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No / This report is concerned with fragmented skeletal remains dating to the Middle Bronze Age that were excavated in the 2001 campaign at Sidon, Lebanon. From 19 discrete burial units a total of 31 individuals were identifiedand assessed as to their biological characteristics. The majority of adults who could be sexed were male, many of them strongly built. The overall age distribution in this sample is characterised by a pattern commonly found in prehistoric assemblages, with high mortality during infancy and early childhood and a peak in adult mortality during early adulthood. There is a conspicuous occurrence of unusual dental traits. Jar burials, all found with remains of sub-adult individuals, represent a burial practice applied to children of a wide age range. Many burials are associated with faunal remains, mostly of sheep or goats, but also of large ungulates.

No / This volume represents the publication of a highly successful conference held in 2003 to celebrate the contribution to Neolithic and Early Bronze Age studies of one of archaeology's finest synthesisers, Professor Stuart Piggott. The title is a reference to his famous work, Ancient Europe from the beginnings of agriculture to Classical Antiquity, itself a publication of his Society of Antiquaries of Scotland's Rhind Lectures of 1962. The scope of the volume spans the three crucial millennia, from the beginning of the fourth to the mid second, that saw major impacts on the area we now call Scotland. There was transformation of the landscape through the introduction and development of farming, the creation of many striking monuments and the spread of important ideas and technologies, of which metalworking, particularly in Aberdeenshire, was one of the most significant. The contributions cover major advances in research in the period which demonstrate the interplay of the key factors of climate, culture, and resources, where the theme of exchange of information, objects and materials played a vital role. Individual chapters range from chambered tombs to climate change, from dietary choices to faience beads, from timber enclosures to bronze hoards. Together these present a valuable and up-to-the-minute overview of Scotland in ancient Europe and a fine tribute to a past-master of the subject.

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Yes / Many hundreds of Bronze Age bronze artefacts are known from excavations in Switzerland, yet the interpretation of production networks from the object find locations remain problematic. It is proposed that the decorative elements used on items, such as ring-jewellery, can be used as elements to assist in the identification of artisanal traditions and ‘schools’, and also regional or community preference and selection of specific designs. Combining the analysis of over 1700 items of ring-jewellery from Switzerland with approaches from network science has facilitated the identification of regional clustering of design elements, comparable with cultural typologies in the area. It is also possible to identify potential instances of cultural differentiation through decoration within the broader regional cultural traditions. The study highlights important facets of bronzework production in the region of Switzerland, while also demonstrating future potential directions which could build upon the European wide dataset of prehistoric bronzework. / Primary research conducted under previous funding at University of Basel, Switzerland – SNF grant

No / This paper explores the interpretation of the deposition of artefacts in Ireland from c. 2500 to c. 800 bc, combining a contextual analysis with post-processual ideas about materiality, artefacts, and their biographies. Hoards, single and burial finds are shown to be complementary strands of the depositional record and the result of deliberate deposition. It is argued that both the symbolic value of these items as well as economic and practical rationales determine the depositional mode. The paper attempts to infer social practices and rules that determined the differential treatment of materials and object types. The main structuring factor in the depositional record is the type-specific meanings of individual artefacts, which embody social identities beyond the utilitarian function of the object. The act of deposition facilitates and legitimates the literal and symbolic transformation of artefacts and the concepts they embody. The need for a separation between ritual and profane interpretation is removed, as deposition is understood as the reflection of prehistoric concepts rather than labelled according to modern notions of functionality. It is also argued that both dry and wet places are meaningful contexts and that different forms of wet landscapes were conceptualised differently.

Yes / After more than 3500 years of occupation in the Neolithic and Bronze Age, the many lake-dwellings’ around the Circum-Alpine region ‘suddenly’ came to an end. Throughout that period alternating phases of occupation and abandonment illustrate how resilient lacustrine populations were against change: cultural/environmental factors might have forced them to relocate temporarily, but they always returned to the lakes. So why were the lake-dwellings finally abandoned and what exactly happened towards the end of the Late Bronze Age that made the lake-dwellers change their way of life so drastically? The new research presented here draws upon the results of a four-year-long project dedicated to shedding light on this intriguing conundrum. Placing a particular emphasis upon the Bronze Age, a multidisciplinary team of researchers has studied the lake-dwelling phenomenon inside out, leaving no stones unturned, enabling identification of all possible interactive socio-economic and environmental factors that can be subsequently tested against each other to prove (or disprove) their validity. By re-fitting the various pieces of the jigsaw a plausible, but also rather unexpected, picture emerges. / Swiss National Science Foundation

No / A shield of beaten bronze from South Cadbury, Somerset, England is the first shield to be discovered by excavation on an archaeological site. The shield lay in a silt-filled Bronze Age ditch on a spur of land below Cadbury Castle. A stake was thrust through the shield. The paper considers the recovery and conservation of the shield, the technology of metal shields and the evidence for the ritual deposition of shields in the Later Bronze Age of western Europe.

