Foreign Countries

Foreign Countries

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Foreign Countries episodes

  • 5.2 Archaeology of Later Prehistoric Europe: Cultural Transformations in Neolithic Central Europe

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    Dr.. Dr. Nils Müller-Scheeßel, Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

    https://www.sfb1266.uni-kiel.de/de/mitglieder/copy_of_mueller

     

    Publication:

    Nils Müller-Scheeßel, Zuzana Hukeľová, John Meadows, Ivan Cheben, Johannes Müller & Martin Furholt. 2021. “New burial rites at the end of the Linearbandkeramik in south-west Slovakia” in Antiquity Vol. 95 (379): 65–84.

    The recent discovery of several late Linearbandkeramik (LBK) sites in Central Europe, including Vráble

    in south-west Slovakia, has revealed evidence for increasing diversity in Neolithic mortuary practices,
    which may reflect inter-community war and sociopolitical crisis at the end of the LBK. Here, the
    authors combine osteological and radiocarbon analyses of inhumations from Vráble. Rather than a
    straightforward sign of inter-community conflict and war, this development reflects a culmination of
    internal conflict and a diversification in the ritual treatment of human bodies. The emerging variability
    in LBK methods of manipulating and depositing dead bodies can be interpreted as an experimental
    approach in how to negotiate social conflicts and community boundaries.

     

    Dr. Ana Grabundžija, Institute for Prehistoric Archaeology, Free University of Berlin, Germany.

    https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ana-Grabundzija 

     

    Publication:

    Ana Grabundžija, Helmut Schlichtherle, Urs Leuzinger, Wolfram Schier & Sabine Karg. 2021. “The interaction of distant technologies: bridging Central Europe using a techno-typological comparison of spindle whorls” in Antiquity Vol. 95 (381): 627–647.

    The study of prehistoric textile production requires the excavation of sites with exceptional organic preservation.

    Here, the authors focus on thread production using evidence from two fourth-millennium
    BC pre-Alpine wetland sites: Arbon-Bleiche 3 in Switzerland and Bad Buchau-Torwiesen II in southern
    Germany. A comparison of the spindle whorls from these two settlements with a contemporaneous
    East-Central European dataset suggests that multiple culture-historical groups with distinct technological
    signatures inhabited Neolithic Central Europe. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of conical spindle
    whorls within the pre-Alpine settlements suggests the immigration of both people and technology
    from the east, thereby illuminating the wider themes of mobility and innovation in prehistoric Europe.

     

     

    This is a podcast about new and innovative research in archaeology.

    Each episode I talk with pioneering and influential archaeologists about their journal papers, books and research projects.

    Season 1 is all about the latest research into the Archaeology of the Roman West.

    Season 2 is on Innovative Research in Australia.

    Season 3 is on Early Medieval Europe.

    Season 4 is on the Earliest Peopling of North America. 

    Future Seasons:  Well, I'm open to suggestions!  

    So, if you would like to hear  more, then you might like to become a Patron of the show. Just click the Patron button:

    https://patron.podbean.com/ForeignCountries

    37 min
  • 5.1 Archaeology of Later Prehistoric Europe: State Societies in Bronze Age Spain & Crete

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    Dr.. Roberto Risch, Departament de Prehistòria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

    https://www.uab.cat/web/qui-som/roberto-risch/english-1345812342658.html 

    http://www.la-bastida.com/inicio/index.html

     

    Publications:

    Vicente Lull, Cristina Rihuete-Herrada , Roberto Risch, Bárbara Bonora, Eva Celdrán-Beltrán, Maria Inés Fregeiro, Claudia Molero, Adrià Moreno, Camila Oliart, Carlos Velasco-Felipe , Lourdes Andúgar, Wolfgang Haak , Vanessa Villalba-Mouco & Rafael Micó. 2021. “Emblems and spaces of power during the Argaric Bronze Age at La Almoloya, Murcia”. Antiquity 2021 Vol. 95 (380): 329–348.

    The recent discovery of an exceptionally rich grave at La Almoloya in south-eastern Spain illuminates the

    political context of Early Bronze Age El Argar society. The quantity, variety and opulence of the grave goods
    emphasise the technological, economic and social dimensions of this unique culture. The assemblage
    includes politically and ideologically emblematic objects, among which a silver diadem stands out.
    Of equally exceptional character is the building under which the grave was found—possibly one of
    the first Bronze Age palaces identified in Western Europe. The architecture and artefacts from La Almoloya
    provide new insight into emblematic individuals and the exercise of power in societies of marked
    economic asymmetry.

     

    Roberto Risch, Harald Meller, Selina Delgado-Raack, and Torsten Schunke. 2.21. “The Bornhöck Burial Mound and the Political Economy of an Únˇetice Ruler”, in S. Gimatzidis and R. Jung (eds.), The Critique of Archaeological Economy, Frontiers in Economic History, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72539-6_6.

