Where do our images about early hominids come from? In this fascinating in-depth study, David Van Reybrouck demonstrates how input from ethnography and primatology has deeply influenced our visions about the past from the 19th century to this day – often far beyond the available evidence. Victorian scholars were keen to look at contemporary Australian and Tasmanian aboriginals to understand the enigmatic Neanderthal fossils. Likewise, today’s primatologists debate to what extent bonobos, baboons or chimps may be regarded as stand-ins for early human ancestors. The belief that the contemporary world provides ‘living links’ still goes strong. Such primate models, Van Reybrouck argues, continue the highly problematic ‘comparative method’ of the Victorian times. He goes on to show how the field of ethnoarchaeology has succeeded in circumventing the major pitfalls of such analogical reasoning.A truly interdisciplinary study, this work shows how scholars working in different fields can effectively improve their methods for interpreting the deep past by understanding the historical challenges of adjacent disciplines.Overviewing two centuries of intellectual debate in fields as diverse as archaeology, ethnography and primatology, Van Reybrouck’s book is one long plea for trying to understand the past on its own terms, rather than as facile projections from the present.David Van Reybrouck (Bruges, 1971) was trained as an archaeologist at the universities of Leuven, Cambridge and Leiden. Before becoming a highly successful literary author (The Plague, Mission, Congo…), he worked as a historian of ideas. For more than twelve years, he was coeditor of Archaeological Dialogues. In 2011-12, he held the prestigious Cleveringa Chair at the University of Leiden.

‘Ritual Failure’ is a new concept in archaeology adopted from the discipline of anthropology. Resilient religious systems disappearing, strict believers and faithful practitioners not performing their rites, entire societies changing their customs: how does a religious ritual system transform, change or disappear, leaving only traces of its past glory? Do societies change and then their ritual? Or do customs change first, in turn provoking wider cultural shifts in society? Archaeology possesses the tools and methodologies to explore these questions over the long term; from the emergence of a system, to its peak, and then its decay and disappearance, and in relation to wider social and chronological developments. The collected papers in this book introduce the concept of ‘ritual failure’ to archaeology. The analysis explores ways in which ritual may have been instrumental in sustaining cultural continuity during demanding social conditions, or how its functionality might have failed – resulting in discontinuity, change or collapse. The collected papers draw attention to those turbulent social times of change for which ritual practices are a sensitive indicator within the archaeological record. The book reviews archaeological evidence and theoretical approaches, and suggests models which could explain socio-cultural change through ritual failure. The concept of ‘ritual failure’ is also often used to better understand other themes, such as identity and wider social, economic and political transformations, shedding light on the social conditions that forced or introduced change. This book will engage those interested in ritual theory and practices, but will also appeal to those interested in exploring new avenues to understanding cultural change. From transformations in the use of ritual objects to the risks inherent in practicing ritual, from ritual continuity in customs to sudden and profound change, from the Neolithic Near East to Roman Europe and Iron Age Africa, this book explores what happens when ritual fails. With a foreword by Timothy Insoll and a discussion by Richard Bradley.

This pioneering volume brings together specialists from contemporary craft and industry and from archaeology to examine both the material properties and the cultural dimensions of leather. The common occurrence of animal skin products through time, whether vegetable tanned leather, parchment, vellum, fat-cured skins or rawhide attest to its enduring versatility, utility and desirability. Typically grouped together as ‘leather’, the versatility of these materials is remarkable: they can be soft and supple like a textile, firm and rigid like a basket, or hard and watertight like a pot or gourd. This volume challenges a simple utilitarian or functional approach to leather; in a world of technological and material choices, leather is appropriated according to its suitability on many levels. In addressing the question Why leather? authors of this volume present new perspectives on the material and cultural dimensions of leather. Their wide-ranging research includes the microscopic examination of skin structure and its influence on behaviour, experiments on medieval cuir bouilli armour, the guild secrets behind the leather components of nineteenth-century industrial machinery, new research on ancient Egyptian chariot leather, the relationship between wine and wineskins, and the making of contemporary leather wall covering. The Archaeological Leather Group promotes the study of leather and leather objects from archaeological and other contexts. The Group aims to provide a focus for the investigation of leather, and to develop new research by bringing together a broad range of knowledge and experience both practical and academic. Leather is explored through its manufacture, function, context, processing, recording, conservation, care and curation. Members come from a variety of disciplines and include archaeologists, historians, conservators, artefact specialists, materials engineers and leather workers. The Group normally meets twice a year and organises one scholarly meeting in the spring, and visits a museum, working tannery or other place of leather interest in the autumn. The Archaeological Leather Group Newsletter is published twice a year, and the website maintains a comprehensive and expanding leather bibliography.

