Editorial.

Editorial. As we review the question of deep time with the assistance ofleading scholars in the field, we also consider the question of enduringvalues. We write while accountants write off short-term expenditureagainst long-term balance sheets. We write as economic analysts try toassess whether short-term collapses of economic value on the stockexchange represent a long-term trend. And we write as the UK governmentannounces its comprehensive spending review, explicitly advertised as aninvestment in the long-term values of education. Yet is that samegovernment investing in the material culture of deep time? This is asociety where the legs of some British footballers earn more in a weekthan the British Museum British Museum,the national repository in London for treasures in science and art. Located in the Bloomsbury section of the city, it has departments of antiquities, prints and drawings, coins and medals, and ethnography. receives in a year to preserve objects ofenduring value. The achievements of a footballer--and memories of thoseachievements--are ephemeral. The working half-life of afootballer's femur femur(fē`mər): see leg. , even when expensively calibrated, is only 7.5years. The football stadium may survive, but it requires a chancegraffito at Pompeii to preserve the short-lived fame of a gladiator gladiator(Latin; swordsman)Professional combatant in ancient Rome who engaged in fights to the death as sport. Gladiators originally performed at Etruscan funerals, the intent being to give the dead man armed attendants in the next world. , thepre-industrial footballer. One can argue that tenuous fame is rewardedby monetary reward, but should the material achievement of humanity bemeasured in monetary terms? At the very least, the stadia of humanachievement and their associated material culture deserve proper financefor their preservation and understanding, even if the ephemeral actorsfade into distant memory in spite of all the best intentions of agencytheory. It is museums that are the guardians of the material culture ofdeep time. A negative trend appears to be affecting the investment inand integrity of these museums, not just in Britain, but on a widerinternational stage. Privatization privatization:see nationalization. privatizationTransfer of government services or assets to the private sector. State-owned assets may be sold to private owners, or statutory restrictions on competition between privately and publicly owned and political manipulation areaffecting museums in France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Spain and theUnited States United States,officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Each of these contexts has a particular history whichprovides a different nuance, but there is a common tendency tounder-value the continuity of the history and encompassing expertisethat is intrinsic in each collection. Although we interviewed thestrikers on the steps of the Musee de l'Homme in December 2001, wecan report with greater knowledge about the situation in the BritishMuseum. The British Museum has been much in the news of late. We reportedoptimistically on the opening of the new Great Court in March 2001, anddescribed the plans that the museum was developing for its next phase ofdevelopments. These have been all but abandoned in a wave of financialproblems, further exacerbated by the foot-and-mouth epidemic and 11September. The finances were looking poor after the massive fundraisingefforts of previous years to complete the impressive structure of themuseum's Great Court (100 million [pounds sterling]), withoutadditional support of running costs running costsnpl [of business] → gastos mpl corrientes[of car] → gastos mpl de mantenimientorunning costsnpl [of business . The present government in Britainhave turned their attention away from the core institutions of nationalmuseums, major universities, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Covent Garden(kŭv`ənt), area in London historically containing the city's principal fruit and garden market and the Royal Opera House. , andthe like--in spite of protestations to the contrary--and instead havebecome blinkered blink��ered?adj.Subjective and limited, as in viewpoint or perception: "The characters have a blinkered view and, misinterpreting what they see, sometimes take totally inexpedient action" by laudable ideals of only partly financed access andregional regeneration. The core grant to the British Museum has been onthe decline for several years now, with the expectation that additionalrevenue could be raised through increased tourism and clever management.The instant decline in tourism in September must be one factor, butthere are of course others that have led a major institution to thebrink of despair. Before the removal of the British Library British Library,national library of Great Britain, located in London. Long a part of the British Museum, the library collection originated in 1753 when the government purchased the Harleian Library, the library of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, and groups of manuscripts. from thecore of the British Museum, and in the long-forgotten days of adequategovernment spending Government spending or government expenditure consists of government purchases, which can be financed by seigniorage, taxes, or government borrowing. It is considered to be one of the major components of gross domestic product. , these institutions were funded directly from theTreasury, and they were run on Civil Service lines, receiving grant, andspending it. The good old days of the British Museum seem to have been in thelate 1960s and 1970s when there was considerable expansion andimprovement. At that stage, as the pages of ANTIQUITY record (1954:132-42; 1962: 248-51), there was sufficient confidence and growth toseparate all-embracing departments into smaller, specialized units. Thisreflected the emerging professionalization pro��fes��sion��al��ize?tr.v. pro��fes��sion��al��ized, pro��fes��sion��al��iz��ing, pro��fes��sion��al��iz��esTo make professional.pro��fes of archaeology and allowgreater specialization and expansion, as was the case for the formerDepartment of British Antiquities, which was divided into the Departmentof Prehistoric and Romano-British Antiquities and the Department ofMedieval and later Antiquities. The former contained over 3 millionitems of material spanning from Olduvai to the late Roman Mildenhalltreasure The Mildenhall Treasure is a major hoard of thirty-three Roman silver objects found in the Mildenhall area of the English county of Suffolk. The hoard was discovered in January 1942 by a Suffolk ploughman, Gordon Butcher, who removed it from the ground with help from Sydney Ford. , and the latter encompassed Britain and Europe from the end ofthe Late Antique to the modern period with a smaller, but equallyimpressive, range of material. And so for 35 years or so the situationhas happily continued. Now, though, the museum is short of money, at least 3 million[pounds sterling] each year, and must again for the third time in onlyfour years cut out more jobs and specialists in an effort to reduce thesize of the budget. The workforce must be reduced by 15%, and wholeareas of expertise are to be lost, especially in Scientific Research andConservation. This now large department has confidently been called theleading laboratory of its kind in the world, and will not again be ableto perform the research and work it did in the past. Further economiesdemand that the history of emerging archaeological identity is reversedand that the Prehistory prehistory,period of human evolution before writing was invented and records kept. The term was coined by Daniel Wilson in 1851. It is followed by protohistory, the period for which we have some records but must still rely largely on archaeological evidence to and Medieval/Modern departments are once againmerged, simply to save the cost of a few salaries. Worse still, perhaps,is the collapse of the plans for the `Study Centre', which was tore-house the homeless departments of Prehistory and Early Europe andEthnography, as well as a number of others housed in inappropriatebuildings. The empty post-office building planned as the Study Centremust now be sold, and all the respective