Cattle management in an Iron Age/Roman settlement in the Netherlands: Archaeozoological and stable isotope analysis

Cattle were the predominant domestic animal in the Iron Age and Roman Netherlands, yet their management is still incompletely understood. Some aspects of cattle management, such as birth season and the provision of fodder, have received little or no attention so far. This paper is the first to investigate these aspects for the Iron Age and Roman Netherlands, through a case study of the site of Houten-Castellum. The rural settlement of Houten-Castellum was inhabited from the Middle Iron Age to the Middle Roman period, allowing a comparison between the Iron Age and Roman period. Excavations at this site have yielded a large, well-preserved animal bone assemblage. This paper investigates cattle husbandry by using an integrated approach, combining a multi-isotope analysis (oxygen, carbon and strontium) with archaeozoological and archaeobotanical results from Houten-Castellum and comparing the results with archaeobotanical evidence for fodder and evidence for dairy use for the Iron Age and Roman Netherlands in general. While our data set is small and results must therefore be interpreted cautiously, there is convincing evidence for an extended birth season in the Middle Iron Age, as well as the use of fodder.

Hot Stone Technology at Bucklers Park, Crowthorne, Berkshire: The Use and Re-use of a Persistent Place During the Bronze and Iron Ages

Archaeological investigations at Bucklers Park in Crowthorne have revealed a window onto a significant later prehistoric place, which was used and revisited over 1700 years between the Early Bronze Age and later Iron Age (c. 1800–100 bc). Activity on site was based around the heating of water using fire-heated flint, producing three mounds of fire-cracked flint and burnt organic material. These ‘burnt mounds’ are known across later prehistoric Britain and Ireland, but the ways they may have been formed are uncertain, and they are arguably under-discussed in southern Britain. Whilst water was initially drawn from a stream, a series of wells were established at the site between the Middle Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, one of which contained a well-preserved log ladder. These wells were revisited and recut over long periods of time and during the Middle Iron Age the site’s function shifted dramatically when a roundhouse was constructed. The long-term use of the site, its excellent organic preservation, dating, and its location in a remote area on the Bagshot Heath, make it significant. This paper summarises the findings from the excavations, discussing the formation of the site in the context of wider research on later prehistoric burnt mounds.

Fossilized fashion and social sparkle. Dutch Bronze Age bracelets in context

This contribution deals with the bronze bracelets found in the Netherlands that are datable between the Late Neolithic and the Middle Iron Age (n=176). We study their context (hoards, funerary contexts, settlements and stray finds), and we relate the specifics of their form and decoration to regional and supraregional traditions. First, we study their role as social signifiers (in reconstructions) of prehistoric identities across those scales, discussing how particular Bronze Age ‘costumes’ or ‘ornament sets’ may have been kept from graves and deposited in alternate ways. Then, we study later prehistoric arm-rings for their potential to indicate the scale, orientation and longevity of supraregional contact networks into which the later prehistoric communities of the Netherlands were integrated.

New AMS dates for the Middle Iron Age in the Mapungubwe landscape

Research in the Limpopo Valley has documented over 500 Middle Iron Age sites (AD 900–1320) relevant to the origins of Mapungubwe – the capital of the first indigenous state in southern Africa. Fifteen new accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates from 11 of these archaeological sites establish the boundaries of the ceramic facies that form the culture-history framework for such diverse topics as land use, ethnic stratification, population dynamics and rainfall fluctuations. Mapungubwe was abandoned at about AD 1320.

Middle Iron Age pottery production inside the boundary of the Kızılırmak. The pottery inventory of Uşaklı Höyük

This contribution concerns the preliminary analysis of the Middle Iron Age pottery assemblage from 2016-2017 Ușaklı Höyük excavation seasons. Given the lack of a coherent and regionally shared archaeological sequence, in particular for the first part of 1st mill. BC, the evidence from Ușaklı Höyük can represent a new connection point. The comparative approach with the main sites of the region and the type-variety system represent the methodological foundations of this study. On the basis of chrono-typological and contextual comparanda, the Middle Iron Age material culture of the site shares morphological and decorative elements with sites of the same period, confirming a general homogeneity. At the same time, some qualitative attributes suggest a peculiar trait, typical of Ușaklı Höyük pottery production.

Exploitation and Management of Animal Resources During the Middle Iron Age: Northern Limpopo Province, South Africa

This book offers a zooarchaeological study of Mapungubwe and Mutamba, two Middle Iron Age sites in northern South Africa. The author provides an interpretation of the economic and social role of animal resources within agro-pastoral societies by combining analysis of faunal remains with ethnozooarchaeological research conducted in a Venda village and comparison with other zooarchaeological studies of sites located in this region.

Ancient mitochondrial DNA connects house mice in the British Isles to trade across Europe over three millennia

Background The earliest records in Britain for the western European house mouse (Mus musculus domesticus) date from the Late Bronze Age. The arrival of this commensal species in Britain is thought to be related to human transport and trade with continental Europe. In order to study this arrival, we collected a total of 16 ancient mouse mandibulae from four early British archaeological sites, ranging from the Late Bronze Age to the Roman period. Results From these, we obtained ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) house mouse sequences from eight house mice from two of the sites dating from the Late Bronze to Middle Iron Age. We also obtained five ancient mtDNA wood mouse (Apodemus spp.) sequences from all four sites. The ancient house mouse sequences found in this study were from haplogroups E (N = 6) and D (N = 2). Modern British house mouse mtDNA sequences are primarily characterised by haplogroups E and F and, much less commonly, haplogroup D. Conclusions The presence of haplogroups D and E in our samples and the dating of the archaeological sites provide evidence of an early house mouse colonisation that may relate to Late Bronze Age/Iron Age trade and/or human expansion. Our results confirm the hypothesis, based on zooarchaeological evidence and modern mtDNA predictions, that house mice, with haplogroups D and E, were established in Britain by the Iron Age and, in the case of haplogroup E, possibly as early as the Late Bronze Age.

Recent discoveries on the Hellenistic and Parthian Occupation of Ulug-depe

This paper seeks to shed new light on the latest discovered Hellenistic and Parthian occupation period at Ulug-depe (South Turkmenistan). After its abandonment at the end of the Middle Iron Age period, the site was reoccupied during the late 1st millennium BC. Extended research led by the joint French-Turkmen Archaeological Expedition (MAFTur) has succeeded in unearthing this occupation in many places of the site and has studied a varied pottery assemblage.

Iron Age Settlements and Roman Roads: archaeological fieldwork along the Angelinos trunk water main in north Oxfordshire

Excavations along an 18.5km stretch of the Angelinos trunk water main in north Oxfordshire between Tackley and Milton uncovered a panoply of prehistoric to post-medieval remains. Residual sherds of Beaker pottery suggest Chalcolithic/early Bronze Age activity within the vicinity of the development, but most of the excavated features were middle Iron Age in date, comprising linear boundaries and probable enclosures. At least three areas of domestic occupation were recorded, ranging from a single structure to multiple pits associated with various linear features. A double burial, comprising an adult male and a child, dating to the middle Iron Age was also recorded. Roman remains were largely limited to a section dug through Akeman Street, which formed a key arterial route during the Roman period. Other Roman evidence includes a possible midden or manure spread, suggestive of nearby agricultural activity. Medieval and post-medieval features ranged from plough marks to probable quarry pits.