Mesolithic Miscellany

December 2006 Editorial

Seasons Greetings and welcome back to Mesolithic Miscellany! At the last Mesolithic symposium in Belfast, September 2005, it was agreed in the plenary session that Mesolithic Miscellany should be started up again, and York volunteered to facilitate this. In this internet age, there is no longer any need for subscriptions and to post out MM, and instead we are making it available to download from the MM webpage:
http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/arch/Mesolithic/index.htm

Volume 18, Number 1

We have also scanned in all past copies of Mesolithic Miscellany (with thanks to Caroline Wickham-Jones for providing the copies, Kieron Niven and the Archaeology Data Service (ADS) for the work and storing the archive and the Department of Archaeology, University of York for funding the project). These are all available to download for free from the ADS site from a link on the MM website. In addition, the Mesolithic Miscellany webpage also contains information on Mesolithic conferences and projects around the world. We have only just begun to collate this information and if you have any further links please let us know. In this volume we have four articles on current fieldwork projects in various parts of Europe: Trou AlWesse, a cave site in Belgium; some Mesolithic discoveries near to Hopferau, Germany; further fieldwork at Vlasac in the Danube Gorges; further work at Zvejnieki, Latvia (the paper on Hopferau is also available in German on the MM website). In September a postgraduate conference was held at the University of York for Mesolithic students in Britain and Ireland and a brief report has been provided of the proceedings. We have also included information on some conferences to be held in 2007. In addition, we have a section which includes new publications and focuses on a number of books on the Mesolithic that have been published in the last couple of years. Please think about providing papers, comments on the articles published here, publication details, conference reports and news for the next volume details on the back page. And we hope you enjoy this one! Nicky Milner

Mesolithic ISSN 0259-3548 Miscellany 18.1

Trou AlWesse, Belgium

Rebecca Miller (University of Lige) and John Stewart (University College London, thejohnstewart@yahoo.co.uk). Project of the University of Lige. See http://www.paleolithics.com The stratified cave site of Trou Al'Wesse in Belgium has a long Pleistocene-Holocene sequence containing human occupations from the Mousterian, Aurignacian, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods (figure 1). It is one of the few remaining intact prehistoric sites in Belgium that can address long-term cultural and environmental change from approximately 60,000 to 5,000 years ago. Trou AlWesse is located on the right bank of the Hoyoux, a tributary originating on the Condroz Plateau draining into the Meuse River at the town of Huy. It has a large, relatively horizontal gallery extending around 35m to the back of the cave. The karstic system continues, but the corridors are filled with sediment and have not yet been explored. A 9m chimney, excavated in the 19th century and containing a collective Neolithic burial, opens onto the plateau above the site. Intact deFigure 1: cave of Trou AlWesse posits are present both on the terrace and inside the cave. Conditions at the site would have been favourable for human occupations. Open to the southwest, the large and deep cave is warmed by the afternoon sun. Fresh water would have been available from the Hoyoux; a wide range of subsistence resources would have been accessible in the valley as well as on the Condroz Plateau. The nearest sources of flint are on the Hesbaye Plateau in the Mehaigne Valley 15km north and on the Meuse terraces between Lige and Maastricht, some 40km distant. In 2003, the present project began with a hypothesis-based excavation and sampling program (Miller & Otte 2003; Miller et al. 2004, 2005). A long-term project has been developed to place the human occupations within a clear chronostratigraphic context and to study human adaptive strategies in the context of Pleistocene-Holocene climate and environmental change. So far the project has demonstrated that there is genuine stratified occupation from Early to Late Mesolithic and on into the Neolithic. Analyses have been conducted on the fauna, the sediments and on the lithic and ceramic artefacts to best elucidate the sites occupation, the available resources, the site formation processes and the surrounding evolving landscape. These analyses are currently being prepared for publication.
References: Miller R. & Otte M. 2003. Trou AlWesse: Rapport prliminaire des fouilles 2003, Notae Praehistoricae 23, p. 75-78. Miller R., Zwyns N. & Otte M. 2004. Le site du Trou AlWesse (commune de Modave): Campagne de fouilles 2004, Notae Praehistoricae 24: 109-116. Miller R., Zwyns N., Stewart J., Otte M. & Noiret P. 2005. La squence holocne du Trou Al'Wesse: gologie, archologie et environnement. Notae Praehistoricae 25:129-144.

Figure 2: Mesolithic stone tools from the cave

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Excavations near Hopferau in the vicinity of lake Hopfensee - a window into the past.
Dr. Stefanie Berg-Hobohm and Carmen Liebermann M.A. The new construction of a 13.5 km long section of the highway A7 between the Nesselwang-junction and the tunnel at the Austrian border near Fssen (figure 1) is planned to be completed in 2008. This section closes the last gap between the towns of Flensburg in the north and Fssen in the south of Germany. In the future this part of the A7 is supposed to relieve the villages north of Fssen of massive traffic rushes during the holidays. Because of the widespread resistance in the population against the construction, the realisation of this section, planned in the mid-1980s, was only possible in the Figure 1: location of highway construction last few years. In addition to the high demands on the project in a rich cultural landscape like the Allgu, extensive requirements for nature conservation have to be considered. The quarternary sediments on which the roadway was built were technically challenging. After a Mesolithic site was discovered between the villages of Hopferau and Hopfen am See, about 800m northwest of the lake Hopfensee (figure 2), the preservation or excavation of the archaeological site also had to be considered. The knowledge about this site and other Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites is owed to the activities of a resident family, amateurs strongly interested in the preservation of archaeological monuments. Due to pastural farming in the district of Ostallgu, the relief of the early Holocene surface is in general well preserved, but it is more difficult to detect archaeological sites. The Bayerisches Landesamt fr Denkmalpflege (the Bavarian heritage administrative body), conducted and financed surveys in 1989, 2002 and 2004 under the direction of B. Gehlen (University of Cologne), D. Rupprecht and technicians of the Landesamt. They proved the existence of a widespread Mesolithic site next to a Preboreal and Boreal bay of an early Holocene lake in the area of Fssen, ca. 4 m above todays lake Hopfensee, which formerly was part of the Fssener See. Excavations were absolutely necessary. Only just before the beginning of the construction-work, it was possible for the Landesamt to negotiate a modus procedendi with the government of the district of Schwaben and the Autobahndirektion Sdbayern (part of the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior, responsible for highways and bridges), which made the excavations feasible. The contract contained the embankment of a big part of the area to minimize the costs for the excavation. The embankment was built on a geotextile without removing the soil.
Figure 2: aerial photo, view to the south

