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Traditional archaeological ideas about Neolithic societies were shaped by questionable premises. The modern concept of social and cultural coherence of residence groups as well as the ethnic interpretation of ‘archaeological cultures’ fostered ideas of static and homogeneous social entities with fixed borders. Farming – as the core of the Neolithic way of life – was associated with sedentariness rather than with spatial mobility and cross-regional social networks. Furthermore, the widely used (neo-)evolutionist thinking universally assumed a growing social complexity and hierarchisation during prehistory. After all, such ‘top-down'–perspectives deprived individuals and groups of genuine agency and creativity while underestimating the relational dynamic between the social and material worlds. In recent years, a wide array of empirical results on social practices related to material culture and settlement dynamics, (inter-)regional entanglements and spatial mobility were published. For the latter the adoption of the relatively new scientific methods in archaeology like Stable Isotope Analysis as well as aDNA played a crucial role. Yet the question of possible inferences regarding spatial and temporal differences in forms of social organisation has not been addressed sufficiently. The aim of this volume is therefore to rethink former top-down concepts of Neolithic societies by studying social practices and different forms of Neolithic social life by adopting bottom-up social archaeological perspectives. Furthermore, the validity and relevance of terms like ‘society’, ‘community’, ‘social group’ etc. will be discussed. The contributions reach from theoretical to empirical ones and thematize a variety of social theoretical approaches as well as methodological ways of combining different sorts of data. They show the potential of such bottom-up approaches to infer models of social practices and configurations which may live up to the potential social diversity and dynamism of Neolithic societies. The contribution shed light on spatial mobility, social complexity, the importance of (political) interests and factors of kinship etc. We hope that this volume, with its focus on the Neolithic of Europe, will contribute to the ongoing critical debates of theories and concepts as well as on our premises and perspectives on Neolithic societies in general – and the practices of social archaeology as such.

This book is a presentation of the basic concept of social, environmental and cultural connectivity in past societies, as embodied in a diversity of disciplines in the Cluster of Excellence ROOTS. Thus, rather pragmatically driven ideas of socio-environmental connectivities are described, which form the basis of the Cluster of Excellence in its research. A discussion of the fluidness of the term ‘connectivity’ and the applicability of the concept opens the arena for diverse interpretations. With various case and concept studies, the reader may advance into the perspectives that develop from the new interdisciplinary interaction. These include both rarely considered dependencies between nomadic and urban lifestyles, and aspects of water supply and water features, which represent an area of connectivity between the environment and agglomerated human settlement structures. Moreover, diachronic aspects are presented in various studies on the role of connectivities in the development of social inequality, the use of fortification or also waste behaviour, and the creation of linguistic features in written media. In sum, facets of connectivity research are revealed that are also being investigated in numerous other disciplines with further results in the Kiel Excellence Cluster ROOTS.

In Hidden Depths, Professor Penny Spikins explores how our emotional connections have shaped human ancestry. Focusing on three key transitions in human origins, Professor Spikins explains how the emotional capacities of our early ancestors evolved in response to ecological changes, much like similar changes in other social mammals. For each transition, dedicated chapters examine evolutionary pressures, responses in changes in human emotional capacities and the archaeological evidence for human social behaviours. Starting from our earliest origins, in Part One, Professor Spikins explores how after two million years ago, movement of human ancestors into a new ecological niche drove new types of collaboration, including care for vulnerable members of the group. Emotional adaptations lead to cognitive changes, as new connections based on compassion, generosity, trust and inclusion also changed our relationship to material things. Part Two explores a later key transition in human emotional capacities occurring after 300,000 years ago. At this time changes in social tolerance allowed ancestors of our own species to further reach out beyond their local group and care about distant allies, making human communities resilient to environmental changes. An increasingly close relationship to animals, and even to cherished possessions, appeared at this time, and can be explained through new human vulnerabilities and ways of seeking comfort and belonging. Lastly, Part Three focuses on the contrasts in emotional dispositions arising between ourselves and our close cousins, the Neanderthals. Neanderthals are revealed as equally caring yet emotionally different humans, who might, if things had been different, have been in our place today. This new narrative breaks away from traditional views of human evolution as exceptional or as a linear progression towards a more perfect form. Instead, our evolutionary history is situated within similar processes occurring in other mammals, and explained as one in which emotions, rather than ‘intellect’, were key to our evolutionary journey. Moreover, changes in emotional capacities and dispositions are seen as part of differing pathways each bringing strengths, weaknesses and compromises. These hidden depths provide an explanation for many of the emotional sensitivities and vulnerabilities which continue to influence our world today.

