Rescuing and publishing archaeology in Uppland, Sweden.

Rescuing and publishing archaeology in Uppland, Sweden. NIKLAS STEINBACK (ed.). Stenaldern i Uppland: uppdragsarkeologi ocheftertanke [The Stone Age in Uppland: rescue archaeology Rescue archaeology, sometimes called "preventive" or "salvage" archaeology, is archaeological survey and excavation carried out in areas threatened by, or revealed by, construction or other development, such as the building of a dam to flood an area where sites of interest might andafterthought af��ter��thought?n.An idea, response, or explanation that occurs to one after an event or decision.afterthoughtNoun1. ] (Arkeologi E4 Uppland--studier, volyrn 1). 560 pages,numerous colour & b&w illustrations and tables. 2007. Uppsala:Riksantikvarieambetet 978-91-7209-465-9; Societas ArcheologicaUppsaliensis 978-91-976723-0-6; Upplandmuseet 978-91-85618-91-0hardback. MICHEL NOTELID (ed.). Att na den andra sidan: om begravning ochritual i Uppland [Reaching the other side: burial and ritual in Uppland](Arkeologi E4 Uppland--studier, volym 2). 538 pages, numerous colour& b&w illustrations and tables. 2007. Uppsala:Riksantikvarieambetet 978-91-7209-466-6; Societas ArcheologicaUppsaliensis 978-91-976723-1-3; Upplandmuseet 978-91-85618-92-7hardback. HANS GOTHBERG (ed.). Hus och bebyggelse i Uppland: delar avforhistoriska sammanhang [House and settlement in Uppland: fragments ofprehistoric pre��his��tor��ic? also pre��his��tor��i��caladj.1. Of, relating to, or belonging to the era before recorded history.2. Of or relating to a language before it is first recorded in writing. context] (Arkeologi E4 Uppland--studier, volym 3). 472pages, numerous colour & b&w illustrations and tables. 2007.Uppsala: Riksantikvarieambetet 978-91-7209-467-3; Societas ArcheologicaUppsaliensis 978-91-976723-2-0; Upplandmuseet 978-91-85618-93-4hardback. EVA HJARTHNER-HOLDAR, HAKEN RANHEDEN & ANTON SELLER (ed.). Landoch samhalle i forandring: Upplandska bygder i ett langtidsperspektiv[Land and society in transformation: Uppland settlements in a long-termperspective] (Arkeologi E4 Upplandstudier, volym 4). 778 pages, numerouscolour & b&w illustrations and tables. 2007. Uppsala:Riksantikvarieambetet 978-91-7209-478-9; Societas ArcheologicaUppsaliensis 978-91-97672-3-7; Upplandmuseet 978-91-85618-94-0 hardback. EVA HJARTHNER-HOLDAR, THOMAS ERIKSSON & ANNA OSTLING (ed.).Mellan himmel och jord: Ryssgardet, en guldskimrande bronsealdersmiljo icentrala Uppland [Between Heaven and Earth: Ryssgardet, a golden BronzeAge Bronze Age,period in the development of technology when metals were first used regularly in the manufacture of tools and weapons. Pure copper and bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, were used indiscriminately at first; this early period is sometimes called the environment in central Uppland] (Arkeologi E4 Uppland--studier,volym 5). 556 pages, numerous colour & b&w illustrations andtables. 2008. Uppsala: Riksantikvarieambetet 978-91-7209-479-6 hardback. NICLAS BJORCK & EVA HJARTHNER-HOLDAR (ed.). Mellan hav ochskog. Hogmossen, en stenaldersmiljii vid en skimrande strand i NorraUppland [Between sea and forest: Hogmossen, a Stone Age environment at aglistening glis��ten?intr.v. glis��tened, glis��ten��ing, glis��tensTo shine by reflection with a sparkling luster. See Synonyms at flash.n.A sparkling, lustrous shine. beach in Norra Uppland] (Arkeologi E4 Uppland-studier, volym6). 416 pages, numerous colour & b&w illustrations and tables,CD-ROM. 2008. Uppsala: Riksantikvarieambetet 978-91-7209-498-7 hardback. Strategy for dissemination disseminationMedtalk The spread of a pernicious process–eg, CA, acute infection Oncology Metastasis, see there of results obtained through'rescue' (developer-led or contract) excavation is a theme ofincreasing importance in archaeology. Because rescue excavations arefunded by private and public money it is important that the results aredisseminated in a way that makes it possible for private funders and thepublic alike to understand how exciting the results are. This may demandthat the funders invest in proper research-based processing of the dataas a basis for their popular publication since technical archaeologicalreports and colourful colourfulor US colorfulAdjective1. with bright or richly varied colours2. vivid or distinctive in characterAdj. 1. publications of a stereotypical and repetitivecharacter do not really convey the message to non-specialists in thelong run. Because the majority of archaeological features excavatedtoday are investigated as part of rescue archaeology it is equallyessential that the research results obtained are presented in a way thatmakes them useful to the professional archaeological audience. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Arkeologi E4 Uppland-studier is the presentation of resultsobtained through rescue campaigns carried out in relation with thebuilding of approximately 100km of motorway to the North-Northwest ofUppsala in Sweden in the period 1995-2006. The published work isimpressive in size, consisting of six A4-sized 'bricks' ofabout 400 to 800 pages each--all between hard covers and of highgraphical quality. Its 136 contributions cover all thematic areas, fromgeneral theoretical perspectives to concrete results of localmaterial-related analyses, organised in 25 sections. The six volumes arewritten in Swedish but contain translations of the captions into Englishin all six volumes and short English summaries in the first fourvolumes. Unfortunately these are absent from the last two. The workcontains a large amount of results of wide interest, briefly summarisedhere: Volume 1, 'The Stone Age in Uppland: rescue archaeology andafterthought', contains results concerning the organisation andinterpretation of the settlements; quartzite quartzite,usually metamorphic rock composed of firmly cemented quartz grains. Most often it is white, light gray, yellowish, or light brown, but is sometimes colored blue, green, purple, or black by included minerals. extraction andmanufacturing technology; Early Neolithic flint blade production;Neolithic pottery style and use; Neolithic excavation methodology; wastedisposal behaviour on Neolithic coastal sites; and clarification of therole and function of local artefact See artifact. types. Volume 2, 'Reaching the other side: burial and ritual inUppland', has several contributions discussing the concept ofarchaeological burial on the basis of missing bodies (such as conditionsof preservation, cenotaphs or cremation cremation,disposal of a corpse by fire. It is an ancient and widespread practice, second only to burial. It has been found among the chiefdoms of the Pacific Northwest, among Northern Athapascan bands in Alaska, and among Canadian cultural groups. practices) which focus on theLate Bronze Age/Early Iron Age; ritual and grave structures on Neolithicsites and related ideological dynamics; mound types and the prehistoricidea of burial mounds; burial customs and the language of burial ritualsincluding the prehistoric robbing of graves seen as related toreincarnation reincarnation(rē'ĭnkärnā`shən)[Lat.,=taking on flesh again], occupation by the soul of a new body after the death of the former body. ; the Viking Age Viking Age is the term denoting the years from about 800 to 1066 in Scandinavian History[1][2][3]. The vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. and medieval reclaiming of earlier burialgrounds; the use of cereal grains in Bronze Age ritual; Bronze Ageroads--cul-de-sacs--leading to ritual sites; the continuity ofcemeteries in relation to the continuity of local settlements; andprehistoric offerings in the post holes of houses. Volume 3, 'House and settlement in Uppland: fragments ofprehistoric contexts', comprises contributions on houses, othersettlement structures and settlement organisation from the Mesolithic tothe medieval period including Early Iron Age latrines, analysis ofgeochemical traces and plant material from settlements. Volume 4's title is 'Land and society in transformation:Uppland settlements in a long-term perspective'. Here thesettlements and communities from the different prehistoric phases andtheir changing cultural and environmental context, available resourcesand economy are studied not only from the archaeological traces leftbehind bur also from the perspective of work on the vegetation, sealevel changes, insect remains flora wells, osteology osteology/os��te��ol��o��gy/ (os?te-ol��ah-je) scientific study of the bones. os��te��ol��o��gyn.The branch of anatomy that deals with the structure and function of bones. , place names andnatural transportation routes. One section is devoted to the remains ofrecent charcoal charcoal,substance obtained by partial burning or carbonization (destructive distillation) of organic material. It is largely pure carbon. The entry of air during the carbonization process is controlled so that the organic material does not turn to ash, as in a production. Volume 5, 'Between Heaven and Earth: Ryssgardet a goldenBronze Age environment in central Uppland', consists of a study ofthe Late Neolithic-Roman Iron Age settlement at Ryssgardet and itsorganisation: house types, graves, hearths, pits, waste disposal, goldobjects and weight systems are presented, together with analyses of thebronze, gold, lithics and the ceramic sherds and their organic content.Further studies include osteology, analyses of the pollen and crops,rock art, and the ritual and cosmological cos��mol��o��gy?n. pl. cos��mol��o��gies1. The study of the physical universe considered as a totality of phenomena in time and space.2. a. implications of the Ryssgardetcemetery and cult site. Volume 6, 'Between sea and forest: Hogmossen, a Stone Ageenvironment at a glistening beach in Norra Uppland' is the study ofthe Neolithic coastal site of Hogmossen which examines its socio-spatialorganisation, and social and natural environment, i.e. the dwellings,graves, waste disposal, osteological and vegetable materials, ceramics,clay types and distribution patterns. The six volumes together show the opportunity offered by theconstruction of a new motorway, where a large amount of incomingarchaeological data is used to update the archaeology of Uppland andintegrate it into a national and partly international perspective. Thereis a strong focus on understanding the cultural elements within alandscape context, such as ritual sites and cemeteries, settlements andtheir spatial organisation, and economy and relationships to theprehistoric infrastructure. The work reflects a Swedish archaeology that is moving forward andstriking a fine balance between