This article presents the background to and prospects for a new initiative in archaeological field survey and database integration. The Roman Hinterland Project combines data from the Tiber Valley Project, Roman Suburbium Project, and the Pontine Region Project into a single database, which the authors believe to be one of the most complete repositories of data for the hinterland of a major ancient metropolis, covering nearly 2000 years of history. The logic of combining these databases in the context of studying the Roman landscape is explained and illustrated with analyses that show their capacity to contribute to major debates in Roman economy, demography, and the longue durée of the human condition in a globalizing world.

In this article, the authors examine radiocarbon, histo-taphonomic, and contextual evidence for the deliberate curation, manipulation, and redeposition of human bone in British Bronze Age mortuary contexts. New radiocarbon dates and histological analyses are combined with existing data to explore the processes and practices that resulted in the incorporation of ‘relic’ fragments of bone in later graves, including evidence for the deliberate re-opening of previous burials and for funerary treatments such as excarnation and mummification. In some cases, fragments of human bone were curated outside the mortuary context. The authors consider what the treatment of human remains reveals about mortuary complexity in the Bronze Age, about relations between the living and the dead, and about attitudes to the body and concepts of the self.

Forty years ago, Fritz Saxl (1957:73) pointed out that ‘we cannot fully understand our own times unless we pay heed to its unscientific tendencies.’ The Russian historian Bitsilli (1928:351-52) demonstrated that the birth of a nation is always accompanied by some sort of mythology. The idea became especially useful recently with the current development of ethnonationalism, combined with a shift of the international community's sympathy with groups' rights, resulting in an unexpected phenomenon which I call an ‘alternative prehistory’. This alternative prehistory is an explicitly ethnocentric vision of the past, namely, a glorification of the great ancestors of the given people, who are treated as if they made the most valuable contribution to the culture of all humanity. This obviously odd vision of the past flourishes especially at crucial moments of ethnic history: (1) when forceful assimilation and acculturation endanger an ethnic group with cultural and language losses, (2) when particular minorities are fighting against racial discrimination or its consequences, (3) when the people struggle for political liberation, (4) when new states are being built from the ruins of a fonner empire, (5) when a fonner imperial people suffers political, social, and other losses because of unfavourable changes in its status, (6) when two peoples claim rights over the same territory which they have inhabited for years, (7) when a new ethnic group is formed in a given territory out of newcomers of various ethnic origins, and (8) when a formerly united people finds itself under conditions of a diaspora. In all these cases, the myth of the past is aimed at inspiring self-esteem in order to withstand hardship and to mobilise people for decisive social and political action. At the same time, as Wailes and Zoll (1995:24-25) point out quite reasonably, the myth of the past results in an explicit or implicit discourse about who has civilised whom which tends towards the construction of a hierarchy of groups headed by one of them as an ‘elder brother’ (Shnirelman 1996b:60). That is not just an intellectual game since quite often there are real political, social, and economic interests at stake. lbis paper is a result of my comparative studies made during the last few years dealing with contemporary ethno-nationalist myths of the past based on the idea of ethnogenesis. In other words I have tried to investigate how contemporary ethno-nationalists manipulate materials (true, fictitious, or even consciously falsified) on the origins of peoples, how they invent ancestors and their glorious deeds, and why they do it. My analysis is based mainly on data from the former USSR and contemporary Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), but information from some other countries was also considered (Shnirelman 1993a; 1993c; 1994b; 1995b; 1995c; 1995d; 1996a; 1996b; 1996c; in press a and bi Shnirelman and Komarova 1995). Here, I shall discuss the general features of this sort of mythology and its consequences. A problem is that, in order to make its claims for political rights and ambitions much stronger, a group has to demonstrate the deep roots of its culture, the distinctiveness of its language, and all its outstanding cultural achievements. Keeping these ends in mind, the cultural activists occupy themselves with what Eric Hobsbawm (1983) called ‘an invention of traditions’ (see also Gellner 1983; Anderson 1991). But the main strategy nowadays is the use and abuse of history and, in many cases, prehistory or proto-history.