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Figure 3: relief plan of the investigated area. Building work related to the highway is marked in black

The excavations took place between April and November 2005 and between May and September 2006. The area is 600m long and about 40m wide, but the investigations focused on a 300m long part (figure 3). An important result is the evidence that the concentrations of lithic artefacts were little disturbed during the past 10,000 years: there are indications of a great number of artefacts lying practically in the same position as at the time of their deposition during the Mesolithic. In agricultural contexts these concentrations would have been disturbed. Additionally the combination of early Holocene shorelines, the pollen record and the associated molluscs reveal the possibility to reconstruct the environment during the Mesolithic. The investigations of the early Holocene lakeshore of the so-called Fssener See delivered a complex insight into a strongly oscillating shore associated with Mesolithic and Mediaeval (e.g. wooden artefacts) finds. During 2005 and 2006 three test-pits of 35m2 were dug by a power shovel and 460m2 were excavated manually (figure 3). On mineral soils the surfaces were dug in 50cm squares and 5cm height or, if possible, following natural strata. Water-logged sediments were excavated in square metres following natural strata. The sediment was washed through sieves with 1.2 mm meshes. At the beginning of the campaign in 2005, 28 metre square test-pits were excavated along the middle of the line of construction. Subsequently, next to test-pits with a higher concentration of artefacts or with an interesting stratigraphy, the surfaces 1, 2 and 4 (figure 3) 95 m2 altogether were investigated. In 2006 the test excavation was done more systematically. A pattern of more than 200 test pits was planned which had to meet the archaeological as well as the financial and time demands. Areas which were already dug, which were disturbed (e.g. by building machines) or in which no archaeo-

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logical finds were expected, were not taken into consideration (figure 3). In addition to two concentrations of stone artefacts found in 2005, four more flint scatters were detected in 2006. Three of them were investigated more intensely in the areas 5, 6 and 7 (figure 3) - 61 m2 altogether. The artefacts were deposited in the humic sediment, concentrating at the top of the ground moraine building the bedrock. The finds are mostly lithic artefacts, about 9000 pieces, but also fragments of glass, brick, iron slag and calcinated bones were found. The microlithic implements are predominated by micropoints and isosceles triangles, but also trapezoids and triangular micropoints with convex, concave or straight bases occur (figure 4). From a typochronological point of view the site has to be dated to the Early Mesolithic period in general, Beuronien according to W. Taute (1973-74). The major part of lithic material is made up of angular debris, chips, flakes, blades, bladelets, trimming flakes, micro-burins and Figure 4: microlithic implements cores. According to this we can assume that the production of blanks and implements occurred on the site. Radiocarbon dates of charcoal found in area 1 unfortunately did not confirm the Mesolithic age of the site but delivered very young dates and indicate human activities during the Iron Age. To investigate the early Holocene lakeshore, surface 3 (56 m2) about 50m south of surfaces 1, 5 and 6 was excavated (figure 5) in 2005 and 2006. Here, the soil has built up on seachalk, which is subdivided by an organic layer on top of a gravely sediment (figure 6). To the north the upper part of the seachalk ends on a gravely layer with organic material on top of it which is reaching further to the north. The lower part of the seachalk had not been built in the northern part of surface 3. Only a few lithic artefacts were found in this area, but some of them were associated with the organic layer on top of the gravel. Palynologically this organic layer was dated to the Boreal. The precipitation of the seachalk begins in the Preboreal and ends during the Atlantic with at least one hiatus during the Boreal represented by the organic and gravely layer. The lithics cannot be dated clearly by typological or technological aspects, but they seem to fit into a Boreal Mesolithic. In the western part of area 3 (figure 5) the upper part of the seachalk was eroded and on a sandy-gravely sediment an organic silt had built up. The sediment was probably cut by a stream which had deposited organic material in the excavated area. After a period of

Figure 5: view to the north; the sieves are visible under the tent (left), area 3 (middle) and area 5 under the tent (upper middle).

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time the stream took another direction and the backwater silted up. Worked wood, mostly branches with cut marks, was also deposited by the stream (figure 7) and 14Cdates show that they are of medieval age. In a similar stratigraphic position horseshoes (figure 8), several nails, horse-teeth, a bone and an endscraper were also found. The pollen-analysis dates the sandy-gravelly layer and the organic silt to the Subatlantic. About 300m south of area 3, two test-pits, Bagger 1 and 2, were dug with a power shovel (figure 3). Here, the southern part of the early Holocene bay could also be investi- Figure 6: taking samples of section Geo 3; the lake sedigated. The sediment was removed in thin ments (seachalk) are visible, divided by an organic and layers and each time the surface was gravely layer. searched carefully but no anthropogenic feature or artifact could be found. The stratigraphy is in general comparable to the stratigraphy of surface 3: seachalk is lying on moraine sediment and is subdivided by organic layers. The sedimentation of seachalk is dated by pollen data to the Preboreal, Boreal and Atlantic. The open-air site near lake Hopfensee offers the rare possibility to link human impact and vegetational change since the early Holocene in the Alpine foreland. Final results referring to lithic artefacts, mollusks, pollen and dendrochronological data as well as radiocarbon dates are expected in 2007. Team Excavation supervision: Carmen Liebermann, M.A; Technical work and documentation: Jan Pauliny-Toth, ADV-Grabungstechnik, Bergham; Dendrochronology: F. Herzig, Bayerisches Landesamt fr Denkmalpflege; Pollen: Dr. D. Sudhaus, University of Freiburg i. Br; Radiocarbon dating: AMS-Laboratory, University of Erlangen; Pedology and geology: Dr. M. Hilgart, Solum GmnbH, Sinzing; Molluscs: Prof. Dr. L. Reisch, Institute of Prehistory, University of Erlangen. Reference W. Taute, Neue Forschungen zur Chronologie von Sptpalolithikum und Mesolithikum in Sddeutschland. Arch. Inf. 23, 197374, 59ff. B. Gehlen, Steinzeitliche Funde im stlichen Allgu. In: H. Kster, Vom Werden einer Kulturlandschaft. Vegetationsgeschichtliche Studien am Auerberg (Sdbayern). Acta humaniora 3 (Weinheim 1988) 195ff.

