Search

Bayesian chronological modelling of radiocarbon dates from the Brochtorff Circle at Xagħra, Gozo, Malta (achieved through the ToTL and FRAGSUS projects), provides a more precise chronology for the sequence of development and use of a cave complex. Artefacts show that the site was in use from the Żebbuġ period of the late 5th/early 4th millennium cal BC to the Tarxien Cemetery phase of the later 3rd/early 2nd millennia cal BC. Absolutely dated funerary activity, however, starts with a small rock-cut tomb, probably in use in the mid to late fourth millennium cal BC, in the Ġgantija period. After an interval of centuries, burial resumed on a larger scale, probably in the thirtieth century cal BC, associated with Tarxien cultural material, with the use of the cave for collective burial and other depositions, with a series of structures, most notably altar-like settings built from massive stone slabs, which served to monumentalise the space. This process continued at intervals until the deposition of the last burials, probably in the twenty-fourth century cal BC; ceremonial activity may have ended at this time or a little later, to be followed by occupation in the Tarxien Cemetery period. The implications for the development of Neolithic society on Malta are discussed, as well as the changing character of Neolithic Malta in comparison to contemporary communities in Sicily, peninsular Italy and southern Iberia. It is argued that underground settings and temples on Malta may have served to reinforce locally important values of cooperation and consensus, against a wider tide of differentiation and accumulation, but that there could also have been increasing control of the treatment of the dead through time. The end of the Maltese Neolithic is also briefly discussed.

New radiocarbon dating and chronological modelling have refined understanding of the character and circumstances of flint mining at Grime’s Graves through time. The deepest, most complex galleried shafts were worked probably from the third quarter of the 27th century calbcand are amongst the earliest on the site. Their use ended in the decades around 2400 calbc, although the use of simple, shallow pits in the west of the site continued for perhaps another three centuries. The final use of galleried shafts coincides with the first evidence of Beaker pottery and copper metallurgy in Britain. After a gap of around half a millennium, flint mining at Grime’s Graves briefly resumed, probably from the middle of the 16th century calbcto the middle of the 15th. These ‘primitive’ pits, as they were termed in the inter-war period, were worked using bone tools that can be paralleled in Early Bronze Age copper mines. Finally, the scale and intensity of Middle Bronze Age middening on the site is revealed, as it occurred over a period of probably no more than a few decades in the 14th century calbc. The possibility of connections between metalworking at Grime’s Graves at this time and contemporary deposition of bronzes in the nearby Fens is discussed.

National audience; Les sites fossoyés et palissadés constituent certainement l’une des manifestations architecturales les plus remarquables des populations du Néolithique moyen. L’occupation chasséenne de Château-Percin à Seilh (Haute- Garonne), ceinturée par deux systèmes d’enceintes successifs, a livré plusieurs milliers de vestiges d’un rempart massif élaboré en bois et en terre crue. Un violent incendie est à l’origine à la fois de la destruction et de la préservation partielle de ce témoin exceptionnel qui permet d’appréhender l’architecture et les techniques de mise en oeuvre de ces ouvrages au caractère monumental souvent supposé mais rarement observé.

This paper presents the results of an excavation at North Fen, Sutton Gault, Cambridgeshire, which revealed evidence of Early Neolithic occupation comprising some 48 pits together with twoin situartefact scatters preserved within buried soil horizons. Largely as a result of the spatial separation between scatters and pit sites/clusters, it has been possible to identify a series of ‘sites’, which appear to represent temporally discrete episodes of activity ranging from task-specific ‘visits’ to relatively long-lived occupation. Through analysis of pottery and flint assemblages an attempt is made to characterise each individual site in terms of the types of activities undertaken there and to consider their scale and duration. Set within a landscape that has seen extensive archaeological investigation over the past 30 years the excavation also provides an excellent opportunity to explore how these sites relate to activity in the wider locale and to what extent it is possible to characterise Early Neolithic occupation at a landscape scale.

