Neolithic & Chalcolithic Archaeology

Neolithic Rock Art In Context: Landscape History and the Transition to Agriculture In Mediterranean Spain

by Sarah McClure

AMS Dating of Human Bone from Cova de la Pastora: New Evidence of Ritual Continuity in the Prehistory of Eastern Spain

by Sarah McClure

Objetos singulars/objetos foráneos: evidencias de circulación de artesanías en el depósito funerario de Cova de la Pastora (Alcoi, Alacant).

by Sarah McClure

Poster presented at Xarxes al Neolític: Congreso internacional Redes en el Neolítico. Gava y Bellaterra (Barcelona, España). February 2011.

Technological style, chaine opératoire and labor investment of early Neolithic pottery

by Sarah McClure

with Joan Bernabeu

Cavidades de uso funerario durante el Neolítico final/Calcolítico en el territorio valenciano: trabajos arqueológicos en Avenc dels Dos Forats o Cova del Monedero ( …

by Sarah McClure

Secondary burial cemeteries, visibility and land tenure: A view from the southern Levant Chalcolithic period

by Rona Winter

Co-authored with Tal Svoray and Isaac Gilead, 2012, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

Tim Kerig: Ein Statuenmenhir mit Darstellung einer Axt vom Eschollbrückener Typ? Zu einem enigmatischen Steindenkmal aus Gelnhausen-Meerholz (Mainz-Kinzig-Kreis). In: Prähistorische Zeitschrift, Bd. 85 (2010), 59–78

by tim kerig

Marked in Life and Death: Identifying Biological Markers of Social Differentiation in Late Prehistoric Portugal

by Anna Waterman

PhD Thesis. Completed in the Spring of 2012

This dissertation research is a bioarchaeological investigation of Late Neolithic through Early Bronze Age (3600-1800... more This dissertation research is a bioarchaeological investigation of Late Neolithic through Early Bronze Age (3600-1800 BC) burial populations from the Portuguese Estremadura. In this project macroscopic and isotopic analyses of skeletal and dental materials are used to gather information pertaining to diet, health status, and inter-lifetime mobility patterns for individuals interred at different burials within a small geographic area with the goal of evaluating the level of social differentiation in the region. The archaeological record for the transition between the Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age in southwestern Portugal demonstrates clear evidence of the rise of a socially-complex, non-state society. During the Early Bronze Age, however, this region underwent a period of social ‘devolution’ which cumulated in widespread settlement abandonment. To date, it is unclear to what extent sociopolitical or environmental factors contributed to this social collapse. This study seeks to expand our knowledge of social differentiation in the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age of the Estremadura region of Portugal and provide insight into social structure during the emergence and collapse of early complex societies in Iberia.
The results of this study found that there were statistically significant differences in dietary, mobility and demographic patterns between burials that suggest socially distinct populations were interred at different sites. In particular, one burial site, Cova da Moura, diverged significantly from the other sampled burial populations. However, based upon the data presented here, it was not possible to tie these biological markers of differentiation to particular aspects of Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age social organization. Therefore, while this study successfully identified differences between burial populations, at this time, it is not possibly to relate these to particular hierarchical structures. It is suggested that aspects of burial practices in the region confound biologically-based investigations of social organization in a similar way that they have impeded researchers’ abilities to identify elite versus non-elite individuals through grave goods alone. Nonetheless, despite these obstacles, this work provides strong evidence of population heterogeneity in the region, and has implications for our understanding of the evolution of complex societies in the Iberian Peninsula and elsewhere.

Reconstrucción virtual de un túmulo funerario neolítico.

by Francisco José López Fraile

Se presenta una infografía didáctica de la secuencia constructiva de un túmulo megalítico, siguiendo la tipología de las estructuras de época neolítica documentadas en Villaviciosa (Asturias). Se pueden distinguir en las sucesivas fases constructivas la cámara formada por megalitos, los estratos de compactación de bloques y las coberteras de tierra.

Cronologia e Culture dell'arcipelago Maltese tra VI e IV Millennio Cal BC. Unpubl.Diss., Università Ca'Foscari, Venezia, 2009/10.

by Tiziano Fantuzzi

El conjunto cerámico del Neolítico Final de Pala da Vella (Rubiá, Ourense).

by Carlos Fernández-Rodríguez

L. Pérez & C. Fernández (2005). “El conjunto cerámico del Neolítico Final de Pala da Vella (Rubiá, Ourense)”. En P. Arias, R. Ontañón & C. García-Moncó (eds.). III Congreso del Neolítico en la Península Ibérica. Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Cantabria. Monografías del Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, nº 1. pp. 327-335.

La cueva de las Tres Ventanas (Corullón) y los inicios de la Edad de los Metales en El Bierzo.

by Carlos Fernández-Rodríguez

J. Fernández Manzano, MªD. Fernández-Posse, C. Fernández & F. Pastor (1999). “La cueva de las Tres Ventanas (Corullón) y los inicios de la Edad de los Metales en El Bierzo”. Boletín del Seminario de Estudios de Arte y Arqueología (Universidad de Valladolid), LXV: 99-131.

El yacimiento neolítico de La Borracha II. Jumilla (Murcia)

by Francisco Gil González

Pleita 3, 2000. Jumilla, pp. 4-37.
Francisco Gil González

Se estudia la industria lítica recuperada en prospecciones superficiales en el yacimiento neolítico de La Borracha... more Se estudia la industria lítica recuperada en prospecciones superficiales en el yacimiento neolítico de La Borracha (Jumilla, Murcia), principalmente del sector individualizado con el nombre de “La Borracha II”. Entre sus características destaca la presencia significativa de segmentos, una parte importante con retoque de doble bisel, entre los geométricos. En el momento de la publicación del artículo se había considerado la posible filiación epipaleo-mesolítica para este tipo de geométricos, pero actualmente se consideran distintivos de los contextos epicardiales o sus equivalentes cronológicos (JUAN-CABANILLES y MARTÍ OLIVER, 2002: 64-65). En el sector denominado “La Borracha I”, los geométricos son de mayor tamaño y aparecen tipos como los trapecios rectángulos con base menor ligeramente cóncava.

