++apologies for cross-posting++
The editors of the e-journal Internet Archaeology are very
pleased to announce the arrival of issue 5 of and especially proud to open
it with 'A small mesolithic site at Fife Ness, Fife, Scotland' by Caroline
Wickham-Jones and Magnar Dalland. The paper can be found via the links at
http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue5/index.html
This paper marks a new chapter of Internet Archaeology and is historic
for many reasons. It is our first externally-funded paper, published with
the aid of a grant from the government agency 'Historic Scotland'.
Please visit http://intarch.ac.uk/news/press_fife.html
for our full press release.
This particular paper is important because of the valuable
contribution it makes to theoretical discussions about the
Scottish mesolithic. The site is small copared to most mesolithic sites in
Scotland (and elsewhere). Small sites have played an important role
in theoretical interpretations of the mesolithic way of life, but few have
been found and excavated. The site is important for one other reason.
Radiocarbon dating of the nutshells found at the site was carried out
using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at the University of Oxford and the
results surprisingly showed that occupation occurred sometime between
7400 and 7600 BC making it one of the earliest human settlement
sites in all of Scotland, and certainly the earliest on the Scottish east
coast.
Olwyn Owen, Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Historic Scotland, said
that the early dates from Fife Ness were enormously exciting and paid
tribute to the skills of the archaeological team.
"The features were really quite unprepossessing when first
discovered, which highlights how elusive the evidence for Scotland's
earliest peoples can sometimes be. Historic Scotland is pleased to be
associated with the publication of this important project on the
internet."
Internet Archaeology has just been awarded a further three years grant,
running until August 2001. This grant, together with the support
of bodies like Historic Scotland and English Heritage (who have just
agreed to fund a paper on the West Heslerton excavations in the Vale of
Pickering) has secured the future of the journal and shows strong support
for this innovative approach to publishing.
If you have any comments about this paper, we would be very pleased to
hear from you. You may email me directly or post your comments to
our email discussion list at: [log in to unmask]
Best wishes
Judith
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Judith Winters Tel: +44 1904 433955
Assistant Editor, Internet Archaeology Fax: +44 1904 433939
http://intarch.ac.uk/ [log in to unmask]
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