Variations on a northern European Stone Age theme.

Variations on a northern European Stone Age theme. ALAN SAVILLE. (ed.). Mesolithic Scotland and its neighbours: theearly Holocene prehistory prehistory,period of human evolution before writing was invented and records kept. The term was coined by Daniel Wilson in 1851. It is followed by protohistory, the period for which we have some records but must still rely largely on archaeological evidence to of Scotland, its British and Irish context andsome north European perspectives, xvi+458 pages, 169 figures, 17 tables.2004. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body in Scotland, with its headquarters, collections, archive, and lecture theatre in the Royal Museum, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Society plays an important role in the cultural life and heritage of Scotland. ; 0-903903-28-8hardback 75 [pounds sterling]. PER KARSTEN & BO KNARRSTROM. The Tagerup excavations. 254pages, 150 colour & b&w figures. 2003. Lund: National HeritageBoard; 91-7209302-1 hardback. LUTZ KLASSEN. Jade und Kupfer: Untersuchungen zumNeolithisierungsprozess im westlichen Ostseeraum unter besondererBerucksichtigung der Kulturentwicklung Europas 550-3500 BC. 430+6 pages,157 b&w & colour figures. 2004. Hojbjerg: Jutland ArchaeologicalSociety; 87-88415-26-0 hardback Kr350. From Scotland, Sweden and Denmark come three studies examininginteractions at different scales, from an overview of the culturalScottish landscape, via a 'central site' in Scania, to a studyof imported artefacts in the Western Baltic. Mesolithic Scotland Saville presents contributions and discussions from a conferenceorganised in November 1999 to sharpen the focus on the ScottishMesolithic and its relation to the Mesolithic in surrounding areas. As acomprehensive and accessible state-of-the-art overview of the ScottishMesolithic and its cultural/chronological and environmental context forprofessionals as well as for dedicated amateurs the book is a success. The editor's historical introduction describes the developmentof Mesolithic research in Scotland, from problems with distinguishingpure chronological phases on the basis of large sites with mixed contentand discussion of the natural or cultural origin of shell-middens, toits present approach based on the application of scientific methods andtheoretical approaches to the analysis of the cultural/economic aspectsof the Mesolithic, its regional variation and its relation to theNeolithic. Such discussions include the use of localethno-archaeological parallels (tinker folk). In this perspective,Childe's use of another local ethno-archaeological parallel toexplain the repeated spatial organisation of the Skara-Brae houses couldhave been mentioned, since it represents a very early and probably thefirst archaeological use of this type of spatial interpretation. The contributions in Section 2 of the book flesh out the trendsintroduced. Several chapters dealing with the development of the highlydynamic environmental setting and the interaction between human cultureand nature draw a picture of a diverse landscape that provided richresource opportunities for cultures with flexible exploitationstrategies possibly developed locally since the Late Palaeolithic. Onthis basis, it appears unlikely that the Mesolithic hunters did notdevelop hunting strategies for some of the available mammals (p. 80).Why is ritual deposition of the bones of the important game animals notconsidered? It is a widespread phenomenon that in many knownethnographic and ethno-archaeological cases results in deposition ofthese animals' remains outside the central dwelling areas. Strongindications of such behaviour in the Early Mesolithic have been observedin Denmark: articulated elk skeletons deposited in shallow water See: Shallow water blackout Waves and shallow water Shallow water equations Shallow Water, Kansas inprehistoric lakes This a partial list of prehistoric lakes. North AmericaIn North America, where the Great Lakes are now: Glacial Lake Algonquin at Lake Huron . The publication of a comprehensive list ofradiocarbon dates in this section increases the publication'svalue. Section 3 outlines the Scottish material culture and its functionalaspects in relation to an excitingly large and increasing number ofdocumented structures as well as the exploitation patterns it reflects.The discussion of the Oronsay shell-middens is interesting as a possiblereflection of a Mesolithic group subsisting almost exclusively on marineresources. The following sections sketch the cultural settings in thesurrounding areas and their relationship with the Scottish material;they also use the material from the former to elucidate aspects thatseem underrepresented in Scotland and indicate lines of futureinvestigation. Dating and correlation of typological features play animportant