Excavations carried out by the Danish Moesgaard Museum on the island of Failaka in Kuwait in 1958-1963 produced a large collection of stone vessel fragments which have ever since puzzled scholars. The settlements excavated on Failaka, Tell F3 and Tell F6, belong to the 2nd millennium BC, but stone vessels of Série Ancienne and Umm an-Nar styles of the 3rd millennium BC are well represented in the Failaka collection. Besides vessels of Wadi Suq and Late Bronze Age styles there is a significant group of figurative decorated stone vessels in a style completely unknown from anywhere else in the region, which may throw light on the mid 2nd millennium Dark Age in South Mesopotamia. The Failaka stone vessel collection is presented in all its details, and the significance of the many different vessel styles is discussed in the context of recent developments in our understanding of Arabian Gulf archaeology.

This volume contains an introduction to South Scandinavian Bronze Age barrows and a more detailed study of their architecture, ideas and practices. It also contains a presentation of the excavations (carried out between 1995 to 2003) of the large Early Bronze Age barrow Skelh, situated in the meadows on the banks of the River Kongeåen in SW Jutland (Denmark).

During several hundred thousand years of human prehistory, siliceous rocks such as flint and chert were the most important raw materials used for tool production. In the 5th millennium BC, however, the use of copper is documented in many Neolithic tool assemblages and in the course of the 3rd millennium BC metal technology is introduced in prehistoric societies all over Europe. With a few exceptions, metal is largely superior to flint when it comes to the production of tools, yet there are regions throughout the world where flint craftsmanship thrived long after metallurgy had been introduced. There are numerous examples of copper and bronze implements being copied with great skill in flint, and in some areas simple flint tools would seem to be in common use even in early Iron Age societies. The present volume embodies the proceedings of a workshop dedicated to "lithic technology in metal using societies" that was held in connection with the XVth UISPP congress in Lisbon in September 2006. The workshop brought together researchers working on lithic inventories from a global range of societies in which tool-stone is being replaced by metal. Papers providing methodological and theoretical insight pertinent to these issues were also invited and the original score of papers presented at the workshop has been further enriched by papers from authors who were not able to participate in the workshop. With contributions by: Berit V Eriksen; Barbara Armbruster; Mechtild Freudenberg; Catherine Frieman; Annelou Van Gijn; Anders Hogberg; Torben B Ballin; Jarosaw Bronowicki & Mirosaw Masoj; Matthieu Honegger & Pauline De Montmollin; Chloe Druart; Evangelia Karimali; Georgia Kourtessi-Philippakis; Lasse Sensen; Steven A Rosen; Isaac Gilead; Angela Davidzon & Jacob Vardi; Teresa P Raczek; Miriam N Haidle; Udo Neumann & Alfred Pawlik.

In connection to the archaeological research of the warfare sacrifices in Illerup, Ejsbøl and Nydam, a comprehensive amount of pollen samples has been collected; that is both in connection to the artefacts found and in pollen series in the different bog layers. The collection of pollen has several objectives. First and foremost it is possible to describe the vegetational development which contributes to the determination of the geneses of the specific bog. Secondly, the archaeological find layers can be matched with the pollen series to achieve a relative dating. After the excavations, work demanding analyses have been carried out in the laboratories. However, it is not until now with Else Kolstrup's publication of the pollen research from Nydam, a connection between the vegetational development and the warfare sacrifices has been established. Added to this is the description of the vegetation in the surrounding areas. The varied intensity of farming and the relation between land and forest are described in the research. The scientific research is a significant supplement to the archaeological observations, thus, it is important that the results are published as quickly as possible. In this way the results can be added to the analyses of the pollen series from the other bog finds and for this reason we have chosen this separate type of publication.

Iron Age Households - Structure & Practice in Western Denmark, 500 BC-AD 200

Invoking the Spirits - Fieldwork on the Material & Spiritual Life of the Hunter-Gatherers Mlabri in Northern Thailand

Burial Mounds of Bahrain - Social Complexity in Early Dilmun

Text in German. The purpose of the present work is to combine the advantages of the various research traditions and at the same time to avoid the respective disadvantages. An attempt will be made to interpret the existing archaeological facts with reference to cultural development in large parts of Europe. As a first step an investigation will be made of all indications of contacts between the Ertebølle culture and the early Funnel Beaker culture (5500-3500 BC) on the one hand, and Neolithic cultures in various parts of Europe on the other hand. This will incorporate an analysis of all imported artefacts and also locally produced artefacts and structures with a form that suggests external influence. The results will subsequently be used for an investigation of a range of local factors -- such as regionality, social structures and communication structures - which are thought to be of significance for understanding the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. An analysis will also be carried out of the central European background of the Funnel Beaker culture. The results of these investigations will in conclusion be combined into a new theory concerning the introduction of agriculture in the Nordic region.