departments, merged orunmerged, must be crammed back into the ever-filling space of theMuseum. The staff have been understandably infuriated in��fu��ri��ate?tr.v. in��fu��ri��at��ed, in��fu��ri��at��ing, in��fu��ri��atesTo make furious; enrage.adj. ArchaicFurious. by thesedevelopments, which in part are caused from outside, but also by thelast decade of museum management. Fury led to a one-day strike in June,which forced the museum, reaching its 250th anniversary next year, tomake an unscheduled closure for the first time in its history! Not allis yet clear on who or what will sort out the museum's profoundfinancial and, indeed, political problems, but the arrival on 1 Augustof a new Director, Dr Neff MacGregor, formerly Director of the NationalGallery in London, offers new hope. We have been fortunate, as part of our five-year service toANTIQUITY, to attend regularly a series of international conferences,primarily in the English-speaking world. It is, we think, appropriate toask in our penultimate editorial what is the nature of the enduringvalue of such conferences and how their cultures vary. The conference is a favourite venue of the archaeologist. Fromsmall intimate meetings on familiar themes and exclusive research, tothe international jamborees where all are out to perform and be seen,the opportunity to confer and socialize so��cial��ize?v. so��cial��ized, so��cial��iz��ing, so��cial��iz��esv.tr.1. To place under government or group ownership or control.2. To make fit for companionship with others; make sociable. at conferences has become thelifeblood for much of our discipline. It is primarily for theconstruction, reconstruction and reformulation of networks of knowledgethat conferences exist. This is where scholars meet, discuss andgenerate new ideas and theories. To what extent all archaeologicalconferences actually fulfil these functions is often a moot point moot pointn. 1) a legal question which no court has decided, so it is still debatable or unsettled. 2) an issue only of academic interest. (See: moot) . Someconferences are specialized and loaded in difficult language, so thatnot all participate as readily as might be hoped. Over recent months wehave attended a number of conferences, and are beginning to feel acertain veteran conceit about how and what these events manage to do,and whether or not they succeed. Some mega-jamborees--and here we shouldmention the national shows such as the Society for AmericanArchaeology--have many values attached. But the overwhelming feeling isthat they are out to cover their costs and a great deal more. Evenparticipation in a session can cost $100 before registration, thepapers, the coffee, the accommodation, the food or the travel to getthere. The quest, indeed the thrust, for money is overwhelming, andthere is a definite sense that the enterprise is for no other reasonthan providing a costly platform for speakers--vain or otherwise--andmaking a profit, particularly for the convention hotel. At a lesser extreme, the recent experience of the UISPP UISPP Union Internationale des Sciences Pr��historiques et Protohistoriques (French: International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences )conferenceat Liege liegeIn European feudal society, an unconditional bond between a man and his overlord. Thus, if a tenant held estates from various overlords, his obligations to his liege lord, to whom he had paid “liege homage,” were greater than his obligations to the other , one of a long succession of European-based conferences ofworld archaeology, is that host countries and cities aim to promotethemselves through a mixture of nationalism and generous social events.Much depends on the host for how much hospitality is offered--in Italyit is sumptuous, with local producers providing tastings and plenty ofwine and food. Northern Europe is typically rather less abundant, whereone glass of Pomagne must last an evening and the organizers shut upshop early. At these events, much also depends on who is organizing andwhat their personal interests are. At both the UISPP conferences inrecent years--Forli and Liege--the organizers were unrepentantly pushingtheir interest, Palaeolithic archaeology, when at least half theparticipants would be expected to have interests elsewhere in pre- andprotohistory pro��to��his��to��ry?n.The study of a culture just before the time of its earliest recorded history.pro . The result in Liege was that there were few sessions onanything later than the Ice Age and these were poorly attended, perhapsbecause many of the grants to support attendance seemed to have assistedonly Palaeolithic archaeologists. Another, more successful Europeanconference is the now annual European Association of Archaeologistswhich, as its title suggests, promotes the people as much as thediscipline. A key strength of this conference is the pursuit of leadingcross-cutting themes rather than extensions of the Three Age System andother chronological and regional divides. These are growing events,usually approaching 1000 participants, and have a lively and generallyuseful programme of sessions, posters and parties. The TheoreticalArchaeology Group or TAG is now a vintage affair, moving to a differentplace in the British Isles British Isles:see Great Britain; Ireland. , and beyond, on an annual basis. Last year itmet in Dublin, where its stoutly youthful participation was again wellrepresented. Pretty well any subject, provided it is avant garde andpretends towards the new and probably theoretical is accepted. TAGprovides the important stage from which new and youthful performers canbe seen and assessed. Fortunately, little that is presented at TAG ispublished as it stands, and usually only a few sessions get printed asthe edited volumes that aspiring thinkers take credit for. The mostenjoyable conference we have attended is almost certainly the Cape Town Cape Townor Capetown,city (1991 pop. 854,616), legislative capital of South Africa and capital of Western Cape, a port on the Atlantic Ocean. It was the capital of Cape Province before that province's subdivision in 1994. World Archaeological Congress The World Archaeological Congress (WAC) is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization which promotes world archaeology.Established in 1986, WAC holds an international Congress every four years to promote the exchange of results from archaeological research; professional , where the political context ofreconciliation was combined with a strongly thematic approach, leadingto enthusiasm and innovation in ideas and new networks of knowledge.Such a conference restores faith in value of the large-scale occasion.These are conferences on the global scale of ANTIQUITY. Yet we are tempted to say that perhaps far more useful are thefocused and professional conferences that we are all more familiarwith--those organized by period and regional societies, universities andlearned associations, that allow updating of views, airing of new data,discussion and debate, and papers are more carefully selected throughinvitation. From our experience these smaller, shorter events areinfinitely more enjoyable where information passes between us, and weupdate and expand our ideas. However, in some ways the smaller scale ofthese conferences is also a measure of a trend among archaeologists tobe more comfortable with their narrower, dare we say more myopic my��o��pi��a?n.1. A visual defect in which distant objects appear blurred because their images are focused in front of the retina rather than on it; nearsightedness. Also called short sight.2. ,interests. The spirit and intention of ANTIQUITY is to lift us abovethese narrow interests and yet many archaeologists feel more comfortablein zones of detailed knowledge. Last year, an excellent conference washosted by the Prehistoric Society in Belfast on Neolithic settlement, atwhich all Neolithic specialists gained in their knowledge. There weresimilar conferences at the British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established by Royal Charter in 1902, and is a fellowship of more than 800 scholars. The Academy is self-governing and independent. on Mediterranean urbanizationand at the University of East Anglia “UEA” redirects here. For other uses, see UEA (disambiguation).Academically, it is one of