Schipluiden

Schipluiden
Author: L. P. Louwe Kooijmans
Publisher: Faculty of Archaeology, University of Leiden
Total Pages: 552
Release: 2006
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

The neolithic settlement of Schipluiden was discovered by archaeologists called in to the Delfland region in 2000, where a new wastewater treatment plant was planned. It is a particularly interesting site, as it dates from a time when the local inhabitants switched from a hunter-gatherer-fisher lifestyle to one based around arable and stock farming, and was also a time of significant environmental change.

Beyond Barrows

Beyond Barrows
Author: David R. Fontijn
Publisher: Sidestone Press
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2013
Genre: History
ISBN: 9088901082

Europe is dotted with tens of thousands of prehistoric barrows. In spite of their ubiquity, little is known on the role they had in pre- and protohistoric landscapes. In 2010, an international group of archaeologists came together at the conference of the European Association of Archaeologists in The Hague to discuss and review current research on this topic. This book presents the proceedings of that session. The focus is on the prehistory of Scandinavia and the Low Countries, but also includes an excursion to huge prehistoric mounds in the southeast of North America. One contribution presents new evidence on how the immediate environment of Neolithic Funnel Beaker (TRB) culture megaliths was ordered, another one discusses the role of remarkable single and double post alignments around Bronze and Iron Age burial mounds. Zooming out, several chapters deal with the place of barrows in the broader landscape. The significance of humanly-managed heath in relation to barrow groups is discussed, and one contribution emphasizes how barrow orderings not only reflect spatial organization, but are also important as conceptual anchors structuring prehistoric perception. Other authors, dealing with Early Neolithic persistent places and with Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age urnfields, argue that we should also look beyond monumentality in order to understand long-term use of "ritual landscapes". The book contains an important contribution by the well-known Swedish archaeologist Tore Artelius on how Bronze Age barrows were structurally re-used by pre-Christian Vikings. This is his last article, written briefly before his death. This book is dedicated to his memory. This publication is part of the Ancestral Mounds Research Project of the University of Leiden.

Gardening Indoors

Gardening Indoors
Author: George Cervantes
Publisher: Interport U S A, Incorporated
Total Pages: 340
Release: 1986
Genre: Gardening
ISBN: 9780932331021

Land and People

Land and People
Author: Michael J. Allen
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2009-09-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1782973583

This volume is derived, in concept, from a conference held in honour of John Evans by the School of History and Archaeology and The Prehistoric Society at Cardiff University in March 2006. It brings together papers that address themes and landscapes on a variety of levels. They cover geographical, methodological and thematic areas that were of interest to, and had been studied by, John Evans. The volume is divided into five sections, which echo themes of importance in British prehistory. They include papers on aspects of environmental archaeology, experiments and philosophy; new research on the nature of woodland on the chalklands of southern England; coasts and islands; people, process and social order, and snails and shells - a strong part of John Evans' career. This volume presents a range of papers examining people's interaction with the landscape in all its forms. The papers provide a diverse but cohesive picture of how archaeological landscapes are viewed within current research frameworks and approaches, while also paying tribute to the innovative and inspirational work of one of the leading protagonists of environmental archaeology and the holistic approach to landscape interpretation.

The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe

The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe
Author: Chris Fowler
Publisher: Oxford Handbooks
Total Pages: 1201
Release: 2015
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199545847

The Neolithic - a period in which the first sedentary agrarian communities were established across much of Europe - has been a key topic of archaeological research for over a century. However, the variety of evidence across Europe and the way research traditions in different countries (and languages) have developed makes it very difficult for both students and specialists to gain an overview of continent-wide trends. The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe provides the first comprehensive, geographically extensive, thematic overview of the European Neolithic - from Iberia to Russia and from Norway to Malta - offering both a general introduction and a clear exploration of key issues and current debates surrounding evidence and interpretation. Chapters written by leading experts in the field examine topics such as the movement of plants, animals, ideas, and people (including recent trends in the application of genetics and isotope analyses); cultural change (from the first farming to the first metal artefacts); domestic architecture; subsistence; material culture; monuments; and burial and other treatments of the dead. In doing so, the volume also considers the history of research and sets out agendas and themes for future work in the field.

Appendices: Persistent Traditions

Appendices: Persistent Traditions
Author: Luc W.S.W. Amkreutz
Publisher: Sidestone Press
Total Pages: 426
Release: 2013-12-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 9088902119

The adoption of agriculture is one of the major developments in human history. Archaeological studies have demonstrated that the trajectories of Neolithisation in Northwest Europe were diverse. This book presents a study into the archaeology of the communities involved in the process of Neolithisation in the Lower Rhine Area (5500-2500 cal BC). It elucidates the role played by the indigenous communities in relation to their environmental context and in view of the changes that becoming Neolithic brought about. This volume contains the appendices to the thesis ‘Persistent traditions. A long-term perspective on communities in the process of Neolithisation in the Lower Rhine Area (5500-2500 cal BC)’. These constitute a comprehensive inventory of 159, mostly excavated, archaeological sites in the Lower Rhine Area for which general characteristics were recorded. Their analysis shows that the succession of Late Mesolithic, Swifterbant culture, Hazendonk group and Vlaardingen culture societies represents a continuous long-term tradition of inhabitation of the wetlands and wetland margins of this area, forming a culturally continuous record of communities in the transition to agriculture. The site catalogue forms both an overview of, and detailed introduction into, the site-based archaeology of this time frame. After demonstrating the diversity of the Mesolithic, the subsequent developments regarding Neolithisation are studied from an indigenous perspective. Foregrounding the relationship between local communities and the dynamic wetland landscape, the archaeological evidence regarding its regional inhabitation points to long-term flexible behaviour and pragmatic decisions being made. For the interpretation of Neolithisation this study offers a complementary approach to existing research. Instead of arguing for a short transition based on the economic importance of domesticates and cultigens at sites, the emphasis is placed on the persistent traditions of the communities involved. New elements, instead of bringing about radical changes, are shown to be attuned to existing hunter-gatherer practices. By documenting indications of the mentalité of the inhabitants of the wetlands, it is demonstrated that their mindset remained essentially ‘Mesolithic’ for millennia.

Connecting Networks: Characterising Contact by Measuring Lithic Exchange in the European Neolithic

Connecting Networks: Characterising Contact by Measuring Lithic Exchange in the European Neolithic
Author: Tim Kerig
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2015-07-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1784911429

This volume brings together a group of peer reviewed papers, most of them presented at a workshop held at University College London, 15-17 October 2011, as part of the European Research Council (ERC) funded project Cultural Evolution of Neolithic Europe (EUROEVOL 2010-2015).