BIBLIOGRAFÍA:
JUAN-CABANILLES y MARTÍ OLIVER, 2002: “Poblamiento y procesos culturales en la Península Ibérica del VII al V milenio A.C., en El Paisaje en el Neolítico mediterráneo. SAGVNTVM, Extra 5, 2002. Valencia, pp. 45-87.

Estudio arqueometalúrgico del punzón de Cova de la Pesseta (Torrelles de Foix, Barcelona). Datos composicionales, metalográficos, isotópicos y funcionales

by Ignacio Soriano

Co-authored with Jorge Chamón.
Published in MARQ Arqueología y Museos 5 (in press)

Abstract:
This paper provides archaeometallurgical data of a copper awl from Cova de la Pesseta, a funerary cave... more Abstract:
This paper provides archaeometallurgical data of a copper awl from Cova de la Pesseta, a funerary cave located in Torrelles de Foix (Alt Penedès, Barcelona). The tool was located in a multiple burial level attached to the Late Neolithic (Véraza Group) although we can not ruled out that it belongs to a later mortuary use during the Early Bronze Age. Both uses have radiocarbon AMS dates. The study deals with issues relating to the process of production of the object, through its compositional (ED-XRF) and metallographic analysis. The origin of raw material is suggested from lead isotopes data and its comparison with similar data existing elsewhere in Iberian Peninsula and Europe. It should be noted that it is the oldest metal object of the Northeastern Iberian Peninsula with isotopic data. Finally we propose a hypothesis in relation to its functionality through the characteristics of the tool and binocular magnifier study.

Keywords: Archaeometallurgy; awl; ED-XRF; lead isotopes; metallographic data; functionality; Late Prehistory; Northeastern Iberian Peninsula

La posada en valor del patrimoni arqueològic. Noves aportacions pel segle XXI

by Ignacio Soriano

Co-authored with Lluís Vila.
Paper presented at 1st Congress of Leissure and Tourism OCITUR 2012 (in press).

Abstract:
The present communication sets out a series of problems that we consider in the promotion of... more Abstract:
The present communication sets out a series of problems that we consider in the promotion of archaeological heritage and positioning adopted by the authors. We review some issues such as the revolutionary change that The New Museology has in the field of museums; the false dichotomy between communicate, exhibit and display; the importance of the informal education above the rest; the current focus on extremely restricted potential visitors and the need to democratize the cultural heritage; the benefits of the universal accessibility; or the potential of information and communication technologies (ICT). As a final point, we present a specific case of archaeological heritage promotion in which the authors have been involved directly and in what ICTs play a central role: La Roca Prehistoric Park (Vallès Oriental, Barcelona)

Keywords: Museum, Archaeological Heritage, Visitors, Accessibility, ICT, La Roca Prehistoric Park.

Animals and Inequality in Chalcolithic Central Anatolia

by Benjamin Arbuckle

The Beginning of the Early Bronze Age in Crete: Continuities and Discontinuities in the Ceramic Assemblage at Kephala Petras, Siteia.

by Peter Tomkins

Co-authored with Yiannis Papadatos, Eleni Nodarou and Yiannis Iliopoulos. To appear in: DOUMAS, C., A. GIANNIKOURI and O. KOUKA (eds.) in press. The Aegean Early Bronze Age: New Evidence. International Conference, Athens, April 11th-14th 2008. Athens: Ministry of Culture, Archaeological Institute of Aegean Studies.

Social and economic organization of stone axe production and distribution in the western Mediterranean

by Roberto Risch

RISCH, R. (2011) “ Social and economic organization of stone axe production and distribution in the western Mediterranean”, en Davis , V. y E dmonds , M. (eds.), Stone Axe Studies III , Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 99-118.

The earliest finds of cultivated plants in Armenia: evidence from charred remains and crop processing residues in pise´ from the Neolithic settlements of Aratashen and Aknashen

by Roman Hovsepyan

Hovsepyan R., Willcox G. 2008. The earliest finds of cultivated plants in Armenia: evidence from charred remains and crop processing residues in pisé from the Neolithic settlements of Aratashen and Aknashen. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, v.17, s.1, pp. 63-71.

Analyses of charred remains and impressions of chaff in pise´ (mudbrick) from the Neolithic sites of Aratashen and... more Analyses of charred remains and impressions of chaff in pise´ (mudbrick) from the Neolithic sites of Aratashen and Aknashen (sixth millennium cal B.C.) situated in the Ararat valley in Armenia demonstrate that naked barley and possible naked (free-threshing) wheat together with emmer and hulled barley were common. Two lesser known crucifers, Camelina microcarpa (false flax) and Alyssum desertorum (alyssum) were found in the form of crop processing residues. These were frequent in the pise´, indicating their use perhaps as an oil source. Lens culinaris (small-seeded lentil) and Vicia ervilia (bitter vetch) were recovered both as carbonized seeds and from crop processing residues in the pise´. False flax and bitter vetch were less common than alyssum and lentil. Two charred pips of Vitis vinifera (wild vine) were recovered, suggesting the early use of vines in the region. Flotation samples alone would have provided limited data; examination of crop processing residues used for tempering pise´ provided important evidence of the plant economy at these two sites.

Chapple, R. M. 2011 'Review: Of Troughs and Tuyères: The archaeology of the N5 Charlestown Bypass' Blogspot post

by Robert M Chapple