Parallelopiped bone dice form a small but important group in the bonework of the Scottish Iron Age. The overwhelming mass of this material has been produced by excavations in which the stratigraphy has not, save in exceptional circumstances, been recorded. Moreover, the large assemblages are from sites which give every indication of being multi-period, notably the brochs and wheelhouses of the Atlantic Province (the Province is defined in Piggott, 1966, 5, 4, fig. 1). This lack of meaningful cultural or chronological groups has been an open invitation to select those objects, with parallels in the supposedly better defined and dated groups to the south, in order to draw wide-ranging inferences concerning the pre-history of Scotland. Such a procedure enables the bulk of the material to be ignored as sui generis. It is not the writer's intention to produce another study of the might-have-beens of the Scottish Iron Age, but rather to present a corpus of the dice and to consider the previous interpretations in which these dice have formed part of the evidence.

The great family of Carp's-Tongue Swords clearly embraces a number of varieties. The anatomization of this considerable mass of material has not yet received the attention it deserves; but the subject is a slippery one, and it is not easy to isolate a starting-point for analysis.

One assemblage, however, of mutually related, idiosyncratic, and uncommon forms can readily be identified, and their position examined. The material consists of two interlocking groups together comprising fourteen swords (or hilts) from ten finds; and a third, closely akin to the second group, represented by three daggers, distinguished alike by a highly specialized form and an uncommonly scattered distribution.

All but one of the swords come from hoards, but I cannot detect that this material significantly differs from the general run of hoards in which Carp's-Tongue swords are commonly found all over Atlantic Europe. In broad terms they may on current views be assigned to Late Bronze 2 or 3; for the strikingly devolved forms found at Monte Sa Idda need be no more than provincialisms. So far as is known all the daggers are unassociated finds.

Jovanovič has recently drawn attention to the early copper mine at Rudna Glava in the copper mining area of Maidanpek-Bor in Eastern Serbia (Jovanovič 1979, 103). This copper deposit has iron associated with it. In some respects this occurrence of iron and copper together compares with the deposit at Phalabora in South Africa where copper and other minerals are mined today. Rudna Glava has been a copper mine in the Chalcolithic period and an iron mine in the Turkish period. Today it is worked out, but the working of the iron ore has left exposed some of the shafts and galleries used by Chalcolithic and Bronze Age copper miners. It has been possible to obtain a sample of the copper ores used in the early periods and integrate them into a smelting programme (Tylecote et al. 1977, 305), the main purpose of which has been to determine the partitioning of the three elements between the ore, the slag and the metal. The object of this exercise was to try and relate the artefacts, the slag, and metal to the ore source. So far, ores from the British Isles, Spain, and Africa have been examined and reported (Tylecote 1977). The sample from Yugoslavia came rather too late for the first report but the work is continuing.

The smelting work described in this report was carried out by Ali Ghaznavi and the analyses were kindly made by R. Hetherington formerly of Newcastle University and Dr P. T. Craddock of the British Museum Research Laboratory. I have to thank Dr B. Jovanovič of the Archaeological Institute, Belgrade, for supplying the material and inspiring the work.

This report describes the total excavation of a small, rectangular ditched enclosure measuring 23.5 m by 15 m. It was shown to have been a cemetery enclosure (probably that of a small family group), belonging to the second half of the 1st century BC. Three vessels containing cremation burials were found in pits within the enclosed area, along with nine other funerary bowls, urns and jars. Whilst cremation burials of this date are fairly common, this is the first published example of such a cemetery enclosure from Essex.

The subject of this note is the chronology of the site of Khirokitia in Cyprus in the light of four recent radiocarbon determinations. Khirokitia has remained one of the most extensively uncovered prehistoric sites in the Levant since its initial excavation over thirty years ago (Dikaios 1953). The fourth millennium BC date then estimated for the site by Dikaios was revised markedly upwards to the mid-sixth millennium following the submission of samples for radiocarbon dating (Dikaios 1962). The fourth millennium estimate had assumed a stratigraphical continuity between the pre-dominantly aceramic occupation of the site and the appearance of well-made pottery in its upper-most levels. Since the radiocarbon samples were taken from aceramic contexts, Dikaios subsequently concluded that the pottery was the product of a re-occupation of the site in the fourth millennium bc, a date based on the ceramic parallels with and the radiocarbon dates from the site at Sotira (Dikaios 1962, 194).

This conclusion is borne out by a re-examination of the published evidence and, less conclusively perhaps because of its limited nature, by the evidence of a small sounding at the site undertaken by the author in 1972 (Stanley Price and Christou 1973). The four main aims of this 2 m square sounding included further observation of the aceramic-ceramic stratigraphy and the collection of additional radiocarbon samples in an attempt to determine the duration of the aceramic occupation.

It is not generally known that a famous philosopher, Robin Collingwood, and an influential field archaeologist, Gerhard Bersu, excavated the same prehistoric monument in successive seasons. Their preoccupations differed, and their observations were completely inconsistent with one another. This paper relates the progress of that project and reflects on its implications for archaeological theory and practice.

