Alex Pryor
My research employs isotope analysis (C, N, S, O, Sr), charcoal analysis and dental thin-section analysis to reconstruct past mobility of humans and animals, palaeodiet and palaeoclimatic context, with a particular focus on subsistence-related activities. My main area of interest is the European Upper Palaeolithic, but I also work in more recent contexts applying the same set of research methods.
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ablation, providing 2027 individual measurements over 67.32 mm of enamel. The results are compared with those of local geology to estimate mobility of the horse over the period of tooth growth (approx. 1–2 years). The results indicate phases of movement probably correlated with seasonal changes indicated in the oxygen isotope data, and show the horse did not come near the immediate vicinity of Klementowice during this time. Possible patterns of movement across the surrounding region are discussed.
Palaeotemperature estimation from isotopic data can be highly informative for our understanding of past climates and their impact on humans and animals. However, for such estimates to be useful, there must be confidence in their accuracy, and this includes an assessment of calibration error. We give a series of recommendations for assessing uncertainty when making calibrations of δ18Obioapatite–δ18Oprecipitation–Temperature. Use of these guidelines will provide a more solid foundation for palaeoclimate inferences made from vertebrate isotopic data.
landscapes. That is partly due to the nature of the surviving archaeological evidence, and the poor preservation of plant remains at such ancient sites. As this study illustrates, however, the potential of Upper Palaeolithic sites to yield macrofossil remains of plants gathered and processed by human groups has been underestimated. Large scale flotation of charred deposits from hearths such as that reported here at Doln´ı V˘estonice II not only provides insight into the variety of flora that may have been locally available, but also suggests that some of it was being processed and consumed as food. The ability to exploit plant foods may have been a vital component in the successful colonisation of these cold European habitats.
In this paper we apply the methodology of large-scale flotation to newly excavated contexts from the Upper Palaeolithic (Gravettian) site of Dolní Vĕstonice II, Czech Republic, to explore the potential of charcoal - as a natural archive of environmental information - to offer information on environmental change towards the end of the middle pleniglacial during Oxygen Isotope Stage 3, between c. 32,500 and 31,200 Cal yr BP. The results of an analysis of ring widths and other anatomical features - interpreted alongside micromorphological data - indicate that this charcoal may capture a higher-resolution record of the changing climatic conditions during which humans were first expanding into these hitherto marginal ecologies and, consequently, shed new light upon the complexity of the lifeways that enabled them to do so."
ablation, providing 2027 individual measurements over 67.32 mm of enamel. The results are compared with those of local geology to estimate mobility of the horse over the period of tooth growth (approx. 1–2 years). The results indicate phases of movement probably correlated with seasonal changes indicated in the oxygen isotope data, and show the horse did not come near the immediate vicinity of Klementowice during this time. Possible patterns of movement across the surrounding region are discussed.
Palaeotemperature estimation from isotopic data can be highly informative for our understanding of past climates and their impact on humans and animals. However, for such estimates to be useful, there must be confidence in their accuracy, and this includes an assessment of calibration error. We give a series of recommendations for assessing uncertainty when making calibrations of δ18Obioapatite–δ18Oprecipitation–Temperature. Use of these guidelines will provide a more solid foundation for palaeoclimate inferences made from vertebrate isotopic data.
landscapes. That is partly due to the nature of the surviving archaeological evidence, and the poor preservation of plant remains at such ancient sites. As this study illustrates, however, the potential of Upper Palaeolithic sites to yield macrofossil remains of plants gathered and processed by human groups has been underestimated. Large scale flotation of charred deposits from hearths such as that reported here at Doln´ı V˘estonice II not only provides insight into the variety of flora that may have been locally available, but also suggests that some of it was being processed and consumed as food. The ability to exploit plant foods may have been a vital component in the successful colonisation of these cold European habitats.
In this paper we apply the methodology of large-scale flotation to newly excavated contexts from the Upper Palaeolithic (Gravettian) site of Dolní Vĕstonice II, Czech Republic, to explore the potential of charcoal - as a natural archive of environmental information - to offer information on environmental change towards the end of the middle pleniglacial during Oxygen Isotope Stage 3, between c. 32,500 and 31,200 Cal yr BP. The results of an analysis of ring widths and other anatomical features - interpreted alongside micromorphological data - indicate that this charcoal may capture a higher-resolution record of the changing climatic conditions during which humans were first expanding into these hitherto marginal ecologies and, consequently, shed new light upon the complexity of the lifeways that enabled them to do so."
