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Item A Monumental Hellenistic Funerary Ensemble at Callatis on the Western Black Sea(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Valeriu Sîrbu; Maria-Magdalena ȘtefanA Monumental Hellenistic Funerary Ensemble at Callatis on the Western Black Sea presents one of the most spectacular early Hellenistic funerary monuments, recently excavated on the western Black Sea coast by a Romanian-Bulgarian-Polish interdisciplinary research team. Documaci Tumulus, covering a painted tomb, and marked by a monumental statue, was built at the threshold of the 4th to 3rd centuries BC in the cemetery of the Greek City of Callatis. The sophisticated construction techniques and the remains of commemorative rituals attest to the dynamic political arena of the Diadochi wars in the Black Sea area and offer a glimpse into a complex and interconnected world of Hellenistic architects and artists. The monument will fuel discussions about the mechanisms of ritualised identity expression in mixed cultural environments, functioning under the pressure of political change, or about community membership, symbolic discourse and ancestors— all reflected in ‘le jeu des miroirs’ of the funerary practices.Item A Quaint & Curious Volume(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Dylan K. Rogers; Claire J. WeissJohn J. Dobbins, Professor of Roman Art and Archaeology, taught at the University of Virginia in the Department of Art from 1978 until his retirement in 2019. His legacy of research and pedagogy is explored in A Quaint & Curious Volume: Essays in Honor of John J. Dobbins. Professor Dobbins� research in the field of Roman art and archaeology spans the geographical and chronological limits of the Roman Empire, from Pompeii to Syria, and Etruria to Spain. This volume demonstrates some of his wide-reaching interests, expressed through the research of his former graduate students. Several essays examine the city of Pompeii and cover the topics of masonry analysis, re-examinations of streets and drains, and analyses of the heating capacity of baths in Pompeii. Beyond Pompeii, the archaeological remains of bakeries are employed to elucidate labor specialization in the Late Roman period across the Mediterranean basin. Collaborations between Professor Dobbins and his former students are also explored, including a pioneering online numismatic database and close examination of sculpture and mosaics, including expressions of identity and patronage through case studies of the Ara Pacis and mosaics at Antioch-on-the-Orontes. A Quaint & Curious Volume not only demonstrates John Dobbins� scholarly legacy, but also presents new readings of archaeological data and art, illustrating the impact that one professor can have on the wider field of Roman art and archaeology through the continuing work of his students.Item Ages and Abilities(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Katharina Rebay-Salisbury; Doris Pany-KuceraAges and Abilities explores social responses to childhood stages from the late Neolithic to Classical Antiquity in Central Europe and the Mediterranean and includes cross-cultural comparison to expand the theoretical and methodological framework. By comparing osteological and archaeological evidence, as well as integrating images and texts, authors consider whether childhood age classes are archaeologically recognizable, at which approximated ages transitions took place, whether they are gradual or abrupt and different for girls and boys. Age transitions may be marked by celebrations and rituals; cultural accentuation of developmental stages may be reflected by inclusion or exclusion at cemeteries, by objects associated with childhood such as feeding vessels and toys, and gradual access to adult material culture. Access to tools, weapons and status symbols, as well as children�s agency, rank and social status, are recurrent themes. The volume accounts for the variability in how a range of chronologically and geographically diverse communities perceived children and childhood, and at the same time, discloses universal trends in child development in the (pre-)historic past.Item Bar?qish/Yathill (Yemen) 1986-2007(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Sabina Antonini; Francesco G. FedeleThe walled town of Bar?qish in interior Yemen � ancient Yathill of the Sabaeans and Minaeans � was for Alessandro de Maigret (1943-2011) �one of the archaeological marvels not just of Yemen, but of the entire Near East�. Established as an oasis settlement in the semi-desert depression of the Jawf, it became in the 1st millennium BCE a thriving caravan station on the �incense� route and a famed place of worship, controlled by rich rulers and merchants. Topography and trade made it a crucible of South Arabian and foreign traditions, and on several occasions, it was a border town disputed between rival powers. A