J Archaeol Sci 33 (5)

The authors use population dynamics models to study the dispersal of the Neolithic in Europe from a localised area in the Near East, solving the two-dimensional reaction--diffusion equation on a spherical surface. They focus on the role of major river paths and coastlines in the advance of farming, to model the rapid advances of the Linear Pottery (LBK) and the Impressed Ware traditions along the Danube--Rhine corridor and the Mediterranean coastline, respectively. They argue that the random walk of individuals, which results in diffusion of the population, can be anisotropic in those areas and hence lead to an effective advection. The standard reaction--diffusion equation is thus supplemented with an advection term, confined to the proximity of major rivers and coastlines. The model allows for the spatial variation in both the human mobility (diffusivity) and the carrying capacity, reflecting the local altitude and latitude. This approach can easily be generalised to include other environmental factors, such as the bioproductivity of landscapes. They argue that their model successfully accounts for the regional variations in the spread of the Neolithic, consistent with the radiocarbon data, and reproduces a time delay in the spread of farming to Eastern Europe, Britain and Scandinavia. Includes

This paper reports 13C and 15N values for human and animal bone collagen from the Middle Iron Age site at Wetwang Slack, East Yorkshire. The data indicate a human diet which was high in animal protein, with no evidence for any significant marine food input. No differences were found between high-status vehicle (or `chariot') burials and the rest of the population and no other status differentiations are visible according to burial rite, age or sex groupings, although the data obtained for the older males display an unusual trend. No dietary variation is seen between two site phases and no evidence for an early immigrant group is present. The range of isotope values for the adult human group as a whole is small, indicating that the diet is likely to have been consistent over time and across the population, although two individuals stand out as unusual amongst the sixty-two analysed.

The presence of black-coloured bones in caves has been sometimes associated to the use of fire by humans, but more frequently the agent responsible for black colour is the natural deposition of manganese oxides. Manganese coatings were not usually studied once human action was discarded. However, the authors contend that they can provide valuable information about the origin and the sequence of formation of a palaeontological or archaeological deposit. In this paper, they present a quantitative and qualitative study of the manganese coatings that affect most of the bones recovered in the palaeontological site of Liñares cave (Iberian Peninsula) together with other taphonomic marks. The manganese coatings are superimposed on other features previously existing on the surface of the bones. In turn, the coatings can be affected by other agents that modified them totally or partially. They argue that the combined interpretation of the different taphonomic marks provides valuable information on the sequence where the different taphonomic processes were produced, as for example the intervention of carnivores in the disarticulation of some elements before the burial, the preservation of anatomic connections until after the burial of the carcasses, and the existence of reworking processes in some parts of the infill.