registered archaeological facts and awell-informed theoretical/hypothetical stance. Some theoreticalcontributions appear a little misplaced mis��place?tr.v. mis��placed, mis��plac��ing, mis��plac��es1. a. To put into a wrong place: misplace punctuation in a sentence.b. , such as, for instance, thepaper by Jan Apel (Vol. 1. p. 31) which postulates the existence of two'cultural traditions' of pressure flaking of points, bothobservable in the Swedish material and both originating in the easternMediterranean around 5400 cal BC and 9000 cal BC respectively. Bur ingeneral there is a fine understanding of the importance of spiritual andideological aspects of the prehistoric societies studied which avoidsturning the archaeological interpretations into neo-shamanisticnightmares. The archaeological material is respected and incorporatedinto realistic cultural models or reconstructions. Large amounts ofsamples have been analysed to facilitate a reasonable reconstruction ofthe relation between the environmental dynamics and the culturalphenomena and processes in focus. The results of this large-scaleresearch-based rescue operation are impressive! Despite its interesting content, the work suffers from a series ofstructural or editorial problems that make it difficult to understandexactly what its aim is and which user group is targeted. A decision in2005, by the county authorities involved, to publish four volumes with'in-depth papers' (1-4 in the series) and two monographs onthe specific sites of Hogmossen and Ryssgardet (5-6), but to publish theprimary data and a large part of the analyses in separate reports, seemsto have placed the six volumes between two chairs. Although the graphicsare of very high quality, the work is too large as well as thematicallyand organisationally too complex to serve as popular dissemination ofthese exciting archaeological results. On the other hand its lack ofdocumentation (the primary data being published elsewhere) and lack ofreferencing at the level expected from a scientific publication makes itdifficult to use as such. Excellent graphics in nice colours andbeautiful landscape images are not a useful substitute. For the brave reader, fighting his or her way through the six heavyvolumes, it is discouraging to meet re-circulation of the data presentedin different sections. An example is the way different aspects of theNeolithic site of Hogmossen--a highly interesting site whose spatialorganisation, which includes a line of dwellings and related activityareas along an old shore line, can be recognised--are dealt with in anumber of separate but overlapping contributions: Vol.1.p. 467 (in apaper by Frederik Larsson about waste deposal de��pos��al?n.The act or an instance of deposing from office. ); Vol.3. p. 19 (in a paperby Niclas Bjorck about Neolithic settlements with a detailed publicationof its dwelling structures); Vol.4. p. 229 (in a paper by Niclas Bjorckagain about Uppland in the Stone Age, including its Neolithic society);and then in Vol.6. which is a monograph mon��o��graph?n.A scholarly piece of writing of essay or book length on a specific, often limited subject.tr.v. mon��o��graphed, mon��o��graph��ing, mon��o��graphsTo write a monograph on. of the excavations in theHogmossen area. Of course repeated presentations of the same data in differentthematic contexts may be relevant, but one is left with the feeling thatproper editing--including a serious thematic re-organisation of thewhole thing--could have reduced the work to one popular presentationaland easy-to-understand volume with the conclusions and the choice findsof the campaign highlighted--in Swedish; and parallel to that a numberof focused and comprehensive scientific publications with the heavieranalysis and documentation in a series of not necessarily colourfulvolumes--in English. A large part of the material and results presentedin 'Arkeologi E4 Uppland' deserves a coherent scientificpublication in a language that makes it accessible to researchersoutside Sweden. The six-volume Arkeologi E4 Uppland-studier series is interestingbecause it demonstrates that the addition of a proper research elementto the processing of the products of rescue archaeology can producehighly interesting scientific results that could, if presented in theright way, fascinate and attract the public and maybe even demonstrateto public authorities and private companies responsible for funding suchinvestigations that they are worth it. But the present work alsodemonstrates the importance of a well planned dissemination strategywith a clear distinction between different user groups. The work can bestrongly recommended to a large number of specialists: those with aprofessional interest in settlement studies, especially Stone Agesettlement studies; those studying Bronze Age ritual sites and burialcustoms; and those engaged with cultural landscape dynamics. They willhave to be fluent in Swedish and have the patience and capacity to puttogether intellectual jigsaw A Web server from the W3C that incorporates advanced features and uses a modular design similar to the Apache Web server. Jigsaw supports HTTP 1.1 and provided an experimental platform for HTTP-NG. See HTTP-NG and Amaya. puzzles. Ole Gron, Langelands Museum, Jens Winthersvej 12, 5900 Rudkobing,Denmark (Email: olegron.lmr@gmail)