sustained archaeological effort to investigate the site and area began in 1986 by the Italian Archaeological Mission, led by de Maigret, and developed in two phases. In 1989-1992 the temple of the patron god was excavated, while between 2003-2007 a range of new excavations were undertaken, including a second temple, a sounding, a dissection of the tell's edge outside the Minaean wall, and a cemetery. Presented across two volumes, Volume 1: Excavations of Temple B and related research and restoration is particularly devoted to the temple of god ?Athtar dhu-Qab? (Temple B), dated to the second half of the 1st millennium BCE. Six chapters fully illustrate its excavation, architecture, restoration, findings, inscriptions, and dating. The contribution of this work and monument to regional history transcends its local significance. The report is framed by ten chapters detailing the historiography of research on Bar?qish, the initial surveys carried out in 1986-1987, the architecture and restoration of Temple A together with the extramural excavation at the adjacent curtain wall, the cultic equipment, and radiocarbon datings. The nine contributors are leading scholars in the above fields and include recognized experts in South Arabian archaeology. The core of Volume 2: Extramural excavations in Area C and overview studies is a final report on Area C, an exploratory dissection through the western edge of the Bar?qish mound outside the curtain wall, and a unique operation for Yemen until now. Eight chapters detail the excavation, stratigraphy, and geoarchaeology (from about 800 BCE to the present), in addition to radiocarbon chronology, cultural finds, animal and plant remains, economy, major historical events, and unique evidence for trade. Four further chapters offer a glimpse of settlement archaeology for Sabaean Yathill and the survey of a religious centre to the west, together with a first typology of Minaean pottery and an epigraphic and political-historical overview for Bar?qish and the Jawf. The contributors are recognized experts in South Arabian archaeology.Item Between the 3rd and 2nd Millennia BC: Exploring Cultural Diversity and Change in Late Prehistoric Communities(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Susana Soares Lopes; Sérgio Alexandre GomesBetween the 3rd and 2nd Millennia BC: Exploring Cultural Diversity and Change in Late Prehistoric Communities is a collection of studies on the cultural reconfigurations that occurred in western Europe between the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. It brings together seven texts focusing on the evidence from the West of the Iberian Peninsula, and one on the South of England. The texts have their origin in a landmark meeting held at the University of Coimbra in November 2018, where scholars explored the grand narratives explaining the differences between what are traditionally considered Chalcolithic (or Late Neolithic) and Bronze Age communities. The contributions look at key aspects of these grand narratives through regional perspectives, asking the following questions: is there clear data to support the idea of an intensification of social complexity towards the emergence of the Bronze Age chiefdoms? What is the role of monumental architecture within this process? How do we best discuss the different levels of architectural visibility during this period? How can we interpret collective and individual burials in relation to the emergence of individual/territorial powers? In answering these questions, the papers explore regional diversity and argue that regional specificities resist a general interpretation of the historical process at stake. In light of this resistance, the book emphasizes that cultural singularities only become visible through contextual, medium, or low-scale approaches. The recognition of singularities challenges grand narratives, but also carries the potential to expand our understanding of the changes that occurred during this key moment of Late Prehistory. The book thus offers readers the opportunity to think about the diversity of archaeological evidence in combination with an exploration of the available range of approaches and narratives. The critical intertwining of multiple points of view is necessary, because it gets us closer to how elusive the cultural differences of prehistoric communities can be. This elusive dimension is precisely what can force us to constantly rethink what we see and what questions we ask.Item Bronze Age Tell Communities in Context: An Exploration into Culture, Society, and the Study of European Prehistory. Part 2(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Tobias L. KienlinPractice � The Social, Space, and Materiality forms the second part of Bronze Age Tell Communities in Context: An exploration into culture, society, and the study of European prehistory. It studies Bronze Age tells and our approaches towards