During the first millennium ad, Europe saw much socio-environmental change, which is reflected in the archaeological and palaeoecological evidence. Using published and new isotope data from across western Europe, the author examines changing resource use from c. ad 350 to 1200. The geographical limits of millet and substantial marine consumption are identified and comparisons between childhood and adult diets made across regions. Cross-cultural interaction at a broad scale is emphasized and patterns within early medieval England form the subject of an in-depth case study. While doubt is cast onto the uptake of marine resource consumption in England following the Fish Event Horizon, changes in agricultural practices, the impact of Christianization, and the role of freshwater fish in diets are explored. The author's hierarchical meta-analytical approach enables identification of human–environment interactions, with significant implications for changing foodways in Europe during the first millennium ad.

The wetland find in Levänluhta (western Finland) consists of unburnt, mixed up remains from almost 100 human individuals along with artefacts and animal bones. This spring site, a small lake at the time of use (ad 300–800), has been investigated archaeologically from the late nineteenth century onwards. An impressive array of finds, including precious artefacts, is on display at the National Museum of Finland. However, the material has not previously been subjected to systematic research to clarify who these people were, and why they were buried in a small lake at a time when cremation was the prevailing burial tradition. Here we present the results of a multidisciplinary study that includes new analyses and interpretations of the finds and the site. Prestigious artefacts, peripheral location, and the fact that only a few males were found suggest this unusual burial site was a cemetery for socially or ideologically deviant members of the society.

Palaeoenvironmental data and vegetation histories derived from local datasets are examined in the light of Early Neolithic agro-pastoral activities and resource exploitation in the southeastern Adriatic Sea. Palynological evidence is summarized from three locations within the study area and compared to contemporaneous archaeological evidence. Coastal marine archaeological assemblages in the study area indicate that Early Neolithic inhabitants expended significant energy on terrestrial and marine hunting and gathering, and long distance maritime travel, well after the regional introduction of agro-pastoralism.

The paper describes four characteristics by which surplus growing of grain might be detected: 1. the calculated local production exceeded the calculated local consumption; 2. farmers practised monoculture; 3. storage capacity surpassed local needs; 4. grain was clearly produced elsewhere and represented the import of a surplus.

Examples are given concerning Iron Age farms and Roman villa's in the Netherlands and comparable regions. Although each approach brings its own problems, a combination gives encouraging results. The analysis provides a tool for the writing of a history of surplus production which, in its turn, can be related to social history.

Over the past few decades the mass media have increasingly shaped public awareness. For many people, television, the radio, or the press are the only sources for archaeological topics and it is essential, therefore, to be able to collaborate with the world of journalism. It is not only sensational news stories that have an opportunity of being covered by the media, but also serious issues – provided that they are well told. Communicating scientific results to an audience outside one's own specialist subject is, however, not only a question of good will, but also of skill. This article focuses on how to get the attention of the mass media, how to exert influence on the quality of a newspaper article, radio or film, and how to communicate what is really important. It provides an overview of public and media relations and tries to give some helpful suggestions.

Vikings with artificially modified teeth have previously been documented in the south-eastern parts of Scandinavia and in England. In a project dealing with life in the Mälaren Valley in Sweden during the period AD 750–1100, new cases of people with modified maxillary teeth were observed. The hypothesis that the practice was entirely associated with adult men dating to the Viking Age was tested. The new cases demonstrate that the habit extended to eastern-central Sweden, including the proto-town of Birka, perhaps as early as in the middle of the eighth century. Additionally, cases from Sigtuna show that the practice may have ended as late as the beginning of the twelfth century. A microanalysis, using a scanning electron microscope, showed the heterogeneous character of the modifications. The affected individuals were all adult men, similar to previously published cases. Some of the men are associated with weapons and violent acts and the cases from Sigtuna were all from cemeteries with a possible association with lower social strata. However, discrepancies in archaeological contexts and in the characteristics of the modifications suggest temporal and spatial variation in the social meaning of the modifications.