This book provides a detailed description of the three ancient temples unearthed between 1954-1961 near Barbar on the northern part of Bahrain island in the Persian Gulf. Two of the structures, from the centuries around 2000 BC, reveal traditions going back to Sumerian temples. A number of spectacular objects were found here, including cylindrical alabaster jars, a human-shaped copper mirror handle and the most famous object from the Barbar Temples, a bull's head of copper. Structurally, a chamber was found over a freshwater spring, indicating the presence of a water cult and perhaps forging a connection to Enki, the Mesopotamian god of the subterranean freshwater ocean, apsu. The temple-apsu is well known from cuneiform sources, but has been extremely difficult to identify in Mesopotamian excavations. The Barbar well chamber may be such an apsu, as the authors point out among their highly detailed descriptions and analysis of the finds.

Archaeological settlement studies are called diachronic when they deal with chronological development - local or regional - over time. The articles in this book remain within the Bronze Age for the most part, and cover periods that vary from a few hundred to thousands of years. The contributions represent three traditions in European diachronic settlement studies: a Northern, where posthole archaeology has become the norm; a Central European, dominated by other elements, including the crucial role of the Danube in the understanding of innovation; and a South European, dominated by massive, well preserved stone architecture. The aim of this European Science Foundation (ESF) workshop, from which these reports emanated, was to present studies from a wide range of European countries in order to illustrate the different scientific approaches to common problems. By doing this, the participants examined how different research traditions, administrative practices and financial restrictions influence archaeological practices. They then search for new common approaches. The collection of reports cover archaeological studies from Scandinavia, northern Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and England. This book will be valuable for archaeologists and students of archaeology, not only for the subject matter of each report but also for the theoretical discussions of research methods.

Raised to honour Maussolos, a Persian satrap of the 4th century BCE, the Maussolleion in Halikarnassos was renowned throughout the ancient world as one of its Seven Wonders. Pliny the Elder provided a useful description of it several centuries later, but another fourteen passed before the invention of moveable type made his observations available to a wider public. In Volume 5, Jeppesen tries to reconcile Pliny's account of the superstructure with recent archaeological finds. The passage in Pliny's Natural History has been corrupted by untold generations of copyists, and reconstructions have focused on producing a grammatically acceptable text, with little regard for consistency and sense. Jeppesen compares variant readings from the 58 known manuscripts and proposes a model that tallies with the new archaeological evidence. The volume concludes with a survey of the architectural fragments held by the British Museum and the Maussolleion Museum in Bodrum.

This volume is a study of selected ceramic finds from the Maussolleion site and the first major publication on Karian pottery since 1965. From a body of 120,000 items, the authors have emphasised in situ contexts related to the construction of the Maussolleion, and representative items from the large body of Hellenistic material.

This volume details Jan Zahle's investigations of subterranean structures close to the Maussolleion. Successive spoilations -- including Newton's -- have greatly muddled the archaeological record, and the Danish excavations uncovered evidence of another complication: plans for the site appear to have changed during construction, so what was originally intended as a modest extension of the existing structures evolves into a huge tomb on an immense terrace. Zahle's thorough sifting of evidence resolves many contradictions, though uncertainties still remain.

This work about the excavations in Illerup Adal in Eastern Jutland tells the story of the Scandinavian regions at the time when the Romans were guarding their boundaries towards the north. This is the story about the background and preconditions for the Viking campaigns of later times. Even though the Romans did not reach further north than Northern Germany in their attempts at colonisation, the Scandinavian region was in any case strongly influenced by Roman culture, but the absence of settlements means that there are no Roman baths, fortresses, villas or bridges to be found. We have to be content with Roman weapons, glass and pots and vessels. The archaeological finds from Illerup Adal tell the Scandinavian story, providing evidence about events that were not reported in writing as they happened. The story is revealed by large-scale sacrifices of weapons and army equipment from the first half millennium AD. A victorious defender of his native territory turned over the spoils of war in gratitude for the victory of the battlefield. the Illerup book describes 18 years of excavation in the peat-bog in Eastern Jutland and the equally extensive research which followed. Among the 15,000 excavated objects there are finds of the most advanced weapons of the time, namely the two-edged Roman sword. Exceptionally fine shields, painted red and with gold and silver mounts, show the status of prehistoric Scandinavian kings, and the Illerup find's 10 runic inscriptions tell of a Nordic society where some could read and write as a result of intensive and direct contact with the higher levels of contemporary Roman culture.

Luristan in Western Iran was largely inaccessible to foreigners until the early 1960s when a new road linking the Great Khorasan Road with Susiana or Elam was built by the Danish engineering firm, Kampsax. This volume presents the settlement and tombs and graves of the centuries around 1000 BC, and includes identifications of animal and human remains, and teeth found there.