Iron Age tankards are stave-built wooden vessels completely covered or bound in copper-alloy sheet. The distinctive copper-alloy handles of these vessels frequently display intricate ‘Celtic’ or La Tène art styles. They are characterised by their often highly original designs, complex manufacturing processes, and variety of find contexts. No systematic analysis of this artefact class has been undertaken since Corcoran’s (1952a) original study was published in Volume 18 of these Proceedings. New evidence from the Portable Antiquities Scheme for England and Wales and recent excavations have more than quadrupled the number of known examples (139 currently). It is therefore necessary and timely to re-examine tankards, and to reintegrate them into current debates surrounding material culture in later prehistory. Tankards originate in the later Iron Age and their use continued throughout much of the Roman period. As such, their design was subject to varying influences over time, both social and aesthetic. Their often highly individual form and decoration is testament to this fact and has created challenges in developing a workable typology (Corcoran 1952a; 1952b; 1957; Spratling 1972; Jackson 1990). A full examination of the decoration, construction, wear and repair, dating, and deposition contexts will allow for a reassessment of the role of tankards within the social and cultural milieu of later prehistoric and early Roman Britain.

Some years ago the late Mr. Arthur Gordon, of Ellon, showed the writer several “anvils” found on his property on Skelmuir Hill, 7 miles north of Ellon, in Aberdeenshire. In 1914 the writer visited this place and found numerous specimens, and noticed at the same time many circular depressions in the ground. At that time it was impossible to investigate the matter further, but Mr. Gordon very kindly granted permission to excavate the depressions when the opportunity occurred. With the very kind permission of Mrs. Gordon, Mr. J. Reid Dean, trustee of the estate, and Mr. Walter Gordon, on whose farm the site is situated, some excavations were made in 1918, the results of which are described here.

This paper presents new AMS dating of organic finds from the Shigir (Shigirsky) peat bog, located in the Sverdlovsk Province, Kirovgrad District of the Urals. The bog is located immediately south of the river Severnaya Shuraly, with the Urals to the west. Intermittent survey and excavation has been undertaken at this location since 1879, resulting in the recovery of in excess of 3000 cultural artefacts, including oars, sculptures of birds, snake figurines, wooden skis, arrowheads, and fish hooks. The dates presented here indicate that not only is there a long duration of human use of the wetlands at Shigir, but that the artefact forms also appear to have a significant duration of use throughout the earlier prehistoric periods considered here.

The aim of this paper is to present a summary of material relating to the earliest use of copper in an area of south-east Europe which is today partly within Romanian territory and partly within the USSR.

For more than ten years, Russian scholars, notably E. N. Chernykh and N. V. Ryndina, have been publishing work on Tripolye metal, but much of this is not readily available to archaeologists who do not read Russian, and it is hoped that this paper will in some measure redress this situation. In addition, considerable use has been made of Romanian material.

Probably at least a millennium is covered by this study, ranging from approximately 4000–3000 ± 500 years bc. Approximately 750 objects of copper can, with some degree of certainty, be attributed to all but the last phase of the Cucuteni-Tripolye Culture. There are also numerous chance finds, especially of axe-adzes and related objects, but these are not being considered here (see Căpitanu 1971; Monah 1969; Mataşa 1964; Nestor 1935–6; Szekely 1967; Vulpe, A. 1964; 1973; Zbenovich 1969; etc.).

During the past decade, archaeological research in north-east Thailand has concentrated on the excavation of individual sites. Of these, the best known are Non Nok Tha (Bayard 1971) and Ban Chiang (Gorman and Charoenwongsa 1976). Both are relatively small occupation and burial sites, covering c. 1 ha and 3.5 ha respectively.

There have been several claims for an unexpectedly early bronze-working tradition in the area, and of the inception of iron technology during the second millennium BC. Biological remains from these sites reveal cultivation of rice and maintenance of domestic herds of cattle, pig and water buffalo (Gorman and Charoenwongsa 1976). While the recent surge of prehistoric research here and in adjacent areas has clearly demonstrated the presence of a south-east Asian bronze working tradition of some antiquity (Ha Van Tan 1980), the establishment of a chronological framework and of the settlement pattern in the area are in their infancy.

As part of the Thai Government's North-east Thailand Archaeological Project, steps were taken in 1980–81 to expand our knowledge of the Ban Chiang culture. During the 1980 dry season, Higham and Kijngam co-directed two intensive field surveys.

The central and most intricate occurrence among the acheulean sites of the Yiron Plateau and environs, Israel, is studied. All lines of evidence favour an interpretation of Mitzpeh Yiron (Y25) as an aggregation node where small groups assembled to concentrate on the exploitation of a relatively short-term seasonal subsistence resource. Concurrently the congregation event enhanced co-operative activities, sociocultural relationships, and particularly kinship ties. With the present effort a better understanding is hopefully achieved of the general configuration of the settlement system of the area along with the technological and other variabilities of the constituent units.

A shelter in the Tassili shows many rock-pictures which are all executed in the same style, the style of the Iheren-Tahilahi group. It is therefore possible to confirm the characteristic features of this very distinct and lively group, which is mainly distributed throughout the central and the northern Tassili. The physical type of the figures it represents is exclusively europoid. The distribution area, the age of the group and its position on the general climatic oscillation curve are specified.