Figure 7 (left): Medieval branch with cut marks; Figure 8 (right) horseshoe

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New discoveries at the Mesolithic-Early Neolithic site of Vlasac: Preliminary notes

Duan Bori (db231@cam.ac.uk), Dept. of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, UK Research context The site of Vlasac in the Danube Gorges of the north-central Balkans is a well-known site of the phenomenon know as the Lepenski Vir culture since its discovery in the 1970s (e.g. Radovanovi 1996; Srejovi 1972; Whittle 1996). The site is located 3 km downstream from the eponymous site of Lepenski Vir. Vlasac was partially excavated in 1970-71 (Srejovi and Letica 1978), before the site was submerged by the Danube owing to the creation of an artificial lake for a hydroelectric dam. When the water of the river rose at the end of 1971 it covered the strip of land where Vlasac was located. During the two field seasons in the 1970s, almost 100 Mesolithic burials were discovered here along with the prototypes of Lepenski Vir trapezoidal buildings and rectangular stone-lined hearths. During the spring of 2006, a field crew directed by the author of this text and Dr Milo Jevti were surveying the hinterland areas of the Danube Gorges in present-day Serbia and on the first day of the field season made an important discovery by identifying preserved Mesolithic-Early Neolithic archaeological levels at the site of Vlasac. Before our survey, it was commonly believed that any preserved portions of the previously excavated sites on the Danube were unreachable and under water. After positively identifying archaeological levels at this site, the decision was made to excavate the most endangered portion, which is continuously being eroded away by the river. This major constraint relating to the extent of flooding also determined the most suitable season for our fieldwork. During March, April and part of May of 2006, melting snow and spring rains in the upper reaches of the Danube in central Europe brought exceptionally massive amounts of water into the Danube Gorges that could not be processed through the hydroelectric plant. This excess of water was let through the dam which consequently dropped the level of the river in the Danube Gorges during these months, and which enabled easy access to Vlasac. The preserved portion of the site most likely represents the edge of the original settlement that is located on a rather steep slope covered by deciduous forest. The current river section is continuously undercut by the oscillations of the Danube water levels and waves. The consequence of this process is the slumping of upper levels of the exposed section: undercut portions of the profile break under the weight of vegetation (figure 1). The site is well-defined between two stone ridges and the thickness of the current river section varies from 1 to 2 m. The thickest part of the section is centrally located around 100 m of the exposed profile. It is difficult at this stage to estimate the extent of archaeological deposits spreading into the sloping terrace and fur- Figure 1: View of the current river terrace at Vlasac, lookther research will address this question. ing upstream of the Danube (April 2006).

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There are preserved archaeological deposits also on the level of the beach in front of the section, which the Danube floods during the high water levels. Here, the upper sediments containing archaeological finds were previously eroded away and only patches of uneroded sediments with archaeological materials survive. At this level the first discoveries were made in 2006. Description sequences of the excavated archaeological

The first burial was found under a thin layer of beach pebbles in front of the eroded section of the current riverbank (figure 2). The burial was partially damaged by the river erosion which probably destroyed the skull and part of the upper right arm and both shoulders. The burial was lying on its back in an extended position parallel to the Danube, while its head was pointing downstream. This burial position is frequently found in the Danube Gorges, especially durFigure 2: Location of the first discovered burial ing the late phase of the Mesolithic (see Bori and Miracle 2004; Radovanovi 1996). The arms and hands were placed over the pelvis, while the legs were found tightly together possibly indicating some type of bonding or wrapping of the body prior to the burial. The burial seems to have been encased within a burial stone construction. Several neatly lined stones were found along its left side (one a red colour) and a large stone block was found over the legs of the deceased. More recent river erosion largely destroyed the stone construction along the right side of the body, closer to the river. There was also a small, worked reddish stone beneath the surface level exactly in the area where the head of the deceased used to be and it is possible that this stone was placed beneath the head (cf. similar instances from previous excavations at Vlasac, Burials 32, 33-34, 45, 28, 78a: Srejovi and Letica 1978: 54, 58, 62, 70-71). There were also at least 350 both pierced and unmodified pharyngeal teeth of Cyprinidae (carp species) in the burial. No other burial previously excavated in the Danube Gorges contained so many Cyprinidae teeth (cf. Boronean 1990), which may relate to varying levels of recovery techniques applied. It is likely that Cyprinidae teeth were sewn to some kind of dress that adorned the deceased along with a number of beads made of the marine species of snails Cyclope neritea, which came to the region from the Mediterranean or the Black Sea. While the pierced carp pharyngeal teeth are a local characteristic, this type of marine snail shell have been found across the Balkans since the Upper Palaeolithic (e.g. Maliina Stijena: Bogievi and Dimitrijevi 2004; Franchthi Cave: Cullen 1995:277; etc.), attesting to the established routes for the acquisition of exotic objects and communication between distant regions during the Mesolithic. Owing to our careful excavation of the uncovered burial at Vlasac, we were able for the first time to record in situ position of the beads that helps in reconstructing the way the adornment was placed in relation to the body. In addition, a flint artefact that was possibly functionally used as an arrowhead was found on the pubic bone, which may suggest a possible cause of death. This arrowhead was not embedded in the bone of the deceased, but could have stayed in the soft tissue of the body. No grave offerings were found in the burial. One charred seed of a Cornelian cherry Cornus mas was found in the pelvic area (cf. Burial 49: Srejovi and Letica 1978: 55). The burial has directly been dated, after the correc-

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tion of the freshwater reservoir effect (cf. Cook et al. 2002; Bori and Miracle 2004), in the range 6775 to 6470 cal BC at 95 per cent probability (OxA-16541). This date corresponds well with other dated burials from Vlasac (see Cook et al. 2002; Price and Bori forthcoming; cf. Bori and Miracle 2004), and indicates a Late Mesolithic use of the site as a burial ground. Another feature excavated at Vlasac in the course of 2006 field season, for the first time brings unique evidence for the reconstruction of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in the whole Figure 3: Cleared section of the eroded riverbank with a region and at Vlasac in particular. Some 20 visible dug-in feature, Vlasac. metres away from the previously described burial, a partly destroyed dug-in feature was recognised in the central, thickest part of the river section where the preserved deposits reached over 2m (figure 3). The excavation area opened in this part of the section was 7 by 5m. No sterile levels were reached in the course of 2006 season. A thin layer of vegetation humus covered archaeological levels beneath which was an archaeologically sterile layer of eroded scree of around 40cm in thickness. Beneath this level, the first archaeological materials were detected: an Early Neolithic level with typical Starevo type pottery and yellow white-spotted Balkan flint. This level contained the remains of a stone structure constructed in dry-wall technique, and a whole pot was discovered next to this construction (figure 4), suggesting the occupation level of the Early Neolithic dating. This stone construction was lying on top of large blocks regularly distributed close to the current section, while on top of these stone blocks a number of Early Neolithic pottery fragments and other materials were found. Further excavation revealed that these stones were covering a group burial location that contained seven consecutive inhumations one on top of the other. They were the remains of adults, children and neonates. No Early Neolithic pottery was found beneath this level of the stone construction put over the group burial. Stratigraphically, these two different contexts were clearly distinguished. Beneath large stone blocks that covered this burial location, there was a red deer skull with antlers and a disarticulated childs skull structurally deposited before the (ritual) closing of this location (Figure 5). One larger stone block was placed directly on top of the childs skull. A large, elongated, worked block of stone was found at the same level and might have been part of the burial furniture of the tomb. The infill of the burial consisted of dark soil from burning and decomposition of organic materials. A large number of disarticulated human bones along with some animal bones were irregularly deposited in the infill. Some of these bones were burned. There were also several finds of red and white limestone and Spondylus beads across the deposit (see below). The red deer skull was lying on top of a stone plaque that covered the pelvis of the latest articulated inhumation in this group burial. There is no doubt about the ritual Figure 4: Early Neolithic stone consignificance of this event: closing the burial location by placing a struction and a Starevo-type vessel
in situ, Vlasac.

