The widespread alliance systems of Australian Aboriginal society had an economic and survival value in harsh environments, but in resource-rich areas such as South-east Queensland it is more a question of strategies for increasing regional carrying capacity. Recent archaeological results in the area, with evidence of increases in site numbers and artefact deposition rates and diversification of subsistence resources to include small-bodied species, show the development of new patterns of technology, economy and demography following major environmental changes in the post-Pleistocene period. Widespread changes in Australian prehistory around 4000 years ago may have been triggered in certain key areas such as South-east Queensland.

The worked stone, other than sarsen, was kindly examined macroscopically by Mr R W Sanderson of the Petrological Department of the Institute of Geological Sciences, and the following notes were compiled from his verbal comments. Apart from the polished stone axes, the majority of the rocks are not very distinctive in type, and except for a few specimens (eg S2, S15, and S20 and possibly S3, S6, and S5), it has not been possible to identify their sources.

Some recent literature on the problem of hoards is reviewed, dealing particularly with the distinction between votive deposits and stores of objects. An alternative approach is developed, considering the long-term variations in the nature of intentional deposits in European prehistory. Three stages are suggested. In the initial stage, a unitary system of deposits prevailed, especially of food and selected artefacts, including metal when available. In the developed stage, characteristic of the Bronze Age, a dual system allowed both votive deposition and accumulation and recycling, especially of non-local metal. The final stage, in the later Iron Age, saw renewed emphasis on votive deposits, especially on the borders of emerging polities.

Few identifiable fragments of charcoal were found on the site. The samples recovered were all very small and too few in number to determine the frequency of the species present. Dr D F Cutler and Mrs R Gale of the Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew kindly examined and identified the specimens from the enclosure ditches and from the interior respectively. The samples from the ditches were all found to be mineralised, and some were compressed. The following species are present:

The occurrence of mesolithic artefacts around Malham Tarn and Great Close Mire has been noted from the 1920s onwards. Pollen analysis at Tarn Moss to the west of Malham Tarn in the 1950s indicated that forest clearance had begun during Zone VI (c. 7000–5500 bc). Between 1972 and 1982, five prolific flint sites and a sixth, minor site were located in this area. The sites are of ‘Narrow Blade’ affinities and may have formed a summer base camp for hunter/gatherer groups operating in the Craven Pennines. Some artefacts of neolithic date have been found on the sites and this may indicate continuity. There is evidence for forest clearance and settlement in the later neolithic and this was well established by the Early Bronze Age.

The structures and artefact patterning of the Bronze Age settlement at Thorny Down are re-examined in the light of newly discovered documentation from the original excavation. Two phases of settlement are recognized, the earlier one pre-Deverel-Rimbury. Analysis of artefact patterns allows the functional interpretation of different structural types. Four settlement units can be identified, similar to recurring modules previously defined on Middle Bronze-Age sites in southern England.

This comprises a small amount of pottery, together with a few objects of baked clay, spanning the second and first millennia BC. Many of the earlier Bronze Age sherds came from several small features in Area H. There were four main concentrations of Early pre-Roman material on the site, covering Areas C and D, and the south-east part of Areas G and H. None of these concentrations appeared to be associated with any substantial contemporary activity on the site, which is perhaps surprising in relation to the preponderance of such material from other sites in the area (Barrett pers comm).

The Bronze Age remains on the East Moors of the Peak District are amongst the most extensive in the country. This paper discusses their interpretation and examines the pattern of man's exploitation of the region at this period. The distribution of the remains is far from random and concentrates on areas which are the most suitable for agriculture. Prolonged mixed farming in the most favourable areas is argued for. Similar topographic characteristics throughout the area enable estimates to be made of the original levels of exploitation in the region as a whole and the degree to which field evidence has been destroyed. The pattern of settlement suggests the Bronze Age farmers lived in small groups, each exploiting its own relatively self-contained area of upland and each having a handful of ceremonial monuments. There is no evidence for a complex social hierarchy reflected by monuments or settlement patterns. Comparisons are made between the East Moor sites and those in other regions. These suggest varying levels of social organization and types of exploitation in the Bronze Age and illustrate the value of regional studies to highlight the diversity of Bronze Age lifestyle throughout Britain.

In some areas of Britain landscape reorganization in the post-Roman period has not destroyed earlier systems of land division, which have instead been preserved in modern arrangements. Topographic analysis of landscapes on the heavier soils of East Anglia reveals sometimes very extensive co-axial field systems of probable later prehistoric origin. Other such systems, however, are probably of later date. Co-axial planning may be not a continuous tradition of landscape organization, but rather a recurringly adopted solution to the problem of competing claims to large areas of open land.

Previously unrecorded finds from the Le Câtillon hoard are documented. It is now clear that the hoard was not found in three lots but in a single closed group. The brooches in the hoard suggests a date of c. 40–20 BC rather than during the Caesarian campaigns. The suggestions that the silver brooches in the hoard and others like them are Italian and that most Gallo-Belgic coinage arrived in Britain during the Gallic Wars are reviewed critically.

A quantity of Romano-British material was found in the course of excavation and although most of this was from disturbed contexts an attempt was made to define the nature and period of occupation which it represents.

The principal features dated to this period by material from primary positions are a number of long straight ditches, F138, F225, F225a and F255, running roughly north-east to south-west, and an irregular D-shaped enclosure, F170 (Fig 12). It is suggested that the ditches form the boundaries of a fairly large-scale layout of fields. From the discrepancies of alignment in ditches lying close together it appears that the boundaries silted and were re-cut without much exactitude. Very little stratified pottery could be associated with these ditches: a Flavian sherd from F138 and late Roman wares from F255.

Pottery-making in parts of Igboland is discussed from an ethnoarchaeological perspective. In line with a long tradition of descriptive studies, the pottery manufacturing processes are here outlined, but emphasis is laid firstly on studying pottery decorations (techniques and motifs) prevalent in parts of Igboland within their socio-cultural and economic contexts; and secondly, on observing and studying how the Igbo people (potters and users of pots) classify pottery products (traditional pottery classification). A second set of observations concerns functions of pots, their distribution, consumption, life span and eventual disposal. Finally, the paper also looks at the social and cultural setting of pottery production — factors which still favour pottery production in Igboland and those that may lead to its eventual abandonment (including the status of potters in Igbo society and the learning process of pottery manufacture).

A simple derivation of henges from causewayed camps is rejected. Attention is also drawn to a range of neolithic structures, some covered by a mound, some not. Though interpreted as mortuary structures, they have affinities to henges. Henges may thus best be derived from a broad tradition of neolithic structures; this may in turn have been part of a more widely distributed north-west European tradition of both ritual and domestic structures. Within Britain, similarities of form and function suggest that henges should be seen as a parallel development to ring banks, ring ditches and stone circles. Regional preferences rather than distinct regional types of monuments emerged. Later survival of henge traditions into the first millennium is also discussed.

Only three Roman coins varying in date from the late third century AD to about the middle of the fourth century AD were found during the excavations. These came from superficial deposits within the interior of the enclosure, in the area covered by the detailed plans, F, G, and H (see Fig. 5), and are as follows;

The Samian pottery (51 sherds) was found in the Interior of the Enclosure, and is of first and second century date. I am grateful to Mr B R Hartley for discussing certain of the sherds with me.

The provenance of the ware was as follows:- South Gaulish, 8 sherds; Central Gaulish, 42 sherds; East Gaulish, 1 sherd: