current archaeology number 71
In this issue . . .
A Neolithic causewayed camp, Roman mosaics in danger, and Medieval post-mills form the highlights of this issue.
Firstly, in the Diary we will tell you how to pronounce Boudica, look at the Year of the Vikings, the Prehistoric Society, a Re-organisation of the DoE, and some New Faces in Ireland.
Briar Hill looks like challenging Windmill Hill as the type-site of the Neolithic causewayed camp. The very extensive excavations, and the numerous radiocarbon dates have revealed its very early start, its long causewayed camp phase, and then an equally long 'non-causewayed-camp' phase.
Once a Roman mosaic has been discovered, we would like to think it is 'safe'. However in Mosaics in Danger, Peter Johnson reveals a horror story of the numerous dangers facing excavated mosaics.
In Books, we offer some quickie notices. We start off with all those books on the Vikings, tarrying a little over the The Viking Age in Denmark and Viking Age Sculpture, then passing more rapidly over The Viking World, and The Northern World, and a number of others. We then look at British Prehistory, The Bronze Age in Europe, Iron Age Farm, The Arras Culture, Central Northamptonshire, Roads and Tracks, and Medieval England, as well as some shorter notices.
We then have the second part of Alasdair Whittle's survey of Two Neolithics? Here he argues first that Beakers are not an ethnic phenomenon and he then goes on to propose a two-fold division of the Neolithic.
For our Opinion column we look at tree-ring dating, and John Fletcher of the Oxford laboratory asks Does Dendrochronology Work?
In the heart of the new town of Milton Keynes, a medieval Post Mill has been excavated, at Great Linford. A recent radiocarbon date has suggested that this was one of the earliest known, and so Robert Zeepvat describes the excavations and looks at the history of post-mills to see how far this claim can be justified.
We have a hefty batch of Letters, with a gruesome interpretation of the Dunstable Roman cemetery, a stirring defence of the Ancient Monuments Board from the former Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments, Extra-mural archaeology in London, a boo from Abingdon, a hurrah from Dunstable, and finally, shhhhh! a letter from the ends of the world exposes one of our misprints.
We then have some Quotations, and finally, since this is the end of the volume, there is the Index to the past 12 issues.
Cover photo: The Mars mosaic from Fullerton was discovered in 1872 and re-laid in Fullerton Manor. This has now been converted into flats, and a wall built across the mosaic. Turn the picture upside down to see the naked Mars (or is it a Virtus?) in his full splendour.
Photo: David Baker
355 Diary
358 Briar Hill by Helen Bamford
364 Mosaics in Danger by Peter Johnson
368 Books
371 Two Neolithics?
by Alasdair Whittle
374 Opinion: Does Dendrochronology
Work?
by John Fletcher
375 Post Mills by Robert Zeepvat
378 Letters 381 Quotations 382 Index