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Figure 5 (left): Structured deposition of a red deers and a childs skulls in the upper part of the group burial, Vlasac. Figure 6 (right): Excavation Area 3 with the latest inhumation (U53) in the group burial at Vlasac.

red deer skull with antler on top of the sequence of burials, possibly relating to the idea of regeneration that the red deer antlers might have embodied. Similar examples of the association of red deer skulls with antlers and burials have been known from Lepenski Vir (e.g. Houses 61, 65, 21, 28, 26, burial pit with Burials 13-17, etc.: Srejovi 1972; Radovanovi 1996; Bori 2002, 2003), Vlasac (Burials 33-34: Srejovi and Letica 1978: 54-55) and Hajduka Vodenica (Jovanovi 1984:308; cf. Bori and Miracle 2004). The red deer skull from new excavations at Vlasac has directly been dated in the range 6006 to 5838 cal BC at 95 per cent probability (OxA-16544). This date provides a terminus ante quem for the group burial and a terminus post quem for the layer with Early Neolithic pottery. The skull of the latest inhumation (Unit 53), found beneath the red deer skull, was also directly covered with another stone plaque. The burial was lying parallel to the Danube but with its head pointing in the upstream direction, different from the first burial (figure 6). Burial U53 had no grave offerings. A disarticulated left human femur along with the left side of a pelvis were placed directly over this individual before the body was covered by the stone plaques as the distal end of the disarticulated femur was sticking out from beneath the stone plaque covering the pelvis of Burial U53. There were other disarticulated human bones in the burial infill too. This inhumation was partly lying directly on top of a layer of burned human remains. Bones varied from being carbonized (black) to calcined (white and blue-black), and were warped and cracked from the heat. This must have been an in situ cremation of burial remains possibly encountered while opening the burial location before the interment of this last individual. In situ burning of bones and soil might have been an act of intentional purifying of the burial ground. In south-east Europe, such inhumations are also known from the Mesolithic levels of Franchthi Cave in Greece (Cullen 1995). Beneath the level of burned (carbonized) bones, a complex burial sequence was encountered (figure 7). There was an older, articulated headless adult burial (Unit 63), lying directly beneath Burial U53. The orientation of U63 was parallel to the Danube but, opposite to Burial U53, the head pointed downstream. Two stone plaques covered lower parts of its left leg and feet. Pierced Cyprinidae teeth were found only around the neck, above both shoulders of this individual and beneath the left scapula, suggesting that these were attached to the hair or that the Cyprinidae teeth might have been part of a headdress (cf. Burial 45: Srejovi and Letica 1978: 58). Also, a very large Spondylus bead was found next to the neck of this individual among the concentration of Cyprinidae teeth. The burial is after the correction for the freshwater reservoir effect dated in the range 6232 to 6018 cal BC at 95 per cent probability (OxA-16542), which stratigraphically corresponds well with the dating of the

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10

Figure 7: Remains of an adult (U63), a partly burned child (U60), two neonates (U62 and U69) and disarticulated bones of earlier inhumations in the group burial at Vlasac.

red deer skull (OxA-16544, see above). On top of Burial U63 there were the remains of a partly burned headless child (Unit 50) placed in an extended position facing down, i.e. facing U63, on its chest. An in situ bracelet was found around the wrist of the left arm of this child. This child, Burial U60, as well as adult Burial U63 were partly disturbed by a later interment of two neonates (Units 62 and 69) placed one on top of the other in a small pit dug on the left side of Burial U63. They followed the same general orientation with their heads pointing in the downstream direction. There were a number of red and white limestone beads as well as Spondylus beads randomly found across the burial infill. These objects must have been disturbed from their primary position of adorning the deceased by these later interments that disturbed older burials. The later interment of neonates disturbed the left femur, pelvis and left forearm of Burial U63. All these disturbed bones were carefully kept in the burial area and were later put in the infill that covered the latest inhumation, Burial U53 (see above).

In the same way that the disturbed bones of Burial U63 were found in later Burial U53, various disarticulated cranial and postcranial bones of an older burial were found placed in the burial infill of U63. The undisturbed, articulated remains of this older burial (Unit 81) were found on the left side of U63. While the general direction and orientation of interment was consequently followed, there was a slight horizontal displacement of U63 in relation to U81. A left pelvis and left leg as well as part of right leg and feet were preserved in an undisturbed original position. There was also a stone construction next to the feet of this individual with a vertically placed stone plaque along the left side of the feet and distal tibia (figure 8). The body must have been tightly wrapped at the time of the interment as the ankles of this individual are touching. Feet were found in upright position, possibly suggesting the effect of the wall. At the level of this burial and beneath the level of Burial U63, there was a partly preserved stone construction (part of this construction was destroyed by the erosion of the river section) with large blocks of stone. Burial U63 was partly lying on these stones (cf. Burials 48 and 79, Srejovi and Letica 1978: 59, 64). One of these stones was an aniconic boulder, that was artificially shaped on one end. The boulder was facing down with the side on which there was a red slip. It resembles similar aniconic boulders largely encountered at Lepenski Vir but which were also found at Vlasac, and could be seen as a highly stylized anthropomorphic form. This is probably a secondary context of its deposition. The earliest inhumation (Unit 136) at this location was found at the level beneath Burial U81 slightly horizontally displaced, and it had the same orientation as the previously described burials. Only feet, right tibia and fibula and distal left tibia survive from this individual as a later pit, perhaps dug before the interment of the later Burial U81, largely disturbed this skeleton (see a similar instance from old excavations at Vlasac, Burials 11a-11b: Srejovi and Letica 1978: 69). The pit contained burned human and animal bones, and it seems that the burning of these remains took place in situ in a similar manner to the in situ burning before the later interment of the latest inhumation U53 (see above).