Plants have constituted the basis of human subsistence. This volume focuses on plant food ingredients that were consumed by the members of past societies and on the ways these ingredients were transformed into food. The thirty chapters of this book unfold the story of culinary transformation of cereals, pulses as well as of a wide range of wild and cultivated edible plants. Regional syntheses provide insights on plant species choices and changes over time and fragments of recipes locked inside amorphous charred masses. Grinding equipment, cooking installations and cooking pots are used to reveal the ancient cooking steps in order to pull together the pieces of a culinary puzzle of the past. From the big picture of spatiotemporal patterns and changes to the micro-imaging of usewear on grinding tool surfaces, the book attempts for the first time a comprehensive and systematic approach to ancient plant food culinary transformation. Focusing mainly on Europe and the Mediterranean world in prehistory, the book expands to other regions such as South Asia and Latin America and covers a time span from the Palaeolithic to the historic periods. Several of the contributions stem from original research conducted in the context of ERC project PlantCult: Investigating the Plant Food Cultures of Ancient Europe. The book’s exploration into ancient cuisines culminates with an investigation of the significance of ethnoarchaeology towards a better understanding of past foodways as well as of the impact of archaeology in shaping modern culinary and consumer trends. The book will be of interest to archaeologists, food historians, agronomists, botanists as well as the wider public with an interest in ancient cooking.

How is it possible that people kill each other? And above all: how is it possible that people who are able to peacefully live with each other at one moment, can kill each other at another one? These are fundamental questions about the human condition – questions that religions, philosophers and scientists have been wanting to solve since times immemorial and that continue to fascinate us today (Browning 1998; Harrison 1995; Morris 2015). So you may perhaps be wondering why I am posing such deep and essential questions at the start of a lecture that is meant to tell you something about our prehistory?

Social inequality is a subject of contemporary concerns. Life capabilities and the access to resources vary significantly in rich and poor countries, between elites and others. Furthermore, inequalities based on bio-anthropological and non-bio-anthropological causes are almost universal. Accordingly, inequality was also inherent in past societies and archaeologists have continually examined and interpreted social inequalities in sources such as burial grounds. This book continues such analyses with a new multi-proxy approach. It reveals social inequalities in selected past burial grounds from Southwestern Germany. The burial grounds date to the Early Neolithic (Schwetzingen), the Final Neolithic (Lauda-Königshofen), the Early Bronze Age (Singen), the Early Iron Age (Magdalenenbergle), and the Early Medieval period (Horb-Altheim). The challenge was to identify hierarchical and heterarchical differences and inequalities within the burial grounds based on a multitude of different proxies. The examination encompasses variations in the distribution of grave goods, burial pit sizes, as well as bio-anthropological and isotope data. Furthermore, spatial analyses of burial grounds and, in particular, on the distances between the graves play an essential role in this examination. The results reveal social inequalities among and within genders and age cohorts that are differently pronounced in the respective cemeteries. Furthermore, the results of multi-proxy analyses lead to the interpretation that the sites differ concerning the respective degrees of inequality and power strategy modes. In detail, it can be observed that the Early Iron Age and the Early Bronze Age sites demonstrate a relatively high degree of inequality as compared to the other sites. More specifically, the investigation of sites from the Early Iron Age and the Final Neolithic rather reveal a network-based power strategy, whereas sites from the Early Neolithic, the Early Bronze Age and the Early Medieval period tend to show a corporate-based power strategy.

