The importance of context has been extensively discussed in recent years. This volume attempts to address the fragmentation and misconceptions that have developed around context in archaeology, highlighting the common threads that link together varying contextual perspectives. The first part of the book examines the concept of archaeological context by offering a critical assessment of its 'historical' development. The second section presents a number of case studies, and the third section discusses the management of archaeological material. Finally, part four takes the discussion on context further, setting the content of the book in a wider perspective.

What is human nature? How is language related to thought -- and should the connection be investigated socially or scientifically? Is external reality coherent or fragmented? What are the foundations of rationality, and how trustworthy are they? Such questions have bedevilled thinkers for millennia. Contemporary scholars have harnessed enormous resources to find answers, yet their inquiry is invariably constrained by the tunnel vision of academic specialisation. This issue of The Dolphin seeks to establish common ground among the disciplines examining the mind–brain continuum. Among those meeting the editors' challenge to think outside the disciplinary box are Noam Chomsky, John Searle and Steven Pinker, as well as a dozen others from the fields of neuroscience, linguistics, philosophy, cognitive science, English, computer science and ethnography. The implicit framework that results should help researchers in all fields locate the diversity of human knowing within a joint ontological perspective.

How were early stone tools made, and what can they tell us about the development of human cognition? This question lies at the basis of archaeological research on human origins and evolution, and the present volume fulfils a growing need among advanced students and researchers working in this field. The individual chapters by a range of leading international scholars approach stone knapping from a multidisciplinary perspective that embraces psychology, physiology, behavioural biology and primatology as well as archaeology. The skills and behaviour of humans and their primate relatives are key parts of the enquiry. The result is a better understanding of early human engagement with the material world and the complex actions required for the creation of stone tools. The book contains many illustrations and is extensively referenced, and provides a landmark contribution in this field.

The eastern Mediterranean was the centre of trade for many centuries, sitting at the junction of what are now Europe, Asia and Africa. It was the place where exotic produce and products could be traded or exchanged for things that had their origins perhaps thousands of miles away. But wherever trade takes place, a similar exchange of ideas, technology and culture also occurs. This book presents thirty papers on this very subject, looking at the ways in which we can measure the transmission of culture, and how this transmission varied across time and space.

Sam Osmanagich transports the reader to ruined Mayan cities including the brilliant Chichen Itza, elegant Uxmal, artistic Copan, magical Palenque, forgotten Ek Balam, beautiful Izamal, hidden Yaxchilan, spiritual Oxkintok, monumental Coba, and colossal Tikal.

The term 'Mesolithic' was born in the nineteenth century from the need to label a 'hiatus' period and was not generally accepted as a useful term by many scholars until around fifty years later. It has been championed by some, but still concerns others because of the difficulty of defining what it represents. This volume highlights the enthusiasm for Mesolithic studies in the 21st century and the feeling that there is a need to explore the many facets of Mesolithic lifeways. Approaches are now moving away from the traditional Mesolithic canon that seems to have been based on a particular set of biological and/or ecological perspectives and are now looking for new directions and new theoretical arenas which can only help stimulate Mesolithic debate. The papers in this volume take a range of approaches to a period that has largely been devoid of explicit theoretical discussion. They deconstruct and explore a broad variety of subjects, including mobility, complexity, seasonality, death & burial, gender & sexuality, social relations, music, human agency, ethnoarchaeology and emotion.

In 1998 Anna Marguerite McCann received the Gold Medal of the Archaeological Institute of America for her distinguished archaeological achievements. This volume includes the papers presented at a special colloquium held in her honour, along with essays by other colleagues and friends. The volume is divided into two thematic parts: the first reflects Anna McCann's general interests in ancient art and archaeology, especially Greek and Roman sculpture; the other, her specific expertise in underwater and port archaeology and technology.

What is the relationship between mind and ideas on the one hand, and the material things of the world on the other? In recent years, researchers have rejected the old debate about the primacy of the mind or material, and have sought to establish more nuanced understandings of the ways humans interact with their material worlds. In this volume alternative approaches are presented, deriving from a wide variety of theoretical perspectives. Contributors debate the significance of key thresholds in the human past, including sedentism, domestication, and the emergence of social inequality and their impact on changing patterns of human cognition, symbolic expression, and technological innovation. In its global coverage and its broad theoretical scope, this landmark volume offers an innovative and comprehensive assessment of current thinking and future directions.

Acknowledged as the journal of record in its field, American Furniture presents new research on furniture design, use, production, and appreciation. Begun in 1993, this award-winning annual provides a comprehensive forum on furniture history, technology, connoisseurship, and conservation by the foremost scholars in the field. It is the only interdisciplinary journal devoted exclusively to furniture made or used in the Americas from the 17th century to the present.