the most successful universities founded in the 1960s, consistently ranking amongst Britain's top higher education institutions; 19th in the Sunday Times University League Table 2006 on Celtic art Celtic art(kĕl`tĭk, sĕl`–). The earliest clearly Celtic style in art was developed in S Germany and E France by tribal artisans of the mid- to late 5th cent. B.C. . The intent withthese sorts of meetings is that they present new stuff, and plan todisseminate material and ideas properly. They do not simply offer asoapbox for the aspiring and confident, regardless of whether what issaid is worth the time and space. As editors we have tried to disguiseour narrower academic interests in editing these pages, but like many ofour colleagues we reveal these core interests in declaring theconferences we have attended. Regardless of the event or its theme, archaeological conferencesoffer a range of species in terms of personalities and presentations.Like Glyn Daniel Glyn Edmund Daniel (23 April, 1914–13 December, 1986) was a British archaeologist who specialised in the European Neolithic and made some of the earliest efforts to popularise the subject on radio and television. in an Editorial in 1962 on the Rome UISPP, we too feelthat many lessons of presentation are still not learnt by would-bespeakers. Glyn commented on `the bad standard of lecturing by thecongressistes' and noted the simple rules as `audibility, brevity,economy, control and modesty' for which he gave some helpfuladvice. Forty years on, many still need to heed it, although perhaps itshould be said that some of our number are wonderful communicators whocan capture in a few sentences complex and evocative ideas. For most,though, the performance at a conference demands the rapid reading of along, detailed, and utterly lifeless text, full of references to the`statement above' etc., with incomprehensible and over-numerousdiagrams and photographs. Many such lecturers read their paper, often atbreakneck break��neck?adj.1. Dangerously fast: a breakneck pace.2. Likely to cause an accident: a breakneck curve. speed--some Latins are renowned for this--and eye-contact,humour and humanity are frequently lacking. For so many, the brief 15minutes on the stage, paid for by hard-earned grants, the long-distancetravel, the unfamiliar language and the overwhelming sense of importanceat the occasion too often ends in a total flop. But curiously, thespeakers seem unabashed by this, and continue long after the end oftheir allotted time, making sure that they make a mark on their audiencesomehow or other. In these clays of improving computer graphics, digitalpresentations and projectors, presentations may be worlds away from theold slides and screens and failing microphones. Indeed, there is noexcuse now for sloppy material or poor presentation, especially as moreand more research students gain immense experience during their graduateseminars. How can we best categorize the presenters? As a visualintroduction, we recommend the cartoons of Bill Tidy Bill Tidy MBE (October 9 1933--) is a British cartoonist, known chiefly for his comic strips: The Fosdyke Saga (Daily Mirror) The Cloggies (Private Eye) Grimbledon Down (New Scientist) Dr. , the ANTIQUITYcartoonist, which illustrate the CBA See Capital Builder Account. practical handbook Talkingarchaeology (Adkins & Adkins 1990). We offer our less visualtypology typology/ty��pol��o��gy/ (ti-pol��ah-je) the study of types; the science of classifying, as bacteria according to type. typologythe study of types; the science of classifying, as bacteria according to type. : 1 The Conference Clown--cracking jokes, funny photographs, cleverasides, possibly rather superficial, but a vital light spot in theprogramme. 2 The new Einstein--who very seriously presents his/her extremelyimportant ideas by saying they are `important'. The audience areprivileged to hear it. Sometime, the self-`importance' iseffective, and Einstein deceives the audience. 3 The Serious--nervous presenter reads rapidly from the overlong o��ver��long?adj.Excessively long: an overlong play.adv.For too long: talked overlong.text, never looking up to check if the slides are in sequence or theaudience is asleep. Often presenting as a foreign language, soincomprehensible to audience. 4 The Very Important Speaker who expects to impress--uses a verylong clever title, and a style of deliberate, patronizing, pompousdelivery--very often using rather old, unoriginal data from theiroriginal thesis! 5 The Enthusiast--rattles off the discovery--ideas--captivates andoften loses the audience but is forgiven. Usually overruns and has toomany illustrations. 6 The Professional--gauges the audience, and presents accordingly,eye-contact, humour, and interest, on time and to theme! And of course there are more, but these are the ones that stick inour mind. Oh, so often the irritating characteristics of too much, too long,too dull and too self-important are repeated at every conference weattend. As we demand in ANTIQUITY of our writers, so too should speakerstake note--space (or time) is precious and good ideas and wonderfulmaterial should be packaged accordingly, so that everyone can benefitfrom them. One aspect of the conference circuit is the attached travel plan,allowing us to maintain the broad cultural knowledge required of aneditor of ANTIQUITY. We confess that our visit to Cape Town led us asmuch to the wine farms of Stellenbosch as to more ancient archaeologicalexhibits. We have, though, reached the Far East, the Middle East, theAmericas and continental Europe. Our recent visit to the Denver SAA (Systems Application Architecture) A set of interfaces designed to cross all IBM platforms from PC to mainframe. Introduced by IBM in 1987, SAA includes the Common User Access (CUA), the Common Programming Interface for Communications (CPI-C) and Common Communications tookus on to the Maya Lowlands where Dr Peter Schmidt gave us a detailedtour of his excavations of Chichen Itza Chi��ch��n It��z��?An ancient Mayan city of central Yucat��n in Mexico. It was founded c. a.d.514 and abandoned in 1194. There are extensive well-preserved ruins on the site. and Prof. Maureen Carpenter wasequally generous with her time at Palenque(http://www.mesoweb.com/palenque/dig/ update.html). At the Esslingen EAAwe revisited the Heuneburg, now partly reconstructed, albeit shrouded inthick mist, and examined the Hochdorf, both through its finds, itslocation and, only from the outside, its post-modern museum. Much to ourregret and no doubt to the disgust of the previous editor we neverventured into Oceania, in spite of the attraction of deep dream time andmore than one archaeologist who values the spirit of Celticity. In spiteof the evident gaps, these occasions have combined the best ofarchaeology: networking and enhanced knowledge of the landscapes, sitesand material culture, guided by experts and viewed at first hand. In some cases, the best museum for material culture is the grounditself. An unusual case has arisen in the proposed re-excavation of theVilla of the Papyri in Herculaneum. Archaeologists are arguing thatconservation is key and that an unprincipled search for lost literaryworks should not be the primary aim of archaeological research, in muchthe same way as classical topography is no substitute for landscapearchaeology. In spite of archaeological objections it appears thatexcavation will go ahead, at a cost of 3 million [pounds sterling] andover two years, using tunnelling techniques to get round the problemthat more recent buildings overlie o��ver��lie?tr.v. o��ver��lay , o��ver��lain , o��ver��ly��ing, o��ver��lies1. To lie over or on.2. To suffocate (a baby, for example) by accidentally lying on top of it. this site, includingHerculaneum's modern town hall. An even more unusual example ofunusual preservation is the recently discovered prehistoric village nearNola, not far from Pompeii. The need for excavation here is, though,uncontroversial, in advance of the construction of a supermarket. Thevillage was preserved by an eruption in the early 2nd millennium BC,encompassing details such as animal footprints, aborted human foetusesand an enclosure of pregnant goats. We hope to report on this site, inone of our final colour notes in December. Another illustration of threat to enduring