Technology refers to any set of standardised procedures for transforming raw materials into finished products. Innovation consists of any change in technology which has tangible and lasting effect on human practices, whether or not it provides utilitarian advantages. Prehistoric societies were never static, but the tempo of innovation occasionally increased to the point that we can refer to transformation taking place. Prehistorians must therefore identify factors promoting or hindering innovation. This volume stems from an international workshop, organised by the Collaborative Research Centre 1266 ‘Scales of Transformation’ at Kiel University in November 2017. The meeting challenged its participants to detect and explain technological change in the past and its role in transformation processes, using archaeological and ethnographic case studies. The papers draw mainly on examples from prehistoric Europe, but case-studies from Iran, the Indus Valley, and contemporary central America are also included. The authors adopt several perspectives, including cultural-historical, economic, environmental, demographic, functional, and agent-based approaches. These case studies often rely on interdisciplinary research, whereby field archaeology, archaeometric analysis, experimental archaeology and ethnographic research are used together to observe and explain innovations and changes in the artisan’s repertoire. The results demonstrate that interdisciplinary research is becoming essential to understanding transformation phenomena in prehistoric archaeology, superseding typo-chronological description and comparison. This book is a scholarly publication aimed at academic researchers, particularly archaeologists and archaeological scientists working on ceramics, osseous and metal artefacts.

This volume presents a new analysis of the wall paintings discovered over a hundred years ago in one of the most important centres of Minoan culture, the palace at Knossos. Introducing the theoretical concept of Bild-Raum, a relational construct linking pictorial elements with humans, actions and places, the aim is to produce new insights as to the types of rituals, ideas and people which can be related with individual parts of the palace based on the decoration painted on the walls. The images and architecture of three key areas of the palace are studied in broad detail, improving our understanding of performances and people involved and their role within the complex history of the Late Bronze Age palace at Knossos.; Der vorliegende Band stellt eine neue Analyse der Wandbilder vor, die vor über 100 Jahren an den Wänden des bedeutendsten Zentrums der minoischen Kultur, des Palastes von Knossos, gefunden wurden. Im Mittelpunkt der Untersuchungen steht der Begriff des Bild-Raums, eine theoretisch begründete, relationale Verknüpfung von Bildelementen, Menschen, Handlungen und Orten. Das Ziel ist es, basierend auf dem Wanddekor einzelner Gebäudetrakte ein besseres Verständnis der einst mit ihnen verbundenen Rituale, Ideen und Personen zu gewinnen. In ausführlichen Fallstudien werden die Bild-Räume dreier bedeutender Palastareale analysiert, rekonstruiert und in ihren spätbronzezeitlichen Kontext gestellt.

"Star Carr is one of the most important Mesolithic sites in Europe. It was discovered in the late 1940s by John Moore and then excavated by Grahame Clark from 1949-1951, becoming famous in the archaeological world for the wealth of rare organic remains uncovered including barbed antler points and antler headdresses. However, since the original excavations there has been much debate about how the site was used: was it a residential base camp, a hunting camp or even a ritual site? From 2003-2015, excavations directed by Conneller, Milner and Taylor aimed to answer these questions. This work has demonstrated that the site is much larger and more complex than ever imagined and was in use for around 800 years. The excavations show that Mesolithic groups were highly invested in this place: there is evidence for a number of structures on the dryland (the oldest evidence for ‘houses’ in Britain), three large wooden platforms along the edge of the lake, and the deposition of rare artefacts into the lake edge, including more antler headdresses and a unique, engraved shale pendant. People continued to occupy the site despite changes in climate over this period. The main results of our work are contained in two volumes: the first provides an interpretation of the site, and the second provides detail on specific areas of research. The main results of our work are contained in two volumes: the first volume provides an interpretation of the site, and the second volume provides detail on specific areas of research."

