This volume presents the proceedings of the HOMER 2021 international conference, held in September/October 2021 on the Island of Oléron, France. The conference focused on recent advances in coastal and island archaeology across a wide geographical area, covering the Atlantic north of the equator. From the 55 oral presentations and 24 posters, 49 papers emerged, contributed by scholars from seven countries. The publication showcases the diversity of maritime archaeology, spanning fieldwork to specialized analysis, and from exploratory to synthesis studies. This volume is crucial for the archaeological community as it addresses both methodological issues and the new challenges facing coastal archaeology, reflecting diverse political perspectives.It also presents new research findings, a decade after the Homer 2011 conference was published in 2013 (BAR), and emphasizes the importance of coastal archaeological heritage. The volume engages with current global challenges and serves as a valuable tool for raising awareness among the public and decision-makers about the future of maritime heritage in the face of rising sea levels. It demonstrates that archaeology is a dynamic discipline, adapting daily to political decisions and natural events.Most of the case studies presented are previously unpublished. A key feature of this volume is its diachronic approach, ranging from prehistoric sites to historical ones.

In 2025, the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society, incorporating the Shropshire Natural History Society and the Shropshire Parish Records Society, will publish the 100th volume of its Transactions. It has taken closer to 150 years than a century to achieve this feat, but it is nonetheless an important milestone for the society. In recognition of this, the Society is publishing these papers to reflect upon the rich and often underexplored historical and archaeological dimensions of the county with the twin aims of showcasing the research currently being carried out across Shropshire to a wider audience, and to alert other researchers of the huge potential that the county has to offer in the hope that they too could become involved in exploring its riches. The papers offered here are loosely chronological rather than being thematic and contributors were given a free hand over what they wished to write. Equally, the choice of contributors reflects the two current aspects of the society (history and archaeology) and are fashioned to demonstrate the contribution that the authors are currently making to their respective fields. They are new research papers and are not designed to look back at the society and its earlier works. In making this distinction, the aspiration is that this volume’s contents will be of much broader interest than just the county and its region but will instead showcase the undoubtedly high potential for future research that can inform broader subject areas of national interest and importance.

Neolithic long barrows in Bohemia were long neglected by archaeologists due to their destruction by modern intensive agricultural activity. This new analysis, resulting from a threeyear interdisciplinary research project, of the phenomenon of Neolithic long barrows in Bohemia and Central Europe presents entirely new findings and data and tackles a number of previously unresolved questions. New discoveries, based primarily on remote sensing and targeted excavations, together with the revision of earlier archaeological records, allow us to define more accurately the construction and chronological development of these monuments, and to advance our knowledge of the southeastern boundary of this phenomenon's spread together with reconstruction of the social and religious significance of these monuments for the agricultural communities of Central Europe. At the sacred places defined by the long barrows, ceremonies and rituals took place over millennia that confirmed the cohesion of the living with the ancestors and their faith in the gods. People, even many generations later, continued to venerate these ancient monuments, not as places of final rest for their direct ancestors but as places dedicated to mythical time, where the living meet the dead and honour the gods. It is not surprising, therefore, that people added the burials of their own ancestors to the embankments of ancient barrows and established their own funerary areas nearby even after several millennia.All long barrows excavated within our project contained only one primary burial: in Bohemia these were not collective graves as found, for example, in the British Isles or Scandinavia. Given the monumentality of barrow construction, it can be presumed that the buried individuals represented a form of social elite, though not necessarily due to their individual social power. It seems that the primary burial played the role of an initiation sacrifice: a ritual of consecration of the ancestor sanctuary, which then no longer served for further burials that may have been taboo. Subsequent activities may have been related to forms of ancestral cult, but the primary burial was not followed by other funerary events. All evidence of later burials is at least 1000 years later than barrow construction.In the region around the Czech mythical Mountain Říp, burial monuments from various prehistoric periods, including the Late Neolithic, abound. Residential and economic activities on the plains appear later. It can be assumed that this area was perceived as a ritual landscape in earlier prehistory in which long barrows played a significant role in structuring the farming landscape and as significant landmarks. Their monumentality initiated a longstanding tradition creating palimpsests of funerary and sacred sites near Mount Říp. The places where the long barrows were built played an important role in the lives of prehistoric communities, and their placement and orientation in the landscape was not random, indicating significant symbolic connotations with the surrounding landscape. The rituals and festivities held here allowed people to connect with the spiritual legacy of their ancestors, thus creating a significant spiritual tradition inscribed in the agriculturally colonised landscape.