values is the decisionby the new government of Portugal The Government is one of the four sovereignty organs of the Portuguese Republic. It is also the organ that conducts politics in general in the country and is also the superior body in public administration. on 6 May to merge the administrationof the archaeological heritage back under centralized control of amega-institute. Some measure of the value of the independentadministration of the heritage can be see through the Institute'sweb site (http://www.ipa.min-cultura.pt/). During a mere five years ofenergetic existence, the institute has pushed forward work on manythemes including underwater archaeology, rock art (including the CoaValley park) and has/had plans for scientific research. Dynamic changesin legislation had been based on a group of young archaeologistsradically enhancing approaches to archaeology in Portugal. We urge thenew government of Portugal to maintain the momentum of archaeologicalresearch by retaining the independence of the institute. In the current issue we have, as usual, a rich range ofgeographically and chronologically diverse articles. We would, though,like to draw attention to the enduring value of even the most recentarchaeological material, as represented by articles on military aircraftcrashes by VINCE VINCE Vendor Independent Network Control Entity HOLYOAK and the Cold War (linked to a review of JohnSchofield's book on 20th-century war in the review section) byNICHOLAS JAMES. The special section on Scotland demonstrates thevibrancy of cultural research in a country given greater independence bydevolution. We would equally like to point to the enduring value of theReviews Section under a Reviews Editor whose period of office willcontinue one year longer than ourselves. ANTIQUITY reviews have areputation of controversy, maintaining an independence that even allowsthe current editor to be criticised! In the third of our invited analyses of key thresholds in humandevelopment we present three opinions by leading scholars. It is atribute to the scholars of the deep time of humanity that its artisticmerit has even reached the pages of the art magazine Apollo, albeitplaced there by a classical archaeologist (Spivey 2001). We claim nospecialist knowledge of this period, even if we have recovered the oddhandaxe on our projects, but respect its globality, the deep ancestrythat it represents and the paradox that 10 minutes of action can berefitted whilst remaining vague about the bracket of 10,000 years BP inwhich that action belongs. We are thus typical of the archaeologistscharacterized by the first contribution printed here. That first opinionis by CLWE GAMBLE (Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins,Southampton University, csg@soton.ac.uk) whose career has combined someof the leading scholarly syntheses of the Palaeolithic with intelligent,informed and interesting popular presentations. His presentation ofWhere we come from on UK television's Channel 5 is one of the bestrenditions of deep time (and the ethnographic present) that we haveseen. Clive has entitled his essay, which covers the changes over thelast 75 years, `Unwrapping the Palaeolithic'. `Can I recognise the Palaeolithic of 75 years ago? Barely, eventhough the name is the same. At a field level excavations were verysmall and conducted with a shovel, while many finds depended on thesharp eyes of gravel diggers Diggers,members of a small English religio-economic movement (fl. 1649–50), so called because they attempted to dig (i.e., cultivate) the wastelands. They were an offshoot of the more important group of Puritan extremists known as the Levelers. . Caves were emptied by the cubic metre inshort seasons and their contents scattered around the museums of theworld. Nothing was plotted; fauna provided a date not a diet;quantification barely existed and taphonomy ta��phon��o��my?n.1. The study of the conditions and processes by which organisms become fossilized.2. The conditions and processes of fossilization. wasn't even a gleam inthe eye of a hyena. At a regional level it is difficult to finddistribution maps which show the cultural geography of the Palaeolithic.The idea that sites were linked in a settlement system wouldn'thave impressed anyone just as lithic lith��ic?1?adj.Consisting of or relating to stone or rock.Adj. 1. lithic - of or containing lithium2. lithic - relating to or composed of stone; "lithic sandstone" raw materials remained un-sourced.Globally, and the Palaeolithic is the only global archaeological period,there were more blanks, such as Australia, than dots, such as Europe. Insouthern Africa the first Australopithecine aus��tra��lo��pith��e��cine?n.Any of several extinct humanlike primates of the genus Australopithecus, known chiefly from Pleistocene fossil remains found in southern and eastern Africa.adj. had been named at Taung butsidelined by Sussex's joker at Piltdown. Louis Leakey had yet tovisit Olduvai let alone find anything significant. Asia, thanks toDavidson Black's advocacy of Tibet as a centre of speciation speciationFormation of new and distinct species, whereby a single evolutionary line splits into two or more genetically independent ones. One of the fundamental processes of evolution, speciation may occur in many ways. , wasthe front-runner for the human origins cradle. In Europe, the gamekeeperof the Mesolithic, Grahame Clark, had yet to shoot his first stag. Morepositively, Dorothy Garrod was about to commence work at Mount Carmel.At the same time, the discovery at Folsom in New Mexico of bison bonesand a fluted point ended one controversy, but started another over thetrue age of human settlement in the Western Hemisphere. A hare whichonce started has proved to have more legs than a centipede centipede,common name for members of a single class, Chilopoda, of the phylum Arthropoda. Centipedes are the most familiar of the myriapodous arthropods, which consist of five groups of arthropods that had a separate origin from other arthropods. . But, to capit all, 1927 saw the re-issue in his collected short stories of H.G.Wells' classic, The Grisly Folk; the ultimate downer on anyPalaeolithic aspirations to be treated as human. `What has survived from this barely recognizable time are deMortillet's units of European culture history, which include theMagdalenian, Solutrean, and Mousterian, and the stone age cultures namedin 1929 by Goodwin and van Riet Lowe for South Africa. Fieldwork inFrance fleshed out the older European names, as with Capitan &Peyrony's monograph in 1928 on La Madeleine, while theindefatigable Abbe Breuil, having won the battle of the Aurignacian,continued to add to the corpus of cave art. Les Combarelles waspublished in 1924. `Sound stratigraphy stratigraphy,branch of geology specifically concerned with the arrangement of layered rocks (see stratification). Stratigraphy is based on the law of superposition, which states that in a normal sequence of rock layers the youngest is on top and the oldest on the , as exemplified by Peyrony and Garrod, andBreuil's drawings of now-sadly-faded art are, at this remove, thebest we can recover from the Palaeolithic of 75 years ago. It wasanother world, its difference worded by James Joyce in Finnegans Wakewhere an "accessit of Aurignacian" with a "wherry whiggymaudelenian woice" made "robenhauses quail to hear histardeynois". `But should we be that surprised? Was Gordon Childe offering muchmore for later prehistory in his classics of the 1920s The Dawn and TheDanube? The Great Depression of 1929 started early in archaeology, butwith one hopeful sign for the future; Lewis Binford was born the sameyear that the bear entered its long economic hibernation. `Against this background, today's Palaeolithic of extensivearea excavations with piece plotted artefacts, absolute dates, deep seaand ice cores, ancient DNA from Neanderthals, GIS rock art studies,accurate raw material provenancing, microscopic analysis of engravedbones, chaines operatoires and the taphonomy of everything fromdinoflagellates dinoflagellatesminute aquatic protozoa; they produce red pigment and toxins which are taken up by shellfish without apparent ill effect, but the toxin is not metabolized and the shellfish may poison animals if eaten. to Dinotherium seems like the boom