"Star Carr is one of the most important Mesolithic sites in Europe. It was discovered in the late 1940s by John Moore and then excavated by Grahame Clark from 1949-1951, becoming famous in the archaeological world for the wealth of rare organic remains uncovered including barbed antler points and antler headdresses. However, since the original excavations there has been much debate about how the site was used: was it a residential base camp, a hunting camp or even a ritual site? From 2003-2015, excavations directed by Conneller, Milner and Taylor aimed to answer these questions. This work has demonstrated that the site is much larger and more complex than ever imagined and was in use for around 800 years. The excavations show that Mesolithic groups were highly invested in this place: there is evidence for a number of structures on the dryland (the oldest evidence for ‘houses’ in Britain), three large wooden platforms along the edge of the lake, and the deposition of rare artefacts into the lake edge, including more antler headdresses and a unique, engraved shale pendant. People continued to occupy the site despite changes in climate over this period. The main results of our work are contained in two volumes: the first provides an interpretation of the site, and the second provides detail on specific areas of research. The main results of our work are contained in two volumes: the first volume provides an interpretation of the site, and the second volume provides detail on specific areas of research."

There is a cluster of Early Iron Age (800–500 BC) elite burials in the Low Countries in which bronze vessels, weaponry, horse-gear and wagons were interred as grave goods. Mostly imports from Central Europe, these objects are found brought together in varying configurations in cremation burials generally known as chieftains’ graves or princely burials. In terms of grave goods they resemble the Fürstengräber of the Hallstatt Culture of Central Europe, with famous Dutch and Belgian examples being the Chieftain’s grave of Oss, the wagon-grave of Wijchen and the elite cemetery of Court-St-Etienne. Fragmenting the Chieftain presents the results of an in-depth and practice-based archaeological analysis of the Dutch and Belgian elite graves and the burial practice through which they were created. It was established that the elite burials are embedded in the local burial practices – as reflected by the use of the cremation rite, the bending and breaking of grave goods, and the pars pro toto deposition of human remains and objects, all in accordance with the dominant local urnfield burial practice. It appears that those individuals interred with wagons and related items warranted a more elaborate funerary rite, most likely because these ceremonial and cosmologically charged vehicles marked their owners out as exceptional individuals. Furthermore, in a few graves the configuration of the grave good set, the use of textiles to wrap grave goods and the dead and the reuse of burial mounds show the influence of individuals familiar with Hallstatt Culture burial customs. A comprehensive overview of the Dutch and Belgian graves can be found in the accompanying Fragmenting the Chieftain – Catalogue. Late Bronze and Early Iron Age elite burials in the Low Countries.

There is a cluster of Early Iron Age (800–500 BC) elite burials in the Low Countries in which bronze vessels, weaponry, horse-gear and wagons were interred as grave goods. Mostly imports from Central Europe, these objects are found brought together in varying configurations in cremation burials generally known as chieftains’ graves or princely burials. In terms of grave goods they resemble the Fürstengräber of the Hallstatt Culture of Central Europe, with famous Dutch and Belgian examples being the Chieftain’s grave of Oss, the wagon-grave of Wijchen and the elite cemetery of Court-St-Etienne. The majority of the Dutch and Belgian burials were found several decades to several centuries ago and context information tends to be limited. They also tend to be published in Dutch or French or otherwise difficult to access publications. This research went back to the original reports and studied the objects found in these graves in detail. This generated new and evidence-based insights and interpretations into these exceptional burials and allowed for the reconstruction of the individual burial rituals. Fragmenting the Chieftain – Catalogue presents the first comprehensive overview of the Dutch and Belgian elite graves (in English) and the objects they contain. The results of an in-depth and practice-based archaeological analysis of the Dutch and Belgian elite graves and the burial practice through which they were created can be found in Fragmenting the Chieftain. A practice-based study of Early Iron Age Hallstatt C elite burials in the Low Countries.