    Beyond the teleological meaning that the different state theories have attached to this historical category, most of them probably coincide in relating the appearance of the state to the existence of stratified or class societies, in which individuals and social groups can clearly be distinguished in terms of their asymmetric access to

    wealth and power.2 These privileges are warranted and legitimised in space and time through different mechanisms and institutions. Legally, this requires the imposition of some form of permanent, usually hereditary, property rights and the establishment of territorial limits, within which these privileges are imposed. The dynastic rule is
    another institution by which economic and political privileges are often fixed in time. Effectively, the enforcement of law and domination demands the existence of specific mechanisms of coercion and the concentration of means of violence in
    the hands of a dominant class. Apart from the violent imposition of privileges and rights, states always develop their own mechanism of psychological coercion, for example through rituals and imagery of violence, in order to give rise to individual fear and obedience, which form the subjective fabric of domination and hegemony. In general, the ideological and ceremonial paraphernalia of the state are essential to its legitimation.

     

    Prof. Jan Driessen, UC Louvain.

    https://uclouvain.be/fr/repertoires/jan.driessen 

    https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jan-Driessen-2/5

    https://sarpedon.be/

     

    Publications:

    Jan Driessen. 2021. "Revisiting the Minoan palaces: ritual commensality at Sissi". Antiquity 2021 Vol. 95 (381): 686–704.

    Scholars have long hypothesised that the central courts of the elaborate Minoan complexes of Crete (c. 1950–1450 BC) were used for ritualised, communal gatherings. New archaeological evidence from the court centre at the site of Sissi offers unique insights into the social practices, regional history and political organisation of this Bronze Age island civilisation. The remains of consumption rituals practised at Sissi’s central court, along with the absence of evidence for other specific functions, provide the basis for a more nuanced understanding of the role of different types of Minoan palace. Furthermore, deliberate incorporation of earlier ruins within the Sissi complex suggests that the social power of Minoan palaces drew, in part, on ancestral practices.

     

     

    This is a podcast about new and innovative research in archaeology.

    Each episode I talk with pioneering and influential archaeologists about their journal papers, books and research projects.

    Season 1 is all about the latest research into the Archaeology of the Roman West.

    Season 2 is on Innovative Research in Australia.

    Season 3 is on Early Medieval Europe.

    Season 4 is on the Earliest Peopling of North America. 

    Future Seasons:  Well, I'm open to suggestions!  

    So, if you would like to hear  more, then you might like to become a Patron of the show. Just click the Patron button:

    https://patron.podbean.com/ForeignCountries

    53 min
  • 3.8 Bonus Episode. Archaeology of Early Medieval Europe: A Powerful Place of Pictland!

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    Prof. Gordon Noble, University of Aberdeen.

    https://www.abdn.ac.uk/geosciences/people/profiles/g.noble#panel_research

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/417334508372858

    https://twitter.com/northernpicts

    @northernpicts

     

    Publications:

    GORDON NOBLE, MEGGEN GONDEK, EWAN CAMPBELL, NICHOLAS EVANS, DEREK HAMILTON & SIMON TAYLOR (2019) 'A Powerful Place of Pictland: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on a Power Centre of the 4th to 6th Centuries AD', Medieval Archaeology, 63:1, 56-94, DOI: 10.1080/00766097.2019.1588529

    To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00766097.2019.1588529

     

    OUR UNDERSTANDING of the nature of late and post-Roman central places of northern Britain has been hindered by the lack of historical sources and the limited scale of archaeological investigation. New work at Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (NJ 49749 26345), has begun to redress this through extensive excavation and landscape survey. This has revealed a Pictish central place of the 4th to 6th centuries AD that has European connections through material culture, iconography and site character. In addition to reviewing the place-name and historical context, this article outlines preliminary reflections on five seasons of excavation and survey in the Rhynie landscape. The article also provides a detailed consideration of chronology, including radiocarbon dating and Bayesian statistical analysis. The results reveal the multi-faceted nature of a major, non-hillfort elite complex of Pictland that comprised a highstatus residence with cult dimensions, a major centre for production and exchange, and a contemporary cemetery. A series of sculptured stones stood in association with the settlement and cemetery and the iconography of the stones, along with the wider archaeological evidence, provides a rich dataset for a renewed consideration of the central places of early medieval northern Britain with broader implications for the nature of power and rulership in late and post-Roman Europe.

     

    Noble, G. 2020. 'The problem of the Picts: Searching for a lost people in northern Scotland', Current Archaeology 364 p28-35.

    The Picts are a fascinating but archaeologically elusive people who thrived in parts of Scotland in the 4th to 10th centuries AD. What has recent research added to this often obscure picture?

     

    This is a podcast about new and innovative research in archaeology.

    Each episode I talk with pioneering and influential archaeologists about their journal papers, books and research projects.

    Season 1 is all about the latest research into the Archaeology of the Roman West.

    Season 2 is on Innovative Research in Australia.

    Season 3 is on Early Medieval Europe.

    Future Seasons:  Well, I'm open to suggestions!  

    Medieval Europe, Osteoarchaeology, Mesoamerica, Pacific Archaeology, Prehistoric Burials, Post-Medieval, Scientific Techniques, South-east Asia, Bronze Age Monuments. You tell me!

    So, if you would like to hear  more, then you might like to become a Patron of the show. Just click the Patron button:

    https://patron.podbean.com/ForeignCountries

    33 min
  • 4.5 Latest Research on the Peopling of North America: Parsons Island and the Chesapeake Bay

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    Dr. Darrin Lowery, Director of Chesapeake Watershed Archaeological Research Foundation, supported by the Maryland Historical Trust, the Smithsonian Institution.

    http://cwar.org/About/default.html

    https://si.academia.edu/DarrinLowery

    https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Darrin-Lowery

     

    Publication:

    Lowery, D.L. 2021. Parsons Island, Maryland: Synthesis of Geoarchaeological Investigations, 2013-2020. Chesapeake Watershed Archaeological Research Foundation, the Maryland Historical Trust, the Smithsonian Institution.

    On May 20th, 2013, Dr. John Wah and myself visited Parsons Island, Maryland (see Figures 1.1 and 1.2). The expedition on that day represented my second excursion to Parsons in twenty-one years. My first visit to Parsons occurred in 1992 as part of a collective multi-year archaeological survey of the Kent Island area (see Lowery 1993), which was conducted for the Kent Island Heritage Society, the University of Delaware, and the Maryland Historical Trust. In 1992, Parsons Island encompassed 99-acres (see Figure 1.2) and when we re-visited the island in 2013, the island had eroded to ~78-acres. In 2019, the island had been reduced to ~71-acres and presently Parsons consists of ~69-acres. The perimeter of exposed shoreline also changed markedly during this period of time. In 1992, the island had 2.11 linear miles (3.4 km or 11,159 feet) of coastline and by 2019 the amount of coastline had been reduced to 1.65 linear miles (2.66 km or 8,716 feet). Over the twenty-seven-year period, the island has collectively lost about one-acre of land per year to coastal erosion. With the gradual reduction in linear miles of shoreline over this period, it is clear that the rate of annual land loss has actually increased in recent years. Notably, most of the land loss is focused along the island’s southwest margin. 

    Our re-visit to Parsons Island on May 20th, 2013 (see Figure 1.3), originated as a result of our late Pleistocene stratigraphic and geoarchaeological investigations conducted at nearby Miles Point, Talisman Farm, and Barnstable Hill (see Figure 1.4). The collective research conducted at Parsons Island over the succeeding seven years culminated into a better understanding of the Middle Atlantic’s Paleo-American archaeological record (see Figure 1.4), a higher-resolution evaluation of the region’s late Pleistocene upland stratigraphy, and a means to quantify some of the site formation processes along eroding coastal margins. This monograph synthesizes the results of these investigations. Regardless of the possible age of the Paleo-American record noted at Parsons Island, the primary objective has always been salvage. Some “academicians” and a few “cultural resource managers” view investigations at eroding coastal archaeological sites in the Chesapeake Bay region as being “biased” and “anecdotal” (see Custer 2018: 202). It should be obvious, the erosive effects by the estuarine water of the Chesapeake Bay are unbiased and these waters will indiscriminately destroy both historic sites, as well as prehistoric sites. The results of our collective investigation at Parsons Island also proves that if follow-up investigations are made at “untrustworthy” (Ibid) sites, “anecdotal” discoveries can make major contributions to the regional, as well as North America’s geoarchaeological record. 
    In 2019, the Chesapeake Watershed Archaeological Research foundation applied for a non-capital grant from the Maryland Historical Trust. The goal of the proposal was to synthesize all of the prior work at Parsons Island, document the island’s archaeological record, and conduct limited excavations inland of the shoreline at 18QU1047 to determine if any in-situ cultural deposits remained. Earlier work conducted by the Smithsonian Institution in 2017 had uncovered a small in-situ quartz flake and charcoal located two-meters beneath the ground surface and within a buried paleosol. Like several other radiometric ages on charcoal associated with lithic artifacts found in-situ and exposed along the eroding bank, the Smithsonian date was greater than 20,000 years old. Paleo-botanical remains from this surface are consistent with the presumed age and the OSL-ages on the overlying sediments indicate comparable estimates for the underlying buried surface. 
    This monograph, which was funded by the Maryland Historical Trust’s Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant program, attempts to synthesize the collective analytical results conducted by various
    researchers. The monograph also shows that the discoveries at Parsons Island are not “anecdotal” (Ibid). The follow-up testing at 18QU1047 funded by the non-capital grant indicate additional in-situ archaeological remains occur immediately inland from the shoreline. Even with the current data, we do not know the inland extent of the two surviving archaeological sites currently located on Parsons Island. Because of the ongoing effects of coastal erosion, we may be seeing the beginning, the middle, or the tail-end of these two sites. Most importantly, additional investigations of Parsons Island could be conducted. With our objective to assist the landowners of Parsons Island, the research outlined in this monograph should augment the urgency and the immediacy for shoreline stabilization. Archaeological resources; regardless of their significance, have typically been viewed as an obstacle (see Lowery 2007) by landowners. In short, the generous support and access afforded by the landowners of Parsons Island should illustrate to others that collaborations between scholars and landowners can result in mutual objectives; i.e., site preservation via shoreline stabilization. 
    In sum, the data presented in this monograph should illustrate to landowners, academicians, cultural resource managers, members of the interested public, and outside scholars about the unique and somewhat discouraging coastal erosion scenarios noted along a small portion (see Figure 1.5) of the Chesapeake Bay’s 11,684 linear miles (18,804 km) of shoreline. The land and archaeological site loss noted at Parsons Island (see Figure 1.5) is common along raw exposed shorelines throughout the region. With respect to both site loss and coastal erosion in the Middle Atlantic region, I once stated in a professional lecture that you are “not in Kansas anymore”. 
    Hopefully, the work synthesized in this monograph will help the public to better understand the daunting issues surrounding coastal erosion and archaeological site loss in the Chesapeake Bay area. Between 1992 and 2018 along solely a ~360-meter (~1180 feet) section of Parsons Island’s southwestern margin, over 55,000 cubic meters (~72,162 cubic yards) of sediment eroded into the Chesapeake Bay. During this twenty-six-year period, the amount of sediment eroded and sieved by the actions of both water and waves would fill over 5,000 commercial-sized dump trucks. In 2015, the State Archaeologist of Virginia asked me, “Why is it you find so many interesting archaeological remains along shorelines?” Note that Virginia has 7,213 linear miles (11,608 km) of shoreline. The answer to this question is simple. I doubt that there has ever been a single professional archaeological excavation in North America where so much sediment has been extracted and sieved for archaeological remains (i.e., artifacts) over such a short period of time. Remarkably, the rate of erosion and land loss noted at Parsons Island is not uncommon along vast sections of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. It is fascinating that some professional archaeologists in the region (see Custer 2018) do not recognize coastal erosion as the principal variable resulting in increased probability for artifact discovery. Hopefully, this monograph will provide some guidance and rectify many of the crucial misunderstandings about the region.

     

    This is a podcast about new and innovative research in archaeology.

    Each episode I talk with pioneering and influential archaeologists about their journal papers, books and research projects.

    Season 1 is all about the latest research into the Archaeology of the Roman West.

    Season 2 is on Innovative Research in Australia.

    Season 3 is on the Archaeology of Early Medieval Europe.

    Season 4 is on Latest Research on the Peopling of North America.

    Future Seasons:  Well, I'm open to suggestions!  

    Medieval Europe, Osteoarchaeology, Mesoamerica, Pacific Archaeology, Prehistoric Burials, Post-Medieval, Scientific Techniques, South-east Asia, Bronze Age Monuments. You tell me!

    So, if you would like to hear season 5 and more, then you might like to become a Patron of the show. Just click the Patron button:

    https://patron.podbean.com/ForeignCountries

    36 min
  • 4.4 Latest Research on the Peopling of North America: Human Presence, Expansion, and Settlement in Florida over Four Millennia

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    Dr. Michael Faught, Vice President, Treasurer, Archaeological Research Cooperative

    Courtesy Appointments, University of Arizona and University of Florida 

    Senior Advisor SEARCH Inc.

    http://www.mfaught.org/

    https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael-Faught

     

    Dr. Charlotte D. Pevny, Project Manager, SEARCH Inc.

    https://www.searchinc.com/pages/staff-charlotte-d-pevny

     

    Publication:

    Michael K. Faught & Charlotte Donald Pevny 2019. 'Pre-Clovis to the Early Archaic: Human Presence, Expansion, and Settlement in Florida over Four Millennia', PALEOAMERICA 5(1) 73-87.

    In this article, we review evidence for the initial presence, later expansion, and subsequent settling in of first Floridians during times when climate change and sea level rise decreased the amount of habitable land. We present projectile-point and formal-tool sequences and estimated chronologies that describe Florida’s: (1) pre-Clovis presence (exploration); (2) Clovis presence focused on river channels, springs, chert resources, and possibly megafauna (colonization); (3) continuation and proliferation of Clovis-related, but post-megafauna late Paleoindian lanceolate point makers that

    remained focused on river channels, springs, and chert (expansion); (4) transition to side- and corner-notched points and a plethora of formal tools, along with significant population increase and landscape use occurring away from waterways (settlement); and (5) possible population decline or abandonment, or both, by 10,000 calendar years ago or soon thereafter.

     

    This is a podcast about new and innovative research in archaeology.

    Each episode I talk with pioneering and influential archaeologists about their journal papers, books and research projects.

    Season 1 is all about the latest research into the Archaeology of the Roman West.

    Season 2 is on Innovative Research in Australia.

    Season 3 is on the Archaeology of Early Medieval Europe.

    Season 4 is on Latest Research on the Peopling of North America.

    Future Seasons:  Well, I'm open to suggestions!  

    Medieval Europe, Osteoarchaeology, Mesoamerica, Pacific Archaeology, Prehistoric Burials, Post-Medieval, Scientific Techniques, South-east Asia, Bronze Age Monuments. You tell me!

    So, if you would like to hear season 5 and more, then you might like to become a Patron of the show. Just click the Patron button:

    https://patron.podbean.com/ForeignCountries

    24 min
  • 4.3 Latest Research on the Peopling of North America: The Timing & Effect of the Earliest Human Arrivals

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    Dr. Lorena Becerra-Valdivia, School of Archaeology, Oxford University

    https://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-lorena-becerra-valdivia#/

     

    Professor Tom Higham, Director, Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, School of Archaeology, Oxford University

    https://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/people/higham-tom#/

     

    Publications:

    Lorena Becerra-Valdivia & Thomas Higham 2020.  ‘The timing and effect of the earliest human arrivals in North America’, Nature 584.

    The peopling of the Americas marks a major expansion of humans across the planet. However, questions regarding the timing and mechanisms of this dispersal remain, and the previously accepted model (termed ‘Clovis-first’)—suggesting that the first inhabitants of the Americas were linked with the Clovis tradition, a complex marked by distinctive fluted lithic points1—has been effectively refuted. Here we analyse chronometric data from 42 North American and Beringian archaeological sites using a Bayesian age modelling approach, and use the resulting chronological framework to elucidate spatiotemporal patterns of human dispersal. We then integrate these patterns with the available genetic and climatic evidence. The data obtained show that humans were probably present before, during and immediately after the Last Glacial Maximum (about 26.5–19 thousand years ago)2,3 but that more widespread occupation began during a period of abrupt warming, Greenland Interstadial 1 (about 14.7–12.9 thousand years before ad 2000)4. We also identify the near-synchronous commencement of Beringian, Clovis and Western Stemmed cultural traditions, and an overlap of each with the last dates for the appearance of 18 now-extinct faunal genera. Our analysis suggests that the widespread expansion of humans through North America was a key factor in the extinction of large terrestrial mammals.

     

    Higham, T, Douka, K, Wood, R, Ramsey, CB, Brock, F, Basell, L, Camps, M, Arrizabalaga, A, Baena, J, Barroso-Ruíz, C, Bergman, C, Boitard, C, et al 2014. 'The timing and spatiotemporal patterning of Neanderthal disappearance', Nature: 512(7514) pp.306 - 309

     

    This is a podcast about new and innovative research in archaeology.

    Each episode I talk with pioneering and influential archaeologists about their journal papers, books and research projects.

    Season 1 is all about the latest research into the Archaeology of the Roman West.

    Season 2 is on Innovative Research in Australia.

    Season 3 is on the Archaeology of Early Medieval Europe.

    Season 4 is on Latest Research on the Peopling of North America.

    Future Seasons:  Well, I'm open to suggestions!  

    Medieval Europe, Osteoarchaeology, Mesoamerica, Pacific Archaeology, Prehistoric Burials, Post-Medieval, Scientific Techniques, South-east Asia, Bronze Age Monuments. You tell me!

    So, if you would like to hear season 5 and more, then you might like to become a Patron of the show. Just click the Patron button:

    https://patron.podbean.com/ForeignCountries

    17 min
  • 4.2 Latest Research on the Peopling of North America: Clovis Points & Social Life in the Glaciated North East

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    Emeritus Prof. Chris Ellis, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario.

    https://anthropology.uwo.ca/people/faculty/chris_ellis.html

    Dr. Jonathan Lothrop, Curator of Archaeology, New York State Museum.

    http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/research-collections/archaeology/native-american-archaeology/dr-jonathan-lothrop

     

    Publication:

    Christopher J. Ellis and Jonathan C. Lothrop. 2019. "Early Fluted-biface Variation in Glaciated Northeastern North America", PaleoAmerica 5(2): 121-131.

    Most researchers argue that archaeological evidence for the Clovis technological complex, although documented across most of unglaciated North America, is absent in the glaciated Northeast, suggesting that early Paleoindian populations in the latter region were descendent from early Native American peoples associated with Clovis technology. If so, what are the earliest flutedbiface forms in glaciated northeastern North America? To refine developmental and relative chronological relationships of early Paleoindian fluted bifaces in the region, we examine fluted-biface-reduction sequences at the Rogers (Ontario) and West Athens Hill (WAH) (New York) sites, and (2) compare fluted-point samples from early Paleoindian sites in the Northeast and vicinity. For Rogers and WAH, our results document variable frequencies of overshot and overface flaking during fluted-point manufacture – features linked elsewhere to Clovis biface reduction. In addition, analyses identify several early Paleoindian fluted-point samples in the Northeast that bear similarities to Clovis points but differ from, and therefore likely predate Gainey and Gainey-related early Paleoindian point forms in the glaciated Northeast.

     

    This is a podcast about new and innovative research in archaeology.

    Each episode I talk with pioneering and influential archaeologists about their journal papers, books and research projects.

    Season 1 is all about the latest research into the Archaeology of the Roman West.

    Season 2 is on Innovative Research in Australia.

    Season 3 is on the Archaeology of Early Medieval Europe.

    Season 4 is on Latest Research on the Peopling of North America.

    Future Seasons:  Well, I'm open to suggestions!  

    Medieval Europe, Osteoarchaeology, Mesoamerica, Pacific Archaeology, Prehistoric Burials, Post-Medieval, Scientific Techniques, South-east Asia, Bronze Age Monuments. You tell me!

    So, if you would like to hear season 5 and more, then you might like to become a Patron of the show. Just click the Patron button:

    https://patron.podbean.com/ForeignCountries

    37 min
  • 4.1 Latest Research on the Peopling of North America: Fluted Points & Migrations in the Ice-Free Corridor, Canada.

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    Prof. Jack Ives, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Alberta.

    https://apps.ualberta.ca/directory/person/jives

    Dr. Gabriel Yanicki, Curator of Western Archaeology, Canadian Museum of History. 

    https://www.historymuseum.ca/learn/research/

    Assoc. Prof. Kisha Supernant, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Alberta.

    https://sites.ualberta.ca/~supernan/

    Courtney Lakevold, Archaeological Information Coordinator, Archaeological Survey, Historic Resources Management Branch, Alberta Culture and Tourism.

    https://ca.linkedin.com/in/courtney-lakevold-13330393

     

    Publications:

    John W. Ives, Gabriel Yanicki, Kisha Supernant & Courtney Lakevold (2019) Confluences: Fluted Points in the Ice-Free Corridor, PaleoAmerica, 5:2, 143-156, DOI: 10.1080/20555563.2019.1600136

    We undertake an expanded analysis of the Western Canadian Fluted Points database. Given clear

    evidence of biotic habitability along the entire Corridor by 13,000 years ago, fluted point spatial
    clusters likely reflect both Clovis contemporaneous and later fluted point instances. Points were
    overwhelmingly fashioned on local toolstones, featuring a bimodal length distribution (larger,
    relatively unaltered fluted points versus reworked, smaller fluted points at the end of their use
    life), mainly found in dispersed landscape settings rather than major kills or campsites. The
    temporal cline from older Clovis forms south of the ice masses to younger fluted points in
    Alaska suggests fluted point makers traversing the Corridor eventually met populations bearing
    eastern Beringian traditions. Corridor fluted point morphologies may indicate the degree to
    which diffusion or demic expansion mediated north-south interactions: deeper bases, parallel
    sides and multiple basal thinning flakes reflect intermediate forms similar to Younger Dryas-aged
    Alaskan fluted points.

    John W. (Jack) Ives. 2015. 'Kinship, Demography, and Paleoindian Modes of Colonization:

    Some Western Canadian Perspectives' in Michael David Frachetti & Robert N. Spengler III (eds.) Mobility and Ancient Society in Asia and the Americas: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on “Great Migrations” Held at Columbia University in December 1-2, 2011. Springer International Publishing Switzerland.

    Unlike many avenues of social science enquiry, the study of variability in human kinship has been

    almost uniquely the domain of anthropologists. Kinship provided core subject matter for more than a
    century of anthropological thought (Trautmann 2001 ), and until quite recently, important theoretical
    trends in anthropology were founded with signifi cant reference to kinship studies. Despite its centrality
    as anthropological subject matter, detecting organizing features connected with kinship in archaeological
    records or using kin structures in understanding the past have been subsidiary activities in
    anthropological archaeology.

     

    This is a podcast about new and innovative research in archaeology.

    Each episode I talk with pioneering and influential archaeologists about their journal papers, books and research projects.

    Season 1 is all about the latest research into the Archaeology of the Roman West.

    Season 2 is on Innovative Research in Australia.

    Season 3 is on the Archaeology of Early Medieval Europe.

    Season 4 is on Latest Research on the Peopling of North America.

    Future Seasons:  Well, I'm open to suggestions!  

    Medieval Europe, Osteoarchaeology, Mesoamerica, Pacific Archaeology, Prehistoric Burials, Post-Medieval, Scientific Techniques, South-east Asia, Bronze Age Monuments. You tell me!

    So, if you would like to hear season 5 and more, then you might like to become a Patron of the show. Just click the Patron button:

    https://patron.podbean.com/ForeignCountries

    39 min
  • SE1. Special Episode: An Osteoarchaeology of Violence & Trauma in the European Past

    Support future seasons of the show: https://patron.podbean.com/ForeignCountries

    Buy Foreign Countries a coffee:

    https://ko-fi.com/foreigncountriespodcast

    https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=9G7GV9X432PN6

     

    Dr. Linda Fibiger, School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh.

    https://www.ed.ac.uk/history-classics-archaeology/about-us/staff-profiles/profile_tab1_academic.php?uun=lfibiger

     

    Publications:

    Fibiger, L. 2018. The past as a foreign country: Bioarchaeologial perspectives on Pinker's "Prehistoric Anarchy". Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques 44(1), 6-16.  https://doi.org/10.3167/hrrh.2018.440103

    Steven Pinker’s thesis on the decline of violence since prehistory has resulted in

    many popular and scholarly debates on the topic that have ranged—at times even raged—
    across the disciplinary spectrum of evolution, psychology, philosophy, biology, history, and
    beyond. Those disciplines that made the most substantial contribution to the empirical
    data underpinning Pinker’s notion of a more violent prehistoric past, namely, archaeology
    and bioarchaeology/physical anthropology, have not featured as prominently in these discussions
    as may be expected. This article will focus on some of the issues resulting from
    Pinker’s oversimplifi ed cross-disciplinary use of bioarchaeological data sets in support of
    his linear model of the past, a model that, incidentally, has yet to be incorporated into current
    accounts of violent practices in prehistory.

    Dyer, M. & Fibiger, L. 2017. Understanding blunt force trauma and violence in Neolithic Europe: The first experiments using a skin-skull-brain model and the Thames Beater. Antiquity 91 (360), 1515-1528. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2017.189

    The difficulty in identifying acts of intentional injury in the past has limited the

    extent to which archaeologists have been able to discuss the nature of interpersonal violence
    in prehistory. Experimental replication of cranial trauma has proved particularly
    problematic due to the lack of test analogues that are sufficiently comparable to the human
    skull. A new material now overcomes this issue, and for the first time allows accurate
    insight into the effects of different weapons and different blows in inflicting cranial
    injury; in this case, blunt force trauma caused using a replica of the ‘Thames Beater’
    Neolithic wooden club.

    Downing, M. & Fibiger, L. 2017. An experimental investigation of sharp force skeletal trauma with replica Bronze Age weapons. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 11, 546-554. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.12.034

    Skeletal sharp force trauma provides direct evidence for the use of bladedweapons against humans. As such, it is

    an important source of evidence for examining the prevalence of violence and weapon use in the past. The primary
    aims of this study are to provide experimental evidence for the efficacy of Bronze Ageweapons against skeletal
    tissue and to test the applicability of existing criteria for sharp force trauma analysis to Bronze Age skeletal
    material. To that end, three Bronze Ageweapons - a dirk, flanged axe andWilburton sword - were used to strike
    four Synbone spheres (‘crania’) and two cylinders (‘long bones’). Subsequent damage to the weapons and
    Synbonewas analyzed usingmacroscopic andmicroscopic methods including digital photography, three-dimensional
    digital modelling, and metric analysis. The results of the study suggest theWilburton sword and flanged
    axe could be effective weapons in combat and existing methods for cutmark analysis are generally applicable
    to injuries createdwith Bronze Ageweaponswhen taking into account the size of the weapons. Sword (slashing)
    and axe (chopping) trauma can be distinguished on the artificial bone material based on the degree of wastage
    and fracturing. Further research is needed to develop criteria for distinguishing sword and dirk trauma as
    sword trauma was not distinguishable from knife weapon classes. Additionally, Synbone may not be an ideal
    skeletal tissue analogue in sharp force trauma research as it does not record the microscopic striations created
    by a blade passing through bone.

     

    Angela Boyle, Burial Archaeologist, Professional Archaeological & Osteoarchaeological Services.

    https://www.burial-archaeologist.co.uk/

     

    Thesis:

    Boyle, A. 2021. 'Cowboys and Indians? A Biocultural Study of Violence And Conflict In South-East Scotland C AD 400 to C AD 800'. School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh.

    This thesis considers the skeletal evidence for violence in south-east Scotland during the early medieval period and includes analysis of human remains not previously examined alongside biomolecular analyses of selected skeletons. South-east Scotland experienced several dramatic events in this period, including the end of Roman rule, the Anglian invasion and the commencement of Viking attacks. The traditional view held by some archaeologists in the relatively recent past was that the anglicisation of post-Roman Britain was akin to Hollywood cowboys and Indians and that the Anglo-Saxon conquest was a form of ethnic cleansing. The primary aim of this research was to utilise bioarchaeological data alongside other strands of evidence, such as new radiocarbon dates, isotope and DNA analysis alongside XRF and SEM analysis of injuries, to explore if the period was conflict-ridden or not. Other avenues of research incorporated into this thesis include burial practice, the evidence for weaponry and the iconography of carved stones. Human remains provide the most direct evidence of violence in the past yet regional studies remain relatively uncommon, particularly in Scotland. This is the first major synthesis of human remains in south-east Scotland and includes the first bioarchaeological analysis of several important assemblages from the region, ie. Lundin Links, Lasswade and the recently rediscovered mass burial from the Roman fort at Cramond. Osteological analysis of more than 300 skeletons, many of which were excavated in the 19th and first half of the 20th century, has demonstrated a general absence of evidence for violence except for notable concentrations in and around the Firth of Forth. In this region, significant advances in the bioarchaeology of trauma in recent years have facilitated the identification of important cases of peri-mortem trauma previously unrecorded. In addition, isotope analysis has provided important data on origins and mobility while DNA analysis has proved useful in confirming the sex of poorly preserved adult skeletons. This has important implications for our understanding of the relationships between Angles, Britons and Picts, the nature of conflict in the area and for political and social interaction both within and on the fringes of the study area. Conclusions have been reached on the nature, function and impact of violence more generally. It seems likely that the threat of violence within the region acted as a sufficient deterrent most of the time and that the main focus of aggressive action was on the Pictish frontier.

     

    Elin Ahlin Sundman, Department of Archaeology, University of Iceland.

    https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Elin-Ahlin-Sundman-2143977164

    Dr. Anna Kjellström, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University.

    https://www.su.se/profiles/ankje-1.184661

     

    Publication:

    Sundman, E.A. & Kjellström, A. 2020. 'Medieval Masculinities and Violence: Weapon-Related Trauma in Skeletal

    Assemblages from Two Religious Houses in Iceland and Sweden. European Journal of Archaeology 23 (4) 2020, 567–584.

    Previous research has shown that physical violence had a normative presence in medieval Nordic societies.

    In this study, weapon-related trauma (WRT) was examined in human skeletal assemblages from
    two religious houses, Skriðuklaustur in Iceland, and Västerås in Sweden. The aims were to identify
    patterns of WRT and to relate these to the masculinities of different groups of men. Violence was a
    prominent component of identity among lay men, especially for men with warrior experience. The use of
    violence was more problematic among clerics. The hypothesis that these notions of ideal masculine behaviour
    would affect the ways in which masculinities were enacted and would be reflected in the patterns of
    WRT was borne out by the results of this study. No WRT was identified among the canons and lay
    brothers in Skriðuklaustur, but it was present in about thirty per cent of the males interpreted as
    belonging to the lay elite buried in the northern part of the church at Västerås.

     

    This is a podcast about new and innovative research in archaeology.

    Each episode I talk with pioneering and influential archaeologists about their journal papers, books and research projects.

    Season 1 is all about the latest research into the Archaeology of the Roman West.

    Season 2 is on Innovative Research in Australia.

    Season 3 is on Early Medieval Europe.

    Season 4 is on Latest Research on the Peopling of North America.

    Future Seasons:  Well, I'm open to suggestions!  

    Medieval Europe, Osteoarchaeology, Mesoamerica, Pacific Archaeology, Prehistoric Burials, Post-Medieval, Scientific Techniques, South-east Asia, Bronze Age Monuments. You tell me!