Digital technologies have numerous applications in archaeology ranging from the documentation of the archaeological evidence and the analysis of research data to the presentation of results for a wider audience. This volume consists of various studies on the use of methods such as LiDAR (light detection and ranging), archaeological prospection, visibility, mobility and the analysis of the spatial distribution of archaeological objects, applied in various contexts. The case studies vary widely and include the Late Pleistocene in the Northern Iberian Peninsula, the Roman Republican period in Southern Italy, the Formative period in the Andes and the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War. In 2005 a (then) pioneering postgraduate course on the applicability of digital geospatial technologies for archaeology was launched in Spain. Quite unexpectedly, the course has been alive annually for more than 10 years so far, having trained around 300 young archaeologists from Spain, Portugal, and Latin America in the critical use of nowadays popular tools such as GIS, GPS, remote sensing and LiDAR for the documentation and analysis of the archaeological record. To commemorate the first 10 years of the course, a conference was organized in Mérida (Spain) in October 2015. Former students were invited to present and discuss their research in which these technologies were used intensively; this edited book is a selection of those contributions. Through a series of widely varying case-studies, both technically sophisticated and theoretically informed applications of such digital technologies are presented. All the contributors are young researchers, either young doctors or doctorate students, coming from fairly varied archaeological contexts and approaches.

The first archaeological surveys and excavations in the state of Qatar were carried out by Moesgaard Museum, Denmark, in 1956-1974. A volume on the Stone Age sites was released by JAS in 1967, and the present publication includes the remaining investigations. Of special interest are several graves with iron swords and arrows and camels and a contemporary settlement with pottery showing close relations to Bahrain and the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. The first excavations at the early Islamic site of Murwab are presented, and the book is concluded with a full catalogue of the rock carvings from Jebel Jusasiyah.

Public Archaeology and Climate Change promotes new approaches to studying and managing sites threatened by climate change, specifically actions that engage communities or employ ‘citizen science’ initiatives. Researchers and heritage managers around the world are witnessing severe challenges and developing innovative mechanisms for dealing with them. Increasingly archaeologists are embracing practices learned from the natural heritage sector, which has long worked with the public in practical recording projects. By involving the public in projects and making data accessible, archaeologists are engaging society in the debate on threatened heritage and in wider discussions on climate change. Community involvement also underpins wider climate change adaptation strategies, and citizen science projects can help to influence and inform policy makers. Developing threats to heritage are being experienced around the world, and as this collection of papers will show, new partnerships and collaborations are crossing national boundaries. With examples from across the globe, this selection of 18 papers detail the scale of the problem through a variety of case studies. Together they demonstrate how heritage professionals, working in diverse environments and with distinctive archaeology, are engaging with the public to raise awareness of this threatened resource. Contributors examine differing responses and proactive methodologies for the protection, preservation and recording of sites at risk from natural forces and demonstrate how new approaches can better engage people with sites that are under increasing threat of destruction, thus contributing to the resilience of our shared heritage.

This latest volume in the Swedish Rock Art series bridges the gap between analysis and interpretation of rock art imagery, location and chronology in the northern and southern regions of Scandinavia. Long viewed as belonging to distinctive regional traditions, there are many underlying similarities, themes and formats in common, overlain by regional complexities and variations. The authors explore new approaches and methods of analysis. There has been a tendency in rock art research to focus merely on either the Northern Tradition or the Southern Tradition of Scandinavian rock art and there is certainly a need to broaden this discussion. This collection of new research papers stimulates different perspectives and themes that place emphasis on the intersection between these traditions. North meets South puts the focus on Scandinavian rock art regardless of regions and traditions. Even though there are obvious differences in space and time regarding these two traditions, there are also features and formats in common across both time and space, and a significant theme running through the contributions presented here is to highlight the interaction between these rock art traditions. A major conclusion to be drawn from this exercise is the great complexity and variation of rock art and the need for perspectives comparing various regions across Scandinavia. This volume is the outcome of an international symposium organised by the Swedish Rock Art Research Archives (SHFA).