"Antiquity is often utilized as a reference to provide a historical dimension for contemporary phenomena. This also holds true for the prevailing scientific discourse on alternative or adequate remedies of dispute resolution. In this context, historical perspectives seem to be in vogue as narratives to legitimize one or another role model, whereas studies on practical examples from ancient legal orders tend not to be given serious consideration in the current debate. Just as in the case of contemporary legal research, ancient legal history also distinguishes litigation at court from other mechanisms of conflict resolution. Nevertheless, where do the boundaries of judicial and extra-judicial mechanisms of dispute resolution lie within the framework of ancient societies? Are they alternatives in a narrower sense? Is there evidence for concerning the reason there was no (or at least no exclusive) judicial decision? This volume offers a selection of studies of pertinent illustrative material pertaining to these questions. While the relevant sources stemming from the prehistorical period, the Ancient Near East, Hellenistic Egypt and Classical Roman law may vary greatly, this just serves to widen our perspective on ancient times. Heidi Peter-Röcher focuses on strategies of conflict resolution in prehistoric times corresponding to different forms of violence. Hans Neumann, Susanne Paulus, Lena Fijałkowska and Alessandro Hirata delve into case studies situated in the Ancient Near East from Sumerian to Neo-Babylonian times. Three other contributions examine Graeco-Roman Antiquity: Marc Depauw considers non-Greek, i.e., demotic, material from a Hellenistic kingdom, Anna Seelentag embraces the phenomenon of public clamour in the Roman Republic, and Christine Lehne-Gstreinthaler provides a fresh look at the classical arbitration from the perspective of ancient legal history."

Every year thousands of archaeological objects and artefact scatters are discovered by the public, most of them by metal-detector users, but also by people whilst out walking, gardening, or going about their daily work. Once recorded, these finds hold enormous potential in helping us understand the past. In England and Wales these finds are reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), and since 2003 over one million finds have been recorded. This book explores the significance of PAS data for Lincolnshire, in particular how these finds enhance the 'known' archaeological record, and how they come together to form multi-period artefact scatters, defined here for the first time as 'plough-zone palimpsests'. A bespoke methodology is developed that allows PAS data to be analysed at different scales of time and place. This brings into focus different sources of bias and different interpretative possibilities. A series of case studies then explore these palimpsests on varying scales of time and place. These demonstrate how portable antiquities are important biographical components of 'temporally-sticky' or ‘persistent places’, and have the potential to reveal structuring within the landscape over long-periods of time. Combined with other evidence engrained within the landscape, PAS data help to explain how the past influenced the subsequent use of places, and how the aftershocks of human activity resonate in the landscape today.

Textiles, textile production and clothing were essentials of living in prehistory, locked into the system of society at every level – social, economic and even religious. Textile crafts not only produced essential goods for everyday use, most notably clothing, but also utilitarian objects as well as representative and luxury items. Prehistoric clothing and their role in identity creation for the individual and for the group are also addressed by means of archaeological finds from Stone the Iron Age in Central Europe., Textilien, Textilhandwerk und Kleidung bilden wichtige Lebensgrundlagen des urgeschichtlichen Menschen, mit Auswirkungen auf viele Aspekte des Lebens, seien es soziale, wirtschaftliche oder religiöse. Mit diesem Handwerk wurden nicht nur wesentliche Güter des täglichen Bedarfs - allen voran Kleidung - hergestellt, sondern auch Gebrauchswaren sowie repräsentative Objekte bis hin zu Luxusartikeln. Urgeschichtliche Kleidung und ihre Rolle als Identitätsmarker für die einzelnen Menschen, wie auch für Gruppen, werden mittels archäologischer Funde aus der Stein- bis Eisenzeit Mitteleuropas behandelt.