an understanding of this fascinating way of life, drawing on the material remains of long-term architectural stability and references back to ancestral place. While the first volume challenged Neo-Diffusionist models of the influence of Mediterranean palatial centres on the development of tell communities in the Carpathians and an attendant focus on social stratification, the second part sets out an alternative theoretical approach, which foregrounds architecture and the social use of space. Unlike the reductionist macro perspective of mainstream social modelling, inspired by aspects of practice theory outlined in this book, the account given seeks to allow for what is truly remarkable about these sites, and what we can infer from them about the way of life they once framed and enabled. The stability seen on tells, and their apparent lack of change on a macro scale, are specific features of the social field, in a given region and for a specific period of time. Both stability and change are contingent upon specific historical contexts, including traditional practices, their material setting and human intentionality. They are not an inherent, given property of this or that �type� of society or social structure. For our tells, it is argued here, underneath the specific manifestation of sociality maintained, we clearly do see social practices and corresponding material arrangements being negotiated and adjusted. Echoing the argument laid out in the first part of this study, it is suggested that archaeology should take an interest in such processes on the micro scale, rather than succumb to the temptation of neat macro history and great narratives existing aloof from the material remains of past lives.Item Classification of Lithic Artefacts from the British Late Glacial and Holocene Periods(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Torben Bjarke BallinA system for the hierarchical Classification of Lithic Artefacts from the British Late Glacial and Holocene Periods is offered in this book. It is hoped that it may find use as a guide book for archaeology students, museum staff, non-specialist archaeologists, local archaeology groups and lay enthusiasts. To allow the individual categories of lithic objects to be classified and characterised in detail, it was necessary to first define a number of descriptive terms, which forms the first part of this guide. The main part of the book is the lithic classification section, which offers definitions of the individual formal debitage, core and tool types. The basic questions asked are: what defines Object X as a tool and not a piece of debitage or a core; what defines a microlith as a microlith and not a knife or a piercer; and what defines a specific implement as a scalene triangle and not an isosceles one? As shown in the book, there are disagreements within the lithics community as to the specific definition of some types, demonstrating the need for all lithics reports to define which typological framework they are based on. The eBook edition of this publication is available in Open Access, supported by Historic Environment Scotland.Item Die Bestattungsgruben in Bat(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Conrad SchmidtVolume 1 of the series Arabia Orientalis presents the first comprehensive study of two Umm an-Nar (2700�2000 BC) burial pits from the UNESCO World Heritage site Bat in the Sultanate of Oman. They were excavated between 2010 and 2012 by the University of T�bingen. Each burial pit represents one of the largest closed finds of the Early Bronze Age in the region. Finds largely include beads and other items of personal adornment, as well as pottery and human bones. Detailed typologies of all objects are the basis for in-depth statistical analyses of the different categories of finds and the reconstruction of burial customs at Bat. Furthermore, imports and imitations from other regions including the Indus Valley, Iran, and Mesopotamia illuminate Bat�s foreign relations and integration into the interregional exchange and communication system. The interpretation of the unearthed human remains conducted by Steve Zauner offer, not only the number of individuals, sex, and age of the deceased, but also insights into lifestyle, diseases, and stress of the people in the past.'Die Umm an-Nar-Zeit (2700�2000 v. Chr.) auf der �stlichen Arabischen Halbinsel gilt als Periode tiefgreifender Ver�nderungen in der �konomischen und sozialen Organisation der Gesellschaft sowie der Ausbeutung von Ressourcen. Einer der gr��ten und bedeutendsten Fundpl�tze dieser Zeit im Sultanat Oman ist der seit 1988 auf der Welterbeliste der UNESCO stehende Fundort Bat in der Provinz Al-Dhahirah. Von 2010 bis 2015 f�hrte die Eberhard Karls Universit�t T�bingen ein Projekt zur Erforschung der Entwicklung der beiden Nekropolen von Bat und Al-Ayn sowie der Siedlung von Al-Zebah durch. Im Mittelpunkt der Untersuchungen