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  • ItemOpen AccessPublished version Peer-reviewed
    Tell el-Amarna Site Management Plan 2020
    (Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge., 2020-10-22) Tully, G; Stevens, A; Kellawy, H; Spence, Katherine; Kemp, B; Reyad, FA; Spence, Kate [0000-0001-7170-5110]
    The archaeological landscape of Egypt is rich in tombs and temples but offers little in the way of intelligible and easily accessible places where ancient Egyptians actually lived. In Tell el-Amarna (Amarna for short) we have the greater part of a major city: its public buildings, its housing neighbourhoods, the decorated tombs of its governing class and the cemeteries of the ordinary people. Having been occupied for only about twenty years it preserves unique evidence for how people lived in the past. As the creation of Pharaoh Akhenaten, it also serves as a powerful introduction to the individual and his ideas. Archaeologists have worked at Amarna for over a century. But the place needs more than their expert attentions. Like many sites around the world, Amarna is threatened by the effects of rapid modernisation and population growth. The Site Management Plan presented here seeks to anchor Amarna more firmly to the current development policies of the Egyptian government. These emphasise the importance of cooperation amongst the varied sectors of Egyptian society, both those of the government and those constituted by local communities. The Plan seeks to guide the decision-making of the future in the hope of securing Amarna as an educational resource for generations to come. The Plan itself has been an exercise in co-operation. We wish to thank all those who have assisted. They comprise the many officials of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, in Cairo and in the inspectorates of El-Minya Province, local community leaders at Amarna and, not least, representatives of the local inhabitants including those of school age.
  • ItemOpen AccessPublished version Peer-reviewed
    North West Cambridge Archaeology. The Traveller’s Rest Sub-site. (NWC Report No. 8)
    (Cambridge Archaeological Unit, 2015-01-01) Evans, Christopher
  • ItemOpen AccessPublished version Peer-reviewed
    The War Field Villa (Site VII) and other Phase 2. Investigations (Sites I, VI & X). (2018–19; NWC Report No. 9, Pt. 1)
    (Cambridge Archaeological Unit, 2019-09-01) Brittain, Marcus; Evans, Christopher
  • ItemOpen Access
    Sedbergh Schooldays, 1955-60
    Macfarlane, Alan Donald; Macfarlane, Alan [0000-0002-7675-0372]
    An account of life at a boarding school in Yorkshire.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Lakeland Life 1954-1960
    Macfarlane, Alan Donald; Macfarlane, Alan [0000-0002-7675-0372]
    Life in the Lake District, England
  • ItemOpen Access
    Dragon Days, 1950-5
    Macfarlane, Alan Donald; Bruce Lockhart, Jamie; Macfarlane, Alan [0000-0002-7675-0372]
    A preparatory school remembered.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Oxford Undergraduate 1960-1963
    Macfarlane, ADJ; Macfarlane, Alan Donald [0000-0002-7675-0372]
  • ItemOpen Access
    Becoming a Dragon, 1950-55
    Macfarlane, Alan Donald; Macfarlane, Alan [0000-0002-7675-0372]
  • ItemOpen Access
    Dorset Days
    Macfarlane, Alan Donald; Macfarlane, Alan [0000-0002-7675-0372]
    Childhood in Dorset from 1947 to 1954
  • ItemOpen Access
    Oxford Postgraduate 1963-6
    Macfarlane, Alan Donald; Macfarlane, Alan Donald [0000-0002-7675-0372]
    An account of doing a D.Phil. at Oxford University between 1963 and 1966
  • ItemOpen Access
    Oxford Undergraduate 1960-3
    Macfarlane, Alan Donald; Macfarlane, Alan Donald [0000-0002-7675-0372]
    Ancient of student life at Oxford University, Worcester College, 1960-3
  • ItemOpen AccessAccepted version Peer-reviewed
    Ancient DNA reveals the Arctic origin of Viking Age cod from Haithabu, Germany.
