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Each research article in this issue of assemblage is an instance of a different variety of archaeological endeavour. Danny Hind's re-analysis, in an anthropological context, of Mesolithic chert artefacts in the North of England challenges both simplistic models of material exchange and sweeping generalisations about the prehistory of Britain. Reuben Thorpe adds his voice to the discussion initiated by Ian Hodder in Antiquity 71 and Adrian Chadwick in assemblage about the principles and development of reflexive, post-processual excavation methodologies. He uses the case of complex stratigraphy in a bath house in Beirut to illustrate the dangers of mixing levels of abstraction in archaeology 'from the earth'. Martijn van Leusen presents the preliminary results of a survey of Archaic and early Roman settlement in the Lepine foothills of Italy. Already these results suggest that the process of Roman 'colonisation' was less an intrusion into the region than a gradual transformation of sites and the relations among them.

CHERT USE IN THE MESOLITHIC OF NORTHERN ENGLAND
by D. Hind

Abstract
Interest in the study of the Mesolithic Period of Northern England has grown considerably in the last 15 years. Lithic studies have always played a key role in understanding this period, but in some respects they remain underdeveloped. Nowhere is this clearer than in discussions of lithic procurement. These often distinguish between 'embedded' and 'direct' strategies but say little about the contexts in which these procedures were undertaken. Some problems in thinking about lithic procurement in the Mesolithic of Northern England are discussed in relation to the availability of chert. This article aims to review some of these ideas and suggest ways in which a more holistic approach to prehistoric technology can enrich our understanding of the past.

WHICH WAY IS UP? CONTEXT FORMATION AND TRANSFORMATION: THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF A HOT BATH IN BEIRUT
by R.X. Thorpe

Abstract
The range of methodological and interpretative tools available to the modern field archaeologist enable narratives of the past to be written with greater depth, subtlety of interpretation, and colour of detail than has been hitherto possible. The physical and cultural processes that affect and reflect urban growth and transformation -- the grey areas of site formation -- are emerging into the light. However, stratigraphic excavation, a contextual approach to archaeological stratigraphy, and the use of the Harris Matrix to express sequence are challenged as being over-complex, on the basis of the apparent quality of preservation of some sites in the Middle East. The supposed ease with which these sites can be 'read', as well as the curatorial and contracting bodies responsible for their excavation and/or preservation, all contribute to this argument. The author argues, using the example of the formation processes from a single room on BEY 045 (Roman and Byzantine thermae [1]), that first impressions are deceptive. Common perceptions of deposit status and simplistic assumptions of what constitutes archaeology in situ are misleading. Without intelligently applying the 'over-complex' tools of stratigraphic excavation to seemingly straightforward stratigraphy we not only risk underestimating site complexity but also writing a 'past' that is simplistic, so-called scientific, and questionably unequivocal.

ARCHAIC SETTLEMENT AND EARLY ROMAN COLONISATION OF THE LEPINE FOOTHILLS
by M. van Leusen

Abstract
The protohistoric and early Roman settlement history of the Pontine Region (south Lazio, Italy) is becoming clearer as teams from the Institute of Archaeology of Groningen University conduct survey campaigns, making fresh data available. The current case study collates available data for one particular landscape type, that of the western Lepine slopes, and suggests that indigenous centralisation and external colonisation can provide an explanatory framework for the medium-range settlement history of the area.