stand die Frage nach den Gr�nden und Ursachen des sozio�konomischen Umbruchs im 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr. und wie sich dieser in den Lebensverh�ltnissen der damaligen Bev�lkerung widerspiegelt. Die vorliegende Publikation stellt den ersten Band der Endberichte des Forschungsprojekts des Instituts f�r die Kulturen des Alten Orients der Universit�t T�bingen in Bat, Al-Zebah und Al- Ayn dar. Das Werk beinhaltet die vollst�ndige Auswertung der beiden Umm an-Nar-zeitlichen Bestattungsgruben A-Inst. 0006 und A-Inst. 0025 in Bat einschlie�lich anthropologischer Analysen und einer geophysikalischen Prospektion in der Nekropole von Bat. Beide Gruben z�hlen zu den gr��ten jemals im Oman untersuchten geschlossenen Fundkontexten der fr�hen Bronzezeit. Zur Publikation geh�rt ein online unter https://tinyurl. com/9781789697391-der-fundekatalog publizierter Katalog, der s�mtliche Einzelnachweise zu den Funden aus den beiden Bestattungsgruben enth�lt.Item Die Gräber von Bat und Al-Ayn und das Gebäude II in Bat(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Stephanie DöpperThe Early Bronze Age in third-millennium-BC Eastern Arabia was a period of fundamental change, which is apparent in the development of social complexity, the exploitation of new resources and the emergence of new modes of life. Hallmarks of this period include monumental structures, so-called towers, and stone-built circular tombs. The second volume of the series Arabia Orientalis is dedicated to the archaeological investigation of the Early Bronze Age necropolises of the UNESCO world heritage sites Bat and Al-Ayn in the Sultanate of Oman, as well as the monumental tower structure Building II at Bat. It encompasses detailed reports on the architecture and stratigraphy, as well as the find assemblages from the excavated buildings, including pottery and small finds, along with anthropological as well as anthracological studies. The publication presents insights into changing burial customs, as well as the function of the monumental tower structures. Three out of the four excavated Hafit- and Umm an-Nar-period tombs in the necropolises featured evidence for reuse at later times, especially during the Samad period, where new inhumations were placed into the Bronze Age tombs. The early Umm an-Nar tower Building II is surrounded by a large ditch system that might have served as protection against flooding from the nearby wadi.Item El cerro de Alarcos (Ciudad Real): Formación y desarrollo de un oppidum ibérico : 20 años de excavaciones arqueológicas en el Sector III(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Mª del Rosario García Huerta; Francisco Javier Morales Hervás; David Rodríguez GonzálezEl cerro de Alarcos (Ciudad Real): Formación y desarrollo de un oppidum ibérico presents the results of archaeological work which has been carried out since 1997 in so-called Sector III of the Alarcos site, located on a hill next to the Guadiana river, a few kilometres from Ciudad Real. These archaeological campaigns have made it possible to obtain essential information to understand the communities that, from the end of the Bronze Age to the end of the Iron Age, inhabited this large town and its surrounding area. An interesting set of structures and other evidence of material culture have been recovered, which allow us to characterize the daily activities of people between the 10th-11th century BC and, in addition, they enable us to understand the paleoenvironment of this territory and the nature of the economy and the food transformation activities of these protohistoric populations. The use of this territory has been determined over the centuries, being originally a residential area which later, in Iberian times, assumed economic functionality, as it was intended for grain storage, grinding and cooking food. The documentation of a wide and varied repertoire of ceramic materials and an interesting set of foreign ceramics corroborates the dynamism this settlement achieved, during both the Pre-Iberian period and the full Iberian period.Item Engraved Gems and Propaganda in the Roman Republic and under Augustus(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Pawel GolyzniakEngraved Gems and Propaganda in the Roman Republic and under Augustus deals with small, but highly captivating and stimulating artwork � engraved gemstones. Although in antiquity intaglios and cameos had multiple applications (seals, jewellery or amulets), the images engraved upon them are snapshots of people's beliefs, ideologies, and everyday occupations. They cast light on the self-advertising and propaganda actions performed by Roman political leaders, especially Octavian/Augustus, their factions and other people engaged in the politics and social life of the past. Gems can show both general trends (the specific showpieces like State Cameos) as well as the individual and private acts of being involved in politics and social affairs, mainly through a subtle display of political allegiances, since they were objects of strictly personal use. They enable us to analyse and learn about Roman propaganda and various social behaviours from a completely different angle than coins, sculpture or literature. The miniaturism of ancient gems is in inverse proportion to their cultural significance. This book presents an evolutionary model of the use of engraved gems from self-presentation (3rd-2nd century BC) to personal branding and propaganda purposes in the Roman Republic and under Augustus (until 14 AD). The specific characteristics of engraved gems, their strictly private character and the whole array of devices appearing on them are examined in respect to their potential propagandistic value and usefulness in social life. The wide scope of this analysis provides a comprehensive picture covering many aspects of Roman propaganda and a critical survey of the overinterpretations of this term in regard to the glyptic art. The aim is the incorporation of this class of archaeological artefacts into the well-established studies of Roman propaganda, as well as the Roman society in general, brought about by discussion of the interconnections with ancient literary sources as well as other categories of Roman art and craftsmanship, notably coins but also sculpture and relief.Item Farmsteads and Funerary Sites(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Jim BrownMOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) undertook extensive excavations during the construction of two separate, but adjacent road schemes, some 4.5km apart near Houghton Regis and Toddington, in south Central Bedfordshire. Taken as a whole, the excavations provide a detailed multi-period dataset for regional and national comparison. The first evidence for occupation occurred in the middle/late Bronze Age comprising pits and clusters of postholes, including four-post and six-post structures. Two pit alignments, more than 2km apart, also indicate that land divisions were being established, and in the late Bronze Age/early Iron Age a significant new settlement emerged in the valley bottom. Parts of a further contemporary earlier-middle Iron Age settlement lay at the top of the valley but neither settlement extended into the Roman period. In the late Iron Age or early Roman period three or four new settlements emerged with occupation continuing into the late Roman period in at least one of these. Of particular interest was the recovery of two significant Aylesford-Swarling type cemeteries as well as a third cemetery which largely comprised unurned burials, including some busta, but with few accompanying grave goods. In the late 7th-century a small probable Christian conversion open-ground inhumation cemetery was established with burials accompanied by a range of objects, including a rare work box, knives, brooches, chatelaine keys and a spearhead. Parts of three medieval settlements were uncovered including one with a potters' working area.Item Garranes(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) William O'Brien; Nick HoganRingforts were an important part of the rural settlement landscape of early medieval Ireland (AD 400�1100). While most of those circular enclosures were farmsteads, a small number had special significance as centres of political power and elite residence, also associated with specialized crafts. One such �royal site� was Garranes in the mid-Cork region of south-west Ireland. In 1937, archaeological excavation of a large trivallate ringfort provided evidence of high-status residence during the fifth and sixth centuries AD. The site had workshops for the production of bronze ornaments, with glass and enamel working as well as indications of farming. Pottery and glass vessels imported from the Mediterranean world and Atlantic France were also discovered. That trade with the Late Roman world is significant to understanding the introduction of Christianity and literacy in southern Ireland at that time. This monograph presents the results of an interdisciplinary project conducted 2011�18, where archaeological survey and excavation, supported by various specialist studies, examined this historic landscape. Garranes is a special place where archaeology, history and legend combine to uncover a minor royal site of the early medieval period. The central ringfort has been identified as Rath Raithleann, the seat of the petty kingdom of U� Echach Muman, recalled in bardic poetry of the later medieval period. Those poems attribute its foundation to Corc, a King of Munster in the fifth century AD, and link the site closely to Cian, son-in-law of Brian B�ruma, and one of the heroes of Clontarf (AD 1014). This study provides new evidence to connect the location of Rath Raithleann to high-status occupation at Garranes during the fifth and sixth centuries, and