An Upper Palaeolithic engraving of a female figure has recently been discovered on the base of a naturally hollowed limestone slab possibly used as a bowl or lamp, found in the cave of Courbet (Penne-Tarn, France) and preserved in the British Museum. The slab, decorated on the dished side with linear incisions, and the female figure are described in detail. The occurrence of a female engraving on a utilised slab is found to be unique to date but the relationship of the figure to the support is questioned and discussed. The female engraving is compared with others known from Germany, as well as Quercy and Périgord, France. On the basis of these comparisons and radiocarbon age estimates, the engraved slab is attributed to Magdalenian VI.

Excavations at Tinney's Lane, Sherborne in 2002 uncovered extensive evidence for Late Bronze Age settlement and pottery production, dating from a short time period probably within the 12th or 11th century cal bc. Well-preserved deposits of burnt stone, broken vessels, and burnt sherds, together with resulting debris redeposited in associated pits, were accompanied by a series of post-hole structures interpreted as round-houses and four-post settings. Environmental evidence in the form of charcoal, charred plant remains, and molluscs has provided important information concerning sources of fuel and water for pottery production as well as allowing a reconstruction of the local vegetation. Finds of fired clay, metal, stone, shale, flint, and bone include items from distant sources, informing topics such as site status and exchange, and include many categories of tools and equipment that would have been used within the pottery-making processes. Analysis of the spatial distribution of these finds amongst the structures and surviving layers of burning has allowed the definition of a series of industrial activity areas, each comprising one or more round-houses, a four-post structure, bonfire bases or pits used for firing, and other pits with specific related functions. Altogether the site has provided some of the best evidence for pottery production within prehistoric Britain.

The settlements in Western Britain and Ireland which are earliest known to us from the chamber tombs have been ascribed to movements up Atlantic trade routes from the Mediterranean before the middle of the 2nd millennium. Such movements at so early a date must be conceded to be surprising; but the broad case for believing in them is a cogent one, and earlier suggestions that the chamber tomb cult implied only missionary settlers, or even that the cult was transmitted without movement of population at all, have rightly been discarded. None the less it is far from easy to visualise precisely the processes of settlement and trade, and the thesis has hardly yet been critically tested. It is the purpose of this paper to attempt as precise an account as can be given of the settlements established in Scotland in the 2nd millennium, and of the trade which these settlements developed. As a preliminary, attention will be called to certain conditions of primitive trade, settlement and transport as a help in judging the conditions likely to have applied in Northwest Europe in the 2nd millennium. Since the level of culture to be inferred for the early settlements is one of the questions which this paper must discuss, these considerations can be no more than suggestive, yet they should at least help to free us from presumptions which we might otherwise too readily import from the conditions of trade, settlement and transport with which we are immediately familiar.

The average person knows very little about British Somaliland, hardly indeed where it is situated; yet archaeologically speaking it seems likely that it will prove of considerable importance. Although up to the present no systematic investigations have been undertaken, enough material in the way of stone implements has been unearthed by amateur collectors to show that there are great possibilities of important finds being made in the country; and, now, a very interesting rock shelter art has been discovered. Clearly the archaeological importance of the country merits investigation by a competent archaeologist, and it seems possible that such an expedition may eventuate at a not too distant date. The article that follows, therefore, is primarily intended to bring these discoveries and the possibilities of the subject in general to the notice of the public in a preliminary way.

Some little time ago Major Glover, Chief Pasture Officer in the country, sent me some, implements that he had collected, together with an intimation that he had been studying some rock shelter paintings. Frankly, the implements, though interesting, yielded little more information as to the cultures present than was already known from the work of previous investigators, and which had been in part epitomised by Burkitt and Barrington Brown in an article in Man for 1934, No. 164.

In this article, an attempt will be made to review briefly the relative significance of surviving Mycenaean and intrusive elements on the Greek Mainland south of Macedonia during the late 12th and the 11th centuries B.C. Not all the area has been thoroughly investigated. Indeed there is no district that would not repay further exploration and excavation, but certain regions such as Arcadia, North Elis, the Megarid, Phocis and Locris, much of Boeotia, Phocis and Locris, and even parts of Attica, Corinthia and the Argolid need basic surveys. This irregularity of our knowledge should be borne in mind.

The century immediately preceding the period under discussion appears to be characterized by extensive depopulation in many areas, and by the destruction of a number of major Mycenaean sites. Invasion would seem at least in part to have been responsible for the upheaval, though that upheaval was so great that the side effects of some climatic change are perhaps not to be ruled out as a contributory cause. So far as one can tell, an increase of population was registered only in Achaea, and in the relatively secluded Aegean-facing coasts of the Peloponnese and Attica. It would not be incorrect to say that the whole fabric of Mycenaean civilization on the Mainland, with the possible exception of Thessaly, had suffered a fatal blow in the period shortly before 1200 B.C. The course of Mycenaean history faltered and then (at different times in different areas) ceased, a phenomenon observable partly in the further abandonment of sites, but perhaps more in the discontinuation of the characteristic chamber tomb and tholos cemeteries.