    (National Academy of Sciences, 2017-08-22) Star, Bastiaan; Boessenkool, Sanne; Gondek, Agata T; Nikulina, Elena A; Hufthammer, Anne Karin; Pampoulie, Christophe; Knutsen, Halvor; André, Carl; Nistelberger, Heidi M; Dierking, Jan; Petereit, Christoph; Heinrich, Dirk; Jakobsen, Kjetill S; Stenseth, Nils Chr; Jentoft, Sissel; Barrett, James H; Barrett, James [0000-0002-6683-9891]
    Knowledge of the range and chronology of historic trade and long-distance transport of natural resources is essential for determining the impacts of past human activities on marine environments. However, the specific biological sources of imported fauna are often difficult to identify, in particular if species have a wide spatial distribution and lack clear osteological or isotopic differentiation between populations. Here, we report that ancient fish-bone remains, despite being porous, brittle, and light, provide an excellent source of endogenous DNA (15-46%) of sufficient quality for whole-genome reconstruction. By comparing ancient sequence data to that of modern specimens, we determine the biological origin of 15 Viking Age (800-1066 CE) and subsequent medieval (1066-1280 CE) Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) specimens from excavation sites in Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Archaeological context indicates that one of these sites was a fishing settlement for the procurement of local catches, whereas the other localities were centers of trade. Fish from the trade sites show a mixed ancestry and are statistically differentiated from local fish populations. Moreover, Viking Age samples from Haithabu, Germany, are traced back to the North East Arctic Atlantic cod population that has supported the Lofoten fisheries of Norway for centuries. Our results resolve a long-standing controversial hypothesis and indicate that the marine resources of the North Atlantic Ocean were used to sustain an international demand for protein as far back as the Viking Age.
  • ItemOpen AccessAccepted version Peer-reviewed
    Anglo-Saxon diet in the Conversion period: A comparative isotopic study using carbon and nitrogen
    (Elsevier BV, 2018) Hannah, EL; McLaughlin, TR; Keaveney, EM; Hakenbeck, SE; Hakenbeck, Susanne [0000-0003-2409-0146]
    © 2018 Elsevier Ltd Seventh-century Anglo-Saxon England is characterised by great social and religious change. The arrival of missionaries from Rome in 597 CE initiated the gradual process of conversion to Christianity. There is growing evidence for increasing hierarchy and social stratification in the archaeological record at this time, including prominent kingly burials. This paper investigates whether diet was influenced by social stratification and to a lesser extent religion in two seventh-century cemetery populations: Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, and Polhill, Kent. Analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes from 116 human individuals was undertaken. Factors considered included age, sex, wealth and other notable grave features. Results showed that the diets of both populations were largely unaffected by these wider social processes, with negligible differences between social groups. The results were placed in the context of wider Anglo-Saxon dietary studies and highlight that Anglo-Saxon populations consistently display overwhelmingly similar ranges of carbon and nitrogen isotopes.
  • ItemOpen AccessPublished version Peer-reviewed
    Barley heads east: Genetic analyses reveal routes of spread through diverse Eurasian landscapes
    (Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2018-07-18) Lister, Diane L; Jones, Huw; Oliveira, Hugo R; Petrie, Cameron A; Liu, Xinyi; Cockram, James; Kneale, Catherine J; Kovaleva, Olga; Jones, Martin K; Lister, Diane [0000-0002-1227-707X]; Petrie, Cameron [0000-0002-2926-7230]; Jones, Martin [0000-0003-0930-8012]
    One of the world’s most important crops, barley, was domesticated in the Near East around 11,000 years ago. Barley is a highly resilient crop, able to grown in varied and marginal environments, such as in regions of high altitude and latitude. Archaeobotanical evidence shows that barley had spread throughout Eurasia by 2,000 BC. To further elucidate the routes by which barley cultivation was spread through Eurasia, simple sequence repeat (SSR) analysis was used to determine genetic diversity and population structure in three extant barley taxa: domesticated barley (Hordeum vulgare L. subsp. vulgare), wild barley (H. vulgare subsp. spontaneum) and a six-rowed brittle rachis form (H. vulgare subsp. vulgare f. agriocrithon (Åberg) Bowd.). Analysis of data using the Bayesian clustering algorithm InStruct suggests a model with three ancestral genepools, which captures a major split in the data, with substantial additional resolution provided under a model with eight genepools. Our results indicate that H. vulgare subsp. vulgare f. agriocrithon accessions and Tibetan Plateau H. vulgare subsp. spontaneum are closely related to the H. vulgare subsp. vulgare in their vicinity, and are therefore likely to be feral derivatives of H. vulgare subsp. vulgare. Under the eight genepool model, cultivated barley is split into six ancestral genepools, each of which has a distinct distribution through Eurasia, along with distinct morphological features and flowering time phenotypes. The distribution of these genepools and their phenotypic characteristics is discussed together with archaeological evidence for the spread of barley eastwards across Eurasia.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Letters of a Victorian Family, Caroline James of Aldeburgh, Suffolk
    Harrison, Sarah; Macfarlane, ADJ; Macfarlane, Alan [0000-0002-7675-0372]
  • ItemOpen AccessAccepted version Peer-reviewed
    Homo sapiens in Arabia by 85,000 years ago.