explores its legendary associations in later periods. Includes contributions from Michelle Comber, Ian Doyle, Lenore Fischer, Kevin Kearney, Susan Lyons, Tim Mighall and Douglas Borthwick, Margaret Mannion, Ignacio Montero-Ruiz and Mercedes Murillo-Barroso, R�is�n Nic Cn�imh�n, Cian � Cionnfhaolaidh, James O�Driscoll, Edward O�Riordain, and Orla-Peach Power.Item G�ytepe(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Yoshihiro Nishiaki; Farhad GuliyevG�ytepe: Neolithic Excavations in the Middle Kura Valley, Azerbaijan, publishes the first round of fieldwork and research (2008-2013) at this key site for understanding the emergence and development of food-producing communities in the South Caucasus. Situated close to the Fertile Crescent of Southwest Asia, where Neolithisation processes occurred earlier, research in the South Caucasus raises intriguing research questions, including issues of diffusion from the latter and interaction with �incoming� Neolithic communities as well as the possibility of independent local Neolithisation processes. In order to address these issues in the South Caucasus, a joint Azerbaijan�Japan research programme was launched in 2008 to investigate G�ytepe, one of the largest known Neolithic mounds in the South Caucasus. The results of the first phase of the project (2008-2013) presented here provide rich archaeological data from multi-disciplinary perspectives: chronology, architecture, technology, social organisation, and plant and animal exploitation, to name a few. This volume is the first to present these details in a single report of the South Caucasian Neolithic site using a high-resolution chronology based on dozens of radiocarbon dates.Item Historic Landscapes and Mental Well-being(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Kerry Barrass; Timothy DarvillUsing archaeological sites and historic landscapes to promote mental health well-being represents one of the most significant advances in archaeological resource management for many years. Its potential contribution to health-care and wellness initiatives is boundless. Prompted by the Human Henge project working within the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site, this volume provides an overview of work going on across Britain and the near Continent at many different scales. Contributors share experiences, and discuss the outcomes, implications, and theoretical underpinnings of heritage-based well-being projects.Item IKUWA6. Shared Heritage: Proceedings of the Sixth International Congress for Underwater Archaeology(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Jennifer A. Rodrigues; Arianna TravigliaCelebrating the theme �Shared heritage�, IKUWA6 (the 6th International Congress for Underwater Archaeology), was the first such major conference to be held in the Asia-Pacific region, and the first IKUWA meeting hosted outside Europe since the organisation�s inception in Germany in the 1990s. A primary objective of holding IKUWA6 in Australia was to give greater voice to practitioners and emerging researchers across the Asia and Pacific regions who are often not well represented in northern hemisphere scientific gatherings of this scale; and, to focus on the areas of overlap in our mutual heritage, techniques and technology. Drawing together peer-reviewed presentations by delegates from across the world who converged in Fremantle in 2016 to participate, this volume covers a stimulating diversity of themes and niche topics of value to maritime archaeology practitioners, researchers, students, historians and museum professionals across the world.Item Mammoths and Neanderthals in the Thames Valley(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Katharine Scott; Christine BuckinghamToday the Upper Thames Valley is a region of green pastures and well-managed farmland, interspersed with pretty villages and intersected by a meandering river. The discovery in 1989 of a mammoth tusk in river gravels at Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, revealed the very different ancient past of this landscape. Here, some 200,000 years ago, mammoths, straight-tusked elephants, lions, and other animals roamed across grasslands with scattered trees, occasionally disturbed by small bands of Neanderthals. The pit where the tusk was discovered, destined to become a waste disposal site, provided a rare opportunity to conduct intensive excavations that extended over a period of 10 years. This work resulted in the recording and recovery of more than 1500 vertebrate fossils and an abundance of other biological material, including insects, molluscs, and plant remains, together with 36 stone artefacts attributable to Neanderthals. The well-preserved plant remains include leaves, nuts, twigs and large oak logs. Vertebrate remains notably include the most comprehensive known assemblage of a distinctive small form of the steppe mammoth, Mammuthus