Series: British Museum Occasional Papers

Selected papers are noted here. The editor (pp 1-6) contributes 'Zinc in classical antiquity', noting that the cementation process was known by about 2nd century BC at latest. Justine Bayley (7-27) discusses 'The production of brass in antiquity with particular reference to Roman Britain': a little early RB evidence for the cementation process is seen at Colchester and Canterbury, the uniformity of the product suggesting central, perhaps military control. Brooch blanks at Baldock suggest some local manufacture at least. In later 1st century brass ceased, perhaps through official action, and it was nearly 1000 years before the metal was used again in quantity, though a little late Saxon/Viking use is seen. Joan Day (123-50) examines 'Brass and zinc in Europe from the Middle Ages until the 19th century', with emphasis on the Meuse-Rhine area from 10th century where the raw materials were readily available. England had no such sources then, so only a few Romanesque pieces are of British make. Skills evolved slowly and empirically, but some precise choices were made, and Theophilus was writing c 1100. Both memorial brasses and dinanderie began in 13th century on the Continent but it was later 16th before brass production began in England (but Tintern failed). Zinc came from the Mendips, but copper was the main lack by now. The Bristol industry began from 1700, Birmingham from the 1800s, assisted by steam power. The end of calamine brass came in the 1830s. J K Almond (151-233) provides 'Zinc-production technology 1801-1950: a review' and S W K Morgan (235-50) discusses 'Development of the zinc-lead blast furnace as a research project' [1947-80].

Main publication of the excavations of which abstract 82/8521 represented the summary report. The village had its beginning in a ?military installation of AD 65/75 and eventually developed into a substantial town with street grid; a flood in mid 3rd century caused a hiatus but resettlement and prosperity followed. Many finds and animal bones, discussed as crucial evidence for the Fenland economy.

A number of contributors provide records of recent hoards, mostly Treasure Trove, several found by metal detector users. Two are much older finds. Third and 4th century depositions.

Records 26 hoards of 1st to 3rd centuries from Avon, Berks, Cambs, Cheshire, Cornwall, Durham, Essex, Glos, Humb S, IoW, London, Norfolk, E Sussex and Suffolk.

Papers on hoards from 3rd to 5th centuries from Shropshire, Lincs, Wilts, Humberside S, Yorks N, Suffolk and Berks.

Includes: D F Williams (pp 9-13), Aspects of prehistoric pottery-making in Orkney; Elaine L Morris (15-27), Iron Age pottery from Western Britain: another petrological study [new group, D]; I C Freestone & V Rigby (29-42), Class B cordoned and other imported wares from Hengistbury Head, Dorset [Armorican source]; Ian M Betts (63-71), Roman brick and tile: a study in fabric variability [grain size analysis: York material]; Tim Darvill & Jane Timby (73-87), Textural analysis: a review of potentials and limitations [grain size analysis in tiles, pottery]; Ailsa Mainman (93-100), Studies of Anglo-Saxon pottery from Canterbury [increased standardization over time]; Andrew D Russell (101-3), Domestic early Saxon pottery from East Anglia an interim report; K Kilmurry (105-11), The manufacture of Stamford Ware: an application of thin-sectioning and neutron activation analysis [clay sources]; M Hughes, J Cherry, I C Freestone & M Leese (113-22), Neutron activation analysis and petrology of medieval English decorated floor tiles from the Midlands; A D F Streeten (123-34), Textural analysis: an approach to the characterization of sand-tempered [medieval and postmedieval] ceramics; Alan Vince (135-44), Medieval and post-medieval Spanish pottery from the City of London; Hilary Howard (145-58), Clay and the archaeologist [raw materials with special reference to Bronze Age refractories]; and John Cooper (161-2), The research potential of molluscan shell in shell-tempered pottery.

The volume deals mainly with Egyptian and Near Eastern material: papers of British relevance are M Bimson (165-71), 'Opaque red glass: a review' (on the high-lead cuprite glass, sealing-wax red, which can be softened and pressed on to metal to look like enamel); and Ian C Freestone (173-91), 'Composition and microstructure of early opaque red glass' (of 1st-2nd millennia BC, studied by electron microprobe and SEM).