years of anever-ending bull market. `But while we never want to return to the four ice ages and aPalaeolithic world without Modified General Utility Indices, what arethe significant achievements of the past 75 years? `I think there are two. In the first place the Palaeolithic hastruly become a global rather than European archaeological period. Thegrowth of the subject combined with the opportunities for research,scientific analysis and international travel, undreamed of in 1927, hasfilled some of those blanks; Australia and Near Oceania being the mostspectacular. And secondly, by realizing its potential as the comparativestudy of prehistoric hunters and gatherers across diverse and changinghabitats at different times and at all the scales of human action fromthe flint nodule nodule:see concretion. noduleIn geology, a rounded mineral concretion that is distinct from, and may be separated from, the formation in which it occurs. to the region and continent, Palaeolithicarchaeologists also made an important discovery about their object ofstudy--how we came to be who we are. We discovered that by becoming aglobal species we simultaneously became the only concurrent hominid hominidAny member of the zoological family Hominidae (order Primates), which consists of the great apes (orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos) as well as human beings. species. The Out of Africa model for the origins of people with ourgenetic and biological character, as well as our unbridled capacity forcultural variation, has swept all before it leaving self-defined humansin possession of the planet. But in the excitement we sometimes forgetthat this was achieved at the expense of Old World hominid diversity.Some three-quarters of the earth has been settled by our oddly singularhuman species in only one per cent of the time since hominids and chimpssplit, and continued spitting, about five million years ago. `Which raises important issues for the future of the Palaeolithic.Viewed as a species our global dominance and the subsequent social,cultural and biological diversity--the stuff of later prehistory andhistoric archaeology--are still in their original wrapper from 75 yearsago. A wrapper we now need to remove because it presents thePalaeolithic as an origin myth for all subsequent archaeology. Adisciplinary myth proposing a fundamental difference to everything humansuch as agriculture and cities which comes later. This origin mythsupports the intellectual rightness of investigating recent humandiversity, complexity, change and sophistication so��phis��ti��cate?v. so��phis��ti��cat��ed, so��phis��ti��cat��ing, so��phis��ti��catesv.tr.1. To cause to become less natural, especially to make less naive and more worldly.2. precisely because forfive million years not much seems to happen, apart from regularmakeovers in the hominid cranial cranial/cra��ni��al/ (-al)1. pertaining to the cranium.2. toward the head end of the body; a synonym of superior in humans and other bipeds.cra��ni��aladj. department. If archaeologists decidethat this origin story is all they want from the Palaeolithic then theywill never be able to understand its structure, its lack of datacompared to later periods and its apparent reluctance for change overhundreds of thousands of years. In short, the Palaeolithic will never bedemystified for other archaeologists but instead left to Quaternary quaternary/qua��ter��nary/ (kwah��ter-nar?e)1. fourth in order.2. containing four elements or groups.qua��ter��nar��yadj.1. Consisting of four; in fours. Scientists and Evolutionary Biologists to investigate. `This delegation of responsibilities will only perpetuate thecurrent disciplinary structure of archaeology which needs an originsmyth, namely the Palaeolithic, to power its agendas. A requirementmoreover which crosscuts theoretical persuasions and period specialisms.Archaeologists, whether they are culture historians, processualists,Marxists, post-processualists or Darwinians all show, by their writtentreatment of the Palaeolithic, that a myth is all they want so that theycan address issues of style, adaptation, praxis, inhabitation andselection in more civilized surroundings and with larger and more varieddata sets. Therefore, the prospect for the Palaeolithic is to redefineits bedrock position in the structure of archaeology and in so doingchange the next 75 years of what we all understand by the past. Would Irecognize that Palaeolithic? Barely, and not by that name.' In the second contribution, OFER BAR YOSEF (Harvard University)reviews recent achievements and looks forward to further achievements ina contribution which he entitles: `The raw or the cooked: aspects ofearly human evolution'. `The attraction of the early phases of human evolution neverceases. The discovery of new fossils, their stratigraphic stra��tig��ra��phy?n.The study of rock strata, especially the distribution, deposition, and age of sedimentary rocks.strat position, andaccurate dating draw the attention of palaeo-anthropologists,geologists, archaeologists and, no less the public and the media. `African landscapes have produced a series of striking revelationsconcerning the number of hominin taxa from the period of 4.5 to 1.0million years ago, as well as the early manifestations of stone toolmaking. Recent discoveries at Dmanisi (Republic of Georgia) have begunto indicate the first entry of humans into Eurasia some 1.7 millionyears ago. Uncovering additional fossils in these continents wouldpermit us to evaluate the number of competing species, their geographicdistribution and apparent diversified adaptations. Such discoveries willalso ease future interpretations of the changes among the differentmorpho-types and the rate at which these changes occurred--gradual andcontinuous, emerging through rapid transitions (as punctuatedequilibria), or through a mix of both. `Further fieldwork and publications will indicate whether theflimsy evidence for cultural manifestations, such as core and flakeindustries (i.e. the Oldowan) or bifaces (i.e. the Acheulian), wereinvented independently in more locations than the African core area. Wewill definitely enjoy the advancements in secure dating, so that therendering of the complex story of human evolution will be a sound tale.Hence, few will deny the need for more basic data while examining whatwe call the Lower Palaeolithic. However, there are several aspects ofstudying this period that are far from reflecting the achievements oflater archaeological time spans, and the lack of well-tested informationhampers the reconstruction of a more conclusive, dynamic story of earlyprehistoric life ways. `Firstly, crucial in my view, as a field archaeologist, is moresound observations concerning the intentional use of fire by earlyhominins during the first million and half years, and unbiasedinformation concerning the social organization of the period. While thefirst may require only improved field and laboratory techniques, for thesecond we require the construction of testable models built uponacquired terms of reference Terms of reference allude to a mutual agreement under which a command, element, or unit exercises authority or undertakes specific missions or tasks relative to another command, element, or unit. Also called TORs. . `It has been suggested, since the onset of prehistoric research inEurope, and more recently from a viewpoint that combines brainstructure, social organization and nutrition, that fires played a majorrole in human evolution. Fire, whether lit accidentally orintentionally, but controlled by humans, provided warmth, protectionagainst carnivores, and perhaps more importantly, the daily home baseand perhaps the basis for male-female bonding and the success of Homoerectus in colonizing Eurasia (e.g. Sollas 1915; Perles 1977; Wranghamet al. 1999). `Hence, the early excavations at Zhoukoudian in the 1920s and, morerecently, the presence of burned clay in an open-air site in Koobi Fora,as well as a few other localities, once seemed good indicators for theuse of fire. Unfortunately, the latter cases were not demonstrated tohave been the result of an intentional fire in a sufficiently soundmanner, and in the Chinese site, the presence of burned bones and lackof ashes (in the remaining section of the site) may only indicateindirect