European Journal of Archaeology current issue

Editorial

Saville, A. — 2008-07-15

Bloody Slaughter: Ritual Decapitation and Display At the Viking Settlement of Hofstathir, Iceland

Lucas, G., McGovern, T. — 2008-07-15

This article attempts an interpretation of an unusual assemblage of cattle skulls recovered from recent excavations at the Viking Age monumental hall of Hofstaðir in Iceland. Osteological analysis of the skulls indicates ritual decapitation and display of cattle heads, and this article seeks to explore the meanings of this practice in relation to the context of the site and the wider historical and ethnographic literature. It is argued that the beheading of cattle and display of their heads was a part of sacrificial acts conducted on a seasonal basis at the site, and primarily in the context of feasting and socio-political gatherings. The gatherings acted simultaneously as a means of both dissipating social tension and enhancing political status.

Use of Oral Tradition in Archaeology: Uthe Case of Ajdovscina Above Rodik, Slovenia

Hrobat, K. — 2008-07-15

This article addresses the potential of oral tradition (folklore) in the archaeological study of the past. It deals with oral traditions concerning landscape features in the area of the prehistoric and Roman site of Ajdovscina above Rodik, Slovenia. The palimpsest nature of modern landscapes can be regarded as a syncretic sum of past ways of life, land use, religious practices, and cults. In oral tradition concerning the ancient inhabitants of Ajdovscina, it is possible to discern the obscured memory of historical process. Certain sites, referred to in local oral tradition, mainly in the form of memories of religious practices performed there and of superstitions related to them, may well prove to be the remains of ancient sacred places. Methodological problems include identification of the generic and specific in oral tradition, the recognition of Christian intervention and/or censorship of ancient cults and beliefs, and the transposition and/or survival of elements of old ritual practices in popular beliefs. The aim of this article is to discuss the role of oral tradition linked to the landscape in the persistence of collective memory concerning historical circumstances and the survival and/or transformation of ancient cult or ritual sites and beliefs.

The Work of Making Malta: the Council of Europe's Archaeology and Planning Committee 1988--1996

Willems, W. J.H. — 2008-07-15

This article began life as a paper in the session `Opening Doors for Archaeologists: Making Malta Work' at the 2006 EAA Annual Meeting in Kracow, Poland. It explores the background of the European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage (Revised), also known as the Valletta Convention or the Convention of Malta. The article examines some of the major issues that were discussed and describes the drafting process of the Convention from the author's personal perspective as one of the members of the committee responsible. It concludes with a brief consideration of some subsequent developments and a plea for a more active role for the EAA at Strasbourg and Brussels.

Special Reviews Section: Archaeological engagements: new media and beyond

Kristensen, T. M., Kristensen, T. M. — 2008-07-15

Special Reviews Section: Playing with the past: a review of three `archaeological' pc games: Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War. (Chicago, IL: Midway Games Ltd, 2006, RRP {pound}34.99, PC CD-ROM/Windows XP) Rome: Total War. (Santa Monica: Activision Inc, 2004, RRP {pound}19.99, PC CD-ROM/Windows XP) Rome: Total War. Barbarian Invasion expansion pack. (Tokyo: Sega, 2005, RRP {pound}19.99, PC CD-ROM/Windows Me/XP)

Gardner, A. — 2008-07-15

Special Reviews Section: Second lives: online worlds for archaeological teaching and research: Linden Labs, Second Life, www.secondlife.com

Graham, S. — 2008-07-15

Special Reviews Section: 300 six packs: pop culture takes on Thermopylae: 300 (USA, 2006, Warner Bros.), directed by Zach Snyder, screenplay by Zach Snyder, Kurt Johnstad and Michael B. Gordon, based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley

Wallensten, J. — 2008-07-15

Special Reviews Section: Archaeology on the web -- a German perspective: Stefanie Samida, Wissenschaftskommunikation im Internet. Neue Medien in der Archaologie. (Munich: Verlag Reinhard Fischer, Internet Research Band 26, 2006, 262 pp., pbk, ISBN 3 88927 404 8; ISSN 1617 6839)

Witt, C. — 2008-07-15

Special Reviews Section: Electric strata: Assemblage and changes in postgraduate publication on the internet: Assemblage -- Postgraduate Journal of the Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, UK. 1996--2006: www.assemblage. group.shef.ac.uk

Salt, A. — 2008-07-15

Special Reviews Section: Archaeology on the ground: the memory practices of David Webb: Diggers Alternative Archive, website and photography by David Webb: www.archdiggers. co.uk/diggers/frameset.html

Witmore, C. L. — 2008-07-15

Special Reviews Section: Urban exploration as archaeological engagement: a review of http://infiltration. org/ -- `the zine about places you're not supposed to go': `Take only photos, leave only footprints' (Motto of infiltration.org)

Sorensen, T. F. — 2008-07-15

Book Review Essay: Navigating the `Mentions and Silences' of Global Historical Archaeology: a European Perspective: Martin Hall and Stephen W. Silliman, eds, Historical Archaeology. (Blackwell Studies in Global Archaeology 9, Oxford: Blackwell, 2006, xviii + 341 pp., 36 figs, hbk ISBN 1 4051 0750 2, pbk 1 4051 0751 0) Andrew M. Reid and Paul J. Lane, eds, African Historical Archaeologies. (Contributions to Global Historical Archaeology, New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum, 2004, 408 pp., 82 figs, 23 tables, hbk ISBN 0 306 47995 8, pbk 0 306 47996 6)

Hicks, D. — 2008-07-15

Book Review: Robert W. Preucel, Archaeological Semiotics. (Social Archaeology series, general editor: Ian Hodder, Malden, MA, Oxford, UK and Carlton, Victoria AUS: Blackwell, 2006, 332 pp., 45 figs, 11 tables, hbk ISBN 13: 978 1 55786 657 8, pbk ISBN 10: 1 55786 657 0)

Veit, U. — 2008-07-15

Book Review: Lynn Meskell and Robert W. Preucel, eds, A Companion to Social Archaeology. (Oxford: Blackwell, 2004, 430 pp., hbk ISBN 0 631 22578 1)

Thomas, J. — 2008-07-15

Book Review: Fokke Gerritsen, Local Identities. Landscape and Community in the Late Prehistoric Meuse-- Demer-Scheldt Region (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2003, (Amsterdam Archaeological Studies 9), 306 pp., hbk ISBN 90 5356 482 9)

Huth, C. — 2008-07-15

Book Review: Maureen Carroll, Spirits of the Dead: Roman Funerary Commemoration in Western Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, 352 pp., hbk ISBN 0 199 29107 1)

Meinecke, K. — 2008-07-15

Book Review: Melanie Pomeroy-Kellinger and Ian Scott, eds, Recent Developments in Research and Management at World Heritage Sites. (Oxford: Oxford Archaeology, Occasional Paper Number 16, 2007, 75 pp., ISBN 978 0 904220 47 6)

Willems, W. J.H. — 2008-07-15

Book Review: David A. Barrowclough and Caroline Malone, eds, Cult in Context -- Reconsidering Ritual in Archaeology (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2007, 368pp. hbk, ISBN 978 1 84217 303 9)

Sultana, S. — 2008-07-15

Book Review: Mario Buhagiar, The Christianisation of Malta: Catacombs, Cult Centres and Churches in Malta to 1530. (BAR International Series 1674, Oxford: Archaeopress, 2007, xiv + 321 pp., pbk, ISBN 978 1 4073 0109 9)

Cardona, D. — 2008-07-15