Archaeology and private artefact collecting have complex and inextricably linked histories. Archaeologists have long drawn attention to criminal activity among collectors, but to assume that all private owners of cultural material—and any archaeologists who interact with them—have ill-intent or engage in illegal behaviour can cause as much harm to the archaeological record as the criminal actions themselves.

The origin of the English is an interesting problem – and not only for them. In one short century, the evidence from texts, burial, artefacts, stable isotopes and now DNA provides several different answers to the question of whether England was invaded by Germans in the fifth century and if so in what manner. The rigorous approach by our authors tips the balance back in favour of a population changing its cultural allegiance – rather than being physically overwhelmed – but, as they emphasise, any new reading must depend on a very high level of archaeological precision – perhaps only now coming within reach.

Arguing from a critical reading of the text, and scientific evidence on the ground, the authors show that the myth of Phaethon – the delinquent celestial charioteer – remembers the impact of a massive meteorite that hit the Chiemgau region in Bavaria between 2000 and 428 BC.

Recent changes to the availability and accessibility of LiDAR data in Italy have greatly expanded the potential for their exploration by members of the general public. Further promotion of this fact and how to engage with such data could prove to be of significant value to both archaeologists and other interested parties.

The archaeological evidence of the Pedra Furada rock-shelter (northeastern Brazil), showing a long sequence of dated layers from 50,000 years b.p., was questioned in a paper presented by Meltzer, Adovasio & Dillehay, who visited the region at the end of 1993, in volume 68 of ANTIQUITY (1994). This paper presents the reply of the team directly involved in the research programme in this key area of American prehistory.

After many years new research is being undertaken into the prehistory of the islands of Malta at the invitation of the Maltese authorities. One of the early results of the work, started in 1987, is the discovery of evidence for domestic architecture to complement the already well known ritual monuments of the Maltese islands.

Many authors have remarked that archaeology in East Asia is part of the discipline of history (Chang 1981: 148; Ikawa-Smith 1975: 15; Nelson 1995: 218; Olsen 1987: 282–3; Von Falkenhausen 1993). Furthermore, it is more ‘locally focussed’ (Barnes 1993: 40), with most of the practising archaeologists investigating archaeological remains within their own national boundaries. To paraphrase the famous statement by North American archaeologists, ‘American archaeology is anthropology or it is nothing’ (Willey & Phillips 1957: 2), into ‘East Asian archaeology is national history or it is nothing’ would be an overstatement, but it is not too far from the reality. The major goal of archaeology in East Asia is to enhance understanding of a nation's past, by increasing its temporal depth. In other words, construction of national identity is the prime business of archaeology in East Asia.

The anniversary of the abolition of slavery was justly celebrated worldwide in 2007. But what is the character of freedom, how does it relate to material culture, and how can archaeology study it? The author here summarises ideas he has been developing in Jamaica and York over the past two years.

Lothal is an important harbour-town of the Indus Civilization at the head of the Gulf of Cambay on the west coast of India (FIG. 1). During the recent excavations there, a circular steatite seal has been found which is neither wholly Indian nor Sumerian in workmanship (PL. IX). On the other hand, it closely resembles the seals from the Persian Gulf islands found by the Danish expedition led by Professor Glob and Dr Bibby. Sir Mortimer Wheeler has named them 'Persian Gulf' seals which, according to him, 'appear to have been made at the various entrepôts (such as Bahrain itself) of a cosmopolitan Persian Gulf trade of the kind which has been analyzed by A. L. Oppenheim from Larsa tablets' (note I). Commenting on these seals, the late Col. D. H. Gordon wrote: 'The problem of Bahrain is a very interesting and important one, and it is possible that these seals may help to solve it. Some day such seals may come to light in India, but so far they have not; Bahrain may have been Dilmun and it was almost certainly an entrepôt on the trade route to India, and so it is possible that seals of this kind were carried on to the Indus or to ports in Kathiawad and will some day be found in those localities, though this will not necessarily make them Indian or even of Indian style' (note 2). The hope expressed by Gordon has now been fulfilled by the discovery of a 'Persian Gulf' seal at Lothal, thus providing the first real evidence of trade contacts between India and the Persian Gulf.

The handaxe of Libyan Desert glass (PL. XIIIb & FIG. I) was found on 23 June 1979, in the Sand Sea of S.W. Egypt, at latitude 25°o8' N, longitude 25° 35·5' E, near the southern boundary of the known distribution area of the glass. Lying just north of the Gilf Kebir, this part of the Sand Sea is characterized by an extensive field of linear dunes, trending almost exactly N-S, which are up to Ioom high, tens of km long, and separated by interdune corridors or ‘streets’ 2–5 km wide.

Systematic field exploration in Tennessee has located a wealth of new rock art—some deep in caves, some in the open air. The authors show that these have a different repertoire and use of colour, and a different distribution in the landscape—the open sites up high and the caves down low. The landscape has been reorganised on cosmological terms by the pre-Columbian societies. This research offers an exemplary rationale for reading rock art beyond the image and the site.

By examining their rock sources and mode of manufacture, the author offers a new interpretation for the Neolithic polished axe blades found in the western Alpine region. The dominant examples were made from rock extracted on the Italian side of the Alps (eclogitic) and finished in workshops on the French side. These first appeared as large blades with symbolic status, as part of the Neolithic expansion in North Italy. By the middle Neolithic the blades were reduced in size, but enjoying their widest distribution, creating a cultural zone on the left bank of the Rhône, more than 200 km from their source. In the late Neolithic, although the zone of influence was still large, the eclogites in the Rhône Valley were giving way to more local rock sources and copper. The fluctuations in this supply are interpreted as reflecting the varied political relations of Alpine communities.

Oakbank is one of 18 crannogs in Loch Tay, and the first in Britain to have been excavated underwater. The abundant and well-preserved plant remains indicate a prosperous society with a well-founded arable and pastoral agriculture. Opium poppy and spelt wheat remains imply trade and suggest high status. Cloudberry pips highlight long-range gathering, possibly during transhumance.

Les Trois-Frères, in the French Pyrenees, is one of the classic sites of palaeolithic cave-art, and of Abbé Breuil's recording of it. A new survey, and new recording methods, are giving a different and a fuller picture of its art.

In recent years the history of archaeology has been enjoying something of a vogue in different research traditions, resulting in a wealth of new studies and publications. In the English-speaking world, our store of biographies and national histories has been considerably expanded by the five-volume Encyclopedia of archaeology (Murray 1999; 2001). The Bulletin of the History of Archaeology has provided a much needed forum for research, and the AREA project — Archives of European Archaeology — has begun to explore a range of resources bearing on the history of archaeology in Europe. At the same time, archaeologists have continued to justify and to advocate the significance of ‘novel’ approaches to archaeology through partial histories of the discipline (the most recent being those associated with the revival of ‘Darwinian archaeologies’ such as Lyman et al. 1997).