No / Studies of Late Bronze Age exchange and communication networks in the northern Circum-Alpine region, and central Europe as a whole, have typically focused on routes across the Alps and the circulation of high-value manufactured goods from the Italian peninsula to central Europe. Some artefacts certainly support such a movement from north to south, such as amber from the north or Pfahlbauperlen from the Po Plain. However, such objects are far outweighed by the evidence for regional exchange routes in central Europe north of the Alps. Some of these routes extended as far as northern Germany and southern Scandinavia. Whether such exchange routes were direct or down-the-line is open to debate, but it is possible that specific objects known from Switzerland represent the personal possessions of migrant individuals. Over all, it is evident that Late Bronze Age lake-dwelling communities in Switzerland were significant bronze work manufacturing centres, exporting goods to varied communities and regions across central Europe, but with potentially limited exchange, transfer, and cross fertilization of styles and equipment between eastern and western Switzerland.

Pendant les dernières trente années le centre historique de la ville Fossano (Coni, Piémont) a été intéressé par nombreuses fouilles et plusieurs sondages archéologiques à la suite des fréquents travaux de construction. Ces interventions, liées au développement de la ville, ont toujours eu un caractère d'urgence, de sauvetage, préventif, sans être jamais liées à une programmation précédente. L'étude de chaque site a imposé du début l’analyse approfondie des modalités d'intervention et de la méthodologie de fouille. Dans la plupart des cas, l'analyse stratigraphique a été liée à celle du mobilier archéologique, qui, en absence de structures protohistoriques ou de niveaux anthropiques en place, est le seul élément qui nous a permis de dater la première période d’occupation du site. Est possible dater au XIe siècle av. J.-C. (Ha B1 ancien du plateau suisse) le début d’une présence humaine permanente sur toute la surface sommitale du plateau de Fossano, avec son apogée pendant la transition Bronze/Fer italien. Le groupe céramique de Fossano se place dans un contexte culturel propre de la fin du l'âge du Bronze final du nord-ouest de l'Italie, intermédiaire entre la culture du Protogolasecca de la Lombardie et du Piémont orientale et la culture RSFO. Dans ces territoires au l'extrême nord-ouest de l’Italie les influences RSFO sont très profondes, surtout de la Suisse occidentale et des régions de l’est de la France. Les caractéristiques spécifiques du Piémont occidentale le rendant plus apparenté aux complexes nord alpins qu'à ceux de l'Italie péninsulaire, jouant un rôle fondamental dans le tableau des relations entre les deux versants alpins pendant toute la préhistoire. / During the last thirty years the historic center of Fossano (Cuneo, Piedmont, Italy) has undergone numerous archaeological excavations and survey as a result of many construction works related to the development of the city. These operations have never been programmed, but always related to emergency situations or preventive archaeology. The study of each site imposed an early-depth analysis of the applied methods of intervention and excavation. In most cases, the stratigraphic analysis is linked to the archaeological material, which, in the absence of proper prehistorical levels or structures, is the only element that has allowed us to date the early moments of occupation of the site. The beginning of a permanent human presence on the Fossano plateau is Probably dated to the end of the 11th century BC (Ha B1 in the Swiss plateau), with its peak during the transition between the Italian Bronze age and Iron age. The ceramic group of Fossano is located in the final Italian Bronze age in the Northwest of Italy, intermediate between the culture of Protogolasecca of Lombardy and eastern Piedmont and the RSFO culture. In these territories, in the extreme north-west of Italy, the RSFO influences are very strong, especially from the western territories of Switzerland and the eastern regions of France. The specific characteristics of western Piedmont making it more similar to the northern Alpine complex as those of the Italian peninsula; playing a fundamental role in the relations between the two sides of the Alpes during the prehistory.