For over a century prehistorians have approached the engraved stone plaques of the Iberian late Neolithic and Copper Age (3000–2500 BC) from a monolithic and idealist perspective, viewing the plaques as representations of the Mother Goddess. Most have not addressed the plaques' variability, their method of manufacture, the organization of their production, or their biographies. This article presents new interpretations of the Iberian plaques based on the first comprehensive on-line catalogue of the plaques – the Engraved Stone Plaque Registry and Inquiry Tool (ESPRIT) (Lillios 2004) – which holds records for over 1100 plaques, each unique, from over 200 sites in Portugal and Spain. Analyses of the plaques' raw material, style, chaîne opératoire, and distribution over space suggest that different plaque types had different functions and meanings, which shifted over time. Two plaque types: the Classic plaques and the Biomorphic Simple plaques are considered in this article. In their diverse forms, the Iberian plaques appear to have been durable records of regional and local group identities and could have contributed toward legitimating and perpetuating an ideology of inherited social difference in the Iberian late Neolithic and Copper Age.

Coastal distributions such as that of the Neolithic chambered tombs of Brittany raise important questions about prehistoric beliefs and understandings relating to sea and shoreline. Concepts of liminality come particularly to the fore where headlands and islands are selected as places for the disposal of human remains. The density of chambered tombs recorded by Du Châtellier on the islands of the Molène archipelago, with its rocks, inlets and small islands exposed and covered by the tides, provides a prominent example of this coastal emphasis. The analysis presented here includes assessment of the reliability of the Du Châtellier inventory and of the topographic changes resulting from sea-level rise. It is argued that the dramatic transformative effect of the tides on the shallow waters of this archipelago will have enhanced the liminality of the setting and may have endowed the islands with special mythological or symbolic associations that may explain the density of the monuments. Ethnographic accounts of coastal beliefs from North America and northern Europe provide additional indications of the likely symbolic importance of such shoreline settings for Breton Neolithic communities.

Ritual and ritual specialists have often been dissociated from power in the writings of prehistorians and archaeologists. From ethnographic and ethnohistoric accounts, however, ritual specialists often exert disproportionate control over the maintenance, manipulation, and elaboration of social codes and practices. Their roles in ritual practice (orthopraxy in non-literate societies) and its effect on decision-making accord them considerable social and political importance. Due to this involvement they become the targets of ritual sanctions that include punitive rites, ritualized deaths, and suppression during periods of rapid social change, both from within their own societies and from without. The present article derives from a re-analysis of the Vix (Côte-d'Or, Burgundy) human skeletal remains, specifically with reference to the age, sex and health status of the interred individual. An evaluation of the social roles of this so-called ‘Princess’ is then attempted, integrating this biological information with that derived from a consideration of the grave inclusions and their imagery in the context of competitive feasting and social change in the late Hallstatt period.

This article is devoted to the understanding of the importance of seasonal use of grasslands in the occupation of the Eurasian steppe during the Bronze Age. The pilot section of the research is Kalmykia – a steppe situated between the lower Volga and the Don rivers. We have to look at specific strategies of using local environments, river valleys, upland plateaux, and open steppe lands. During the third millennium BC, pastoralists of the Yamnaya and Catacomb cultures began to exploit the Eurasian steppe grasslands and they had to take advantage of the seasonal variation in steppe vegetation to create a sustainable economy. Seasonal use of grasslands became the main feature of the definition of pastoralism. This is the first time that early steppe materials have been analysed for seasonal data. On the basis of a combination of the seasonal data, settlement data and recent chronological information, a preliminary reconstruction is presented of two contrasting periods of land use for the third millennium BC.

The paper deals with classical archaeology and art history in Brazil and its scholarly revolutionary role. Brazilian society is characterised as grounded on patronage and the recent history of archaeology in the country is related to the Cold War period, when there was a military dictatorship in Brazil supported by the United States. Archaeology suffered particularly, but classical archaeology was a way of avoiding direct persecution and also of being in touch with up-to-date social theory. Classical archaeology and art history developed a scholarly approach to science which ran counter to the prevailing mediocrity resulting from patronage. Scholarship itself is revolutionary and both disciplines, thanks mostly to their European roots, have been active in challenging clientship schemes.