Africa currently faces more wars, insurgencies, army mutinies, coups d’état and rebellions than at any time since World War II. Conflict in all forms has become endemic, now accentuated by a relative newcomer: Jihadism, increasingly linked to either Islamic State or al-Qaeda.The year 2020 saw a record high in state-based conflicts on the African continent: around 22,000 incidents of armed conflict recorded. There were two dozen country-based military struggles recorded, three or four more than in 2018. Of these, 13 battled over territory, the highest number ever. Incidents of conflict have risen each year since, and the broader canvas since Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine suggests things will continue to worsen. Islamic Jihadist forces are responsible for much of this, involved in a succession of conflicts in Africa. These range all the way across the Sub-Sahara swathe, Mauretania, Mali, Burkina Faso and Chad, the Sudans as well as Somalia. A more recent entrant to the fray is Tanzania, whose Dar es Salaam government in late 2021 appealed to the European Union for military help to counter an escalating Jihadist insurgency in its southern province.The upward trend is sobering. And there are long-term security implications both within and beyond Africa – if conditions do deteriorate, Europe will ultimately be threatened. Veteran war correspondent Al Venter brings his decades of experience to illuminate what Islamic Jihadist forces are effecting in Africa, and why, and what the future may hold.

Butrint 8 is largely devoted to the Middle Byzantine archaeology discovered by the Butrint Foundation’s projects at Butrint itself, in its environs, and in the nearby port of Saranda, ancient Onchesmos. The volume includes a full report on the excavations in Butrint’s western defenses, built in the 6th century as a proteichisma, and maintained in use until the 9th century when tower 1 partly perished in a fire and tower 2 was abandoned. From these 9th-century levels came a major assemblage of traded and local ceramics as well as glass cullet. The report also describes the reuse of the defenses until the 16th century when Butrint was abandoned. This volume also includes a section devoted to Butrint’s Middle Byzantine enclave occupying its hinterland, including a new study of the Dema (boundary) wall, the hilltop fortress of Çuka e Aitoit and an excavation of a settlement on the plain opposite the town. The third part of the book focuses upon Saranda, ancient Onchesmos. This includes a short report on excavations made in the port that brought to light Middle Byzantine remains as well as a major reassessment of the sanctuary church of Santa Quaranta, re-examining its Late Roman origins and its major rebuilding in the Middle Byzantine period. Butrint 8 is a benchmark for research on the Middle Byzantine period in the southern Adriatic Sea region, shedding light on an age when Butrint lay on the western limits of Byzantium, on the long-distance trade of this period, and on the character of settlement in this period.

This book explores the distinctive landscape and society of South-West England that had emerged by the Iron Age and which continued to develop during the Roman and medieval periods. A focus of the research was the long-term programme of survey and excavation on the Iron Age, Roman, and early medieval settlement at Dainton Elms Cross, in Ipplepen (Devon), which included the only Roman roadside settlement to have seen extensive excavation to the south and west of Exeter on the very edge of the Roman empire, as well as a substantial early medieval cemetery. First discovered through the reporting of an unusual concentration of Roman finds to the Portable Antiquities Scheme, the site was investigated through a joint university and community project led by the University of Exeter in partnership with the British Museum/PAS, Devon County Council, and Cotswold Archaeology. What for the South-West of England was exceptional preservation meant that large amounts of animal bone, charred cereals, and human remains were preserved, alongside a regionally important material culture assemblage. The site – which had been occupied for c. 1200 years – was abandoned around the 8th century AD. A programme of documentary, place-name, and historic landscape research across a study area extending from the coast up onto Dartmoor explores the context of this major landscape change, which appears to have been associated with the appearance of hamlets and open fields, and the fragmentation of an ‘early folk territory’. Together, the excavations in Ipplepen and the wider contextual research reveal how communities living in South-West England developed a distinctive identity that reflects a well-developed understanding of their region’s natural environment alongside a degree of ambivalence to outside cultural influences.

The River Great Ouse in Cambridgeshire has a long history of water milling, stretching back to at least the 10th century and possibly to the Roman period. The authors use remote sensing (LiDAR), cartographic analysis, fieldwork, documents (especially contemporary litigation) and literary sources, to reveal new findings about this fascinating landscape. The Great Ouse’s watermills were recorded as the most valuable in England in the Domesday Survey. All their sites are located, several having been long-lost, and a comprehensive explanation for their national pre-eminence is given. The expansion of activity in the Middle Ages is investigated through a detailed study of the disputes arising from the competing uses of the river and its flood plain for water milling, navigation and farming. Channel features that, hitherto, have either been ignored or attributed to natural processes are shown to be the result of milling activity. The continuing impact of water milling on the landscape until its decline in the second half of the 19th century is analyzed. The authors’ findings have broader implications for the understanding of the development of water milling in lowland river landscapes; the evolution of parish boundaries; and the development of multi-channel river forms. They conclude by advocating a mapping methodology that designates landscape features resulting from water milling as heritage assets, to guide planning decisions.

