The authors present a new procedure for discovering where stone artefacts come from without having to cut a slice through them. The method is tested on axes of spotted dolerite bluestone from Preseli in Wales, source of monoliths at Stonehenge.

The early Neolithic of the west Mediterranean

The archaeological complex known as the early Neolithic in the west Mediterranean represents the arrival of Neolithic traits in western Europe. Dating to around 5000 BC (Evin 1987), this complex is marked by the appearance of pottery, ground stone tools, and transvcrse projectile points. It continues for about a millennium until middle Neolithic villages, such as Villeneuve-Toulousane, begin to appear. The early Neolithic is characterized by a transitional agricultural subsistence economy. At Aude Valley cave sites, domesticated sheep first appear in aceramic Mesolithic layers with typical Tardenoisian tool assemblages and fauna (Geddes 1983). Examination of these sheep remains show that this strain originated in the Near East (Geddes 1985). Early Neolithic deposits (as defined by the presence of ceramics) are found at many of the same Mesolithic sites and contain similar lithic assemblages as well as a continuation of mixed hunted and domesticated fauna. The presumably novel open-air coastal sites of this period, such as Leucate-Corrège (Guilaine et al. 1984), also appear to represent a mixed economy. Since there is no sudden apparent shift in settlement pattern or economy associated with the early Neolithic, this period appears to be best characterized as a time of gradual transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture.

The buckle (PL. Iva) was found during the latest season of excavation on the site of the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Finglesham [I]. It has not yet been sent for laboratory treatment, but though some of its constructional details are obscured by the corrosion of the bronze backplate, all its other surfaces, including the underside of the loop and tongue and the edges of the ornamental plate, have been protected during the long centuries underground by a layer of very good, bright yellow, gilding. As it lay in the grave, indeed, the metal gleamed with very nearly the incorruptible brilliance of gold itself, and the front of the buckle has since needed only the gentlest of washing to be revealed in its present smooth, glossy and almost unflawed state. The ornament of the plate, thus perfectly preserved in its pristine condition, could at once be seen as something out of the common, and something of the greatest interest for students not only of Germanic art and archaeology, but of Germanic religion and mythology too.

‘How is it that your countrymen steal our gods?’ asked a Brahmin of the Baptist missionary, John Chamberlain who noted the details of this conversation in his diary on 20 November 1817 (Davis 1997: 164):

The new Dorchester by-pass is being constructed (scheduled completion in autumn 1988 through a busy landscape of later prehistoric England – and one where fieldworkers have been very active recently, especially at the Maiden Castle hillfort, and in the county town itself. Survey and excavations along the by-pass route were undertaken by the author for the Trust for Wessex Archaeology. The excavation at Flagstones House, directed together with Martin Trott, identified a late Neolithic causewayed enclosure. This note concentrates on the chalk engravings from that site, which lies to the west of Max Gate, the house of Thomas Hardy. It is perhaps apposite that the Wessex novelist built his home so close to the heart of a sacred Wessex site.

Recent research including 781 radiocarbon dates and the excavation of Ses Arenes de Baix, has allowed a new review of the sequence of megalithic burial practice on Menorca. Rock-cut tombs, dolmens, caves with entrance-works and the famous boat-shaped houses and tombs (navetes) are placed in overlapping chronological order. The authors suggest that, while aware of contemporary developments on the continent, the Bronze Age islanders absorbed immigrants and made their own local choices of memorial architecture.

We present the authentication and analysis of these beautiful Dacian bracelets of the first century BC, originally pillaged by treasure hunters and recovered thanks to an international crime chase. They were originally fashioned from gold panned from the rivers or dug from the mines of Transylvania and hammered into the form of coiled snakes. The lack of context is the greatest loss, but a votive purpose is likely given their proximity to the great sacred centre at Sarmizegetusa Regia.

The Lower Palaeolithic has always been studied within a framework based on different types of flaked stone. Although this evidence might seem solid and unambiguous, the way it has been studied has been strongly influenced by wider social and political factors

On 12 September 1940 Lascaux was discovered accidentally by four youths. They kept the secret for a few days, then decided to inform their former schoolmaster. Crowds of visitors came quickly: 1,500 during the first week. The abbC Breuil, who had moved to Brive because of the war, came on 21 September and drew up a report which was read to the AcadCmie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres on 10 October. From that point on, Lascaux received official recognition. It is quite a large cave, and the decoration starts about 25 m beyond the entrance. All of the chambers and the main galleries are decorated with figures of animals and symbols: over I 50 paintings and about 1,500 engravings are more or less well preserved, but the cave is particularly famous for the remarkable quality of the painted figures in the Hall of the Bulls and in the Painted Gallery (Diverticule Axial). Unlike most palaeolithic decorated caves, the sanctuary of Lascaux has been dated with precision. In fact, the cave was frequented in only one period, about 17,000 years ago. Its porch collapsed some time afterwards, thus sealing in the parietal figures and protecting the traces which the magdalenian artists and visitors had left behind.

A newly discovered deposit of camel bones from post-medieval, Turkish Period Hungary contributes additional information on the role of camels in the Carpathian Basin. By offering an opportunity for reviewing osteological evidence from Hungary, these remains complement our recent knowledge of the history and exploitation of camels in Europe, as recently reported in ANTIQUITY for the western limit of Europe.