burning (Weiner et al. 1998; Goldberg et al. 2001). `It is time to employ systematically (and eventually improve) thetechnique which combines micromorphology (the study of thin sections ofsediments) and mineralogy in excavations of open-air and cave siteswhere human presence is dated to earlier than 500,000 years. Byobtaining direct evidence for the use of fire, testable hypotheses as toits role in improving nutritional values and amending socialrelationships, will become feasible. `The alternative, if no positive indicators are found, is toadvance interpretations suggesting that the early phases of socialevolution took place among hominids that enjoyed the diet of raw meatand vegetal vegetal/veg��e��tal/ (vej��e-t'l) vegetative (defs. 1, 2, and 3). veg��e��taladj.1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of plants.2. components, and tools for butchering animal carcasses werenot the first step for producing grilled meat. `Secondly, another aspect that requires building testable modelsconcerns social structure, and is definitely more complex than a simplesearch for physical evidence. It involves numerous issues such as theevolution of cognition, language, sharing, pair bonding, group size,parental caring and so on. Primate studies brought a major impetus tothis field. Since early proposals by Washburn & De Vore (1961), andlater by Tooby & De Vore (1987), various researchers made fruitfulefforts in this direction (e.g. Hawkes et al. 2001; O'Connell etal. 1999; O'Connell et al. in press; Gamble 1999) through combiningthe results of archaeological studies with observation on modernforagers' behaviour. `Primatologists who study primate societies and, in particular,chimpanzees as the ultimate model for early hominin society havedirected our attention to the bonobos (de Waal 2001 and papers therein).However, each researcher who views his or her studies as applicable tounderstanding the processes of social evolution stresses a differentaspect such as: meat eating, sharing, male and/or pair bonding, maleprotection of females, the social demands on the group's life, theevolution of language, the technical challenges, and the use of objectsas tools. While each proposal is justified on the basis of analogy, thelingering question is: how do we go about testing this model or anymodel against the archaeological evidence at hand? `Archaeological assemblages, when analysed, have produced two typesof interpretations: 1) The accumulations of animal bones and artefactswere evidence for a "central foraging place" (e.g. Isaac1984); and 2) the sites were "opportunistic near killaccumulations" (e.g. Binford 1981; Blumenschine 1991). `Trying to decipher how hominin lifeways and the role of humanagency can be discerned in the archaeological record are still the mainchallenges. Gaining the cooperation of scholars in recognizing that wellpreserved sites must be excavated using the maximal modern scientifictechniques would probably bring us closer to identifying less ambiguousevidence that could reflect some social aspects of the LowerPalaeolithic. `Concentrating on digging only particular sites will limit hopesfor tracking traces of past forays for food (whether hunting, scavengingor gathering) on a Pliocene-Lower and Middle Pleistocene landscape whichis now either largely eroded or covered by later deposits. `We learn more about group size from localities which have beenexposed in large scale excavations, and gain insight into socialhierarchy from the spatial arrangements, short or long term activities,skills of individuals of undisclosed gender, nutritional residues, andso on. When one considers how ethnographic analogy impacted theexcavation techniques of Upper Palaeolithic sites and the ability ofresearchers to obtain social interpretations, it is high time to applysimilar approaches to data gathering in Lower Palaeolithic sites. `Hence, the alternative models developed for the early phase ofhuman evolution could be tested by combining the information on thenature of how hominins acquired animal tissues with the new data to beobtained by techniques which address a suite of additional anthropogenic an��thro��po��gen��ic?adj.1. Of or relating to anthropogenesis.2. Caused by humans: anthropogenic degradation of the environment. contributions.' References BINFORD, L.R. 1981. Bones: ancient men and modern myths. New York New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of (NY): Academic Press. BLUMENSCHINE, R.J. 1991. Hominid carnivory and foraging strategies,and the socio-economic function of early archaeological sites,Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, or Phil. Trans., is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society.Begun in 1665, it is the oldest scientific journal printed in the English-speaking world and the second oldest in the world, of London B 334: 211-21. DE WAAL, F.B.M. (ed.). 2001. Tree of origin: what primate behaviourcan tell us about human social evolution. Cambridge (MA): HarvardUniversity Press The Harvard University Press is a publishing house, a division of Harvard University, that is highly respected in academic publishing. It was established on January 13, 1913. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. . GAMBLE, C. 1999. The Palaeolithic societies of Europe. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press (known colloquially as CUP) is a publisher given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1534, and one of the two privileged presses (the other being Oxford University Press). . GOLDBERG, P., S. WEINER, O. BAR-YOSEF, Q. XU & J. LIU LIU Link?pings Universitet (Sweden)LIU Long Island University (New York)LIU Line Interface UnitLIU Lightguide Interconnection Unit (AT&T)LIU Laugh It Up . 2001.Site formation processes at Zhoukoudian, China, Journal of HumanEvolution 41(5): 483-530. HAWKES, K., J.F. O'CONNELL & N.B. BLURTON-JONES. 2001.Hunting and nuclear families: Some lessons from the Hadza aboutmen's work, Current Anthropology 42(5): 681-709. ISAAC, G.L. 1984. The archaeology of human origins: studies of theLower Pleistocene in East Africa 1971-1981, in F. Wendorf & A. Close(ed.), Advances in world archaeology: 1-87. New York (NY): AcademicPress. O'CONNELL, J.F., K. HAWKES & N.G. BLURTON-JONES. 1999.Grandmothering and the evolution of Homo erectus, Journal of HumanEvolution 36(5): 461-85. PERLES, C. 1977. Prehistoire du feu feuNounScots Law a right to the use of land in return for a fixed annual payment ([feu duty]) [Old French] . Paris: Masson. SOLLAS, W.J. 1915. Ancient hunters and their modernrepresentatives. London: Macmillan. TOOBY, J. & I. DEVORE. 1987. The reconstruction of hominidbehavioral evolution through strategic modeling, in W.G. Kinzey (ed.),The evolution of human behavior: primate models: 193-237. Albany (NY):State University of New York Press The State University of New York Press (or SUNY Press), founded in 1966, is a university press that is part of State University of New York system. External linkState University of New York Press . WASHBURN, S.L. & I. DE VORE. 1961. Social behavior of baboonsand early man, in S.L. Washburn (ed.), Social life of early man: 91-105.Chicago (IL): Aldine. WEINER, S., Q. XU, P. GOLDBERG, J. LIU & O. BAR-YOSEF. 1998.Evidence for use of fire at Zhoukoudian, China, Science 281: 251-3. WRANGHAM, R.W., J, HOLLAND JONES, G. LADEN, D. PILBEAM & N.L.CONKLIN-BRITTAIN. 