Abstract: Excavations were undertaken in advance of construction work at Newbury Sewage Treatment Works on the outskirts of Thatcham in Berkshire, close to the sites of previous excavations undertaken by Wymer and by Peake and Crawford. Worked flint of Mesolithic date was recovered from a sandy layer overlying river gravel in two distinct concentrations suggesting two distinct episodes. Use wear analysis of the flint suggests that the sites were used as home bases at which a wide range of activities took place, with an emphasis on the processing of plant foods. A 14C date of 9100±80 BP was obtained from a sample of hazel-nut shells from within one of the concentrations. Analysis of the soil and sedimentary sequence as well as the pollen indicates constantly changing localised environments in the early Holocene in the Thatcham area, with sporadic occupation by Mesolithic communities on the drier areas at the edge of the floodplain.

Abstract: OEGGL K. & W AHLMULLER N., 1993 Vegetation and climate history of a high alpine mesolithic camp site in the Eastern Alps. [Storia della vegetazione e del clima di un sito mesolitico d'alta quota nelle Alpi Orientali]. Preistoria Alpina, 28: 71-82. During the archeological excavation of a mesolithic camp site located on the Hirschbichl near-by the Staller Sattel (Osttirol/Austria) palaeoecological investigations for the reconstruction of the palaeoenvironment of the site were done. The pollen diagrams exhibit that the vegetational succession started with a Pinus-Artemisa-zone at the transition of the Younger Dryas/Preboreal. The Pinus-Artemisia-zone is superseded by a Pinus-Juniperus-zone indicating the spread of Pinus-Larix-woodland at the beginning of the Preboreal, At the end of the Preboreal a Pinus-Picea-Corylus-zone starts which lasts until the middle of the Atlanticum. Then Picea is becoming more and more important and forms a PiceaPinus-zone until the Subatlanticum. This vegetational succession has been confirmed by botanical macrofossil analyses. To anticipate the most important results: already in the Preboreal the timber line had extended upwards to the altitude of the camp site. During the Preboreal and Boreal distinct penetrations of the Pinus pollen-curve and the synchronous NAP-curve maxima indicate a disturbance in the subalpine forests. The macrorest analyses confirm these data by a depression in the records of Pin us cembra and Larix plant remains. The evidence of charcoal fragments indicate fire as disturbance-factor in the subalpine forests during these periods. Parole chiave: Italia settentrionale, Alpi orientali, Mesolitico, polline, macrofossili vegetali, paleoecologia, linea dellegno, incendi boschivi.

Abstract: This study examines the archaeological significance of the material from a group of Neolithic chipping floors rescued during the rebuilding of the Antrim coast road, at Mad Mans Window, south of Glenarm, Co. Antrim. It shows that the lithic production strategies vary significantly between assemblages although it is presumed that they are all Neolithic in date and come from the same area of coast. It is apparent that flint axe production was of limited importance on these sites and that in spite of the abundance of flint available along the Antrim coast, relatively few polished flint axes were manufactured. Instead the numerous flint caches found in adjacent parts of the north-east of Ireland tend to produce scrapers and blades. Hoards containing arrowheads may be confined to the Bronze Age. Around 300 polished flint axes and roughouts are known from Ireland. These are frequently small and only partially polished. A limited number of highly polished axes with ground flat side facets have been designated sub-type A. The tendency to use porcellanite rather than flint for axe manufacture may be due to its ability to withstand robust shock. During the last 100 years, the role of flint as a key resource in the stone age of north-eastern Ireland has always been recognized but this has usually led to an uncritical assumption as to the paramount importance of flint. Work in recent years has shown that its significance in attracting and retaining Mesolithic settlement may have been over-emphasized. The role of the flint industries in the Irish Neolithic in this region has never been properly assessed, either in relation to older Mesolithic manufacturing traditions or in the broader context of supply to the Neolithic communities of this part of Ireland. In particular, good or even reasonable quality flint is usually only exposed in Cretaceous outcrops along a narrow strip on the edge of the basalt plateau and, therefore, has a very limited availability in parts of Co. Antrim as well as parts of Counties Down and Deny. As a contrast, erratic and beach flint is available in some quantity down the east coast of Ireland from Co. Down to Wexford. A second potential constraining factor is that unlike Britain, where flint was exploited for axe manufacture in the east and other rocks in the west, flint sources and porcellanite for axe manufacturing are both found adjacent to each other in the same corner of Co. Antrim. In particular, a number of more substantial chipping floors of Neolithic age are known, e.g. the opencast quarry sites at Ballygalley Head. The purpose of this study is to assess the role of flint production on the Antrim coast with particular reference to its significance in the Neolithic. This topic will be developed in the context of an analysis of the material found at Mad Mans Window near Glenarm.

