Abstract: SUMMARY This site, now at 53 ft OD (16 m), was originally made at the back of the tidal flat in the mouth of Jura's most desirable valley; the occupations cover the whole of the Jura stone age. A single tanged point, derived and rolled, is tentatively placed (as Jura's Phase 1 A) in the recently-extended warm phase of the Late-Glacial period, a time when Jura would have been inhabitable (11,000/10,500-8800 BC). Three continuous-construction stone rings in a scoop, probably cooking places, yielded Phase IB microliths and C14 dates of 8194±350 BP (SRR-160) and 7963±200 up (SRR-159); this is the earliest dated Scottish structure and human occupation. The stone artefacts (including some 3,000 microliths) continue through Jura's Phases 2 and 3 into the Neolithic. A cobbled 'platform' appears to belong to the later occupations. The evidence implies that the sea was already at the level of the site (its maximum stand) by the mid-seventh millennium, of geochronological interest; the relationship of this to the low world sea-level and hypothetical Jura-Islay-Colonsay landmass of the Pre-Boreal period (8300-7600 BC) is discussed. The tanged point is compared to S British and European tools. The stone rings and their contents are shown to strengthen the already proposed participation of Jura's Phase IB in a W European coastal Mesolithic.

Abstract: The archaeological evidence for the Neolithic of the Levant, considered to have lasted from c. 8500 to 3750 B.C., is presented and an attempt made to explain its origins and development. The discussion is concerned with four principal themes: (1) the transition from a hunter-gatherer to a farming economy, (2) the social evolution that accompanied this economic development, (3) population growth immediately before and during the Neolithic and (4) the modifications in settlement patterns which followed these other changes. The environmental changes which occurred at the end of the Pleistocene and early in the Holocene are believed to be of fundamental importance. The degree of their influence on the four main themes is examined. The effects of man's own changing activities upon his environment are also considered. The Neolithic of the Levant is divided into four stages, designated Neolithic 1 to 4, on the evidence of changes in economy, population, settlement patterns and cultural remains. Regional groups of sites, defined by their cultural material, may be discerned and their evolution followed from one stage to the next. The detailed archaeological evidence is examined principally for the light it throws upon the development of the four main themes of the thesis and the contemporary changes in environment. It is argued that the amelioration of the environment in the late Pleistocene created a greater supply of wild foods for man which stimulated population growth. This was accompanied by increased sedentism and the development of agricultural techniques. In Neolithic 2 agriculture was intensified and the population grew further. After 6000 B.C. the population of the Levant lived in permanent settlements supported by agriculture but these were concentrated only in the more fertile and well-watered areas of the Levant. This new way of life permitted another increase in population in Neolithic 4 despite a deterioration in the environment.

Abstract: Occupation azilienne, sauveterroide, tardenoisienne, neolithique, du Bronze ancien et final, gallo-romaine, etc.

Abstract: 1. Introduction S. Milisauskas. 2. The Present Environment, A Geographic Summary S. Milisauskas. 3. The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic M.A. Jochim. 4. The Upper Palaeolithic M.A. Jochim. 5. The Mesolithic M.A. Jochim. 6. Early Neolithic, The First Farmers in Europe, 7000-5500/5000 BC S. Milisauskas. 7. Middle Neolithic, Continuity, Diversity, Innovations, and Greater Complexity, 5500/5000-3500/3000 BC S. Milisauskas, J. Kruk. 8. Late Neolithic, Crises, Collapse, New Ideologies, and Economies, 3500/3000-2200/2000 BC S. Milisauskas, J. Kruk. 9. The Bronze Age A.F. Harding. 10. The Iron Age P.S. Wells. 11. Conclusion S. Milisauskas. References. Index.