Ground stone tool (GST) technology includes artefacts utilized in pounding or grinding activities and characterized by long life cycles and multiple uses. The introduction of such technology dates back to early prehistory, and for this reason, it is used as prime evidence for tackling a wide range of archaeological questions such as the origins of technology, patterns of daily...
Due to typesetting mistake, the correction to the formulas at the bottom of page 12 in H2 and H3 were overlooked. Also, Table 2 footnote was incorrectly presented.
This paper argues that the origins of language can be detected one million years ago, if not earlier, in the archaeological record of Homo erectus. This controversial claim is based on a broad theoretical and evidential foundation with language defined as communication based on symbols rather than grammar. Peirce’s theory of signs (semiotics) underpins our analysis with its...
Can we reconstruct how prehistoric people perceived things (their “ways of seeing” or visual culture)? This challenge is made more difficult by the traditional disciplinary assumptions built into prehistoric art studies, for instance focusing narrowly upon a single body of art in isolation. This paper proposes an alternative approach, using comparative study to reveal broad...
Using an ethnographic approach, this research assesses common assumptions in rock art research in terms of their validity for Aboriginal rock art sites in the Barunga region of the Northern Territory, Australia. In particular, we assess the potential and limits of the commonly held assumption that open or restricted access to sites and/or the meaning of motifs can be assessed by...
This paper aims to shift debate in the study of archaeological art away from epistemological questions of definition towards ontological approaches. To this aim, the paper proposes a non-representational study of archaeological art based on the twin concepts of affect and agential intra-action. As an example of this approach, the paper examines the carved stone balls of Neolithic...
Due to a typesetting mistake, the images of Figs. 3 to 11 did not match their captions.
Due to typesetting mistakes, the images of Figs. 1 and 10 contained errors.
Heterogeneous environments might be considered inadequate for geoarchaeological soil phosphorus (P) prospections due to the manifold potential alterations of archaeologically relevant soil P contents. To elucidate if this assumption is correct, we conducted a case study in the heterogeneous environment of the Iron Age Altenburg hillfort near Niedenstein (Hesse, Germany). We...
Should cesspits be excavated and recorded in detail? In the UK, cesspits often are considered ‘mundane’ and frequently overlooked during excavation or only half-heartedly recorded. This paper explores the biography of cesspits—their construction, use, reuse, and closure/abandonment, as well as their archaeological investigation and interpretation. What does a cesspit look like...
The stone artifact record has been one of the major grounds for investigating our evolution. With the predominant focus on their morphological attributes and technological aspects of manufacture, stone artifacts and their assemblages have been analyzed as explicit measures of past behaviors, adaptations, and population histories. This analytical focus on technological and...
This paper explores the stylistic variability of fifth- and sixth-century brooches in Europe using network visualisations, suggesting an alternative means of study, which for more than a century has been dominated by typology. It is suggested that network methods and related theories offer alternative conceptual models that encourage original ways of exploring material that has...
Neolithic stone axeheads from Britain provide an unusually rich, well-provenanced set of evidence with which to consider patterns of prehistoric production and exchange. It is no surprise then that these objects have often been subject to spatial analysis in terms of the relationship between particular stone source areas and the distribution of axeheads made from those stones. At...
Post-firing treatments, produced by the interaction of an organic material with the hot surface of a ceramic, are frequently described in ethnographic literature, but have rarely been identified in archaeological ceramic assemblages. In order to address this question, this paper describes a methodology that combines macro- and microscopic observation and molecular analysis. The...