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11

Figure 8 (left) Lower level of the group burial with articulated bones of U81, largely damaged by later burials, Vlasac. Figure 9 (right): The rear area of a semi-subterranean dwelling structure found below the group burial

This is one of the several such in situ cremations encountered at Vlasac. Cremations have also been mentioned from the previous excavations of the site (e.g. Burials 35, 54a, 85, 86, 45a, 47a, 65a, 68, 58a and 11b: Srejovi and Letica 1978: 55, 57-59, 61, 64, 69). The place chosen for these interments was an abandoned (trapezoidal?) dwelling (figure 9). The earliest inhumation was buried above the previously abandoned dwelling structure, possibly consciously referring to the place of the abandoned dwelling (see Bori 2003 for the significance of social memory with regard to the spatial organization of architectural features and burials at Lepenski Vir). The erosion of the Danube largely destroyed the front part of this structure. Only the rear of the dwelling was preserved and was visible in the exposed section. The width of the rear area of the dwelling (narrow side of the trapeze) was 1.2m, corresponding well with the dimensions of several other trapezoidal dwellings uncovered at Vlasac during the previous excavations at the site, where the rear area of dwellings was 0.7 - 1.2m wide. These structures usually had their wider, front sides 2.5 to 4m wide, while the lateral sides of the trapezoidal structure were 3-3.5m long. The uncovered dwelling at Vlasac was dug into sediments with traces of earlier human habitation, which remain to be excavated in the next season. The dwelling had a levelled floor area with several larger blocks of construction stones at the floor level. The thin flooring was red-burned throughout and it possibly contained some limestone inclusions, which the micromorphological analyses should determine in more detail. There were no artefacts on the floor level and it seems that, upon abandonment, the floor was intentionally covered with a 10cm layer of hard-packed and largely sterile soil. The layer above this deposit contained a concentration of burned wooden poles and charcoal, possibly from the upper construction of the dwelling. A broken projectile point found in this association is dated in the range 6654 to 6484 cal BC at 95 per cent probability (OxA-16540) and likely represents the terminus ante quem for the occupation of the dwelling. Discussion of preliminary results While the re-emergence of the Mesolithic-Early Neolithic site of Vlasac has a great potential for future research it is possible already to provide some important insights into the question of MesolithicNeolithic interactions on the basis of our results from 2006. It should be emphasized that owing to our discovery Vlasac is presently the only site of the Lepenski Vir culture where one can still carry out revision investigations 35 years after the initial rescue work at this location. Our preliminary investigation in 2006 indicates that a substantial portion of the original site is preserved. The opportunity to uncover archaeological deposits at Vlasac enables one to put into perspective the results from old excavations, which to a large degree suffered from a recovery bias of a crude excavation methodology. Furthermore, the advances in archaeological methodology since the 1970s allow us to apply
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new analytical techniques, such as micromorphology and various archaeometric analyses to the excavated evidence. The precision of applied excavation methodology, including wet sieving and flotation, in the 2006 field season generated certain categories of small finds, such as limestone, shell and snail beads, which were possibly missed during the previous excavation at this site. One can now suggest a diachronic change in the use of these ornaments, such as the change from using exotic Cyclope neritea to using exotic Spondylus. Moreover, the characteristics of some features that we excavated at Vlasac in 2006 suggest that the surviving portion of the site, which represents the edge of the original settlement, contains levels that are contemporaneous with the phase of trapezoidal buildings at Lepenski Vir. This phase lasted from c. 6200 to 5900 cal BC (Bori and Dimitrijevi n.d.) and coincides with the beginnings of the Early Neolithic in the central Balkans, and it has not previously been detected at Vlasac. It is exactly this period that saw a major restructuring of the fisher-forager communities in the Danube Gorges and the arrival of new migrants into the region on the basis of strontium isotope analyses (Price and Bori forthcoming). Therefore the discovery of these levels at Vlasac is of immanent relevance for studying the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in this region. Here we found the best material with which to study the complexity of the transformational phase. The contemporaneity of the phase of trapezoidal buildings at Lepenski Vir and the newly discovered burial feature at Vlasac is suggested on the basis of the obtained radiocarbon dates for Burial U63 and the ritually deposited red deer skull that continuously cover the period from around 6200 to 5900 cal BC. Such dating supports our previous claim that the assumed river flooding in the period 6300-6950 cal BC associated with 8.2k BP event (Bonsall et al. 2002) probably did not have much impact on habitation patterns in the Danube Gorges and did not cause the abandonment of major sites, such as Vlasac (Bori and Miracle 2004). The burial location must have been in use intermittently from around 6500 or earlier. There is also a striking spatial pattern in recognizing an earlier abandoned dwelling, which along with the principle of verticality of burials may possibly suggest an emphasis on descent of a kin-based group that used this location (see Bori in press). Red and white limestone beads found in this group burial were previously found only in association with three burials at Lepenski Vir, one of which was associated with a trapezoidal building (Burials 54e, 87 and 46: Srejovi and Babovi 1983: 196-197). These finds suggest contemporaneity and interdependencies of occupations at Vlasac and Lepenski Vir throughout the terminal Mesolithic and Early Neolithic phases. In the newly discovered burials at Vlasac we found the earliest known examples of contacts, interactions and exchanges between Mesolithic foragers-fishers of the Danube and the first farming Early Neolithic groups: ornaments of Spondylus marine shell adorned the deceased, which were buried according to a typical Mesolithic burial rite and dated to the period 6200/6100 cal BC. The Spondylus is most likely to have been obtained through exchanges with Early Neolithic groups. This is possibly the earliest evidence for the establishment and spread of Neolithic Spondylus exchange networks in Europe. To date, the only finds of Spondylus in the Danube Gorges have come from Lepenski Vir, where a necklace of Spondylus beads was found in Cache 1, in a Starevo-type pot (Srejovi 1972: T. IX). Also, Early Neolithic pottery and Balkan white-spotted flint were found in the layer covering the burial tomb that we excavated at Vlasac. Early Neolithic pottery on top of this Mesolithic group burial suggests that there is no major chronological gap between the final act of closing this burial location and the appearance of major components of the Neolithic package at the site (but we still miss the presence of domesticates in these levels!). Together with the Early Neolithic site of Aria Babi, situated on the Koobrdo Hill above the type-site of Lepenski Vir and which we excavated during 2004 and 2005 field seasons (Bori and Starovi in press), Vlasac contributes in a major way to our understanding of dynamics of Meso-Neolithic transformations. This microregion continues to provide the best data for studying this process in the whole of south-east Europe.
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Notes
1. Since 2004, this field project entitled Prehistory of north-east Serbia has been made possible through the collaboration between the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge and the Department of Archaeology, Belgrade University. The project has been financially supported by the US National Science Foundation (grant number BCS-0442096), the British Academy (grant SG-40967 and SG-42170), the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research of the University of Cambridge and the Leverhulme Research Programme Changing Beliefs of the Human Body of the University of Cambridge. During 2006 field season at Vlasac, the crew consisted of following members: Dragana Filipovi, Vojislav Filipovi, Aleksandar Kapuran, Miroslav Koi, Nenad Lazarevi, Jugoslav Pendi, Marija Obradovi, Kristina Penezi, Andrej Starovi, Igor Starovi, Milena Vasi and Minja Zdravkovi. 2. AMS dates on two dated human burials with 15N values >+13 were corrected for the freshwater reservoir effect according to Method 2 as described by Cook et al. (2002: 82). All dates calibrated with OxCal v. 4.0 (Bronk Ramsey 1995, 2001).

Bogievi K. and V. Dimitrijevi, 2004. Quaternary fauna from Maliina stijena near Pljevlja (Monetenegro). Zbornik radova Odbora za kras i speleologiju SANU 8:119-131. Bonsall, C., M. Macklin, R. Payton and A. Boronean, 2002. Climate, floods and river gods: environmental change and the Meso-Neolithic transition in southeast Europe. Before Farming 3-4(2):1-15. Bori, D. 2002. Seasons, Life Cycles and Memory in the Danube Gorges, c. 10000-5500 BC Cal. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Cambridge, Cambridge. Bori, D. 2003. Deep time metaphor: mnemonic and apotropaic practices at Lepenski Vir. Journal of Social Archaeology 3(1):41-75. Bori, D. in press. The House between Grand Narratives and Microhistories. In Robin Beck (ed.) The Durable House: House Society Models in Archaeology. Carbondale: Center for Archaeological Investigation Press. Bori, D. and P. Miracle, 2004. Mesolithic and Neolithic (dis)continuities in the Danube Gorges: New AMS dates from Padina and Hajduka Vodenica (Serbia). Oxford Journal of Archaeology 23(4):341-371. Bori, D. and A. Starovi, in press. Arheoloka istraivanja lokaliteta Aria Babi u zaleu erdapa. Arheoloki pregled. Bori, Duan and Vesna Dimitrijevi, n.d. When did the Neolithic package arrive at Lepenski Vir? Radiometric and faunal evidence. Paper presented at the 13th Neolithic Seminar The Mesolithic and Neolithic Cultural and Populational Trajectories in Eurasia, Ljubljana, 10-12 November 2006. Boronean, V. 1990. Les enterrements de Schela Cladovei: nouvelles donnes. In P. Vermeersch and P. V. Van Peer (eds.) Contributions to the Mesolithic in Europe: pp. 121-125. Leuven: Leuven University Press. Bronk Ramsey, C. 1995. Radiocarbon calibration and analysis of stratigraphy: the OxCal Program Radiocarbon 37(2):425430. Bronk Ramsey, C. 2001. Development of the radiocarbon program OxCal. Radiocarbon 43 (2A):355 363. Cook, G., C. Bonsall, R. E. M. Hedges, K. McSweeney, V. Boronean, L. Bartosiewicz and P. B. Pettitt, 2002. Problems of dating human bones from the Iron Gates. Antiquity 76:77-85. Cullen, T. 1995. Mesolithic mortuary ritual at Franchthi Cave, Greece. Antiquity 69:270-289. Price, T. D. and D. Bori, forthcoming. Foragers and Farmers in the Danube Gorges: Mobility, Interaction, and Exchange. Antiquity. Radovanovi, I. 1996. The Iron Gates Mesolithic. Ann Arbor: International Monographs in Prehistory. Srejovi, D. 1972. Europes First Monumental Sculpture: New Discoveries at Lepenski Vir. London: Thames and Hudson. Srejovi, D. and Lj. Babovi, 1983. Umetnost Lepenskog Vira. Beograd: Jugoslavija. Srejovi, D. and Z. Letica, 1978. Vlasac. Mezolitsko naselje u Djerdapu (I arheologija). Beograd: Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti. Whittle, A. 1996. Europe in the Neolithic. The creation of new worlds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

References

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Research at Zvejnieki, northern Latvia. A preliminary report.

Lars Larsson (Lars.Larsson@ark.lu.se) Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Lund, SE-221 00 LUND, Sweden Background Lake Butnieki, located in northern Latvia, is one of the largest lakes in the country. That it attracted hunting-gathering people was evident as early as the mid of the 19th century. A site Zvejnieki situated at the eastern side of the lake close to the outlet of a small river was recognised in the late 19th century. However, in 1964 several graves were identified in a gravel pit and Dr. Francis Zagorskis conducted excavations of graves as well as occupation layers until 1978. More than 300 graves dated to the Mesolithic and Neolithic were excavated as well as large parts of a Mesolithic settlement and smaller parts of a Neolithic occupation layer. Dr. Zagorskis analyses of the graves showed clear chronological divisions of the graves into a number of groups. A detailed description of the graves and the interpretation of them was published in 1987 (Zagorskis 1987) a year after his death. His wife Dr. Ilga Zagorska continued his research, and co-operation with the author of this report from the mid-1990s led to a series of radiocarbon dates that confirmed the chronological divisions established by Dr. Zagorskis. At about 7500 BC the site was initiated as a burial ground and continue to be used until about 2600 BC. In the late 1990s, scholars from different sciences started a number of studies of the graves as well as field surveys in order to obtain information about the geological and palaeoecological situation. In 2006 the research conducted by seventeen scholars from seven countries was published (Larsson, L & Zagorska 2006, see also book section below). Another step in the research process was to translate Dr. Zagorskis work into English. That was achieved by the publication in 2004 (Zagorskis 2004). The next step was to conduct new surveys and excavations at the site as part of a joint Latvian-Swedish project. The intentions were to get a better insight into the relationships of the graves and the settlement sites, to widen the knowledge of settlement in the neighbourhood of Zvejnieki and to look for graves and excavate them with the aid of new techniques and new analyses. New excavations The fieldwork has been conducted for two seasons during 2005 and 2006. It includes further geological and palaeoecological surveys. Earlier research has shown that the lake had been about three times its present size, and the drumlin on which Zvejnieki is located was an island during most of the time it was settled. The Zvejnieki drumlin is one of at least three in close contact with the former lakeshore. The extended geological survey has been aimed at getting further information about the other drumlins as remains of settlements, Mesolithic as well as Neolithic, have already been proved. The archaeological survey included the drumlin closest to Zvejnieki that is located less than a kilometre to the north. The survey including test pits presented remains of settlement from the Mesolithic as well as the Neolithic. One of the most important advantages of the settlement at Zvejnieki is its long duration. The occupation is contemporaneous with the period during which graves were erected. The Mesolithic settlement covers an even longer time interval, as there are remains of occupation dating to the Pre-Boreal. So far no graves of this date have been found. The Middle Neolithic is also well represented in settlement remains as well by graves. The latter is also true for the Early Neolithic. However, no remains of settlement from this period have been found. The Early Neolithic in Latvia is defined in the earliest stage with pottery, a phase that in Scandinavia is equal to the Late