Textile tools offer a fascinating and yet intimate approach to ancient people. Textile production has been one of the core activities for millennia, spanning from domestic production to royal needs. Textiles were light and easy to transport goods, often exchanged over long distances. Technology and knowhow, however, might not have always traveled so easily. This work examines spinning and weaving tools from the Southern Levant (inland and coastal) and Egypt. The chronology of the study is broad, ranging from the Neolithic until the beginning of the Persian period (600 BC). The objects are investigated from both a diachronic and synchronic perspective to understand their evolution and continuity of use, as well as regional differences and textile production methods. The two areas present an only apparent discontinuity, as political boundaries gave way at various historical moments and the two areas had very close contacts, such as during the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt or the Egyptian domination of the Late Bronze Age. This seems to be reflected in textile documentation, which shows the appearance of Egyptian tools in the Levant, such as spinning bowls, and Levantine tools in Egypt, such as loom weights. However, the result is not so predictable.

Multimodality – the integration of different semiotic resources in communication – plays a key role in the way people convey meaning. While much of the research has focused on multimodal communication in modern European and Anglo-Saxon cultures, the diverse visual and textual compositions of ancient civilizations have been less explored.This book presents the findings of a working group on multimodal communication in Ancient Egypt and explores the multimodal nature of Egyptian artifacts decorated with texts, images or text-image compositions through a new interdisciplinary perspective on their semiotic properties. Applying approaches from semiotics, linguistics and visual studies to these ancient materials opens up new perspectives that deepen our understanding of how space and spatial relationships contribute to the interpretation of decorated artifacts.The spatial arrangement of these artifacts within and interactions with their physical surroundings – whether on walls, on statues or within architectural complexes – offer crucial insights into communicative practices in Ancient Egypt and reveal the sophisticated ways in which space was used to convey complex messages. By examining the spatiality of different objects and groups of objects, this volume demonstrates that the multimodal approach not only enriches the interpretation of individual artifacts, but also leads to a more comprehensive analysis of communicative strategies within Ancient Egyptian culture.

This volume comprises published papers from the Ninth International Insular Art Conference held in Durham in 2022. It brings together the latest scholarship on early medieval (AD 400–1100) art in Britain, Ireland and beyond. Perspectives taken include classical art historical analysis of form, style and design, but also a close attention to the materials used and the complex process of production and artisan skill required to create these objects. This volume focuses on manuscripts, metalwork and other media, with research on stone sculpture appearing in Volume 2.

This volume comprises published papers from the Ninth International Insular Art Conference held in Durham in 2022. It brings together the latest scholarship on early medieval (AD 400–1100) art in Britain, Ireland and beyond. Perspectives taken include classical art historical analysis of form, style and design, but also a close attention to the materials used and the complex process of production and artisan skill required to create these objects. This volume focuses on stone sculpture and carving, with research on manuscripts, metalwork and other media appearing in Volume 1.

The coinage of the Kushan kings (1st to 4th centuries) and of their immediate successors the Sasanian Kushanshahs (3rd−4th centuries) and the Kidarite Hun Kushanshahs (4th−5th centuries) are a key component of our understanding of the history of ancient Afghanistan, Pakistan, northern India, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan during the early centuries AD. Modern knowledge of each of these kingdoms began with the discovery of their coins. Research continues to reveal new aspects of the political structure of these states, their geographical extent, the religious affinities of their rulers and the development of scripts and languages in the region. This landmark publication will give a comprehensive account of Kushan, Kushano-Sasanian and Kidarite Hun coinages, as well as put them into a wider historical and cultural context.

How to investigate an archaeological site that became inaccessible? When the Egyptian Western Desert was closed for security reasons in 2016 just before the start of the first archaeological excavation at Umm al-Dabadib, in the Kharga Oasis, this question became the starting point for an unexpected journey in search of an alternative methodology.Our multidisciplinary team, including Egyptologists, archaeologists, architects, historians, engineers, mathematicians, IT experts, botanists and hydrologists, embarked in a ‘remote investigation’ based on a combination of new tools and methods that were used to retrieve fresh information from old data and alternative sources. Studied from the distance, the Late Roman Fortified Settlement and its contemporary agricultural system provided a wealth of information not only on a specific period of the life of Umm al-Dabadib, but also on its geographical, historical and strategic context.A remote investigation does not substitute an archaeological excavation, but in a remote place like Umm al-Dabadib, nested in an intact natural environment rich in biodiversity, it can help to direct and concentrate future excavations, and reduce both their costs and their impact on the site.