Vorgestellt wird der Versuch einer präziseren Datierung des Erdwerks von Heilbronn-Klingenberg “Schlossberg” am mittleren Neckar. Die angewendete Methode empfiehlt sich als Ausgangspunkt für weitere Untersuchungen zur Datierung und Belegungsdauer anderer Michelsberger Erdwerke des späten 5. bis frühen 4. Jahrtausends calBC. Vom Erdwerk von Klingenberg wurden in den Jahren 1986–1987 zwei Abschnittsgräben ausgegraben, die einen Lößsporn abriegeln, Spuren einer Palisade innerhalb des inneren Grabens, in beiden Gräben Reste einer verbrannten Holzkonstruktion, zahlreiche Gruben innerhalb wie auch außerhalb der Gräben, und in diesen Befunden zahlreiche Deponierungen von Hunden. Wenige Spuren einer vor-grabenzeitlichen Belegung datieren nach MK II und MK III/IV, doch fanden die Aktivitäten am Platz hauptsächlich während MK V/Munzingen statt. Der chronologische Ansatz kombiniert die detaillierte archäologische Befundinformation mit 14C-Datierungen aus sorgfältig ausgewählten Proben – verwendet wurden ganz überwiegend verkohltes Getreide, und Tierknochen, die anpassend oder einem Teilskelett zuweisbar sind – mit dem statistischen Filter nach dem Satz von Th. Bayes.\ud \ud Für eine absolute Datierung der MK II Aktivitäten standen keine Proben zur Verfügung. Die Beprobung zweier MK III/IV Gruben legt deren Datierung in das 40.–39. Jh. cal BC nahe. Die Aktivitäten während MK V/Mz setzen dann ganz am Ende des 39. bzw. zu Beginn des 38. Jhs. cal BC ein. Entgegen der zuvor veröffentlichten Interpretation der Belegung des Platzes, ist anzunehmen, dass die Hauptaktivitäten erst mit der Anlage des Erdwerks begannen, beide Gräben dürften in zeitlich dichter Folge oder zeitgleich angelegt worden sein. Darauf folgte die Anlage von Gruben im Innenraum des Erdwerks, ab dem frühen 38. Jh. cal BC. Wohl nach wenigen Jahrzehnten wurden dann auch Gruben außerhalb des Grabensystems angelegt, in der Mitte des 38. Jhs. cal BC. Das Ende der Nutzung beider Gräben dürfte in die Mitte des 37. Jhs. cal BC fallen, sie wurden wohl zeitgleich aufgegeben, nach dem Brandereignis, das die sie begleitenden Konstruktionen zerstörte. Die Anlage von Gruben außerhalb der Gräben dürfte ab diesem Zeitpunkt geendet haben; im Innenraum könnten nach diesem Ereignis noch einige Gruben angelegt worden sein. Insgesamt ist mit MK V/Munzingen Aktivitäten über 120–150 Jahre zu rechnen. Alternative Modelle hierzu werden diskutiert.\ud \ud Erörtert werden lokale und überregionale Auswirkungen dieser Datierungsansätze, sowie Umstände, unter denen das Erdwerk wohl erbaut und dann wieder zerstört wurde, die Bedeutung für die Keramikchronologie der MK, und die allgemeine Entwicklung der Erdwerke der MK und anderer Regionen.\ud \ud Abstract\ud \ud This paper presents an attempt to establish more precise dating of the Michelsberg enclosure of Klingenberg-Schlossberg in the Neckar valley. The approach used is advocated as the basis on which to explore the timing and duration of other Michelsberg enclosures of the later fifth–earlier fourth millennium cal BC. Excavated extensively in 1986–1987, the Klingenberg enclosure has two ditches across a loess promontory, traces of a palisade inside the inner ditch, remains of burnt superstructure in both ditches, numerous pits both inside and outside, and numerous dog remains. There are some signs of pre-enclosure occupation in the MK II and III/IV phases, but the bulk of activity belongs to the MK V/Munzingen phase. A formal chronological approach combines the detailed archaeological information from the excavation with radiocarbon dates on carefully selected samples, here mainly charred cereals or articulated or articulating animal bones, in a Bayesian statistical framework.\ud \ud No samples were found to date MK II activity. Samples for two MK III/IV pits suggest a date in the 40th–39th centuries cal BC. MK V/Mz activity began at the very end of the 39th and the start of the 38th century cal BC. Unlike in the previously published interpretation of the sequence, this activity probably began with the construction of the enclosure, both ditches being dug either together or in very quick succession. This was followed by pits inside the enclosure, from the earlier 38th century cal BC. Probably after a few decades, pits began to be dug outside the enclosure, in the middle part of the 38th century cal BC. Both ditches probably went out of use in the mid-37th century cal BC, probably simultaneously, after the burning of the rampart between them, and the ending of the external pits could be of the same date; the internal pits might have continued a little longer. A duration of 120–150 years for MK V/Mz activity is estimated. Alternative models are considered.\ud \ud The local and wider implications of these formal date estimates are discussed, topics covered including the circumstances in which the enclosure may have been constructed and those in which it ended, the chronology of MK pottery, and the wider development of MK and other enclosures.

An early Neolithic causewayed enclosure, a middle Neolithic long enclosure and an earlier Bronze Age open enclosure were among a group of prehistoric features discovered and examined by excavation at Netherfield Farm, South Petherton during archaeological mitigation work ahead of the construction of a natural gas pipeline between Ilchester and Barrington, Somerset, in 2006. Of particular interest were burnt deposits within the long enclosure ditches and a possible Bronze Age field system. Assemblages of pottery and flintwork contribute to the understanding of these features and a programme of radiocarbon dating has amplified the chronology of activity on the site. Evidence from a group of burnt and unburnt pits and a partial enclosure reveal the reuse of the site between the fifth and eighth centuries AD.