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Figure 1. Finds from pits at Zvejnieki. A: decorated bone, B. bone pendant and C: point fragment of a harpoon. Scale 2:1.

Mesolithic. In total, settlements from this period are rather few in Latvia and Estonia in relation to earlier and later evidence. In order to find the Early Neolithic settlement, excavations were conducted in an area situated between the excavated Mesolithic and Middle Neolithic occupations. However, the trench turned out to include a later part of the latter settlement. On the other side, geographically speaking, further surveys on the outskirts of the Zvejnieki site provided indications of a much larger Mesolithic settlement than expected. When graves were excavated during the 1960s and 1970s an area close to a farmhouse in the eastern part of the cemetery was not available to the archaeologists. Now, as the house is gradually becoming dilapidated, possibilities exist for excavating this area. Trenches immediately north and east of the farmhouse were opened. Human bones as well as fragments of decorated artefacts and pendants were found in the topsoil, indicating the destruction of graves when building the house or during gardening. According to the plans of the earlier excavation, a concentration of graves is evident around the house. Altogether five graves, most of them largely destroyed, have been identified east of the house. One grave turned out to include four individuals, three adults and a child, placed more or less on top of each other. Another badly damaged grave provided a date to the Neolithic according to the Latvian chronology. Within the trench north of the house several features such as pits and postholes were documented. However, no graves were found. The features are dated by finds from the Mesolithic period until recent times. The planned excavations will continue within the cemetery. The search for the Early Neolithic settlement is important, as well as excavations within the newly found area with Early Mesolithic settlement. Hopefully excavations will be directed at the other drumlin north of Zvejnieki with settlement remains. References
Larsson, L & Zagorska, I. (eds.) (2006) Back to the Origin. New research in the MesolithicNeolithic Zvejnieki cemetery and environment, northern Latvia. Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8o, No 52. 326 pp. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International. Zagorskis, F. (1987) Zvejnieku akmens laikmeta kapulauks. Riga. Zagorskis, F. (2004) Zvejnieki (NN Latvia) Stone Age Cemetery. BAR International Series 1292. Oxford.

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Gathering our thoughts: York 2006

Mesolithic Postgraduate Research Forum 29th-30th September Rachel Parks and Naomi Belshaw, University of York
Gathering our thoughts the first Mesolithic Postgraduate Research Forum was held at the Department of Archaeology, University of York, England. The aim of the meeting was to provide a relaxed atmosphere where postgraduates based in the UK and Ireland could meet each other and discuss their research and ideas. Twenty postgraduates attended with ten of the participants giving papers on their work, the titles of which are given below.

Rowan McLaughlin (Queens University Belfast), Diet in Mesolithic Europe: New evidence from dental microwear Eva Laurie (University of York),Cockle conversations: What can cockles tell us about the Mesolithic Neolithic transition in Denmark? Naomi Belshaw (University of York), Time and tide wait for no man: A critical examination of coastal site distribution in the Scottish Mesolithic and Neolithic Simon Fitch (Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity, University of Birmingham), Doggerland revisited new insights into the Mesolithic landscape of the North Sea Ann Hendry (Queen Mary College, University of London), Forest clearance at the Mesolithic Neolithic transition around the Irish Sea Basin Hannah Cobb (University of Manchester), Media for movement and making the world: Exploring materiality and identity in the Mesolithic of the Northern Irish Sea Basin Rachel Parks (University of York), Fishing and Fowling in Mesolithic Scotland Graham Ritchie (University of Edinburgh), The problem with lithics: Reconciling theory and practice in the investigation of microlithic technology Thomas Kador (University College Dublin), Going nowhere mobility beyond platitudes

Unfortunately, due to illness Erik Robinson (University of Sheffield) was unable to give his paper Hunter-fisher-gatherer resource territoriality, social mediation and agricultural transformations: The case of the Ernkynti institution. Erik Becker (University of York) very kindly stepped in at the last minute to provide a replacement presentation, Continuity and Change in Northeast Africa: A comparative study of Meso- and Neolithic human skeletal remains from the Sudanese part of the Eastern Sahara and the Sudanese Nile Valley. Based on the success of the York meeting the Mesolithic Postgraduate Research Forum is to become an annual event, rotating between institutions in the UK and Ireland. We would like to thank the Department of Archaeology, University of York for funding the meeting, the speakers for their papers, and to all the participants for their attendance and contribution to the discussion sessions.
Conference delegates. Photo courtesy of Adrian Evans

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Mesolithic news
The Northern Hunter Gatherer Discussion Group
The Northern Hunter-Gatherer discussion forum was begun in 2005 with the aim of providing a regular informal and relaxed forum in which new research and new theoretical perspectives on prehistoric hunter-gatherers can be discussed and debated. The forum is designed to promote discussion and to help develop and foster links between those whose research addresses prehistoric huntergatherers. The forum circulates around universities in the North of the UK, meeting roughly biannually, within university term time. Previous Speakers have included Chantal Conneller, Marek Zvelebil, Paul Pettit, Graeme Warren, Julian Thomas and Terry Hopkinson. FORTHCOMING EVENTS: February 28th 2007 University of Central Lancashire Speakers will include Penny Spikins, Peter Jordan and Anthony Sinclair If you would like to attend future meetings, be added to the email list, host a forum or give a paper at a future discussion forum please get in touch with the organisers at HGDiscussionForum@gmail.com For further information please see our website at http://hgdiscussionforum.googlepages.com/