Excavation of over 15 sites located from Anderby Creek on the East Lincolnshire Coast to Bicker Fen in the Borough of Boston has revealed hints of prehistoric activity, evidence of Iron and Roman settlement and salt-making, and insights into post-medieval rural industry. The sites lie within a landscape that has witnessed significant and complex change with periods of marine transgression, regression and later reclamation. The impacts of this can be seen in the distribution of sites and the activities taking place. The excavations have provided the opportunity to explore the role of landscape in shaping human activity through time.The excavations revealed limited evidence of prehistoric activity with the development of marshlands and intertidal mud flats during the Bronze Age. A timber structure was uncovered comprised of two parallel timbers supported by stakes. Dendrochronological analysis indicated timbers were felled during the middle Bronze Age. The structure provides evidence of early efforts to move and live in this constantly changing landscape. The Iron Age witnessed the beginning of enclosures and activities, such as salt production, which would expand in the Roman period.Evidence of Roman settlement and salt-making was uncovered throughout the area with salt-making concentrated to the north, closer to the coastline. Four saltern sites were excavated with large deposits of briquetage and salt production features, such as tanks and kilns, providing evidence of all stages of salt production and the ceramic assemblages indicating contact with the wider Roman empire including samian and traded wares, from Argonne, Northern Gaul, and neighbouring counties seldom found on sites in Lincolnshire. The date of the salterns is a key discussion point with two sites potentially providing rare evidence of the continuation of activity into the late Roman period. Roman agricultural settlements, located on roddons further inland comprised large enclosures, boundaries and structures including an unusual moated structure potentially used for storage. Isotopic analysis of plant and animal remains from salt production and settlement sites has raised questions about grazing patterns and the relationships between agricultural and salt production. This comparison has also been made for the pottery assemblages allowing for the potential differences in activity and subsequent connectivity to be explored.Evidence of medieval and post-medieval activity was also uncovered. Beginning in the early medieval (Saxon) period and continuing through until the modern era, the excavations provide important insights into the development of rural settlement against a backdrop of landscape and environmental changes as large portions of marsh and fen were reclaimed for agriculture. Evidence of clay extraction and brick manufacture was also uncovered dating from the 15th century and into the 17th–19th centuries, including indications of brick kilns.

Since the dawn of archaeology, the study of funerary contexts has provided invaluable insights into past societies, a trend that persists in contemporary research. Ongoing discoveries, site reevaluations, and advancements in techniques like DNA analysis continually reshape our understanding of the past.In the specific contexts we are addressing – the emergence of the first farming and herding communities in the Western Mediterranean – few regions in Europe display such systematic funerary practices. A notable example is the “Pit Burial” horizon in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. Approximately 6,500 years ago in this area, there was a significant increase in the number of found inhumations, with some clustering in cemeteries containing several dozen individuals.Despite sporadic mentions in international publications, the details of the “Pit Burials” horizon funerary practices – such as burial locations, characteristics and performed analysis – are generally not well known, primarily because most of the publications have been presented in Catalan or Spanish. This limits awareness of one of the best-documented archaeological records shedding light on Neolithic communities in the Western Mediterranean.Over a century, the northeastern Iberian Peninsula has yielded numerous Neolithic burials, totaling over 650 graves, predominantly featuring single inhumations. Many of these graves, excavated in ground pits, remain remarkably intact, facilitating interpretations of burial treatments and grave goods, indicative of time and effort invested in acquisition and production.Furthermore, this was also a period of well-established social networks, facilitating the distribution of materials such as flint, obsidian, or jadeite for crafting lithic tools, and variscite for producing ornaments across extensive territories spanning hundreds of kilometers. These networks had an impact on the social, economic, and ideological organization of these communities, as well as their interactions with other European populations. This interconnected world left archaeological traces, evident in the early stages of subsequent megalithic developments.

The human past is unimaginable without the horse. From our ancestors hunting and painting horses in the Upper Palaeolithic, to the earliest riders, the rise of equestrian empires, and the critical role of horses in war, settler colonialism, and modern state formation, human history is undeniably equestrian. Because of the deep and varied entanglements between people and horses, the study of horses of the past is inherently, and increasingly, interdisciplinary. However, scholars often do not understand the methods or know the research outside of their discipline.This book corrals a herd of specialist authors from seventeen countries that explain their disciplinary approaches and provide case studies of human-horse relationships in the past, including archaeology, history, classics, art history, literature, and veterinary medicine.This ground-covering volume overviews key methods, theory, period, and area studies. Aimed at scholars wanting to understand and incorporate research outside of their speciality, or those who wish to undertake collaborative projects, it is also designed as a starting point for students and non-specialists to pursue the study of horses in the past.