In his Report on Excavations at Wroxeter, 1923–27, Professor Atkinson has discussed at some length (Appendix c, pp. 345–62) the origin of the type I of Forum-Basilica block which seems to have been generally adopted for the civic centres of Romano-British tribal capitals. He concludes that this plan (which he designates the principiatype) is of military origin, based on legionary principia, and was adopted ‘perhaps first in the Flavian period, under military influence, in provinces where this was strong and civil development weak and backward … for use as the administrative centre of the civil town’.

The author considers the prospects of Islamic archaeology in one of the most politically sensitive places in the world.

A new technique of radiocarbon dating is presented, offering at modest expense the means to a determination that is good to the ‘first order’ of magnitude

The archaeological survey of the Fenlands around the Wash in eastern England was completed in 1989. This note summarizes the results in terms of knowledge and conservation needs that emerged from the subsequent Fenland Evaluation Project.

Pantelleria is a small island, 34 square miles or so, lying south of the western end of Sicily and within sight of Cape Bon, the projecting tip of the African coast (FIG. I). Though every ship through the Sicilian straits passes close by, it can be extraordinarily isolated, as we found to our cost on a visit in November, 1962. Winter storms can, and occasionally do, cut it off for days at a time. Despite its archaeological wealth, recorded by Paolo Orsi in 1899 (n. 1), it seems that its isolation has discouraged archaeologists from visiting it since the days of Peet and Zammit, early this century. Its ‘sesi’ have become almost a myth.

In the year 1725 William Stukeley entered into correspondence with the eminent Scottish antiquary, Sir John Clerk of Penicuik. 'It has been a frequent matter of wonder to me', wrote Stukeley in his first letter, 'that so many monuments of Antiquity as Scotland may justly boast of, should for ages past lye exposed to the sun, neglected and untouched, whilst every corner of Italy is ransacked and threadbare, we waste away immense sums of our treasure for some abject gleanings there, overlooking a rich and ripe harvest at our own doors.

Readers may know, from editorial comments and notes in ANTIQUITY, and from newspaper letters and articles early in 1991, the deep concern felt over the destruction of archaeological sites in West Africa, particularly in Mali, to satisfy the demands of art dealers for terracotta figurines (see ANTIQUITY 65: 904-5). Oxford University has re-considered its attitude.

Satellite imagery analysis has revealed the presence of at least 330 stone structures—akin to ‘desert kites’ recorded elsewhere—on and around the Hamada al Hamra Plateau in Libya. These structures, which probably vary in shape based on local geomorphology, may have been used for hunting or herding animals.

Emain Macha, the legendary seat of the kings of Ulster, has long been identified with the Navan complex, 2.6 km west of Armagh. This complex comprises more than a dozen proximate, in some cases presumably associated. prehistoric monuments (Warner 1994). Excepting a number of outlying monuments, the major portion of the Navan complex is anchored between to large enclosures, each with adjacent sitcs associated with votive depositions in water. On the east is Navan Fort defined by a hengiform bank-and-ditch enclosure some 230 m across and containing two field monuments: Site A, a ring-work c. 50 m across with a low rise in the centre, and Site B, a 6–7-m high mound (FIGURE 1) . At the eastern base of the drumlin on which the enclosure sits is Loughnashade, a small lake from whose marshy edge four large Iron Age horns, at least one of which bore La The decoration, were recovered in the late 18th century (Raftery 1987).

Disparity in recorded Neolithic activity between the eastern and western Thessaly plain in central Greece is being redressed by the ‘Long Time No See’ landscape project. A recently discovered pottery kiln complex at Magoula Rizava tell site offers exciting new evidence for intra-regional pottery production and circulation during the Middle Neolithic period.