bulk belong in the eighth and seventh centuries, when the Near East under Assyrian rule grew increasingly cosmopolitan. The collection includes luxury items made for palaces and temples, often bearing royal inscriptions, besides many perfume-jars, mortars and other vessels for practical use. The catalogue incorporates extensive information on material culture, art, technology, economic relationships, and social and religious practices, and will be used by historians, archaeologists, philologists and anthropologists alike.