1999. The raw and the stolen: cooking and the ecologyof human origins, Current Anthropology 40(4): 567-94. In the third and final contribution JILL COOK (British Museum)discusses the importance of discovery in changing ideas on thePalaeolithic: `As the seven-million-year-old face of an early human ancestorgazes at me from the page of a tabloid newspaper, I am reminded thatdiscovery is still the key to advance in palaeoanthropology, as in allbranches of archaeology. The new fossils from Toumai in Chad (Brunet etal. 2002) remind us just how quickly theories can be called intoquestion. Where one might have been writing about the impact of geneticresearch in understanding our phylogeny, here is physical evidence whichchallenges the molecular clock and suggests a new model of evolution, ina geographical region previously outside our thinking, at a time earlierthan existing models had predicted (Wood 2002). `Toumai is not the only face of 2002. A little younger at c. 1.75million years, the fossils from Dmanisi, Georgia (Vekua et al. 2002)suggest an earlier phase of human expansion out of Africa into Eurasiathan had previously been expected. In answer to the question of whetherthe Dmanisi fossils should be assigned to Homo erectus, or classified asa separate ancestral species Homo ergaster; the characteristics of theskull from Bouri, Ethiopia (Asfaw et al. 2002) allow the possibilitythat the early African and Eurasian fossils are local communities(demes) of a widespread palaeospecies, Homo erectus, often regarded asthe ancestor of Homo sapiens. Meanwhile, down under, analysis ofmitochondrial DNA from the 60,000-year-old Lake Mungo skeleton found inNew South Wales New South Wales,state (1991 pop. 5,164,549), 309,443 sq mi (801,457 sq km), SE Australia. It is bounded on the E by the Pacific Ocean. Sydney is the capital. The other principal urban centers are Newcastle, Wagga Wagga, Lismore, Wollongong, and Broken Hill. appears to challenge the out-of-Africa theory arguingfor the multi-regional evolution of modern humans (Adcock et al. 2001). `Discoveries provide questions, questions drive research andresearch brings new questions. The simple ladder of human evolution haslong since been left behind. We now know that our origins are complexand probably reflect remarkable diversity but our archaeology is still,in some respects, stuck in a progressivist rut demarcating the oldladder of time in classifications and definitions of periods which have,in most cases, existed ever since Darwin. Archaeology no longer needs to"prove" evolution. The bounty of methods available in modernmulti-disciplinary research should be applied to diversity in timerather than change through time. Only this will do if we are tocontribute to the understanding of our complex genetic roots and theroutes by which they spread (Cann 2002). `This is not to say that there have been no moves in thisdirection. Pioneering work on early hominid behaviour in Africa by GlynIsaac has been continued by his and other students. Taphonomy andmicromorphological research on sediments have improved our capacity todifferentiate human activity from natural processes. Vast improvementsin techniques for obtaining age estimates and distinguishingenvironments define the nature of sites and their age. Lithic analyseshave broken out of the bonds of pure typology to document technology andthe sequences of actions which determine not only the character ofassemblages but also the decisions and actions required in theirproduction. Yet despite all the diversity that we are capable ofidentifying, we still have a monotonous view of hunters who hunt orscavenge scav��enge?v. scav��enged, scav��eng��ing, scav��eng��esv.tr.1. To search through for salvageable material: scavenged the garbage cans for food scraps.2. whatever is in the faunal assemblage. Assemblages from LateUpper Palaeolithic sites containing stone projectile projectilesomething thrown forward.projectile syringesee blow dart.projectile vomitingforceful vomiting, usually without preceding retching, in which the vomitus is thrown well forward. tips, as well asbone, antler and ivory points, weighted and unweighted spear throwers,fish hooks and gouges have been in museum collections for over a hundredyears. These are weapons that suggest specialized hunting, fishing andtrapping techniques indicative of diverse food procurement patterns andspecialist manufacture, but these aspects have yet to be the subject ofthe detailed research that would emancipate e��man��ci��pate?tr.v. e��man��ci��pat��ed, e��man��ci��pat��ing, e��man��ci��pates1. To free from bondage, oppression, or restraint; liberate.2. us from the restraints ofMagdalenian V. New approaches to the type of landscape study attemptedby Jochim (1976; 1998) are also long overdue, so we have little notionof the territories or mobility of Ice Age peoples. The only distinctionswe see are those of time and place. We must move on from this unlessPalaeolithic archaeology is to become a snapshot appendage appendage/ap��pen��dage/ (ah-pen��dij) a subordinate portion of a structure, or an outgrowth, such as a tail.epiploic appendages? see under appendix . to the moredynamic debates of biological evolution. `Investigating the development of the brain and trying todifferentiate the cognitive processes Cognitive processesThought processes (i.e., reasoning, perception, judgment, memory).Mentioned in: Psychosocial Disorders required for technological andcultural activities has opened some new doors in allowing ideas fromneurology, psychology, social anthropology, linguistics, philosophy andprimate studies to stimulate fresh questions. The significance of artand personal ornaments certainly come to the fore Verb 1. come to the fore - make oneself visible; take action; "Young people should step to the fore and help their peers"come forward, step forward, step to the fore, step up, come out in this approach andhere, new discoveries have once again played the key role in taking ourideas forward. Just in the last decade, this journal has reported onmajor discoveries in Australia, South America and Southern Africa, aswell as Cosquer, Chauvet and Cussac Caves in France The following is a '''list of caves in France: Chauvet Cave Font de Gaume Gouffre Berger, the first cave explored to more than 1000m depth Jean Bernard System, in competition as world's deepest cave Lascaux Cave . The barrage oftechniques aimed at investigating these sites is formidable. Ageestimates, evidence of repeated visits to painted sites over longperiods, pigment analyses and sourcing, as well as the theoretical basesfor interpretation are providing new scope for interpreting theintellectual capabilities of our ancestors. `The discovery of caves such as Chauvet reminds us that there arestill wonderful sites to be found even in well researched regions suchas western Europe. However, luck and the pressures imposed by commercialland development play the major role here and some deliberateprospecting for research purposes is long overdue. In Britain, thiscould be aimed at the investigation of the early Upper Palaeolithic andthe recognition of a new type of geological context for such sitessuggests how this might be done (Colcutt 2001). `Journals like Antiquity contribute enormously to developments inall aspects of archaeology, as well as early human research, simplythrough disseminating information and knowledge. Similarly, it wouldalso be churlish churl��ish?adj.1. Of, like, or befitting a churl; boorish or vulgar.2. Having a bad disposition; surly: "as valiant as the lion, churlish as the bear"Shakespeare. not to acknowledge the increasing role of electroniccommunication and resources, but what is lacking is a major permanentexhibition on the archaeology of human origins to inspire both academicsand the public. As the curator of one of the world's finestcollections of relevant material, I suppose I might be expected to saythis, but it actually requires the discipline as whole to advance fromthe hide-bound monotony of the progressivist approach still rooted inthe observance of technological change, to be successful.' References ADCOCK, G.J., E.S. DENNIS, S. EASTEAL, G.A. HUTTLEY, L.S. JERMIIN,W.J. PEACOCK & A. THORNE. 2001. Mitochondrial DNA sequences inancient Australians: implications for modern human origins, Proceedingsof the National Academy of Science USA 98(2): 537-42. ASFAW, B. et al. 2002. Remains of Homo erectus from Bouri, MiddleAwash, Ethiopia, Nature 416: 317-20. BRUNET, M. et al. 2002. A new hominid from the Upper Miocene ofChad, Central Africa, Nature 418: 145-51. CANN, R. 2002. Human evolution: tangled genetic routes, Nature 416:32-3. COLLCUTT, S. 2001. The Sackung hypothesis: a challenge forPalaeolithic prospection, in S. Milliken & J. Cook (ed.), A veryremote period indeed. Papers on the Palaeolithic presented to Derek Roe:223-33. Oxford: Oxbow. JOCHIM, M. 1976. Hunter-gatherer subsistence and settlement: apredictive model. New York (NY): Academic Press. 