role, but the discussion of dietary aspects, and of man-naturerelations, point forward to a Mesolithic archaeology that will be ableto deal with a cultural, ideological and strategic complexity that is tobe expected in the Scottish landscape. Tagerup Karsten & Knarrstrom present the important Mesolithic material(from the Kongemose and Ertebolle cultures) from the Tagerup site inScania, southern Sweden, to an English-speaking audience. This rich andimportant material, excavated in 1998 in connection with theconstruction of the west-coast railway in Scania, contains severalgraves and dwelling remains from the excavated dry-land area as well asa number of organic remains, including a number of fish traps from theexcavation's lower waterlogged parts. The book presents a small but exciting concentration of gravesdated from about 6400 to 4500 cal BC. Because the dates--due to the lackof collagen in the skeletons--were obtained from charcoal from thegraves' contexts, the normal C-isotope problems are avoided.Interestingly, a post might have served as an aboveground marker of oneof the graves; other observations include details of burial ritual,including cremation cremation,disposal of a corpse by fire. It is an ancient and widespread practice, second only to burial. It has been found among the chiefdoms of the Pacific Northwest, among Northern Athapascan bands in Alaska, and among Canadian cultural groups. . Important are the remains of four dwellings related to theErtebolle settlement and one related to the Kongemose settlement. Thesefeatures appear as thickenings of the occupation layer (in two caseswith recognisable hearths), concentrations of lithic lith��ic?1?adj.Consisting of or relating to stone or rock.Adj. 1. lithic - of or containing lithium2. lithic - relating to or composed of stone; "lithic sandstone" artefacts and (inthree cases) concentrations of postholes. Even though it seems obviousthat most of these structures represent dwellings and that one of themrepresents a regular long-house, the basis for their interpretation andreconstruction is not presented satisfactorily: the distributions ofartefacts and the reasons for relating the postholes to one or todifferent phases of construction are not convincing, nor are,unfortunately, the grounds for proposing the existence of a roundhouse. The promontory promontory/prom��on��to��ry/ (prom��on-tor?e) a projecting process or eminence. prom��on��to��ryn.A projecting part.promontorya projecting process or eminence. on which the Tagerup site is located represents asignificant topographical feature in the landscape, where a tributarymeets the main river at a focal point focal pointn.See focus. for the exploitation of the localresources (p. 214). This alone should qualify it as a 'centralsite' in the Mesolithic cultural landscape. The authors' claimthat the graves should be conceived as a Mesolithic 'cemetery'where people strove for close spatial contact with previous burials (p.226-7) and not as a concentration of single burials related to thesettlements seems a bit unnecessary. First, a distance of 100m between agrave and the related habitation HABITATION, civil law. It was the right of a person to live in the house of another without prejudice to the property. 2. It differed from a usufruct in this, that the usufructuary might have applied the house to any purpose, as, a store or manufactory; whereas area is not sufficient reason to rejectthe existence of an 'intimate link' between them. Second, thelocation of the graves may well have been determined by their visibilityfrom the main river in relation to relatively open vegetation due tofrequent flooding in such a valley. The book bravely attempts, in a necessary and concrete way, toinclude the spiritual aspects of the Tagerup site in the analysis andinterpretation of the material. However, if the book is intended for theacademic market, it appears strange that much of the documentation thatis included in the publication of the site in the Swedish publication inthe same series (Karsten & Knatrstrom 2001) has been omitted in theEnglish version. In spite of high-quality illustrations, the latterpublication, organised in two separate sections for the twochronological phases, appears less well-organised and therefore lessaccessible than the former. For an overview of this important materialand a discussion of some of its aspects the present publication will do.For experts, the present volume does not represent a satisfactorysubstitute for the Swedish publication. Jade and copper Klassen's work focuses on the transition from Mesolithic toNeolithic in the Western Baltic, on the basis of artefacts imported tothe study area in the time between 5500 and 3500 BC. The importedartefact See artifact. types are shoe-last axes, greenstone green��stone?n.Any of various altered basic igneous rocks colored green