Abstract: Odontometric data are reported for Oleneostrovskii mogilnik, a Mesolithic cemetery in the Karelian USSR. Containing the skeletal remains of 148 individuals and dated to 7500b.p., it is the largest and oldest of the known peri-Baltic Mesolithic cemeteries. The dental data from this site are compared to those from Skateholm, where dental dimensions closely approximate the mean tooth sizes for all late Mesolithic European material. Olenii ostrov possesses a significantly smaller dentition, despite antedating the Skateholm sample by 1500 years. Geographic, archaeological, linguistic and ancillary dental data are discussed which argue strongly for the presence in Mesolithic northern Europe of at least two quasi-isolated human mating networks. One of these, documented by Olenii ostrov, may also represent the earliest evidence for the establishment in the taiga zone of populations whose descendants are the modern Saami (=”Lapps”).

Abstract: The replacement of mesolithic hunters and gatherers by neolithic farmers in Europe is a very clean example of technology-based growth and change in human society. Recently, a remarkable quantitative model, the wave-of-advance model, has been put forward by Ammerman and Cavalli-Sforza (AC)[1,2,3] to describe this transition and its genetic consequences. Renfrew has elaborated the model to provide first an explanation of the origin of the Indo-European languages [4] and subsequently of the other two members of the Nostratic superfamily of languages.[5] The Fisher equation employed by AC does not, however, incorporate the spatial inhomogeneity of the food production potential of the neolithic farming technology within Europe. We generalize the Fisher equation to include the effects of such heterogeneity on demic diffusion and population growth. Our most important result is the prediction of internal boundaries, subsistence boundaries, around, e.g., mountain ranges and in the North within which the farming population density vanishes. These boundaries offer the possibility of explaining within the framework of the wave-of-advance model, such anomalies as the Basque language.

Abstract: The distribution of elk remains during the Mesolithic suggests a genuine geographical disparity in elk population densities probably due to more or less favourable ecological conditions. ln northem and north-eastem Europe the high proportion of elk bones in faunal assemblages suggests that elk was an economic ressource from Allerod until Atlantic times. Elk remains are almost absent from the archaeological record of western Europe. Furthermore at those sites where elk is a scarce species, only certain squeletal parts, such as teeth and foot bones, tend to be found. Severa/ kinds of explanation are presented, some involving the mode of acquisition of the remains (hunting or exchange of elk products) and the possible symbolic status of elk. There is strong evidence for the elk symbolic status within the latest mesolithic societies of northern Europe. This suggests that we should adopt a more open research strategy when considering earlier periods when there is less clearcut evidence for elk symbolism

Abstract: Th e Author proposes the first appro ach to model of hum an adaptatio n to mountain enviro nme nts in the Caucasus duri ng Upper Palaeolithic and Mesol ithic. Th e model is based princ ipally on the materials of Kolkhidian refuge where ther e are about 90 per cent of all the Upper Palaeolithic and Me solithic sites known tod ay in Cauca sean region. According to these data , glacial and climatic factors predetermined change s in settlement system. use of different cave types, economic activities and also were conducive or laid obstacles to cultural contac ts between the population s of Northern Ca ucasus and Transcaucasia. Adaptation to co nditio ns of caves may be seen in variable situat ion of life ce ntres, in posit ion and types of bonfires and hearthes. Ada ptive innovations are marked in hunting and fishing. For peculiarities of adaptation in Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic be more evide nt. the Au thor used at times the data of more ear ly epochs of stone age.

Abstract: Field work at Manor Farm, Harston has shown that a cropmark complex scheduled as an ancient monument retains substantial features immediately below the soil Occupation has been assigned to the Bronze Age, 1st century AD, 4th century AD and Anglo-Saxon Field walking has revealed Mesolithic and Neolithic artefacts Items discovered consist of Bronze Age ring-ditches, Iron Age and Romano-British field systems, Late Iron Age pottery, a possible "Grubenhaus", Medieval and post-Medieval finds Aerial photographs were utilised in conjunction with field walking Field soil, geophysical survey and pottery assessments were carried out

Abstract: in Undetermined The questions dealt with in the course of this workshop are greatly complex. In order to outline the state of the art in Southern Scandinavia the character of the archaeological and palaeobotanical source material and different theories on early agriculture are summarized. Theoretical and methodological problems implied in ecological and archaeological interpretations of the past are discussed in order to get an idea of the extent of deforestation during the Late Mesolithic and Neolithic times. A socio-cultural perspective of human beings and their societies living thousands of years ago is stressed. A sound understanding of these people’s way of life is the most important prerequisite for all research activities related to the past (Less)

Abstract: The quantity and quality of material from the late Mesolithic/early Neolithic in southern Scandinavia has dominated the study of this important period in northwest Europe. Recent evidence from the west of Scotland suggests that, despite a rich and varied resource base similar in many ways to that in southern Scandinavia, a very different process of change occurs. The evidence suggests a very gradual transformation, with selected parts of the farming socio-economy being being adopted at varying rates. This situation is compared with that in various parts of Europe and is considered to fit in well with a pattern of great regional diversity in the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic.