Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 62

A comparative study of four Late Pleistocene sites in Russia, France, and Germany which have produced faunal assemblages which have been thought to demonstrate evidence of hominid hunting activities. The results of this study indicate focussed and selective hunting strategies were practised in parts of Europe during the Middle Palaeolithic, emphasising the enormous variety of subsistence options available, some of which were similar to those of the Upper Palaeolithic.

Presents a survey of the area containing the heartland of the tribal territory of the Iceni, making use of new information from prolific artefact finds from recent excavations and fieldwork, and employing unpublished data from the county SMR. Settlement evidence and artefact distributions are analysed and used to construct a model for the development of settlement from the Early Iron Age to the Boudican rebellion of AD 60--61. Appendices (92) list finds of torcs and weapons.

Reports on extensive fieldwork undertaken during the 1970s and 1980s in west Scotland to reassess the field evidence in the light of the archaeoastronomical theories proposed by Alexander Thom. Although an archaeoastronomical interpretation seemed to be supported at two groups of sites, the poor condition of many of these made identification of their original orientation problematical. Excavations carried out to establish the orientation of two damaged sites in the north Mull group suggests a more complex relationship between astronomical events and topography than has been appreciated hitherto. The first radiocarbon dates from a Scottish stone row suggest that one site was constructed in the Bronze Age.

Reports on a survey and selective excavation conducted on an area of field system adjoining a RB `courtyard house' settlement. The excavation examined the rectangular field system and a BA funerary cairn incorporated into one of the field boundaries. The earliest phase of the field system is thought to date from the second millennium BC. The `Landscape survey and interpretation' is discussed by P Rose, J Nowakowski & A Sharpe (170--5). Cremated `Human remains' from the cairn are reported on by S A Mays (187--9). `The character and the inferred intra-site chronology of the Early Bronze Age Trevisker style pottery' is discussed by David Tomalin (189--94), and `Pottery petrology' is examined by D F Williams (194--5). Lithic finds included flint or chert arrowheads and other objects (all predating the cairn). `Soil micromorphology and chemistry: summary' is by Richard I Macphail (198--203) and `Pollen analysis of the Bronze Age Cairn and a peat profile' is by Robert G Scaife (203--9).

Reports on the 1984--88 re-excavation of a cairn first excavated by Cannon William Greenwell in 1864. Greenwell identified the cairn as an EBA cist cemetery, but the recent findings demonstrate that the cairn was originally a kerb circle and that its primary function was not funereal. There are finds reports on: Meso--EBA `Lithics' by J Gale (266--7); `Copper wire' and BA/MEM `beads' both by I Hewitt (267); cremated human bone; `Environmental data' by J Turner & S Nye (268--9).

A study of fifty-eight recorded examples, examining their technology, distribution, dating, and possible origins and relationships.

Looks at the small proportion of examples of this relatively rare weapon that bear inlaid designs thought to represent the lunar cycle. Using evidence from Gallo-Latin calendars and literary evidence from LIA France it is suggested that the swords were used in practices or ceremonies associated with the making and keeping of time by counting nights, and with divination. An appendix collates information on key publications of `Astral symbols on anthropomorphic hilted daggers' (393--8).