1998. Hunter-gatherer landscape: southwest Germany in the latePalaeolithic and Mesolithic. New York (NY): Plenum Press. VEKUA, A. et al. 2002. A new skull of early Homo from Dmanisi,Georgia, Science 297: 85-9. WOOD, B. 2002. Palaeoanthropology: hominid revelation from Chad,Nature 418: 133-5. It has been pointed out to us that Southampton is anotherdepartment which only missed top marks in the recent teaching andresearch assessments by one point. As with Exeter, mentioned in the lasteditorial, Southampton received full marks on the teaching assessmentand only lost one grade on the research assessment. Both thesedepartments, in common with many others who received top marks on theteaching assessment, were assessed at the end of the programme, givingthem longer to achieve evolutionary success. ADKINS, L. & R. ADKINS. 1990. Talking archaeology: a handbookfor lecturers and organizers. London: Council for British Archaeology The Council for British Archaeology is a British organisation based in York that promotes archaeology within the United Kingdom. Since 1944 the Council has been involved in publicising and generating public support for British archaeology; formulating and disseminating .Practical Handbooks in Archaeology 9. SPIVEY, N. 2001. Palaeolithic paintings, Apollo 2001: 35-41. In recent months two great scholars from Harvard of varying scalesof deep time have died and received detailed obituaries elsewhere. Prof.GORDON WILLEY is remembered for his major contribution to New WorldArchaeology, in particular settlement studies, although covering anecessarily shorter time depth than other scholars writing ill thiseditorial. Prof. S.J. GOULD is remembered for the study of even deepertime, but for an influence that impinged greatly on the timescale ofhumanity. DAVE A file sharing program from Thursby Software Systems, Inc., Arlington, TX (www.thursby.com) that allows a Macintosh to share files with a PC. Designed specifically for and needing installation only on the Mac, DAVE works with Microsoft's native SMB/CIFS file sharing protocols and uses COOMBS Coombs can refer to: Coombs test, a test for the presence of antibodies or antigens Coombs reagent, the reagent used in the Coombs test Coombs' method, a type of voting designed by the psychologist Clyde Coombs covered a smaller scale of archaeology but providedthose detailed building blocks of material culture that are essentialfor the proper understanding of the broader picture. FRANCIS PRYOR ofthe Flag Fen Bronze Age Centre, The Droveway, Northey Road,Peterborough, PE6 7QF has kindly written this tribute. David George Coombs 14 September 1940-13 April 2002 David George Coombs was born in Leicester on 14 September 1940 anddied of cancer on 13 April 2002. He went to school in Leicester and thenattended St John's College, Cambridge, where he read Archaeologyand Anthropology, gaining his Ph.D in 1970. Two years prior to that hebecame a lecturer in what is now the Department of Archaeology atManchester University, which was to be where he ,worked for the rest ofhis professional life, during which time he was lecturer, SeniorLecturer and Head of Department. Those are the bare facts. But facts, bethey bare or richly elaborated, rarely tell the full story when it comesto the assessment of a person's contribution to life. And this mostcertainly applied to Dave Coombs whose lasting legacy will be the effecthe had on his many friends, colleagues and students. As so many peoplehave told me, `He was a lovely man', and when his name wasmentioned everyone smiled. I can think of few university teachers whosestudents were both so many and so loyal--something that the hugecongregation within and outside Manchester Crematorium cre��ma��to��ri��um?n. pl. cre��ma��to��ri��ums or cre��ma��to��ri��aA furnace or establishment for the incineration of corpses.crematoriumNounpl -riums or on 22 April 2002demonstrated most clearly. I first met Dave on a morning in early spring, back in 1971. I hadarrived in England from Canada two weeks previously to start work atFengate, which in those days was a pleasant East Anglian landscape ofcattle, fields and hedges on the eastern side of Peterborough. Todayit's a characterless industrial suburb. Dave had provided me with aselect band of his undergraduate and graduate students who saw to itthat the dig ran smoothly and well. For some reason I arrived on sitelate that day, and after I had poured myself a cup of tea I asked BillHanson, then a student at Manchester University (and who was supervisingfor me), if he knew when Dave was planning to turn up. No sooner had Iasked the question than a voice came from a figure sitting on aninverted bucket in a dark corner of the site hut. It was Dave, and hehad forgotten to announce his presence--which was entirely typical ofhim. He was a master of amiable forgetfulness ForgetfulnessSee also Carelessness.Absent-Minded Beggar, Theballad of forgetful soldiers who fought in the Boer War. [Br. Lit.: “The Absent-Minded Beg-gars” in Payton, 3]absent-minded professor and he placed himself verylow on his list of priorities, which is doubtless why he was such a goodand sympathetic listener. Nobody doubted Dave's motives, because hewas never selfish nor personally ambitious. His doctoral research was into Late Bronze Age metalwork ofsouthern Britain, a subject in which he remained a leading authoritythroughout his life. Sadly his Ph,D thesis was never published, and oneday somebody must attempt the task, as it is a work of signalimportance. Papers which were based on his thesis include articles onhoards in general, on the Broadward Complex, on barbed spearheads, onhoards of the Carp's Tongue complex and on weapon hoards. Dave alsoworked on metalwork from a number of significant sites, such as theDover Harbour wreck site, Flag Fen and a number of important hoards,including the largest of them all from Isleham Fen, plus others from,for example, Greensborough Farm, Staffs.; Stourmouth, Kent; FigheldeanDown, Wilts.; Cassiobridge Farm, Hefts.; and further afield the LateBronze Age hoard at Clos de la Blanche Pierre, Jersey and the highlyimportant assemblage from the Breidden hillfort in the Welsh Marches. Ofthe larger assemblages, he was able to publish Flag Fen and the Breiddenfully, the former appearing just six months before his death. But as wewill see shortly, there were good, or rather tragic, reasons whylatterly progress with some of his bigger projects was difficult tomaintain. His fieldwork research mainly concentrated on Neolithic and BronzeAge sites. Perhaps his best known excavations were of the Neolithicround barrow at Callis Wold, Yorkshire and the spectacularly positionedlater Bronze Age hillfort at Mam Tor in the Derbyshire Peak District.Among other projects, he directed excavations at Castercliffe andPortfield hillforts in Lancashire and three Bronze Age round barrows onEtton Wold in the East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. It is named after the historic East Riding of Yorkshire (one of three ridings alongside the North Riding and West Riding), which also constituted a . In later years he and hisstudents took part in collaborative projects in Iberia and Ireland. His energy in pursuit of archaeological knowledge was well known,but Dave was no obsessive. Outside archaeology he had, as the sayinggoes, `a life'. He had a wide circle of friends and regularlyenjoyed their company; he read widely and had a deep and abidinginterest in playing the Flamenco guitar. He had many interests includingvintage bicycles, cycling and hill-walking, and rather surprisingly forsuch a mild-mannered man, he was also proficient in the martial arts.Although half my size, he once playfully bounced me off a brick wall. In April 1989 his wife Jenny Coombs, who was herself a talentedartist and illustrator, was diagnosed with cancer and despite heroicresistance, succumbed to the disease in April 1995. Like that of David,her funeral was in Manchester Crematorium. Jenny's death hit Davevery hard indeed and his life did not begin to regain its previousenergy, sparkle and humour until very much later, in 2001, when hemarried his second wife, Beatrix (or Trixie), who left her nativeAustria to join David in England. David's cancer was diagnosed veryshortly after their marriage, and his loss has been a bitter blow bothto her, to her two children who had rapidly grown to love their newstep-father, and of course to his own two daughters from his firstmarriage, Emma and Lisa. He is hugely missed by his many friends.