    (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2018-05) Groucutt, Huw S; Grün, Rainer; Zalmout, Iyad AS; Drake, Nick A; Armitage, Simon J; Candy, Ian; Clark-Wilson, Richard; Louys, Julien; Breeze, Paul S; Duval, Mathieu; Buck, Laura T; Kivell, Tracy L; Pomeroy, Emma; Stephens, Nicholas B; Stock, Jay T; Stewart, Mathew; Price, Gilbert J; Kinsley, Leslie; Sung, Wing Wai; Alsharekh, Abdullah; Al-Omari, Abdulaziz; Zahir, Muhammad; Memesh, Abdullah M; Abdulshakoor, Ammar J; Al-Masari, Abdu M; Bahameem, Ahmed A; Al Murayyi, Khaled MS; Zahrani, Badr; Scerri, Eleanor LM; Petraglia, Michael D; Groucutt, Huw S [0000-0002-9111-1720]; Duval, Mathieu [0000-0003-3181-7753]; Pomeroy, Emma [0000-0001-6251-2165]; Stephens, Nicholas B [0000-0002-2838-5606]; Price, Gilbert J [0000-0001-8406-4594]; Petraglia, Michael D [0000-0003-2522-5727]
    Understanding the timing and character of the expansion of Homo sapiens out of Africa is critical for inferring the colonization and admixture processes that underpin global population history. It has been argued that dispersal out of Africa had an early phase, particularly ~130-90 thousand years ago (ka), that reached only the East Mediterranean Levant, and a later phase, ~60-50 ka, that extended across the diverse environments of Eurasia to Sahul. However, recent findings from East Asia and Sahul challenge this model. Here we show that H. sapiens was in the Arabian Peninsula before 85 ka. We describe the Al Wusta-1 (AW-1) intermediate phalanx from the site of Al Wusta in the Nefud desert, Saudi Arabia. AW-1 is the oldest directly dated fossil of our species outside Africa and the Levant. The palaeoenvironmental context of Al Wusta demonstrates that H. sapiens using Middle Palaeolithic stone tools dispersed into Arabia during a phase of increased precipitation driven by orbital forcing, in association with a primarily African fauna. A Bayesian model incorporating independent chronometric age estimates indicates a chronology for Al Wusta of ~95-86 ka, which we correlate with a humid episode in the later part of Marine Isotope Stage 5 known from various regional records. Al Wusta shows that early dispersals were more spatially and temporally extensive than previously thought. Early H. sapiens dispersals out of Africa were not limited to winter rainfall-fed Levantine Mediterranean woodlands immediately adjacent to Africa, but extended deep into the semi-arid grasslands of Arabia, facilitated by periods of enhanced monsoonal rainfall.
  • ItemOpen AccessAccepted version Peer-reviewed
    Holocene landscape dynamics in the Ghaggar-Hakra palaeochannel region at the northern edge of the Thar Desert, northwest India
    (Elsevier, 2017-10-16) Durcan, JA; Thomas, DSG; Gupta, S; Pawar, V; Singh, RN; Petrie, CA; Petrie, Cameron [0000-0002-2926-7230]
    Precession-forced change in insolation has driven de-intensification of the Asian Monsoon systems during the Holocene. Set against this backdrop of a weakening monsoon, Indus Civilisation populations occupied a number of urban settlements on the Ghaggar-Hakra plains during the mid-Holocene from 4.5 ka until they were abandoned by around 3.9 ka. Regional climatic variability has long been cited as a potential factor in the transformation of Indus society, however there remain substantial gaps in the chronological framework for regional climatic and environmental change at the northern margin of the Thar Desert. This makes establishing a link between climate, environment and society challenging. This paper presents 24 optically stimulated luminescence ages from a mixture of 11 fluvial and aeolian sedimentological sites on the Ghaggar-Hakra floodplain/interfluve, an area which was apparently densely populated during the Indus urban phase and subsequently. These ages identify fluvial deposition which mostly pre-dates 5 ka, although fluvial deposits are detected in the Ghaggar palaeochannel at 3.8 ka and 3.0 ka, post-dating the decline of urbanism. Aeolian accumulation phases occur around 9 ka, 6.5 ka, 2.8 ka and 1.7 ka. There is no clear link to a 4.2 ka abrupt climate event, nor is there a simple switch between dominant fluvial deposition and aeolian accumulation, and instead the OSL ages reported present a view of a highly dynamic geomorphic system during the Holocene. The decline of Indus urbanism was not spatially or temporally instantaneous, and this paper suggests that the same can be said for the geomorphic response of the northern Thar to regional climate change.