    So, if you would like to hear seasons 4, 5 and more, then you might like to become a Patron of the show. Just click the Patron button:

    https://patron.podbean.com/ForeignCountries

    1 hr 16 min
  • 3.7 Archaeology of Early Medieval Europe: It's All About the Graves - No Metal.

    Support future seasons of the show: https://patron.podbean.com/ForeignCountries

    Buy Foreign Countries a coffee:

    https://ko-fi.com/foreigncountriespodcast

    https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=9G7GV9X432PN6

     

    Hon. Assoc. Prof. Sue Harrington, Institute of Archaeology, University College London.

    https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/people/honorary/susan-harrington-honorary-associate-professor

    Dr. Stuart Brookes, Institute of Archaeology, University College London.

    https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/people/stuart-brookes-leverhulme-trust-senior-research-associate

    Prof. Sarah Semple, Durham University

    https://www.dur.ac.uk/research/directory/staff/?mode=staff&id=4505

    Assoc. Prof. Andrew Millard, Durham University

    https://www.dur.ac.uk/research/directory/staff/?mode=staff&id=160

     

    Publication:

    Harrington, S., Brookes, S., Semple, S., & Millard, A. 2020. 'Theatres of Closure: Process and Performance in Inhumation Burial Rites in Early Medieval Britain', Cambridge Archaeological Journal 30:3, 389–412.

    Inhumation burials are recorded in Britain and Europe during excavations in a

    standardized way, especially graves of early medieval date. Just a limited number of
    attributes are usually foregrounded and these mainly concern skeletal identification, the
    grave plan and, when a burial is furnished, a list of objects, particularly metalwork, as
    well as occasional reference to burial structures, if present. In this paper, we argue that
    concealed within these recorded details are attributes that often receive little attention,
    but which can provide evidence for community investment in the individual funerary
    rite. These include grave orientation, grave morphology, the body position and the
    empty spaces in the grave, as well as categories of material culture. We argue here that
    these factors enable us to define communal burial profiles and can facilitate the
    identification of group perceptions and actions in dealing with death. By capitalizing
    on these additional aspects of funerary ritual, archaeologists can move away from a
    general dependency on well-furnished burials as the main stepping-off point for
    discussion of social and cultural issues. This has particular relevance for regions where
    unfurnished burial rites are the norm and where furnished rites do not rely on a
    wealth of metalwork.

     

    Dr. Clare Rainsford, Freelance Consultant Archaeologist

    https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Clare-Rainsford-2066658681

     

    Publication:

    Clare Rainsford (2021) One hoof in the grave? Animal remains as inhumation grave goods in early medieval eastern England, Archaeological Journal, 178:1, 146-165, DOI: 10.1080/00665983.2020.1864613

    To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00665983.2020.1864613

    Animal remains placed into inhumation graves in 5th-7th century

    England have been recorded for many years, but for reasons
    related both to the development of the discipline and the sparse
    nature of the evidence, there has been little systematic study of
    these remains. The evidence for animal remains in inhumation
    burials across five eastern UK counties (Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex,
    Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire) is reviewed, and results from three
    cemeteries – Oakington, Cambridgeshire; Lakenheath, Suffolk; and
    Castledyke South, Lincolnshire – are discussed in detail. A broadly
    consistent animal cosmology is indicated, which may extend
    across the UK, but the practices in which animals are incorporated
    as grave goods are seen to vary between cemeteries and even on
    an intra-cemetery or family basis. This may have implications for
    the analysis of animal remains in early Anglo-Saxon cremation
    cemeteries, where the much larger numbers of burials and animal
    pyre goods have resisted easy interpretation.

     

    Femke Lippok, Leiden University.

    https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/femke-lippok#tab-1

     

    Publication:

    Femke Eline Lippok (2020) The pyre and the grave: early medieval cremation burials in the Netherlands, the German Rhineland and Belgium, World Archaeology, 52:1, 147-162, DOI: 10.1080/00438243.2020.1769297

    To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2020.1769297

    This paper problematizes grand-narrative thinking in continental, north western

    European early medieval (450–800 CE) burial archaeology. Using the existing
    research history and current debate on early medieval cremation burials,
    I demonstrate that European early medieval burial archaeology has focused on
    explaining the development of the furnished inhumation burial since the discipline’s
    conception. This has led to a misrepresentation of the diversity of early
    medieval burial practices and reinforced broad, unsatisfactory explanatory models.
    By including other burial types, like cremation burials, the overall model is
    changed in terms of what early medieval burial practices comprised, enabling
    a better understanding of the development of early medieval society.

     

    This is a podcast about new and innovative research in archaeology.

    Each episode I talk with pioneering and influential archaeologists about their journal papers, books and research projects.

    Season 1 is all about the latest research into the Archaeology of the Roman West.

    Season 2 is on Innovative Research in Australia.

    Season 3 is on Early Medieval Europe.

    Future Seasons:  Well, I'm open to suggestions!  

    Medieval Europe, Osteoarchaeology, Mesoamerica, Pacific Archaeology, Prehistoric Burials, Post-Medieval, Scientific Techniques, South-east Asia, Bronze Age Monuments. You tell me!

    So, if you would like to hear seasons 4, 5 and more, then you might like to become a Patron of the show. Just click the Patron button:

    https://patron.podbean.com/ForeignCountries

    48 min

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