The Early Bronze Age barrow, Upton Lovell GZa,on Upton Lovell Down near the south westernedge of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, was one ofthe first to be investigated by William Cunnington(Cunnington 1806). His excavation in May 1802revealed an extended primary inhumation of astout male, accompanied near the feet by a largenumber of perforated bone points, three flint axesand a number of stones. These included fragmentsof a broken stone battle axe. At the chest was acomplete stone battle axe and a circular stone withbevelled edges and polished surface. Also foundwere a jet or lignite ring and biconicai beads, anda small bronze awl. The grave was listed by Piggott(1938: grave 82) as one of the burials defining hisWessex Culture.

Above Hallein, 14 km south of Salzburg and at 800 m above sea level, the spa village of Heilbad Dürrnberg clusters around what until recently was a centre of commercial salt production. Its prehistoric roots overlapped with the hey-day of the well-known Hallstatt site, 40 km east. From c. 750-150 BC a community of perhaps 200 provided the labour force for the mines. It was clearly dangerous work; in 1573 and again in 1616 there are contemporary records of the discovery of the wellpreserved bodies of Iron Age miners while on the Dürrnberg as again at Hallstatt there are indications of serious landslides. As in historic times, the miners probably worked part-time only, in spring and autumn tending their pigs and cattle and pasture land. The wealth of this small settlement is clearly evidenced by the clusters of graves which surrounded the various rectangular houses.

In 1999 the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA) began the excavation of a 5th-century BC shipwreck off Tektaş Burnu, a rocky headland on the west coast of Turkey between the Greek islands of Chios and Samos. The site was discovered in 1996 during INA’s annual survey, which has pinpointed more than 100 ancient wrecks off southwest Turkey. Since 1960 teams under Gcorge Bass have excavated wrecks ranging in date from Bronze Age to medieval, but the high classical period of Greece remained unrepresented. Interest in the Tektas wreck was spurred by its likely date, in the third quarter of the 5th century BC; it is the only wrecked merchantman to be securely dated to these years, and is therefore shedding unique light on seafaring and trade at the height of classical Athens.

Hacienda Zuleta in the northern sierra province of Imbabura, Ecuador is the location of the largest 'ramp-mound' site of the Caranqui culture dated to the Late Period in the highlands chronological sequence (c. AD 1250-1525) and also of a large 17th-century Colonial period hacienda of Jesuit foundation. The Late Period is characterised by the construction of very large hemispherical or quadrilateral 'pyramid tolos, sometimes with a ramp or a long 'walkway' and up to 22 of these ramp-tola sites have been identified in the northern sierra provinces of northern Pichincha and Imbabura (Gondard & L6pez 1983; Knapp 1992). They are thought to have been the political centres of the region's paramount chiefs and the ceremonial foci for their scattered communities (Salomon 1986). Studies suggest they are contemporary with one another, originating from about the 8th to loth centuries AD (Athens 1978; 1992; Oberem 1975), although the phases of occupation associated with the creation of the large quadrilateral ramp mounds seem to be later, linked to socio-economic and political trends of agricultural intensification and increasing population densities which are also taken to characterize the Late Period.

As part of a long-term project examining the Classic-Postclassic (AD 200-1520) domestic economy in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, we have completed intensive mapping and surface survey at three large, hilltop terrace sites in eastern Tlacolula: Guirún (Saville 1900; 1909), El Palmillo and the Mitla Fortress (Holmes 1897). Earlier surveys (Kowalewski et al. 1989) indicated that all three sites were craft production centres (stone working) and had extensive Classic and Postclassic occupations (Feinnian & Nicholas 1996).

One of the most crucial elements in the dynamics of the Late Bronze Age metals trade in the Mediterranean was the production and exchange of copper 'oxhide' ingots (Knapp & Cherry 1994). These are basically flat, oblong slabs of nearly pure and unalloyed copper that weigh between 10 and 40 kg. The majority has an average weight of c. 29-30 kg however, and as a result this 'standard' has been traditionally equated with the existence of a 'talent'. They furthermore form a prominent part of the bulk cargo in shipwrecks discovered at Ulu Burun and Cape Gelidonya (Gale 1991). The results of an extensive programme of lead-isotope analyses aimed at determining the provenance of these ingots have led some archaeologists to propose that most of the ingots were produced from the rich copper resources on the island of Cyprus. Based on the same results, the Oxford group has also discussed the possibility of a specialized centre for their production in the Skouriotissa region of the island (Stos-Gale et ~ l . 1997

The political changes throughout Europe in the latter part of the 20th century have brought about a reduction in the number of military establishments in the British Isles. Large areas of land including airfields and ranges are now classified as 'brown field' sites ripe for development. The archaeological potential of such sites should not be underestimated. Over a three-year period archaeologists from the Defence Evaluation & Research Agency (DERA) and Wessex Archaeology have monitored all intrusive work carried out at the DERA airfield Boscombe Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire. This has been complemented with a desktop survey using vertical photographs from the sites archive, material which has not been available before. The preliminary results indicate that, far from being a sterile site, Boscombe Down still retains a substantial number of monuments and features.

The Sangro Valley Project was established in 1994 by John Lloyd, Neil Christie and Amalia Faustoferri. Its aim was to study anthropogenic change in society, economy and settlement between the Bronze Age and the Middle Ages, within the context of a Mediterranean river valley system (see Lloyd et al. 1997; Lloyd & Faustoferri 1998). Part of this research has integrated field survey between the Sangro river and Monte Pallano with excavations conducted by the Soprintendenza on the mountain itself. Monte Pallano is best known for its fine megalithic walls (Oakely 1995: 84-7), marking a putative oppidum site. Recent Italian excavations [with Anglo-American support] have aimed at clarifying the situation at a substantial public buildinghilla complex on the mountain. This work has been fruitful in its initial phases; much, however, remains to be done.

Although significant to societies at a local, regionaland national level for up to 6000 years, the prehistoriclandscape of Avebury, Wiltshire, was formallyattributed the accolade of being 'globally important'in November 1986. At this time the United NationsEducational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation(UNESCO) inscribed Avebury onto the growing listof World Heritage Sites (http://www.unesco.orglwhc), and along with England's most notorious prehistoricmonument, 'Stonehenge, Avebury, and associatedsites' ((373) was created.The joint nomination ofboth Avebury and Stonehengeby the UK government was rational. At a timewhen no UK sites were on the list, seven UK applicationswere being presented to UNESCO and it wasconsidered that there would be a better chance ofboth landscapes being accepted if they were consideredas one site. Indeed, in comparison with thevariety of cultural and temporal variation in nominations,Stonehenge and Avebury are similar. It istrue that upon closer inspection there are both comparableand contrasting patterns of monument type,construction, use and disuse, but when comparingthese differences to those between here and DnrhamCastle or Ironbridge Gorge, for example, Stonehengeand Avebury certainly have an affinity

An archaeological survey of the Thracian hinterland of Constantinople led by James Crow (Newcastle University) began in 1994 and its first stage is due for completion this year (2000). The main focus of the project over the past five years has been the Anastasian Wall, a 6th-century monumental linear fortification stretching some 56 km from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and situated c. 65 km from the city itself. In places the Wall survives up to 5 m high, but for the most part it lies obscured deep within the forests of central and northern Thrace, together with its associated forts, an outer ditch and a complement of massive towers.