Showing papers in "Antiquity in 1973"
TL;DR: The aims and relevance of the so-called "new archaeology" have been discussed in this article, where the author sets out his considered views on the name and nature of archaeology, some of which he has already discussed in his book "Analytical archaeology".
Abstract: We published last year two articles dealing with the aims and relevance of the so-called ‘new archaeology’: thefirst was by Professor Richard Watson (1972, 210-15) and the second by A. C . Hogarth (I972, 3OI-4). We also published a review by David Clarke of ‘Explanation in archaeology’ by P . J: Watson, S. A. LeBlanc and C . L. Redman (Ig72, 237-9). Here, Dr David Clarke, Fellow and Tutor of Peterhouse, Cambridge, sets out his considered views on the name and nature of archaeology, some of which he has already discussed in his book ‘Analytical archaeology’.
346 citations
TL;DR: When the Anglo-Saxons invaded England, about the middle of the fifth century, they came as barbarians in the proper and Roman sense of the word, illiterate and unpolished as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: When the Anglo-Saxons invaded England, about the middle of the fifth century, they came as barbarians in the proper and Roman sense of the word, illiterate and unpolished. At the beginning, too, their religion was a paganism at variance with imperial Christianity. Yet they cannot have been the blundering creatures they are sometimes taken for: within a few generations this assortment of tribes had produced scholarship of European standing, in the persons of Aldhelm and Bede, and as to the decorative arts their jewelry and illumination of manuscripts—not forgetting Irish influence—were a match for anyone in the western world. Fierce and warlike at first, guilty of unprovoked aggression, most of them soon settled down to become peaceful farmers.
34 citations
TL;DR: A group of long cairns which, from field inspection, lack the usual stone chamber or chambers normally associated with such long carans was found in North Britain this paper, and some of these sites might still have chambers preserved beneath their covering mounds.
Abstract: Scattered throughout North Britain, from Aberdeenshire to Northumberland and westward to Cumberland and Kirkcudbrightshire, is a group of long cairns which, from field inspection, lack the usual stone chamber or chambers normally associated with such long cairns. Some of these sites might still have chambers preserved beneath their covering mounds. At others, where the cairn has been robbed, the former or present existence of stone chambers seems unlikely.
29 citations
23 citations
TL;DR: Les nombreuses indications eparses dans la Politique d'Aristote relativement a la royaute achemenide sont examinees en detail.
Abstract: Les nombreuses indications eparses dans la Politique d'Aristote relativement a la royaute achemenide sont examinees en detail. Elles supposent une connaissance precise et de cette institution et de ses vicissitudes historiques. Une enquete, soit au niveau des Constitutions, soit au niveau des Nomima Barbarica, permit au Stagirite de juger des qualites et des defauts de la royaute chez les Perses, pour elle-meme et relativement aux modes de gouvernement prones chez les Grecs. La conformite naturelle de l'institution a l'âme barbare et asiatique en determine, pour Aristote, le bien-fonde.
22 citations
TL;DR: The origins of man and the beginnings of culture in China were taken for granted in traditional Chinese history as mentioned in this paper, and all the peoples of China were recognized as the descendants of Huang-ti, the Yellow Emperor, and the basic cultural practices were attributed to the various rulers in remote antiquity.
Abstract: The origins of man and the beginnings of culture in China were taken for granted in traditional Chinese history. Man was either simply evolved in the creation of the world or created by supernatural beings. In historical times all the peoples of China were recognized as the descendants of Huang-ti, the Yellow Emperor, and the basic cultural practices were attributed to the various rulers in remote antiquity. They formed a continuous sequence with its beginnings in the third millennium BC, followed by a succession of dynasties for some 5,000 years until the present day.
17 citations
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that industrial archaeology is at a turning point, a 'teenage' stage, from which it can either advance or regress, in what direction it should advance is a problem that has yet to be solved.
Abstract: Since the last war three new branches of archaeology have grown up in Great Britain. Two of these are now established and accepted divisions of the subject, with national societies devoted to their study and reputable journals for the more important work in their fields. The third has failed to establish itself and for many archaeologists remains no more than a curious oddity. Why has 'industrial archaeology' not received the scholarly recognition accorded medieval and post-medieval archaeology? Why has Industrial Archaeology not joined Medieval Archaeology and Post-Medieval Archaeology as an important outlet for archaeological research ? That these are questions in need of answer has now been recognized by at least some of those engaged in 'industrial archaeology' and it seems generally agreed that the subject is at a turning point, a 'teenage' stage, from which it can either advance or regress (e.g. Buchanan, 1970; Symonds, 1972; Harris, 1970; Hudson, 1971-73). In what direction it should advance is a problem that has yet to be solved.