Prehistoric Britain has generated an enormous number and wide variety of stone objects, but few books deal specifically with stone tools that are not flint. This book brings together papers from 22 of the UK’s archaeologists investigating the stone objects that were fundamental to the daily lives of prehistoric people. The book is divided into three sections. Part 1 contains papers that deal with the petrology and typology of axeheads, maceheads, battle axes and felsite tools. Papers in Part 2 are about the function, form and dating of querns. Part 3 is a broad ranging section dealing with 'other' types of artefacts and materials, from considerations of the form and function of bracers, loomweights, Bronze Age jewellery and polissoirs, to the use of materials such as beach resources and chalk. The book will appeal to scholars of prehistory, and to anyone with an interest in the exploitation of stone resources and the function and form of the resulting objects. It is intended as a tribute to Fiona Roe, FSA. Fiona worked tirelessly on all aspects of stone artefacts and encouraged, supported and inspired many scholars to embark on studies of them. This book would not have been possible without the groundwork that she laid during the last five decades.

Few major Classical cities have disappeared so completely from view, over the centuries, as Thespiai in Central Greece. Only the technique of intensive field survey, carefully adapted to a large urban site and reinforced by historical investigation, has made it possible to recover from oblivion much of its life of seven millennia.

The question of how to conceptualize the role of technological innovations is of crucial importance for understanding the mechanisms and rhythms of long-term cultural change in prehistoric and early historic societies. The changes that have come about have often been modelled as gradual and linear, innovations have been considered positively as a progress in the development of humankind and the focus has been on the localisation of the origin of innovations and the routes of their spread. Appropriating Innovations goes beyond the current discussion by shedding light on condition that may facilitate the rapid spread of technological innovation and on processes involved in the integration of new technologies into the life world of the appropriating societies. In particular, papers concentrate on two key innovations, namely the transmission of the various components of the so-called “Secondary Products Revolution” in parts of the Near East and Europe during the 4th millennium BCE and the appropriation of early bronze casting technology, which spread from the Near East to Europe and China in the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BCE. Of particular interest is non-technological knowledge that is transmitted together with the technological, the latter being always deeply interconnected with the communication of social practices, ideas and myths. The acceptance of new technologies, therefore, requires the willingness to change existing world views and modify them due to the potentials and problems which are connected with the new technology. Contributions, therefore, concentrate on the conditions facilitating or hindering the spread of innovations and the transformative power of these innovations in the appropriating society. They analyse how the introduction of novel technologies and the associated non-technological knowledge led to a transformation of existing economic systems and the underlying social orders in Late Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Eurasia by integrating innovative methodological approaches and contextual studies.

Engaging with the Dead adopts a cross-disciplinary, archaeologically focused, approach to explore a variety of themes linked to the interpretation of mortuary traditions, death and the ways of disposing of the dead. Nineteen papers highlight the current vitality of ‘death studies’ and the potential of future research and discoveries. Contributors explore changing beliefs and practices over time, considering how modern archaeology, ethnography and historical records can aid our interpretations of the past, as well as considering how past practices may have influenced understandings of death and dying within the modern world. It is clear that there are very significant variations in the quantity of dead that appear in the archaeological record over time, and the contributions to this volume attempt to understand why that might be the case. By bringing together papers from a variety of specialists working within Europe and the Near East, we investigate the pivotal role of death studies in the 21st century, providing a case for the retention of human remains in archaeological collections. Engaging with the Dead aims to set period specific contributions within a broader perspective and integrates papers from bioarchaeologists, theologists, textual specialists, as well as archaeologists. It provides an in-depth introduction to the multitude of ways in which the mortuary record can be interrogated and interpreted and explores the role of archaeology and theology within contemporary social studies. This volume challenges our current understanding and conceptualisation of mortuary practices in the ancient and contemporary world.

As it appears in diverse guises – and notably as a founding narrative – the past is at the core of every functioning human society. The idea that the past can be known through scientific research has long been a fundamental challenge for western societies and for European researchers, from all disciplines concerned. Through more than four decades of outward-looking archaeological practice, the scholar, teacher and intellectual Jean-Paul Demoule has elaborated a truly global approach to European cultures and their transformations, spanning from the social inequality in Neolithic times to Indo European research to contemporary links between heritage and politics. His colleagues – British, Bulgarians, Czechs, Danes, Dutch, French, Germans, North-Americans, Spaniards, Swiss and Russians – seek to extend and enrich his vision. With contributions (written in French and in English) spanning from prehistory to the modern world, they bring in this volume new insights and data to such issues as the processes of identity construction at different scales, migratory movements in Europe, the status of gender, the role of prestige objects and megalithic monuments in the emergence of social hierarchy and in the semiology of power… without forgetting the myths and realities surrounding the Indo-European phenomenon. — Le passé sous diverses formes – et notamment celle d’un récit fondateur – est au cœur du fonctionnement de toute société humaine. L’idée que le passé puisse être connaissable par une recherche scientifique est un enjeu essentiel, particulièrement abordé par les sociétés occidentales et notamment par des chercheurs européens, toutes disciplines confondues. Par sa pratique de l’archéologie et son érudition, le chercheur et le professeur Jean-Paul Demoule a su élaborer un tableau global des cultures européennes et de leurs transformations, incluant autant les origines néolithiques des inégalités sociales que l’émergence du mythe indo-européen ou encore les rapports entre patrimoine et politique. Dans cet ouvrage, ses collègues allemands, britanniques, bulgares, danois, espagnols, français, néerlandais, nord-américains, russes, suisses et tchèques prolongent et enrichissent – en anglais ou en français – sa vision. Ils y apportent leurs réflexions et leurs données concernant les perspectives de l’archéologie du XXIe siècle, les processus de la construction identitaire à différentes échelles, les mouvements migratoires de l’Europe, le statut du genre, le rôle des objets de prestige et des monuments mégalithiques dans l’émergence de la hiérarchisation sociale et de la sémiologie du pouvoir… sans oublier la mythologie et les réalités du phénomène indo-européen.

