Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 40

Thermoluminescence analysis (as used for pottery) can reveal the use of heat treatment before chipping of stone artefacts, particularly siliceous stones such as flint and chert. This determination can serve as the first step in the dating of these stones, as well as of stones accidentally fired. The oldest known example of deliberate heat treatment verified by this method comes from the Solutrean of SW France, c 15,000 bc. Au(adp)

Classification and list of 170 disc-barrows in and around Wessex. They normally belong to the Wessex manifestation of EBA, and many cluster round Stonehenge. Considerable variety of structure and plan is displayed; cremation is the usual rite, with very few instances of primary inhumation. Gravegoods are usually necklaces, bronze awls and small bronze knives, occasionally with an urn or cup; such equipment is usually taken as female, but reliable sexing of the cremations has rarely been done.

SS 218197. Most of the work at this eroded fort was concentrated on the inner rampart, its entrance and the small remaining portion of the interior, where structures revealed by post-holes were associated with Glastonbury-style pottery. The outer rampart was also sectioned and areas within the wide intervallum space investigated. A report on the buried soils (sandstone and slate) is appended. Au(adp)

The morphology of a group of settlement sites (enclosed hut groups) in NW Wales is used to demonstrate an application of numerical taxonomy. Using average link cluster analysis 83 out of a total of 285 known sites are grouped into seven morphological classes which provide a basis for further analysis and interpretation. The study used 21 attributes and resulted in the distinguishing of two main groups of homesteads, one having a much higher proportion of covered accommodation than the other. General problems of interpreting the results are discussed and some tentative conclusions offered about functions, relative wealth and population of the homesteads. Au(amp)

SY 911923. Report on the design and construction of the counterpart, on acidic sands, of the chalk-based experimental earthwork on Overton Down, together with results of its sectioning after 1, 2, 5 and 9 years. The natural environment is described and results of pre-construction pollen analyses are given. Results of sectioning are then described. Recommendations are made for improving the continuity of administrative arrangements to ensure timely sectioning and proper treatment and study of recovered material in future.

Re-examination by more sensitive techniques of a Karanova sherd formerly thought to have been fired at a temperature similar to that used for smelting copper demonstrated that the original firing temperature of the pottery was about 700 C. The assumption about copper smelting in the SE European Chalcolithic therefore no longer holds.