Antiquity 52

The dangers of following preconceptions rather than observations are illustrated by the fact that the date and purpose of Dartmoor reaves (prehistoric land boundaries) were first correctly diagnosed over a century ago, and then completely forgotten until the late 1960s.

Two major reasons for switching to publication in microfiche are offered: 1) major works like Sutton Hoo Volume 1 would cost only a fraction of their versions in book form; 2) 'Level III' reports (DoE/Frere) could be made readily available to researchers who needed them. See also F H Thompson in reply, Antiquity, 52, 1978, 147-8.

NO 053169. Observations over several years revealed a remarkable complex of cropmarks: a 6ha palisaded enclosure approached by an avenue (cf Meldon Bridge); several circular enclosures, with or without entrance gaps, possibly Bronze Age ceremonial sites; three squarish ?burial enclosures.

Critical examination of the archaeological evidence does not support, except in a very few instances, the theory of frequent augmentation of Ireland's indigenous inhabitants by fresh waves of 'invaders'. The developments which do indicate contacts with Britain and the Continent are better explained by processes of acculturation. And if, as seems likely, castration of cattle was practised, much of the manpower postulated for building the larger monuments could have been replaced by oxen-power, and population estimates correspondingly reduced. As for the Irish Iron Age, insularity is its hallmark, even though some contacts with Britain are clear.

Nematodes, parasites which spend part of their life cycle within the roots of plants, are of interest to archaeologists because they can lead to identification of the host plant, because their cysts can survive much as pollen does, and because their presence in excess quantity in an archaeological context can indicate a declining crop yield.

A 14C determination from a sample of animal bone from the Sollas Collection of occupation material from the cave provided a date older by several thousand years than the date obtained for the 'Red Lady' burial, which is accordingly shown to postdate the occupation of the cave. The new date agrees better with the typologically early material from the cave, and accords with the Kent's Cavern dates.

Klejn (see 77/4561) has written what amounts to an ethnographic survey of Western archaeology, which in terms of coverage alone is a tour de force, especially from a Leningrad armchair. It also provides an invaluable conspectus of Soviet trends, and offers many insights which Western archaeologists would do well to ponder, for instance those into the differences and similarities between the conceptual frames of American 'New' archaeologists and West European workers.

The Belfast Palaeoecology Laboratory has been constructing an oak tree ring chronology in order to produce a 14C calibration for European low-altitude timber. The results are markedly different from those of Suess for bristlecone pine, though until the floating tree-ring chronology is tied down it cannot be determined whether the difference is systematic or not. It is concluded that in the calibration of the 3rd millennium BC there are no wiggles greater than 0 3%; that archaeologists can have more confidence in smoothed bristlecone pine curves such as that of Damon et al; and that a realistic standard deviation of at least 100 years should be applied to all routine 14C measurements. If dates appear synchronous it is because they are so, not because of calibration wiggles.

A bronze artefact bearing a superficial resemblance to a dental instrument has now been recognized as an amuletic pendant whose suspension loop had broken to give it a clawlike appearance.

One of a small number of excavations in 1978 revealed a crouched burial accompanied by a slate wristguard and barbed-and-tanged arrowheads. The excavation also demonstrated that the bluestones did not arrive at Stonehenge until the ditch was largely silted, rather than just after the stage of primary fill.

Froth flotation of soil samples from burials is recommended as routine action, as a result of the recovery of carbonized barley, field peas and lentils from pyre material of a Roman cremation burial.