  • ItemOpen AccessPublished version Peer-reviewed
    Distorted Narratives: Morocco, Spain, and the Colonial Stratigraphy of Cultural Heritage
    (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2018) Marín-Aguilera, B; Marín-Aguilera, B [0000-0002-0689-6990]
    International cultural development projects entail a neoliberal agenda that frequently echoes colonial ideologies and discourses. Using the case study of Chaouen, a northern city in Morocco, I argue in this paper that former colonies and aid-receiving countries usually overlap, and serve the former metropolises to continue controlling the former colony’s human and economic resources. I discuss how the former colonial power, in this case Spain, regulates and promotes a particular heritage discourse that has conveniently been depoliticised. I further contend that in line with previous colonial narratives, Spain has silenced the painful history of struggle and resilience of the inhabitants of Chaouen.
  • ItemOpen AccessAccepted version Peer-reviewed
    Detecting long-term valley fill evolution and rice paddy land use: Ageoarcheological investigation of the Baeksuk valley and the Bronze Age settlement, South Korea
    (Elsevier BV, 2016-07) Lee, H; French, C; Lee, H [0000-0003-0717-1155]
    This study investigates paleoenvironmental changes over time and ancient land use related to agriculture at the Bronze Age settlement of Baeksuk, Cheonan, South Korea. Geoarchaeological analytic methods including soil micromorphological, physical and multi-element analyses were employed to examine the alluvial valley fill between hills occupied by a large-scale Bronze Age settlement with abundant crop remains including rice, but which was scarcely inhabited in later periods. The location of the cultivation fields remains as yet undetermined despite full excavation. This research reveals that there were four phases in the build-up of the valley fill from wetland to periodically dry wetland and, eventually, to the present day rice paddy, forming a cumulic A horizon. In particular, the lower buried horizon may have served as the earliest location for growing rice with surface disturbance noted by textural pedofeature formation, while the upper part of the soil profile exhibits features typical of paddysol with high iron and manganese accumulations. The analyses of the valley soil profile suggests plausible interactions between human agricultural activities and environment through rice paddy cultivation.
  • ItemOpen AccessPublished version Peer-reviewed
    The Provenance, Use and Circulation of Metals in the European Bronze Age: The state of debate
    (Springer Nature, 2019) Radivojevic, M; Roberts, Benjamin; Pernicka, Ernst; Stos-Gale, Zofia; Martinon-Torres, Marcos; Rehren, Thilo; Bray, Peter; Brandherm, Dirk; Ling, Johan; Mei, Jianjun; Vandkilde, Helle; Kristiansen, Kristian; Shennan, Stephen; Broodbank, Cyprian; Radivojevic, Miljana [0000-0001-7329-305X]; Martinon-Torres, Marcos [0000-0003-2124-2837]; Mei, Jianjun [0000-0001-8942-8633]; Broodbank, Cyprian [0000-0002-2176-9666]
    Bronze is the defining metal of the European Bronze Age and has been at the center of archaeological and science-based research for well over a century. Archaeometallurgical studies have largely focused on determining the geological origin of the constituent metals, copper and tin, and their movement from producer to consumer sites. More recently, the effects of recycling, both temporal and spatial, on the composition of the circulating metal stock have received much attention. Also, discussions of the value and perception of bronze, both as individual objects and as hoarded material, continue to be the focus of scholarly debate. Here, we bring together the sometimes diverging views of several research groups on these topics in an attempt to find common ground and set out the major directions of the debate, for the benefit of future research. The paper discusses in turn issues of: geological provenance of new metal entering the system and how to determine and interpret it; the circulation of extant metal across time and space, and how this is seen in changing compositional signatures; and some economic aspects of metal production. These include the role of metal-producing communities within larger economic settings, quantifying the amount of metal present at any one time within a society, and aspects of hoarding, a distinctive European phenomenon that is less prevalent in the Middle Eastern and Asian Bronze Age societies.