by chlorite, hornblende, or epidote.greenstoneNounNZ a type of green jade used for Maori carvings and ornaments axes without shaft-holes,discoid discoid/dis��coid/ (dis��koid)1. disk-shaped.2. a dental instrument with a disklike or circular blade.3. a disk-shaped dental excavator designed to remove the carious dentin of a decayed tooth. maces, pottery, copper axes, a decorated bone plaque and anantler comb. It is important that this central phase of regionaldevelopment is approached from a supra-national angle and analysed inrelation to processes in the entire European area. Numerous studies ofthe Neolithisation process in this region have suffered from a toonarrow, nationally focused perspective. The contacts between the Late Mesolithic and the Early FunnelBeaker Culture Beaker cultureLate Neolithic and early Bronze Age culture of northern and western Europe. The people are known for a group of distinctive bell-shaped earthenware beakers decorated with toothed stamps, probably used in rituals of consumption. in the Western Baltic zone are investigated on the basisof the areas of origin of 280 imported objects, through a detailedanalysis of their dating and provenience pro��ve��nience?n.A source or origin.[Alteration of provenance.]Noun 1. in relation to seven phases ofimport. Interesting new mineralogical provenience-determinations of someof the imported types underpin a revision of earlier ideas about theirplace of origin. The results of the spatio-temporal variation in cultural contactlines are discussed in a broad description of the development of theMesolithic in Europe and the Funnel Beaker Culture in Central Europe Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. In addition, Northern, Southern and Southeastern Europe may variously delimit or overlap into Central Europe. ,taking into account different theories relating to the Neolithisationprocess in the Western Baltic. The Ertebolle Culture is conceived as apart of a Late Mesolithic complex with a restricted level ofagricultural production. Therefore, the distinction between Mesolithicand Neolithic cultures is suggested as based not only on economic butalso on sociological criteria. The Volling group in Jutland is seen asseparate from the Funnel Beaker Culture and, instead, as related toBelgian/northern French/ southern English pottery-using groups that inthis way influence the development in the eastern part of the WesternBaltic study area. The strong side of the book is its detailed presentation of aninteresting corpus of imported objects and the lines of contact theyrepresent. Its weak side is its cultural analysis. The material remainswe excavate and collect most likely do not represent more than a tinypercentage of the cultural features (material and immaterial) that weresignificant for the prehistoric cultures in question. The analytical useof 280 imported objects (mainly of stone) from the Western Baltic raises a number of questions that are not answered:do they represent a type of exchange that was related to a restrictedsocial section of the groups in question? Are the lines of contactindicative of possible undetected exchange of perishable goods PERISHABLE GOODS, Goods which are lessened in value and become worse by being kept. Vide Bona Peritura. thatcould be related to other social strata? Are 280 imported objects asufficient statistical basis for such a detailed analysis of a highlycomplex development? The entire analysis is based on the assumption that typologicalgroupings in the material preserved correspond to cultural groupings.According to studies of living cultures, cultural reality isconsiderably more complex than that. It is strange to see archaeologyclinging to and authorising a culture concept that is a significantsimplification of what is known from living cultures. NeverthelessKlassen's book is important in its detailed presentation of afascinating group of objects that reflect exchange between the WesternBaltic and other parts of Europe before and after the West BalticNeolithisation. It is positive that the descriptive parts are of aquality that will facilitate the formulation of alternativeinterpretations. Reference KARSTEN, P. & B. KNARRSTROM (ed.) 2001. Tagerup specialstudier.Stockholm: The Swedish National Heritage Board. Ole Gron, Institute of Archaeology The Institute of Archaeology is an academic department of University College London (UCL), in the United Kingdom. The Institute is located in a separate building at the north end of Gordon Square, Bloomsbury. , University College London “UCL” redirects here. For other uses, see UCL (disambiguation).University College London, commonly known as UCL, is the oldest multi-faculty constituent college of the University of London, one of the two original founding colleges, and the first British ,31-34 Gordon Sq., London WC1, UK ANTIQUITY 79 (2005): 448-450