1,587 research outputs found
Radiocarbon evidence for the Lateglacial human recolonisation of Northern Europe
No full textThis paper examines, through the use of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry dating, the database of Lateglacial cultures involved in the recolonisation of northern Europe. The aim is not only to determine the timing of that recolonisation, but also to propose a general model of hunter-gatherer colonisation at a sub-continental scale. The question is addressed of how long the period of abandonment of northern Europe during the Würm/Weichsel glaciation may have lasted, and when it both started and came to an end. A series of questions is asked concerning the processes and mechanics of recolonisation and the sequences for specific areas are examined. AMS radiocarbon dating shows that a two stage process was involved, which has important implications for our analysis of regional settlement patterns and the changing scale of Lateglacial hunting systems. Recolonisation was a dynamic process, integral to, and internally driven by, the social life of Lateglacial hunters. It may have been constrained by environmental and resource factors, which we have emphasised here, but ultimately it was an historical, social process and should be similarly regarded to that of the farmers. By measuring rates of expansion data are provided for use in other studies of hunter-gatherer colonisation
Palaeolithic investigations in Epirus: the results of the first season's excavations at Klithi, 1983
No full textEvidence of Palaeolithic occupation in Epirus discovered in 1962 by the late E. S. Higgs is re-analysed, especially that from Asprochaliko and Kastritsa. The paper also presents the results of the first season's excavations at the rock-shelter of Klithi, which throws light on problems connected with the interpretation of the earlier excavation and the different functions of the two sites. The new excavations demonstrate that Klithi contains a rich Palaeolithic deposit, perhaps dating within the period 20,000 to 12,000 years ago
Asprochaliko and Kastritsa: further investigations of palaeolithic settlement and economy in Epirus (north west Greece)
No full textThis paper sets out the detailed stratigraphy and chronology of the palaeolithic rockshelters of Asprochaliko and Kastritsa excavated in the 1960s, the methods used by the original investigators in excavation and classification of the finds, and the general characteristics of the stone industries and fauna. Methods of estimating the density of finds are discussed. Estimates of time density — the number of specimens accumulated per unit area per unit time — are applied to the upper palaeolithic deposits at both sites and reveal major differences in the rate of discard of material, indicating more intensive occupation at Kastritsa. Inter-site differences in the proportion of faunal species and artefact types are analysed in the light of the time-density evidence, and the various factors that could have influenced the pattern of inter-site variation are discussed
The earliest occupation of Europe: the environmental background
No full textThe aim of this contribution is to examine some of the environmental issues surrounding the earliest occupation of Europe. The evidence presented both in this volume and at the ESF workshop in Tautavel raised issues about site reconstructions, regional comparisons, the definition of Europe and the impact of different chronological scales for modelling the rate of human evolution and the role of environmental selection. The evidence considered here is oxygen isotope stage 9 and older (>300Kyr), and its archaeology is placed under the Lower Palaeolithic flag of convenience. In this discussion environment is taken to refer to the physical changes to the continent and the effect this had upon plant and animal resources. The social environment of the earliest European hominids is not considered here. However, the colonizing ability of these hominids, which must have involved social factors, is briefly discussed and alternative environmental models are reviewed which explain the timing of colonization
Palaeolithic radiocarbon chronology: quantifying our confidence beyond two half-lives
No full textIt is now three decades since Waterbolk introduced evaluation criteria to 14C chronology. Despite this, and other subsequent attempts to introduce quality control in the use of 14C data, no systematic procedure has been adopted by the archaeological community. As a result, our databases may be significantly weakened by questionable dates and/or questionable associations between dated samples and the archaeological phenomena they are intended to represent. As the use of chronometric data in general becomes more ambitious, we must pause and assess how reliable these data are. Here, we forward a set of evaluation criteria which take into account archaeological (e.g. associational, stratigraphic) and chronometric (e.g. pre-treatment and measurement) criteria. We intend to use such criteria to evaluate a large 14C dataset we have assembled to investigate Late Glacial settlement in Europe, the Near East and North Africa, supported by the Leverhulme Trust. We suggest that the procedure presented here may at least form the basis of the development of more rigorous, scientific use of 14C dates
The archaeological and genetic foundations of the European population during the Late Glacial: implications for ‘agricultural thinking’
No full textThis article presents the initial results from the S2AGES database of calibrated radiocarbon estimates from western Europe in the period 25,000–10,000 years ago. Our aim is to present a population history of this sub-continental region by providing a chronologically-secure framework for the interpretation of data from genetics and archaeology. In particular, we define five population events in this period, using dates-as-data, and examine the implications for the archaeology of Late Glacial colonization. We contrast this detailed regional approach to the larger project which we call the cognitive origins synthesis that includes historical linguistics in the reconstruction of population history. We conclude that only archaeology can currently provide the framework for population history and the evaluation of genetic data. Finally, if progress is to be made in the new interdisciplinary field of population history then both disciplines need to refrain from inappropriate agricultural thinking that fosters distorting models of European prehistory, and they should also pay less, if any, attention to historical linguistics
C.S. Lewis: Reactions from Women
No full textRecounts the experiences of eight women (including the author) who knew C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis’s theory of Sehnsucht as a tool for theorizing L.M. Montgomery’s experience of ‘The Flash'
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