The fourteenth Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference was held at the University of Durham Department of Archaeology, March 2004. The papers present and discuss information drawn from as wide a range of geographical regions of the Roman Empire as the scope of theoretical and methodological approaches applied. An equally wide selection of subject matter is illustrated, including the ancient economy, historiography and modern perceptions of the Roman world, production, supply and consumption of material culture, social identities and the experience of social space and the landscape. Contents: Preface; The economy of Roman Britain: Representation and historiography (Kevin Greene) ; Reconstructing syntheses in Romano-British cremation (Jake Weekes) ; Metalworking and Late Roman power: A Study of towns in Later Roman Britain (Adam Rogers) ; Not at random: Evidence for a regionalized coin supply? (Fleur Kemmers) ; Regional identities and the social use of ceramics (Martin Pitts) ; Social and economic aspects of glass recycling (Daniel Keller) ; Interaction and exchange in food production in the Nijmegen frontier area during the Early Roman period (Annemiek Robeerst) ; Brickworks and ladders: Explaining intra-regional diversity of late prehistoric and Roman landscapes in the territory of the Parisi (Mick A Atha) ; Beyond the temple: Blurring the boundaries of 'sacred space' (Eleanor Ghey) ; The cupae of Iberia in their monumental contexts: A study of the relationship between social status and commemoration with barrel-shaped and semi-cylindrical tombstones (Charlotte Tupman) ; The quick and the dead in the extra-urban landscape: The Roman cemetery at Ostia/ Portus as a lived environment (E J Graham) ; Houses, GIS and the micro-topology of Pompeian domestic space (Michael A Anderson) ; Unifying aspects of Roman fortresses (Mark Driessen) .

This volume will be an invaluable asset to all archaeologists involved in fieldwork and site management. In the modern environment of developer-funded archaeology, commercial development and site preservation, there are more and more cases where archaeological sites are being impacted upon by various forms of construction. In order to understand and protect the historic environment wherever possible, archaeologists are faced with the crucial task of making decisions on how best to combine the needs of development whilst maintaining our archaeological heritage. Yet the majority of archaeologists have only limited knowledge of the great range of construction practices and how these can impact upon archaeological deposits and structures. This book has been researched and produced with these problems in mind, to inform and assist archaeologists in making decisions where sites may be threatened by development. Extensive information on the range of construction techniques as well as a range of suggested strategies to mitigate the impact of the techniques outlined. The information on construction types and impacts is supported by an annotated literature review, case studies, a series of technical appendices of engineering processes and a data base of mitigation/preservation in situ case studies collected from the British archaeological community.

In 1987, Colin Renfrew's Archaeology and Language challenged many perceptions about how one language family spread across large parts of the world. In doing so he re-invigorated an important exchange between archaeologists and historical linguists. At precisely the same time, a quite separate field, human genetics, was making considerable steps forward in the elucidation of human ancestry. These three parallel lines of enquiry into genes, words, and things have, over the ensuing two decades, entirely transformed our perceptions of the human past. This volume brings together contributors to that transformation from around the world, to honour Colin Renfrew with a series of key papers. They include a number of impressive synthetic statements, as well as case studies at the frontiers of three different branches of research. They range from global accounts of human dispersal through to archaeological, genetic and linguistic studies, illustrating what has been achieved over the past two decades, and the most promising avenues of research for the future.

Archives and Excavations aims to stimulate a new approach to the history of excavation by drawing attention to a vast and important area of research that has been neglected for almost a century.

A truly multi-disciplinary book allowing the reader to gain insights into an exceptionally diverse set of topics such as hunting, burial, sword-production and rock art, from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages.

Jordan is part both of the Fertile Crescent and the Holy Land. Its archaeological remains extend in time from prehistory to the British Empire. The country is, of course, renowned for the magnificent ruins at Petra - a World Heritage Site - and the superb remains of the Roman city of Jerash. But beyond these high profile places is a rich and varied cultural heritage. Sites are everywhere in this great outdoor museum: one tally has calculated over 25,000 sites visible above ground alone, making Jordan one of the great treasure houses of the world. Even at ground level these sites are striking and memorable, but the best view, as is so often the case, is seen from the air. The book contains over 200 high quality colour photographs, taken from the air, illustrating the breathtaking range of sites. Chapters deal with periods through history from prehistoric times through the Nabateans, Greeks and Romans, the early Islamic period, the Crusaders and Saracens, to the Ottoman and British Empires. The photographs are accompanied by descriptions of the sites pictured.

The subject matter of archaeology is the engagement of human beings, now and in the past, with both the natural world and the material world they have created. All aspects of human activity are potentially relevant to archaeological research, and, conversely, the ways in which others, especially artists and anthropologists, have investigated the world are of interest to archaeologists. Archaeological artefacts and sites are also used by groups and nations to establish identity, and for financial gain, both through tourism and trade in antiquities. Colin Renfrew has actively engaged with art, with politics and with the antiquities trade, and has presented his ideas to broad audiences through accessible books and television programmes, as well as championing the cause of archaeology in many public roles. The papers in this volume, which have been written by colleagues and former students on the occasion of his retirement, relate to all of these subject areas, and together give some idea of the complexity of the issues raised by critical engagements with the material world, both past and present.