Ce catalogue accompagne la publication de l’ouvrage « Flèches de pouvoir à l’aube de la métallurgie de la Bretagne au Danemark (2500-1700 av. n. è.) ». Il rassemble pour la première fois un corpus d’armatures de flèches déposées dans les tombes de la fin du Néolithique et du Bronze ancien dans le Massif armoricain, dans le sud des îles Britanniques et au Danemark. Il contient la description (architecture, anthropologie, mobilier funéraire) de 231 sépultures, ayant livré un total de 1375 pointes de flèches. La plupart de ces armatures sont illustrées par 718 dessins (dont 200 originaux) et 454 photographies (dont 415 originales). À cela s’ajoutent la figuration des plans des tombes et du mobilier associé aux armatures. Ce corpus est enrichi d’un inventaire complémentaire pour le Danemark de 274 pointes de flèches issues de 92 sépultures de datation plus incertaine. Enfin, l’ensemble des armatures étudiées sont décrites selon leurs dimensions, leurs matières premières et leurs lieux de conservation. English abstract: This volume contains the catalogue belonging to the book « Flèches de pouvoir à l’aube de la métallurgie de la Bretagne au Danemark (2500-1700 av. n. è.) ». It contains data on arrowheads deposited in Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages graves in the Armorican Massif, in southern British Isles and in Denmark. Included are the description (architecture, anthropology, grave goods) of 231 burials, which have yielded a total of 1375 arrowheads, illustrated with a total of 718 drawings and 454 photographs. Find contexts are illustrated with plans of the burials and associated grave goods. This corpus is enriched with a complementary inventory of 274 arrowheads from 92 graves with more unsecure dating from Denmark. Finally, all arrowheads are described according to their metric dimensions, their raw materials and their location in museums.

Cette thèse porte sur les pointes de flèches découvertes dans les tombes de la fin du Néolithique et de l’âge du Bronze ancien (2500-1700 av. n. è.) dans le Massif armoricain, dans le sud des îles Britanniques et au Danemark. Ces armatures sont envisagées sous l’angle de la typologie, des matières premières, de la technologie, de l’expérimentation et de la tracéologie. L’objectif de ces différentes approches est de caractériser les modes de production et les fonctions des flèches en pierre durant une période, qui voit successivement l’introduction de la métallurgie du cuivre puis du bronze. Plusieurs interprétations sont proposées du guerrier renouvelant son carquois aux artisans fabriquant des biens de prestige destinés à l’élite. En Bretagne, les flèches sont replacées dans leur contexte culturel et social, marqué par une individualisation des pratiques funéraires puis l’émergence de chefs à la tête de communautés fortement hiérarchisées et de territoires géographiquement cohérents. Leur pouvoir paraît moins fondé sur le contrôle d’une métallurgie naissante qu’une réorganisation dans l’occupation du sol et l’exploitation des ressources agricoles. Enfin, les flèches sont mises en perspective avec les grands mouvements qui traversent l’Europe atlantique. L’origine des armatures à pédoncule et ailerons équarris de la culture campaniforme paraît ancrée dans le Néolithique final du Centre-Ouest de la France, tandis qu’à l’âge du Bronze ancien les flèches aux ailerons obliques semblent signer l’appartenance au complexe culturel atlantique. English abstract This thesis focusses on the arrowheads found in graves of Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age date (2500-1700 BC) in the Armorican massif, the southern British Isles and Denmark. These artefacts are examined from the angle of typology, raw materials, technology, experimentation and use-wear. The aim of these different approaches is to characterize the modes of production and the functions of stone arrowheads during a period which successively sees the introduction of copper then bronze metallurgy. Several interpretations are proposed, from warriors renewing their quivers to craftsmen manufacturing prestige goods for the elite. In Brittany, the arrows are set in their cultural and social context, marked by an individualization of funerary practices and then by the emergence of chiefs at the head of strongly hierarchical communities with geographically coherent territories. Power seems founded on reorganization of land-use and exploitation of agricultural resources, rather than on control of incipient metallurgy. Lastly, arrows are placed in the broader perspective of major trends affecting Atlantic Europe. The origin of the squared-off barbed and tanged arrowheads of the Bell Beaker culture seems anchored in the Final Neolithic of west-central France, while in the Early Bronze Age the arrowheads with oblique barbs seem to indicate an attachment to the Atlantic cultural complex.