Children, Death and Burials assembles a panorama of studies with a focus on juvenile burials; the 16 papers have a wide geographic and temporal breadth and represent a range of methodological approaches. All have a similar objective in mind, however, namely to understand how children were treated in death by different cultures in the past; to gain insights concerning the roles of children of different ages in their respective societies and to find evidence of the nature of past adult–child relationships and interactions across the life course. The contextualisation and integration of the data collected, both in the field and in the laboratory, enables more nuanced understandings to be gained in relation to the experiences of the young in the past. A broad range of issues are addressed within the volume, including the inclusion/exclusion of children in particular burial environments and the impact of age in relation to the place of children in society. Child burials clearly embody identity and ‘the domestic child’, ‘the vulnerable child’, ‘the high status child’, ‘the cherished child’, ‘the potential child’, ‘the ritual child’ and the ‘political child’, and combinations thereof, are evident throughout the narratives. Investigation of the burial practices afforded to children is pivotal to enlightenment in relation to key facets of past life, including the emotional responses shown towards children during life and in death, as well as an understanding of their place within the social strata and ritual activities of their societies.

Beads, beadwork, and personal ornaments are made of diverse materials such as shell, bone, stones, minerals, and composite materials. Their exploration from geographical and chronological settings around the world offers a glimpse at some of the cutting edge research within the fast growing field of personal ornaments in humanities’ past. Recent studies are based on a variety of analytical procedures that highlight humankind’s technological advances, exchange networks, mortuary practices, and symbol-laden beliefs. Papers discuss the social narratives behind bead and beadwork manufacture, use and disposal; the way beads work visually, audibly and even tactilely to cue wearers and audience to their social message(s). Understanding the entangled social and technical aspects of beads require a broad spectrum of technical and methodological approaches including the identification of the sources for the raw material of beads. These scientific approaches are also combined in some instances with experimentation to clarify the manner in which beads were produced and used in past societies.

Stone Age researchers spend a lot of time studying and documenting lithic artefacts. Since it is impossible to study all these artefacts physically, they often rely on images. Drawings are often the most informative because the lines and symbols in these drawing contain technological information which tells the audience how the artefact depicted was made. Conversely, making these drawings is an excellent way of learning to recognise and understand this technological information. In a distant past Yannick aspired a career as an artist and while the art world is probably better off without him, he managed to find a new purpose for his artistic bend in his career as an archaeologist in the form of making lithic illustrations. Both professional and amateur archaeologists ask him questions about the drawings regularly with “It’s probably very difficult, I’m sure?” the most prominent. Drawing lithic illustrations is bound to rules and conventions anybody can learn. Of course it helps if you have a deft hand at drawing, but this style of drawing is a craft, not an art form. A craft anybody can learn with a little perseverance. Starting from there, Yannick gives courses in drawing artefacts. While preparing these courses he noticed that almost no books or papers suitable as course material are available, a realisation eventually resulting in this book.

Uroš Matić and Bo Jensen have brought together a team of both young and senior researches from many different countries in this first volume that aims to explore the complex intersection between archaeology, gender and violence. Papers range from theoretical discussions on previous approaches to gender and violence and the ethical necessity to address these questions today, to case studies dealing on gender and violence from prehistoric to early medieval Europe, but also including studies on ancient Egypt, Persia and Peru. The contributors deal both with representations of violence and its gendered background in images and text, and with bioarchaeological evidence for violence and trauma with a gendered background. The volume is rich both in examples and approaches and includes opening and closing chapters by senior scholars in the field assessing the current state of work and addressing the scholarship to continue on the line of this volume.