Broken and damaged Bronze Age metalwork has long been studied, but there is no methodology for identifying signs of intentional versus unintentional action. Past approaches have tended to rely on assumptions about how such finds were damaged. Drawing on the material properties of copper alloys, as well as on recent research into wear-analysis and experimental fragmentation of bronze implements, this article presents a working methodology for identifying deliberate damage. Seven ‘Destruction Indicators’ are presented, with associated criteria, for making informed interpretations about archaeological artefacts. These contribute to a ‘Damage Ranking System’, an index for ranking damage on Bronze Age copper alloy objects based on the likelihood that damage was intentional. Two case studies illustrate how this system can be applied.

The rock art of southern Scandinavia is characterized by depictions of watercraft. The majority are close to the coast, and they have been the primary focus of research. Less attention has been paid to similar representations associated with two large inland lakes in southern Sweden. In this article we present the results of fieldwork around Lake Vänern and Lake Vättern and consider the relationship of this rock art to the better-known images on the coast. We explore the practicalities of navigating between the sea and the interior and suggest that there was an important contrast between an early eastern sphere extending to Lake Vättern from the Baltic and a later western sphere connecting Lake Vänern with the Atlantic.

Environmental information from place-names has largely been overlooked by geoarchaeologists and fluvial geomorphologists in analyses of the depositional histories of rivers and floodplains. Here, new flood chronologies for the rivers Teme, Severn, and Wye are presented, modelled from stable river sections excavated at Broadwas, Buildwas, and Rotherwas. These are connected by the Old English term *wæsse, interpreted as ‘land by a meandering river which floods and drains quickly’. The results reveal that, in all three places, flooding during the early medieval period occurred more frequently between AD 350–700 than between AD 700–1100, but that over time each river's flooding regime became more complex including high magnitude single events. In the sampled locations, the fluvial dynamics of localized flood events had much in common, and almost certainly differed in nature from other sections of their rivers, refining our understanding of the precise nature of flooding which their names sought to communicate. This study shows how the toponymic record can be helpful in the long-term reconstruction of historic river activity and for our understanding of past human perceptions of riverine environments.

In modern populations, inequalities in oral health have been observed between urban and rural communities, but to date the impact of the place of residence on oral health in archaeological populations has received only limited attention. This meta-study analyses dental palaeopathological data to examine the relationship between place of residence and oral health in Roman, early medieval, and late medieval Britain. Published data on ante-mortem tooth loss, calculus, caries, dental abscesses, and periodontal disease were analysed from cemeteries in urban and rural locations from each period. The results indicate that the place of residence influenced oral health in Roman and late medieval times, with urban populations enjoying better oral health than rural populations in Roman Britain, but poorer oral health in the late Middle Ages. These findings may reflect changes in the nature of urban settlements and in their relationship with their rural hinterlands over time.

This article addresses the potential of oral tradition (folklore) in the archaeological study of the past. It deals with oral traditions concerning landscape features in the area of the prehistoric and Roman site of Ajdovščina above Rodik, Slovenia. The palimpsest nature of modern landscapes can be regarded as a syncretic sum of past ways of life, land use, religious practices, and cults. In oral tradition concerning the ancient inhabitants of Ajdovščina, it is possible to discern the obscured memory of historical process. Certain sites, referred to in local oral tradition, mainly in the form of memories of religious practices performed there and of superstitions related to them, may well prove to be the remains of ancient sacred places. Methodological problems include identification of the generic and specific in oral tradition, the recognition of Christian intervention and/or censorship of ancient cults and beliefs, and the transposition and/or survival of elements of old ritual practices in popular beliefs. The aim of this article is to discuss the role of oral tradition linked to the landscape in the persistence of collective memory concerning historical circumstances and the survival and/or transformation of ancient cult or ritual sites and beliefs.

The author analyses the analogies and differences in the cultural developments of certain regions of the central Mediterranean in the period 3500–2500 bc. Radiocarbon dates, although still insufficient in number, help in building a system of relative chronologies, which are still in the course of being defined. In particular, certain transformations are examined, such as the development of metal working and changes in ritual funerary practices, as well as other socio-ideological aspects. Moreover, the author considers the problem of the role played by contacts with the wider world in these transformation.