New Books
Mesolithic Britain and Ireland. New approaches. Edited by Chantal Conneller and Graeme Warren. 2006. Stroud: Tempus publishing Ltd.224p, b/w pls and illus. ISBN 0752437348. Paperback The general perception of the archaeology of the Mesolithic in Britain and Ireland is that the period is somewhat impoverished. Often assumed to have an exceptionally limited range of evidence, the period is also perceived as a theoretical backwater, devoid of the vibrant, engaging narratives that have transformed other branches of prehistoric archaeology over the last 20 years. However, new approaches, producing a distinctive 'Mesolithic' archaeology, are beginning to supersede the traditional accounts and demonstrate that such assumptions about the Mesolithic are wholly misplaced. This volume, aimed at a broader archaeological readership, introduces this new generation of researchers and offers an urgently needed teaching resource for students who want a deeper understanding of the period. The book provides up-todate information on a variety of important topics: technology, gender, subsistence, analogy, ritual, landscape and death. Additionally, a range of important Mesolithic sites are discussed throughout the text, with new interpretations and theories being explored. Technology (Graeme Warren), Gender and personhood (Nyree Finlay), Subsistence (Nicky Milner), Analogy (Peter Warren), Ritual (Richard Chatterton), Landscape (Lesley McFadyen), Death (Chantal Conneller), Overview (Bill Finlayson)

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Mesolithic Studies at the beginning of the 21st century. Edited by Nicky Milner and Peter Woodman. 2005. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 224p, 86 b/w illus and pls Paperback, ISBN 184217200X 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.
Looking into the canon's mouth: Mesolithic studies in the 21st century (Nicky Milner and Peter Woodman); The Mesolithic of Cantabrian Spain: A critical review (Manuel R Gonzalez Morales and Miguel A Fano Martinez); Summer walkers? Mobility and the Mesolithic (Caroline Wickham-Jones); Moving beyond site: Mesolithic technology in the landscape (Chantal Conneller); Seasonal consumption practices in the Mesolithic: Economic, environmental, social or ritual? (Nicky Milner); Complex arguments... (Graeme Warren); Fuzzy horizons of change: Orientalism and the frontier model of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition (Duan Boric); Petso's field: Ethnoarchaeology and agency (Kathryn Fewster); It's too light to be right (Peter Woodman); All are not hunters that knap the stone a search for a woman's touch in Mesolithic stone tool production (Farina Sternke); Sex, gender and sexuality in the Mesolithic (Laura B Pugsley); Redefining social relations tradition, complementarity and internal tension (Liliana Janik); The emotional Mesolithic: Past and present ambiguities of Ofnet Cave (Daniela Hofmann); The long-forgotten melody? Music in the Mesolithic (Iain Morley).

Mesolithic on the Move: Papers presented at the Sixth International Conference on the Mesolithic in Europe, Stockholm 2000, edited by Lars Larsson, Hans Kindgren, Kjel Knutsson, David Leoffler and Agneta kerlund 2003. Oxford: Oxbow books, 750p, 575 b/w figs, Hardback, ISBN 1842170899 What do we know about the Mesolithic? What distinguishes the Mesolithic from earlier and later periods of human history? What do the Mesolithic cultures of Europe have in common, and what differentiates them from one another? This comprehensive volume contains 89 papers which attempt to answer the questions of the Mesolithic. The volume is divided into nine thematic sections: In territoriality, the authors discuss the diversity of settlement patterns, and acknowledge that the hunter-gatherer groups of Europe were as a rule increasingly mobile. In exchange, the evidence for trade in the Mesolithic period is discussed for the first time, and the authors consider the movement of objects such as axes, flint blades, and people, between central and northern Europe. In spatial organisation, the authors make an attempt to identify regional settlement patterns and settlement hierarchies. The relations between old and new settlements are also discussed in sections on colonisation and huntergatherers in transition. Other sections include papers on ritual, enculturation and social groups.

Back to the Origin. New research in the MesolithicNeolithic Zvejnieki cemetery and environment, northern Latvia. Edited by Lars Larsson & Ilga Zagorska. 2006. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International (Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8o, No 52.). 326 pp.

The publication includes articles by seventeen specialists from seven countries, illustrating the importance of the site and the potential for archaeological and palaeoenvironmental studies. Aspects of the environment and its changes during the long use of the site and the faunal remains are presented. The cemetery at Zvejnieki is excellent for both synchronic and diachronic analyses. The large number of skeletons provides an exceptional basis for studies of the characterisation of physical development, health profile changes, dental analysis, and isotope analysis and palaeodemographic statistics. The graves yield ample information about the mortuary practices concerning the treatment of the body at burial and grave goods of different materials. The finds and features are also excellent for comparative studies.
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All these perspectives are presented Mesolithic in this Lives collection in Scotland of articles. . Graeme Warren. 2005. Stroud: Tempus, 176p, 75 b/w Paperback, ISBN 0752434489. Scotland's mesolithic past is varied and complex, yet its stories are rarely told. This book seeks to redress some of this loss. Introducing a rich variety of evidence, from pollen analysis through to deliberate deposition of human bones, Graeme Warren's account focuses on understandings of landscape, skilled practices such as seafaring, scales of community, and the routines that constituted the fundamental rhythms of life. Other discussions include environmental and landscape change, appropriate scales and methods of analysis, and interpreting mesolithic stone tool manufacture.

Conferences
23rd - 25th February 2007 / Tbingen (Germany) 16th Meeting of the "Arbeitsgemeinschaft Mesolithikum" bgehlen.archgraph@t-online.de 10th - 15th April 2007 / Trento-Trient (Italy) 49. Hugo-Obermaier-Tagung on the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic of Central Europe http://www.uf.uni-erlangen.de/obermaier/hogtagungen.html 30/31th May - 01st June 2007 / Brussels (Belgium) Chronology and Evolution in the Mesolithic of N(W)-Europe http://www.mesolithicchronology.ugent.be/ 5th - 8th September /Lodz (Poland) Archaeological Invisibility and Forgotten Knowledge http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/events/conferences/invisibility/index.htm

Postgraduate courses
York University are offering some new Masters programmes in Prehistory, including MA Mesolithic Archaeology, MSc Coastal Prehistory, and MSc in Early Prehistory http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/arch/gsp/PGWelcome.htm

Contributing to the next volume

Mesolithic Miscellany can only operate successfully if you provide information on Mesolithic studies, so please think about contributing to the next edition (deadline 1st May 2007) any research reports, book reviews, conference summaries, radiocarbon dates, announcements, recent publications etc. Please send contributions to mesolithicmiscellany@googlemail.com If you want to be informed when the latest issue of MM is published just send an E-Mail with the topic subscribe to mesolithicmiscellany@googlemail.com and you will be informed by E-Mail. It's free of charge and when you do not want to receive the newsletter anymore just send unsubscribe to mesolithicmiscellany@googlemail.com.

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