A collection of reports on the archaeological, geological, and palaeoenvironmental evidence revealed by the excavations conducted by John d'Arcy Waechter in and around the National Nature Reserve. The sequence comprises deposits of gravel and loam (probably dating to the Hoxnian interglacial) overlying a river channel formed at the end of the Anglian glaciation. Importantly, study of the lithic assemblage refutes the traditional interpretation that an earlier Clactonian assemblage was followed, after a hiatus, by a culturally and temporally discrete Acheulian assemblage: it is demonstrated that the intervening deposits do contain lithic evidence, and technological analysis reveals that the same knapping techniques were used throughout the Clactonian and Acheulian. After the Editors' brief `Introduction' (1), Bernard Conway provides `A history of quarrying in the Swanscombe area' (3--8) and `An historical perspective on geological research at Barnfield Pit, Swanscombe' (9--30). In `Through the looking glass: an historical perspective on archaeological research at Barnfield Pit, Swanscombe', John McNabb (31--51) considers the significance of the work of earlier investigators, including: Smith and Dewey (c~1910); Chandler (1920s--30s); Marston, the Swanscombe Committee, Paterson, and Ashley-Montagu (1930s--40s); Wymer (1950s). This paper also makes observations on the theoretical background to British Lower Palaeolithic research in the mid twentieth century. Next, John McNabb & Nick Ashton (53--66) give an account of `The history of the 1968--1972 excavations'. Bernard Conway continues with `The geology outside the National Nature Reserve, 1968--72' (67--87), `The geology inside the National Nature Reserve, 1968--72' (89--116), and `The stratigraphy and chronology of the Pleistocene deposits of Barnfield Pit, Swanscombe' (117--36) (the latter making use of mollusca and pollen).Steven Parry (137--43) reports on `The avifaunal remains', which include the bones of birds that now prey on salmonid fish. Brian Irving (145--7) reports on `The ichthyofauna from the Waechter excavations, Barnfield Pit, Swanscombe'. Danielle Schreve (149--62) reports on `The mammalian fauna from the Waechter excavations, Barnfield Pit, Swanscombe', also discussing the palaeoecological significance of the assemblage, and Andrew Currant (163--8) adds `Notes on the mammalian remains from Barnfield Pit, Swanscombe'. In `The footprint surfaces at Barnfield Pit, Swanscombe', Peter Davis (169--85) analyses the measurements and spatial patterning of these impressions and discusses the methods by which they were recorded (several fossil landsurfaces had been excavated, some of which retained impressions of possible foot/hoofprints). A possible human footprint is examined in a contribution by Alan Walker (184--5) `Report on the SC69 E6 footprint': the impression is of poor quality, and there are doubts that it was made by a human foot. Eric Robinson (187--90) reports on `The Ostracod fauna from the Waechter excavations'. Richard Hubbard (191--9) presents the results of `The palynological studies from the Waechter excavations'. Nick Ashton & John McNabb (201--36) discuss `The flint industries from the Waechter excavations', describing the artefacts (flakes, cores, flake tools, and bifaces) and analysing the knapping techniques evinced by four main knapping floor complexes. The Editorial `Summary' (237--40) is followed by `Appendix 1', in which Nick Ashton & John McNabb (241--5) set out the methodology for their analysis of the flint, and `Appendix II' which reproduces an additional note on the stratigraphy of the Barnfield deposits by Alvan T M Marston (247--53), dated December 1937. JMO

Reports excavations on three cemeteries, Ménil-Annelles, Saulces-Champenoises, and Ville-sur-Retourne. For each there is a brief description, plans showing the current stage of the excavations, and a selection of grave goods to illustrate the chronological range (Hallstatt C to 4th century AD). Square-ditched enclosures with (mostly) La Tène III cremations were a feature of Ménil-Annelles; Saulces-Champenoises had mainly circular enclosures with occasional burial remains; and the third cemetery had a series of square enclosures with central burials. The first and second had post-hole structures in addition.