15 citations
14 citations
TL;DR: In the parish of Britford SW of Sailisbury are two enclosures which were discovered as the result of a chance aerial photograph as mentioned in this paper, one was called Woodbury and to avoid confusion, the smaller settlement 500 m to the east was named Little Woodlbury.
Abstract: In the parish of Britford SW of Sailisbury are two enclosures which were discovered as the result of a chance aerial photograph. The larger settlement was called Woodbury and to avoid confusion, the smaller settlement 500 m. to the east was named Little Woodlbury. The latter was selected by the Prehistoric Society as the site for a research excavation because its size made feasible a total exploration.
14 citations
TL;DR: Piggott as mentioned in this paper described the excavation by the Department of Archaeology of the University of Edinburgh in I970 and Ig7I of a long barrow near Montrose in north-east Scotland.
Abstract: Professor Piggott here describes the excavation by the Department of Archaeology of the University of Edinburgh in I970 and Ig7I of a long barrow near Montrose in north-east Scotland. It had been discovered only recently. We hope to publish in our next number an account by Lionel Masters of his excavations in 1969, I970 and r97r of a long cairn and mortuary structure at Lochhill in Kirkcudbrightshire. These two excavations very considerably advance our knowledge of the Scottish long barrows of which about jifty are now known.
14 citations
TL;DR: Williams as mentioned in this paper pointed out that the present title, for which the Editor takes full responsibility, could suggest to some readers that ir is a paper on frost-weatking of building stones and so forth.
Abstract: Dr Rendel Williams, former& a Demonstrator in the Department of Geography, Cambridge, is now Lecturer in Physical Geography at the University of Sussex. He has done some work in Alaska and Colorado, but his chief interests lie in penglacial conditions in Britain, about which he is writing a book at present. He readily accepted our invitation to write this article to explain to archaeologists how they can so easily confuse man-made features with frost features, and hisJirst title was ‘Features cawed by fiost that can be mistaken for works of man’. He very properly points out that the present title, for which the Editor takes full responsibility, could suggest to some readers that ir is a paper on frost-weatking of building stones and so forth. It is not : it is a paper on the deceptive features caused by frost which archaeologists must always keep in mind.
TL;DR: The St-Merri picture as discussed by the authors is a representation of a type of antiquity of very rare occurrence in his own country, and the circumstances whereby a French artist of the sixteenth century achieved such convincing representations of such a representation remain a mystery.
Abstract: Nativity at Cologne or the Master of Braunschweig Diptych at Denver. What renders the St-Merri picture unique is the setting of the saint and flock within a stone circle, painted with such conviction that it becomes the most realistic feature of the whole composition’ The circumstances whereby a French artist of the sixteenth century achieved SO convincing a representation of a type of antiquity of very rare occurrence in his own country must remain a mystery.
TL;DR: For over twenty years the authors of this book and their associates have been engaged in archaeological excavations in Central Asia as discussed by the authors, and their results of their research are unfortunately little known to western archaeologists and even more rarely incorporated into their discussions.
Abstract: For over twenty years the authors of this book and their associates have been engaged in archaeological excavations in Central Asia. This work represents the first full length English summary of their research, which has been commendably published in Russian in numerous monographs and articles. The systematic excavations of several sites in Central Asia from the Palaeolithic tlo the Iron Age are of the greatest importance to scholars working in Western and Southern Asia. The results of their research are unfortunately little known to western archaeologists and even more rarely incorporated into their discussions. The Soviet archaeologists are happily less constrained by the linguistic barrier. This book will make it apparent to all that an understanding of Mesopotamian, Iranian and Indus archaeology cannot proceed in a vacuum but necessitates a full understanding of Central Asian archaeology, which at different times had a direct bearing on developments in each of the above areas. The authors provide a brief geographic orientation before launching into the first of their ten chronologically ordered chapters : The Old Stone Age. The Lower Palaeolithic recorded in a number of localities in eastern Central Asia is connected to the pebble tools of southeastern Asia and northern India while
TL;DR: The discussion on archaeology's nature, destiny and philosophy, which the Editor wants me to continue (1973, 93), might risk becoming a bore unless I am brief as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The discussion on archaeology's nature, destiny and philosophy, which the Editor wants me to continue (1973, 93), might risk becoming a bore unless I am brief. I will try to be. The prior articles he mentions, of course, are only the three most recent; he has printed others earlier, and now has added further letters (93-5) from Drs Salway, Myres and Webster. The best of the articles certainly seems to me to be Cecil Hogarth's (1972, 301-4). But I sympathize with David Clarke, in his 'Archaeology: the loss of innocence' (1973, 6-18), because of his scorn of claimed results from 'instinctive excavations', of the 'immortalization of subjective classifications', and of people who come to constitute 'élites'. Instinctively, even if innocently, I greatly want to agree.