The Corded Ware Culture (c. 2900–2300 BC) is found in a large area, from Russia to the Netherlands and from Scandinavia to Switzerland. Supra-regional elements include beakers decorated with cord and/or spatula imprints, battle-axes, and a funerary customs involving crouched inhumations under barrows with gender-specific placement of the body gender-specific funerary gifts. Analysis of ceramics from well-preserved settlements from the Dutch coastal zone have provided very valuable new information on the Corded Ware chronology, social organisation, ideology, subsistence, and use of material culture. A critical review of the commonly applied chronological models shows that many of the underlying premises cannot be supported due to problems with (broad calibration and sample reliability of) 14C dates. This study shows that in the Neolithic Dutch coastal zone, the thin-walled ceramics reflect supra-regional (Corded Ware ) affiliations, whereas the medium-thick-walled and thick-walled ceramics reflect persistent regional (Vlaardingen) traditions. The beakers decorated with cord and spatula impressions were used primarily for cooking; indications for the often proposed use of alcohol (and associated rise of individualisation and elites) were not found. It is argued in this study that the Corded Ware Culture represents an economic alliance, a dynamic totality as well as a network linking regional groups – each with a distinct economic base, material culture and ideology. These communities all participated in a vast supra-regional network that was a platform for inter-community exchanges of goods, skills, ideas and possibly people. Affiliation to this supra-regional network was a vital aspect for all regional groups involved, and membership to it was expressed by using a set of common traits. Decorated thin-walled beakers act as symbols of these supra-regional networks and thus embody both functional and ideological roles.

The publication gives a complete documentation of the old rescue excavations by Josef Bayer and Viktor Lebzelter in 1931 as well as of the systematic investigations of the Neolithic cemetery under the direction of Johannes-Wolfgang Neugebauer and Christine Neugebauer-Maresch between 1987–1991. The burial customs of this early farming population are analyzed together with the grave goods, which comprise an exceptionally large number of grinding stones, as well as ceramics, bone tools, shell ornaments, chert and traces of red ochre. The results of analyses of anthropological remains pertaining to 57 inhumations − more than half of the bodies were oriented SE-NW and the majority buried in a crouched position on the left side − are complemented by 14C-dates and isotope-analyses., Die Publikation bietet sowohl eine vollständige Dokumentation der ersten Notgrabungen von Josef Bayer und Viktor Lebzelter 1931 als auch der systematischen Rettungsgrabungen zwischen 1987–1991 unter der Leitung von Johannes-Wolfgang Neugebauer und Christine Neugebauer-Maresch. Die Bestattungssitten dieser frühen bäuerlichen Bevölkerung werden ebenso eingehend analysiert wie die Grabfunde, die eine ungewöhnlich große Anzahl an Mahlsteinfragmenten und Reibplatten umfassen, weiters Keramik, Knochengeräte, Muschelschmuck, Silex und Spuren von Rötel. Die Resultate der Analysen der anthropologischen Überreste von 57 Körperbestattungen - mehr als die Hälfte der Körper waren SO-NW orientiert und die überwiegende Mehrheit in linker Hockerlage bestattet − werden durch 14C-Datierungen und Isotopen-Analysen ergänzt.

