Europe (Geographic Keyword)
726-750 (1,217 Records)
During the sixth millennium BC agropastoral subsistence spread rapidly across Mediterranean Europe. The results of the currently available radiocarbon chronology suggest that this transition may have occurred in less than 1,000 years. The swift proliferation of new types of material culture and new modes of subsistence has led researchers to hypothesize that the appearance of agriculture in the west Mediterranean was the result of a migration of farmers, the adoption of agriculture by indigenous...
Modeling the Potential Effects of Cooking on Neanderthal Hunting Efficiency (2015)
It is an enormous challenge to reconstruct the complex and dynamic interactions between Prehistoric human groups, their resources, and their landscape from the archaeological record. This poster presents a unique model for exploring the relationship between Neanderthals and reindeer during glacial phases of the Middle Paleolithic in southwestern France, using data from zooarchaeological assemblages and experimental values for Neanderthal metabolic rates. I have developed a set of calculations...
Modelling the chronology of Neolithic ceramics in eastern France (2015)
The associations of decorative motifs on Neolithic pots from the Alsace region of the upper Rhine valley, eastern France, have been rigorously studied by Philippe Lefranc and Anthony Denaire using correspondence analysis. Separate sequences are available for the Early (LBK) Neolithic pottery and for a series of related Middle Neolithic ceramic styles, running from the later sixth to later fifth millennia cal BC. Within the ‘Times of Their Lives’ project, the absolute chronology of this cultural...
Models of Spatial Decision-Making and Settlement Change (1983)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Molecular and Compound-Specific Stable Isotope Analysis of FAMEs on Charred Plant Tissues: A Comparative Approach of Experimental and Archaeological Evidence (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Charred Organic Matter in the Archaeological Sedimentary Record" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. GC-C-IRMS analysis of FAMEs has been used successfully to distinguish among different animal fat groups. However, plant oils from different tissues (with the exception of seeds) have not been widely investigated even though organic residues from leaf, root, and wood tissues are preserved at archaeological sites (e.g....
Molecular Solutions for the Taxonomic Identification of Archaeological Whale Remains (2017)
Several large cetaceans appear on the IUCN Red List, and in most cases their endangered status is considered to be the result of relatively recent industrial overhunting. Archaeological studies, however, suggest that pre-Industrial whaling as well as climatic fluctuations may have had a significant impact on whale behaviour and ecology. Documenting the impact of natural and anthropogenic factors within the archaeological records is difficult because whales are big and their bones are friable....
Monte Bibele (Monterenzio, Italy): analysing patterns of cultural interaction between Celts, Etruscans and other Italic populations in northern Italy from the 4th to the 2nd century BC (2017)
The site of Monte Bibele, located near Bologna (northern Italy), contains the remains of a settlement on Pianella di Monte Savino and a necropolis on Monte Tamburino, altogether dating from the 5th to the 2nd century BC. According to historical sources, this region was inhabited by Etruscans and other Italic populations, before it witnessed the invasion of Celtic tribes from the 4th century BC onwards. Following these sources, the main consequence of the invasions has to be seen either in the...
Monumental Biographies: Structure and Agency in European Hillfort Construction (2015)
European hillforts contrast greatly in scale and complexity, and different regions of the continent have experienced varied historiographies of research. Using a few key examples to illustrate the different approaches to hillfort monumentality, this paper addresses the contrasting emphases on function and meaning seen in such studies. Particular focus will be placed on three aspects, through the theoretical lens of structure and agency: the role of earthwork construction in the creation of...
Monuments for the Living, Monuments for the Dead: A Stone-by-Stone Guide to Mycenaean State Formation (2016)
Prior to the appearance of the first palaces at Mycenae in the 15th century B.C., the most impressive architectural manifestation of elite authority in the Argolid was not the palace or the house, but rather the tomb, specifically the shaft grave and the tholos tomb. While the funerary data supplied by these burials have long served as the primary means by which the study of Early Mycenaean state formation has been approached, such studies focus almost exclusively on the grave goods themselves,...
Morava Valley Project in Yugoslavia: Preliminary Report 1977-1980 (1982)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
More Than One Way to Skin a Goat (2017)
Cut marks on faunal remains are vital for interpreting the tool use and butchering behavior of ancient peoples. To further explore the inferential possibilities of cut mark analysis, and to determine how easily different butchering behaviors can be identified we conducted a series of preliminary experiments to test the hypothesis that the number, and orientation of cut marks left on carcasses that were butchered while hanging differ from those left on a carcasses butchered on the ground....
Morphometric Analysis of Aurignacian Bone, Antler and Ivory Projectile Points (2016)
This study examines the morphometric variation of Aurignacian bone, antler and ivory projectile points, the first continental-wide occurrence of hunting armatures made from animal material during the Early Upper Paleolithic. Morphometric analysis is a powerful instrument that separates and quantifies variation of both shape and size thereby allowing exploration of both functional and stylistic variation of an object. Applied to armatures from the Western Mediterranean region (Grotte de...
Mortuary multiplicity: Variability in mortuary treatment at a Late Prehistoric matrix village from Spain (2016)
At 113 ha, Marroquíes Bajos (Jaén, Spain) is one of the largest villages known for the Iberian Copper Age. Attention was first focused on the site in the 1960s after construction work underneath the modern city of Jaén unearthed a series of elaborate artificial burial caves. However, over the past several decades salvage excavations revealed even more mortuary areas at the site, including commingled depositions in enclosure ditches, primary and secondary inhumations in discrete subterranean...