TL;DR: In this article, a monumental volume consisting of eighty-six separate papers (including an introduction and a conclusion) representing the work of about that many individual authors is presented. (Some participants presented more than one paper, but this is balanced by a few instances of joint authorship.)
Abstract: This monumental volume consists of eighty-six separate papers (including an ‘Introduction’ and a ‘Conclusion’) and represents the work of about that many individual authors. (Some participants presented more than one paper, but this is balanced by a few instances of joint authorship.)
Abstract: When Mr P. P. Griffiths of Pen-y-wyrlod Farm, Talgarth, Breconshire rang the National Museum of Wales in June 1972 to announce the discovery of human remains in a stony mound on his farm, not previously recorded as an antiquity, I assumed that this must be one of the not uncommon new discoveries of Early Bronze Age round cairns. To my consternation, the following day, I was shown, in a field close to Pen-y-wyrlod (SO 151316) a long cairn far more substantial then any other previously recorded member of the Cotswold-Severn group in the Black Mountains area: it was fully 60 m. long, 25 m. wide at the widest part, and about 3 m. high—but, alas, already severely damaged by the growth of a small quarry which the farmer had been developing, in all innocence, for several years past, as a source of rubble for his yards and gateways. After all, as the farmer pointed out, the site is not recorded as an ancient monument on any map and he had concluded, as the Ordnance Survey must also have done, that it was a natural feature.
TL;DR: In this paper, the principal archaeological features visible on PL. XXXI appear as three somewhat irregularly arranged circuits of dark lines broken by numerous gaps, similar to the interrupted ditch system of which a number have been identified on river gravels.
Abstract: The sands and gravels that compose the IOO ft. (30 m.) terrace of the River Thames in South Essex are well known to promote crop marks in great variety. Such circumstances as the degree of retention of moisture by the sand, which in turn depends on the depth of the water-table, and the character of the deposit, mean that very slight differences in composition and texture of the subsoil may be revealed by differences in growth of cereal crops. Already two examples in this series have been drawn from South Essex, and, at Mucking, rescue excavations designed to retrieve as much information as possible in advance of destruction of the surface by quarrying, have been in progress for some years, largely financed by the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments.\" The principal archaeological features visible on PL. XXXI appear as three somewhat irregularly arranged circuits of dark lines broken by numerous gaps. The resemblance to the so-called interrupted ditchsystems of which a number (St Joseph, 1970) have been identified on river gravels will be immediately apparent. (The most thoroughly studied so far is that near Staines (TQ 02387255) excavated by G. R. Robertson-MacKay.) The precise site (TQ 65158055) lies on almost level ground, between two very slight hollows, each filled with a greater depth of soil which promotes the dark growth seen at the right and left hand margins of the plate (stippled on FIG. I). At the time the photograph was taken the northern part of the area was in corn, the southern in roots: the contrast in the degree of detail visible in the two crops will be apparent. The plan (FIG. I ) is based upon the evidence of all available photographs: even in those years when the S field is in wheat few crop marks appear there. Indeed, there is a suggestion that delving, or slipping may have occurred anciently on the slope at the edge of the terrace, roughly along the line of the outer circuits of ditch: the marks so caused preserve the present line of the curve of these circuits, but all detail has been lost.
TL;DR: In this paper, the conditions de decouverte des coupes en parasol are defined, i.e., conditions for decoupling the coupes from the parasol.
Abstract: L'etude precise des conditions de decouverte des coupes a bords ourles dites « coupes en parasol » amene a dater ce materiel de la fin de l'epoque de Hallstatt ou du debut de la Tene. Frequente dans l'aire d'influence marnienne, une telle ceramique n'existe que dans les sites d'habitat et il convient, des lors, de lui attribuer une fonction domestique.