The famous ‘Silk Roads’ have long evoked a romantic picture of travel through colourful civilizations that connected the western and eastern poles of Eurasia, facilitating the exchange of exotic luxury goods, peoples, pathogens and ideas. But how far back can we trace such interaction? Increasing evidence suggests considerable time-depth for Trans-Eurasian exchange, with the expanding urban networks of the Bronze Age at times anticipating later caravan routes. Tying the Threads of Eurasia applies advanced GIS modelling and critical social archaeology to carefully selected material remains from these earlier connections in order to understand and explain macro-scale processes of interaction in the wider ancient Near East between 3000 and 1500BC. Evidence related to precious stone, metal and textile objects found in Transcaucasia, eastern Anatolia and Central Asia are examined critically and spatially to provide new insights into changing socio-economic relations within and beyond these case-study regions. This book will be of interest to archaeologists and historians researching routes of exchange and interaction, macro-scale historical change or GIS approaches to archaeology, and to specialists of the Bronze Age Near East, especially Anatolia, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Iran.

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.

Some 2800 years ago, a man died in what is now the municipality of Oss, the Netherlands. His death must have been a significant event in the life of local communities, for he received an extraordinary funeral, which ended with the construction of an impressive barrow. Based on the meticulous excavation and a range of specialist and comprehensive studies of finds, a prehistoric burial ritual now can be brought to life in surprising detail. An Iron Age community used extraordinary objects that find their closest counterpart in the elite graves of the Hallstatt culture in Central Europe. This book will discuss how lavishly decorated items were dismantled and taken apart to be connected with the body of the deceased, all to be destroyed by fire. In what appears to be a meaningful pars pro toto ritual, the remains of his body, the pyre, and the objects were searched through and moved about, with various elements being manipulated, intentionally broken, and interred or removed. In essence, a person and a place were transformed through destruction. The book shows how the mourners carefully, almost lovingly covered the funeral remains with a barrow. Attention is also given to another remarkable monument, long mound 6, located immediately adjacent to mound 7. Excavations show how mound 7 was part of an age-old ritual heath landscape that was entirely restructured during the Early Iron Age, when it became the setting for the building of no less than three huge Hallstatt C barrows. Thousands of years later, during the Late Middle Ages, this landscape underwent a complete transformation of meaning when the prehistoric barrows became the scenery for a macabre display of the cadavers of executed criminals.

Barrows, i.e. burial mounds, are amongst the most important of Europe’s prehistoric monuments. Across the continent, barrows still figure as prominent elements in the landscape. Many of these mounds have been excavated, revealing much about what was buried inside these intriguing monuments. Surprisingly, little is known about the landscape in which the barrows were situated and what role they played in their environment. Palynological data, carrying important clues on the barrow environment, are available for hundreds of excavated mounds in the Netherlands. However, while local vegetation reconstructions from these barrows exist, a reconstruction of the broader landscape around the barrows has yet to be made. This makes it difficult to understand their role in the prehistoric cultural landscape. In this book a detailed vegetation history of the landscape around burial mounds is presented. Newly obtained and extant data derived from palynological analyses taken from barrow sites are (re-)analysed. Methods in barrow palynology are discussed and further developed when necessary. Newly developed techniques are applied in order to get a better impression of the role barrows played in their environment. It is argued in this book that barrows were built on existing heaths, which had been and continued to be maintained for many generations by so-called heath communities. These heaths, therefore, can be considered as ‘ancestral heaths’. The barrow landscape was part of the economic zone of farming communities, while the heath areas were used as grazing grounds. The ancestral heaths were very stable elements in the landscape and were kept in existence for thousands of years. In fact, it is argued that these ancestral heaths were the most important factor in structuring the barrow landscape.

An animal bone assemblage discovered in an area of Late Bronze Age aboveground activities at the Hallstatt salt mining site was analysed. Together with sunken logwall structurs the results support the idea of a large-scale production of salt-meat, ham and bacon., Untersuchungsgegenstand ist ein spätbronzezeitlicher Tierknochenkomplex aus dem Salzbergtal bei Hallstatt. Zusammen mit der Auffindung geeigneter Blockwandbauten sprechen die Befunde für die Produktion von gepökelten Fleisch und Fleischextrakten.