An integrated study of the zooarchaeological, iconographic, and artefactual data from the Etruscan site of Poggio Civitate (Murlo, Italy), inhabited from the eighth to the sixth century bc, reveals intra-site differences in the distribution and disposal of animal body parts and species represented, including wild animals. Smaller mammals and birds that would be trapped are encountered more frequently in the site's workshop area and larger prey (deer, wolf, bear, and aurochs) that would be hunted are found more often in the area of the elite residence. We suggest that some of these remains are evidence that hunting was for the purpose of trophy display by the elites of Poggio Civitate and we discuss the social implications of such an activity in this community.

A quantitative analysis of 150 Mesolithic dwellings in Norway, dated to between 9500 and 4000 cal bc, forms the core of a chronological and regional study based on fifteen variables, including floor size and shape, floor modifications and wall features, internal hearths, numbers and distribution of artefacts, traces of maintenance or reuse, and the number of dwellings per site. The study identifies a distinct change in dwelling traditions between the Early and Middle Mesolithic, around 8000 cal bc. Tents are typical of the Early Mesolithic, whereas remains of pit houses dominate in all later phases of the Mesolithic. The study also sheds light on variability in dwelling traditions after 8000 cal bc, which appears to relate to changes in social structure, growing territoriality, and regional differences.

Faunal reports from Magdalenian levels at Cueva de Nerja have been surveyed from both a taxonomic and a paleocultural standpoint in order to spot overall and specific patterns concerning the exploitation of animal resources. Although both diachronic and inter-site comparisons are limited due to the scarcity of data and the assemblages themselves have been studied by different scientists with different aims and methods, both first- and second-order magnitude patterns emerge from this study. The most important pattern concerns the constancy of the main subsistence basis throughout the periods under consideration despite dramatic differences in the diversity of cropped resources. Such a result substantiates, to a certain extent, the hypotheses concerning an intensification of cropping by humans during the latest stages of the upper Paleolithic (a phenomenon which we have named the ‘Tardiglacial paradigm’).

The study of stonemasons’ marks in ancient constructions, a subject that has been systematically investigated since the 1980s to the present, tends to focus on a few standard uses and consider other seemingly random patterns as issues of preservation, leaving the archaeological potential of such marks largely untapped. This article presents a methodological approach to explain these apparently arbitrary patterns and a diachronic analysis of local labour organization at Sagalassos in south-western Turkey in four case studies: the Upper Agora, Lower Agora, Hadrianic Nymphaeum, and Makellon. The spatial analysis of the stonemasons’ marks and examination of the stone carving techniques and epigraphic data suggest that the different marks were either produced by the same individuals and/or formed part of the same construction process.

This article, on the Early Neolithic pottery from the Cabeço da Amoreira shellmidden in the Muge region of central Portugal, presents a detailed review of the evidence to date and a systematic analysis of the decorative and mineralogical characteristics of the stratified and radiocarbon-dated ceramic assemblage. A homogenous pottery manufacturing tradition seems to be present right from the beginning, including both local and non-local ceramics. The authors formulate a working hypothesis on the geographic origin of the exogenous pottery, which contributes to the discussion of the dynamics of mobility and social networks in the Neolithization of south-western Europe.

This paper examines the cultural influences from the European continent on the material culture of Scandinavian local communities during the late Bronze Age. A connection between the cremation ritual and pottery as ritual equipment is claimed. The paper suggests a close link between religious ritual and the elaborate pottery types that characterise the late Bronze Age; a connection between material culture and mental ideas. The emphasis on pottery during the Bronze Age is thus a product of the change in meaning for pottery. The new pottery styles have an embodied symbolic meaning connected to the new religion with its different ideas and rites. There is also a change from a domestic sphere to a ritual one.

In this paper, I discuss the importance of fossil fields and traces of ancient agriculture as archaeological source material. Examples from excavations in the Väderstad area in Östergötland, Sweden are given. In the article, I describe and contrast two different methods of excavation: (A) The digging of long trenches through visible features, a method here used as a means of trial excavation but previously often the only method used in the excavation of ancient fields. This method gives at the best a framework for interpretation. Though it does enable dating, the intensity, extent and content of different phases cannot be established with any degree of certainty. (B) The removal of the ancient plough soil over the full extent of the ancient field, a method here used for final excavations. With this method, enough information was acquired for the derivation of a detailed interpretation. The results will be detailed enough to allow comparison of the excavated fields with other categories of excavated monuments and thus give a new perspective on general archaeological problems. The RAÄ 166 site at Hogstads socken is given as an example of this approach.