Brothwell, D. R. and Higgs, E. S., eds. (1969). Science in Archaeology.

A much expanded version of 70/582. If a mature science of archaeology is to evolve, the archaeologist must remain fully responsible for the co-ordination and interpretation of the results obtained by the specialists whose help he has sought. There is now a formidable battery of specialist techniques available to assist with dating problems and with understanding the constant interplay of man and environment; but problems of animal and plant domestication are still far from solution, and human biology needs more attention than it has formerly received. The computer, wisely fed and interpreted, makes possible comparative biological and artefactual studies on a scale hitherto unattainable. However, the shortage of specialist workers means that archaeological research institutions must take more responsibility for the proper examination, curating and conservation of specimens, and for the standardisation of data storage and analysis. In addition, we should now give urgent priority to the study of man's primary preoccupations, eg food, housing, reproduction and disease.

Study of the animal remains from Troldebjerg, a Danish TRB site of late 3rd millennium BC, suggests that it is possible to assess the pattern of bovine husbandry at any given prehistoric site. The preliminary work reported here concentrated on metrical studies of metacarpal, radius and mandible (including dentition) using comparative material from large modern samples. The resultant pattern of sexed bovine mortality indicates that the primary aim of the Troldebjerg cattle-raisers was the production of meat. Steers were raised to an age (3-4 years) at which they would have been approaching maximum body size. There is no evidence that plough oxen were maintained, nor would they have been needed for the slash-and-burn agriculture of Troldebjerg. Care was also taken to provide an adequate supply of mature cows for herd replenishment, meat and dairy produce. Only a few bulls were maintained at any time, and the breeders were adept at overwintering young stock and judging the potentialities of individual animals. Au(adp)

Shell middens fall into three main types which must be carefully distinguished when assessing prehistoric economies: 1) shells representing the staple food of a hunter-gatherer population using shellfish as a secure, all-year-round source; 2) middens of a mixed economy in which shellfish made a significant addition to agricultural produce; 3) middens resulting from semi-commercial collecting for export to inland communities. Methods of collection and analysis of midden data are described. Identification can be attempted by the archaeologist but should be checked by a conchologist. Relative frequencies are then counted and the total shellfish food resource estimated if possible. The data show which species were the preferred food sources, indicate the environmental conditions of the site including any changes due to natural or man-induced effects, and may also help to assess the degree to which the occupants depended on molluscs for their diet.

Two characteristics of bone recovered from excavations (nitrogen content and blood group activity) can already reveal some information, but further work on effects of the burial environment is needed. For instance, collagen, the structural protein of bone, degrades and loses its nitrogen at a rate which depends on many variables including soil acidity, oxygenation, temperature, and effects of flora. Laboratory methods of study are outlined, and preliminary results obtained from the cooked and uncooked bones deposited in the Overton Down experimental earthwork are described. Results from elsewhere of nitrogen testing of Pleistocene and post-Pleistocene bone and dentine are summarised. Blood group activity in buried bone is little understood so far, but the devising of more sensitive tests in the Overton Down and Wareham experiments will help. Progress will also depend on further research in biochemistry, microbiology and immunology.

An outline of the history and present state of the art. Technical refinements in microscopy, together with the introduction of new apparatus, permit important advances in the study of the process of bone fossilisation, with possiblities of ultimately obtaining chronological data. Fossilisation involves the gradual disappearance of the bone's organic structures, their replacement by material carried in the ground-water, and substitution of the chemical elements in the inorganic component. These changes can be detected by histological staining and by measurement of uranium radioactivity. The rate of change depends on the environment of burial as well as on the passage of time, and therefore much work with electron microscope, polarising microscope and histochemical methods lies ahead before assessments of absolute date can be attempted.

Photographs of thirty EIA brooches (nearly all La Tène examples from Münsingen Switzerland) were shown to four archaeologists and an anatomist, whose intuitive classifications demonstrated the difficulties of the method. Each brooch was then scored according to the presence, absence or inapplicability of a series of attributes. The degree of similarity between each possible pair of brooches was then calculated and analysed by a numerical taxonomy computer program. A study of 109 brooches (including a few "rogues"), according to the similarity of any one brooch to any one of a cluster of generally similar brooches, gave poor results in terms of the likely time sequence; but an analysis of seventy-two brooches according to their average similarity with all members of a cluster was more successful. The original sample was also analysed as a two- or one-dimensional diagram, adjusted for least distortion. This method was also applied to sixteen Mousterian assemblages (Bordes), and a possible chronological, as well as cultural, sequence obtained. D F F