Dieser Artikel stellt die wichtigsten Ergebnisse einer Untersuchung zur Datierung der frühneolithischen Erdwerke mit unterbrochenen Gräben im Süden Großbritanniens und Irlands vor. Anhand von 400 Radiokarbondaten wird die Besiedlung von an die 40 Siedlungsplätzen unter Berücksichtigung neuer Methoden diskutiert und mit einer entsprechenden Anzahl bereits existierender Datierungen verglichen. Die Analyse dieser Resultate im Rahmen einer Bayesschen Statistik hat viel zuverlässigere chronologische Daten als die herkömmlichen Methoden geliefert. Es ist nun also möglich, die Geschichte eines jeden Monumentes im Detail zurückzuverfolgen und die Herausbildung und Entwicklung der britischen Erdwerke mit unterbrochenen Gräben in einen kohärenten chronologischen Rahmen einzuordnen. Abschließend wird die Rolle der Erdwerke in der Neolithisierung des südlichen Großbritanniens kurz dargestellt., An outline is presented of the main results of a recent project on the dating of early Neolithic causewayed enclosures in southern Britain and Ireland. Nearly 40 enclosures have been dated. Over 400 new radiocarbon dates were obtained, and analysed with a roughly equivalent number of existing dates. Radiocarbon results were modelled in a Bayesian statistical framework, giving date estimates of much greater precision than had been the case before. As a result, we can now offer not only much more detailed histories for individual sites but also a much more comprehensive chronology for the causewayed enclosure phenomenon as a whole in southern Britain. An outline of their place within the early development of the southern British Neolithic is also briefly presented., Cet article présente les principaux résultats d’une enquête récente menée sur la datation des enceintes à fossés interrompus du Néolithique ancien du sud de la Grande Bretagne et de l’Irlande. À partir de 400 nouvelles datations radiocarbone, la durée d’occupation de près de 40 sites est discutée à l’aide de nouvelles méthodes et comparée à un nombre équivalent de datations préexistantes. L’analyse de ces résultats dans un cadre statistique bayésien a permis d’obtenir des données chronologiques beaucoup plus fiables qu’auparavant. Il est donc possible de retracer l’histoire plus détaillée de chaque monument et d’inscrire désormais l’émergence et le développement des enceintes à fossés interrompus britanniques dans un cadre chronologique cohérent. En conclusion, le rôle des enceintes dans la néolithisation du sud de la Grande Bretagne est brièvement présenté., Whittle Alasdair, Healy Frances, Bayliss Alex. Rassembler le temps : la datation des enceintes à fossés interrompus du Néolithique ancien du sud de la Grande-Bretagne par . In: Revue archéologique de Picardie. Numéro spécial 28, 2011. pp. 41-54.

Surveys and excavations in 1980–1 confirmed Peak Camp as a Neolithic enclosure on a flat promontory of the Cotswold escarpment overlooking the Severn Valley just 1 km south of Crickley Hill. Although heavily eroded by quarrying the site can be reconstructed as having two concentric arcs of boundary earthworks forming an oval plan which was probably open to the north where a steep natural slope defined the edge of the site. A section through the outer boundary showed four main phases of ditch construction, at least one causewayed. An extensive series of radiocarbon dates shows construction began in the late 37th century calbcand probably continued through successive remodellings into the 33rd century calbcor beyond. An internal ditch or elongated pit situated in the area between the inner and outer boundary earthworks had a similar history. Where sampled, the ditch and internal feature were rich in material culture, including a substantial assemblage of plain bowl pottery; flint implements and working waste; animal remains dominated by cattle but including also the remains of a cat; human foot bones; slight traces of cereal production; a fragment of a Group VI axe; part of a sandstone disc; and a highly unusual shale arc pendant of continental type. It is suggested that the ditch fills represent selectively redeposited midden material from within the site that started to accumulate in the late 5th or early 4th millennium calbc. The construction and use of Peak Camp is contemporary with activity on Crickley Hill, and the two sites probably formed components of a single complex. Its use was also contemporary with the deposition of burials at local long barrows in the Cotswold-Severn tradition which are linked by common ceramic traditions and the selective deposition of human body parts.

Generation after generation, life after life, human existence flows through time. Person to person, community to community, the relationships of social existence spread out in space. Archaeology has come up with many different approaches to the central questions of temporality and sociality, but it has not been very successful with either.

A fall is the most reported safety incident in inpatients and occurs in all adult clinical areas. There is growing interest in prevention strategies and, as part of this, in risk assessment tools. These may be useful if the aim is to flag up common risk factors or causes of falls and prompt interventions that are actually delivered. Tools that claim to predict patients' risk of falling as 'high' or 'low' do not work well and may provide false reassurance that 'something is being done'. Falls prevention should focus on a wider range of actions at the level of patients and across organisations.

The flint artifacts have not been the subject of detailed analysis and the type of deposit in which tney were found creates obvious problems of establisning to what extent we are dealing with a contemporary assemblage. Although the stratigraphic and spatial distribution of the material does suggest that much of it is contemporary with the Beaker pottery. Basic numerical information about all the flints has been given in mf 6, and the writer has examined the 260 retouched pieces with the specific objective of establisning what defined tool types are present and making some observations on their chronological range by reference to other sites. It is to be hoped that one day the assemblage will be studied in more detail and it is available for this purpose at Lewes museum (Accession No.1978:38).