trogontherii, that is characteristic of an interglacial period equated with marine isotope stage 7 (MIS 7). Richly illustrated throughout, Mammoths and Neanderthals in the Thames Valley offers a detailed account of all these finds and will be of interest to Quaternary specialists and students alike.Item New Global Perspectives on Archaeological Prospection(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) James BonsallThis volume is a product of the 13th International Conference on Archaeological Prospection 2019, which was hosted by the Department of Environmental Science in the Faculty of Science at the Institute of Technology Sligo. The conference is held every two years under the banner of the International Society for Archaeological Prospection and this was the first time that the conference was held in Ireland. New Global Perspectives on Archaeological Prospection draws together over 90 papers addressing archaeological prospection techniques, methodologies and case studies from 33 countries across Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America, reflecting current and global trends in archaeological prospection. At this particular ICAP meeting, specific consideration was given to the development and use of archaeological prospection in Ireland, archaeological feedback for the prospector, applications of prospection technology in the urban environment and the use of legacy data. Papers include novel research areas such as magnetometry near the equator, drone-mounted radar, microgravity assessment of tombs, marine electrical resistivity tomography, convolutional neural networks, data processing, automated interpretive workflows and modelling as well as recent improvements in remote sensing, multispectral imaging and visualisation.Item Pits and Boots(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Michael RoyPits and Boots derives from excavations carried out in 2007-8, in advance of an extension to the Bon Accord Centre in Aberdeen, that uncovered the backlands of an area that would have formed part of the industrial quarter of the medieval town. The site is well-dated by dendrochronology, augmented by artefactual evidence, and indicates activity from the late 12th century AD into the early modern period, with a particularly intensive period in the 13th century. Structural evidence consists primarily of the backland boundaries, hearth/ovens, several wood-lined wells and many large pits. It is the contents of these pits and wells which forms the core of this monograph. The waterlogged conditions within the pits and wells has meant that a remarkable assemblage of organic remains including leather, wooden artefacts, textiles, animal pelts, fibres, and cordage has survived. The leather assemblage is the largest ever to be found in Scotland and has revealed a range of activities associated with the use of animal hides, from hide processing to tanning and shoemaking. The wood assemblage is also extensive and includes bowls, platters, coopered vessels and tools. Metalwork, crucibles, clay mould fragments and ceramics all testify to the industrial nature of the area, while the large quantities of animal and fishbone demonstrate that butchery on an industrial scale took place in the area. The excavation charts the changing nature of this once-peripheral area of Aberdeen, from an industrial zone in the medieval period, to horticultural and domestic spaces in post-medieval times, and has thus greatly enhanced our knowledge of Scottish urban development.Item Practice and Prestige(Archaeopress Publishing, 2023) Jessica Ryan-DesprazPractice and Prestige: An Exploration of Neolithic Warfare, Bell Beaker Archery, and Social Stratification from an Anthropological Perspective investigates the appearance of the �archer�s package� in select Bell Beaker burials raising questions of daily life, warfare, and social stratification during the Neolithic period. It draws on a recent study by the author that applied an anthropological methodology to assess the bone morphology of these skeletons for signs of specialised archery activity. These analyses revealed results at both a population as well as an individual level. In order to contextualise these osteological findings, the book explores the evidence for warfare and archery throughout the Neolithic period in general and the Bell Beaker period in particular. This perspective considers warfare to be a primary function of archery, thereby associating �archer� burials with concepts of warfare and the warrior. A second perspective delves into prehistoric concepts of specialisation and social hierarchy in order to situate archers, archery, and warfare within potentially stratified populations. These two perspectives allow for the contextualisation of the anthropological results within a broad archaeological framework in which archers and archery were prominent parts of a complex Bell Beaker society.