TL;DR: Rudolf Karl Ludwig Virchow became a pathologist, the leading medical scientist in Germany, and attained world-wide fame through establishing the correctness of the ‘cell theory’ that now underlies all biological and medical thought.
Abstract: Rudolf Karl Ludwig Virchow was born in Pomerania on 13 October 1821 of German parents. He became a pathologist, the leading medical scientist in Germany, and attained world-wide fame through establishing the correctness of the ‘cell theory’ that now underlies all biological and medical thought. He was also a radical politician, in the 1860s one of the few effectual opponents of Bismarck, and for 25 years chairman of the Finance Committee of the Prussian Landtag.
TL;DR: The carriere politique des divers membres de la famille des Aemilii Lepidi is described in this article, where the vicissitudes which ont, durant le Haut-Empire, affecte la carrière politique de divers membrres de the family of Aemilies Lepidi.
Abstract: L'etude porte sur les vicissitudes qui ont, durant le Haut-Empire, affecte la carriere politique des divers membres de la famille des Aemilii Lepidi. Si, dans la branche ainee, L. Paullus, dont le petit- fils a epouse Julia minor, a obtenu quelques succes, les representants de la branche cadette, - les descendants du triumvir, - lies a la politique de la dynastie julio-claudienne, n'ont connu qu'une situation de plus en plus degradee. Leur nom meme a disparu, apres que Caligula eut condamne M. Lepidus a mort. Toutefois, la famille a survecu dans les Iunii Silani, jusqu'a ce que ceux-ci connaissent un sort analogue a celui de leur ancetre.
TL;DR: In an after-dinner discussion with colleagues, the trials of working with archaeologists were ruefully compared in full and horrendous detail as mentioned in this paper, and it still seemed to me regrettable that while the scientists were making genuine efforts to understand and illuminate archaeological problems, many archaeologists make little effort to understand the limitations and difficulties of scientific techniques.
Abstract: This letter had its origin in an after-dinner discussion with fellow-scientists, in which the trials of working with archaeologists were ruefully compared in full and horrendous detail. Being the only one present with formal training in archaeology as well as in science, I found myself to some extent playing the role of devil’s advocate, but it still seemed to me regrettable that while the scientists were making genuine efforts to understand and illuminate archaeological problems, many archaeologists make little effort to understand the limitations and difficulties of scientific techniques.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, a thin wire saw was used to prepare thin sections of jadeite axes for microscopic analysis and electron microprobe was used for chemical analyses of individual mineral grains, but the only difference in the preparation is that the section is left uncovered and its upper surface polished and lightly coated with carbon.
Abstract: intend to use the thin wire saw to prepare thin sections of axes that have not been sliced before, and it is our hope that the minimal damage involved in the removal of material by this method will persuade museum curators, and others who have jadeite axes in their care, to allow their axes to be sampled in this way for microscopic investigation. Secondly, the electron microprobe will be used to obtain chemical analyses of individual mineral grains. This instrument allows the chemistry of the jadeite to be determined on the same section that is used for microscopic examination. The only difference in the preparation is that the section is left uncovered and its upper surface polished and lightly coated with carbon. Slices prepared with the thin wire saw are ideal for probe sections because of the high quality of the sawn surface. Jadeite is the name of the pyroxene with a composition NaAlSi,O,, but calcium, magnesium, and iron may substitute for sodium and aluminium so that the composition may depart from that of pure jadeite. Foshag (1957) has shown that Guatemalan jade contains pyroxenes of variable composition, though all of jadeite type. Diopside-jadeite, or chloromelanite, a variety found in Guatemalan axes, has been
TL;DR: It is by now an open secret that the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments (IAM) of the Department of the Environment (DoE) is proposing dramatic changes in the organization of rescue excavations.
Abstract: It is by now an open secret that the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments (IAM) of the Department of the Environment (DoE) is proposing dramatic changes in the organization of rescue excavations. A corner of the veil was lifted on 22 February 1973; at the time of writing, at the end of May, the shape of the structure is tolerably clear; and sometime in June we may expect a grand unveiling ceremony. Meanwhile steps are already being taken to implement the proposals, although no paper on the new scheme has been seen by any archaeologist outside DoE. Despite the uncertainties which arise from this secrecy, it seems reasonable that readers of ANTIQUITY should receive a critical account of the scheme as it appears at the end of May. Doubtless the official announcement will appear elsewhere in these pages at the earliest possible date, and statements of fact in that must be taken as superseding similar statements here.