Mortuary Practices in the First Iron Age Romanian Frontier: the commingled assemblages of the Magura Uroiului (2016)
Frontiers are fuzzy spaces, allowing for cultural diffusion and the negotiation of cultural identities. Identity is defined both based on interaction and on exclusion of surrounding groups. Located at the confluence of the Mures and Strei Valleys, the Magura Urioului rock formation stands as a natural fortress dominating the built and natural landscape. The highly visible rock outcropping and surrounding terraces have been continuously used by various groups including the Hallstatt, Celtic and...
Multi-Tiered Proveniencing Analysis of Early Holocene Radiolarite Artifacts from Northern Spain (2015)
Radiolarite is a fossil-rich derivative of biogenic chert found in isolated geologic formations across northern Spain. This inconsistent presence on the landscape has often led archaeologists to misidentify it with other siliceous rock types. However, as the proveniencing of lithic raw materials increase in Spain, archaeologists are becoming more aware of radiolarite and its possible unique technological, typological, and social significance in prehistoric cultures. This paper will present the...
The Multilayered Chert Sourcing Approach: An Analytical Technique for Chert and Flint Provenance Studies in Archaeology (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Case Studies in Toolstone Provenance: Reliable Ascription from the Ground Up" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Chipped stone tools present an excellent means for gaining a deeper understanding of prehistoric resource management. Successfully reconstructing past economic behavior, however, crucially depends on the ability to trace these materials back to their original sources. While techniques to source obsidian are...
A multiscalar approach to medieval animal cremains: from bone microstructure to multiregional trends (2016)
Variability is a defining characteristic of early medieval pagan mortuary practice. Groups may have buried individual decedents in myriad ways all falling under the definition of ‘pagan.’ When the variability of a specific ritual practice is compared at the community rather than individual level, however, then local and regional trends emerge. One such ritual practice is the incorporation of animals into human cremations – a practice common in terminal Iron Age and early medieval mortuary...
A Multiscale landscape Approach to the Production of Polished Stone Tools in Neolithic Shetland (2017)
The Shetland Archipelago at the very north of Scotland contains one of the best preserved Neolithic stone tool quarries in Western Europe. Recent fieldwork by the North Roe Felsite Project (NRFP) has considerably advanced our knowledge of this quarry landscape and the production of polished stone axes and Shetland knives. THe NRFP has explored the landscape dynamics of this activity on a range of scales; from regional geological survey and workshop prediction using multispectral satellite...
Multivocal Approaches to Sustainability in the Rejuvenation of the Archaeological Tell Site, Vésztő-Mágor (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Too often the conservation, visualization, and management of archaeological sites are afterthoughts of excavations. Heritage preservation and presentation are only considered after the trowels leave, with site managers working within the confines of what they’ve been given and the public viewing what is left . Excavation decisions – whether knowingly or...
Munsell vs. Hounsfield? A methodological comparison in assessing cremation temperatures of human bone (2016)
The identification of the temperature at which bone was burned is an important technique for both archaeological and forensic applications that deal with cremated skeletal material. Known color changes in burned bone can be systematically quantified using a Munsell Soil Color Book and associated with known temperature ranges at which the material was burned. Non-invasive techniques, such as computed tomography (CT) scanning may be able to provide analogous information for archaeological material...
Museums, Migration and Cultural Diversity: Recommendations for Museum Work (2016)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the EXARC Bibliography, originally compiled by Roeland Paardekooper, and updated. Most of these records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us using the...
Musics, Cults and Rites of a Greek City in the West: the Case of Selinus (2016)
Studies on Ancient Greek music often concentrate on evidence from Athens or Sparta. However, Athenian or Spartan musical activity may not be typical of other areas of the Greek world, particularly the Western Greeks, as indeed is evident from other areas of social, artistic, and political activity. This paper will combine the methods of musicology and archeology towards the study of the archaeological remains of musical interest, considering their findspot and context of use, in order to place...
Mössbauer and XRD study of Roman amphorae buried in the sea for two millennia (2016)
A decade ago Roman Haltern 70 amphorae were found in the sea near Cortiçais on the Atlantic coast of Portugal. They stem from a shipwreck dated to between 15 BC and 15 AD. We have studied fragments of these amphorae by Mössbauer spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction to look for changes caused by two millennia of exposure to seawater. For comparison we studied Haltern 70 type amphorae excavated on land at Castro do Vieito in the north of Portugal. The sherds show a layer structure with 2 to 3 mm...
Mössbauer, XRD and XRF study of Roman amphorae and amphora kilns from the Roman provinces of Baetica and Lusitania andclays (2015)
Roman Haltern 70 type amphorae found at Castro do Vieito, an archaeological site in the north of Portugal, in the former Roman province of Lusitania, were studied by 57-Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, X ray diffraction and X ray fluorescence with the aim of elucidating their firing conditions and their site of production. For comparison, sherds found at eight kiln sites in the south of Spain, in the former Roman provinces of Baetica and Lusitania, were studied. Moreover, clays collected near the kiln...
Nadin-Gradina and the process of urbanization in the Eastern Adriatic (2016)
In the eastern Adriatic, the process of urbanization unfolded over the course of several thousand years, resulting in significant changes in landscape, environment, and human societal organization. With support from the National Geographic Society, our joint Croatian-American team recently engaged in a collaborative effort to evaluate urban change surrounding the archaeological site of Nadin-Gradina, a moderately-sized center located near the coastal city of Zadar along Croatia’s Adriatic coast....