2012. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and was intended to enable schools pupils and adults affected by autism engaging with local charity Red2Green
to work together to explore their local heritage. Over three days, more than 50 people took part in the excavations which provided new evidence for the development of the area now
occupied by the village from the prehistoric period onwards. This appears to have been lightly used by humans in the prehistoric and Roman period until the late 9th century AD
when a small settlement appears to have developed near the site of the present church. This settlement expanded north in the 12th-14th centuries, when a new planned extension,
Newnham End, was founded. This period of growth ceased in the 14th century, when the new settlement may have been at least partly abandoned. Revival did not take hold until
perhaps the 17th or 18th centuries. By successfully involving adults affected by autism, local primary and secondary school
pupils and local residents in organising and undertaking the excavations, the ‘Time Detectives’ excavations enabled participants to find out more about autism and about their
local heritage, and showed how effectively archaeological excavation can bring diverse people together.
Excavation over four days of a 2m2 trench within the circular earthwork exposed a hearth or oven with associated stoke hole and parts of several other features hinting at the presence of one or more built structures, all dated by associated pottery to the 12th century AD. The character of the features appeared to be largely domestic, although some specialisation is indicated and the presence of a sizeable assemblage of horseshoe nails supports the suggestion that the site was moderately high-status. Occupation was short-lived, certainly spanning less than a century and possibly only a decade or so.
The date (12th century) and the form (circular and embanked) are both atypical of moated sites and the site is now better defined as a small, late ringwork: it may represent a transitional phase between ringworks and moated sites. Historical records suggest it may have been the documented ‘bury’ of Trikets manor. The likely context for its construction is the Anarchy of the early 12th century and it was probably abandoned after Henry II came to power in 1154 AD.
The 2013 excavation in Castle Close has added to the significance of this site by dating this unusual circular earthwork and by identifying it as a ringwork rather than an early moated site. The excavation also gave members of the public living in and around Sharnbrook the chance to take part in archaeological investigations on a site at the centre of their community, during which they developed a wide range of practical and analytical archaeological skills including archaeological excavation, recording, augering and finds processing. The excavation also provided data which will be able to inform and guide future conservation, management, interpretation and presentation of the monument in Castle Close.
Parts of the area appears to have intermittently and lightly used by humans in the prehistoric period, with possible indications of a small settlement of Neolithic date beside the stream. Pottery of Roman date clearly clustered just beyond the south-eastern limits of the present settlement show a settlement to have been present here, and there is some indication of some sort of presence in the same area sometime between the 5th and 9th centuries. The present village seems to have been founded in the late Anglo-Saxon period, with settlement clearly present in the same stream-side location as the Romano-British settlement. This continued and expanded in the high medieval period, when the settlement appears to have extended northwards, but experienced sever contraction in the late medieval period, when the stream-side area of settlement was entirely abandoned. When the settlement began to recover, possibly rather falteringly, in the post medieval period, its focus appears to have shifted north towards the Comberton Road, with the stream-side settlement remaining permanently deserted. The project involved hundreds of members of the local community, and provided many new perspectives on the past development of this Cambridgeshire village
The results provided new evidence for the development of the area now occupied by the village, which mostly lies alongside a small stream, from the prehistoric period onwards. The landscape was used by humans in the prehistoric period, apparently favouring the area nearer the small brook running west of the prominent hill which dominates the land around the parish. One test pit near this stream produced convincing evidence for undisturbed settlement remains in the immediate vicinity. Small quantities of pottery of Roman date came from five different sites, two of them away from the Brookside area hinting at a pattern of settlement or agricultural land use moving beyond the lower lying zones. No evidence was found for any activity dating to the period between the 5th – 9th centuries AD, but Saxo-Norman pottery of 10th – 11th century date was found in two distinct concentrations, suggesting more than one hamlet present, possibly part of a nucleated pattern of settlement, at this time. The high medieval period saw settlement at these sites grow and that at three other ‘ends’ appear, indicating a pattern of mixed dispersed and nucleated settlement. This growth ceases in the late medieval period, with Shillington particularly badly affected in this period of widespread demographic and settlement contraction compared to many settlements in the eastern region. In the post-medieval period, however, the test pit data indicates that Shillington gradually recovered, with former dispersed settlements mostly reoccupied, although it did not achieve its pre-14th century levels and some of the medieval ‘ends’ remained uninhabited until the 19th century.