Author: C. Gillis
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1782974423
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 41
Book Description
This small booklet is an important conservation guide. It deals with the special care required in order to deal with these delicate fabrics during their excavation and recording. It is included as an appendix in Ancient Textiles: Production, Crafts and Society
First Aid for the Excavation of Archaeological Textiles
Author: C. Gillis
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1782974423
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 41
Book Description
This small booklet is an important conservation guide. It deals with the special care required in order to deal with these delicate fabrics during their excavation and recording. It is included as an appendix in Ancient Textiles: Production, Crafts and Society
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1782974423
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 41
Book Description
This small booklet is an important conservation guide. It deals with the special care required in order to deal with these delicate fabrics during their excavation and recording. It is included as an appendix in Ancient Textiles: Production, Crafts and Society
First Aid for the Excavation of Archaeological Textiles
Author: Carole Gillis
Publisher: Oxbow Books Limited
ISBN:
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 56
Book Description
"[I]n this manual, eight textile conservators and specialists from three continents have gathered their recommendations for the treatment of textiles in the field, in the laboratory and in the museum"--P. 4 of cover.
Publisher: Oxbow Books Limited
ISBN:
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 56
Book Description
"[I]n this manual, eight textile conservators and specialists from three continents have gathered their recommendations for the treatment of textiles in the field, in the laboratory and in the museum"--P. 4 of cover.
The Lost Art of the Anglo-Saxon World
Author: Alexandra Lester-Makin
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1789251478
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
This latest title in the highly successful Ancient Textiles series is the first substantial monograph-length historiography of early medieval embroideries and their context within the British Isles. The book brings together and analyses for the first time all 43 embroideries believed to have been made in the British Isles and Ireland in the early medieval period. New research carried out on those embroideries that are accessible today, involving the collection of technical data, stitch analysis, observations of condition and wear-marks and microscopic photography supplements a survey of existing published and archival sources. The research has been used to write, for the first time, the ‘story’ of embroidery, including what we can learn of its producers, their techniques, and the material functions and metaphorical meanings of embroidery within early medieval Anglo-Saxon society. The author presents embroideries as evidence for the evolution of embroidery production in Anglo-Saxon society, from a community-based activity based on the extended family, to organized workshops in urban settings employing standardized skill levels and as evidence of changing material use: from small amounts of fibers produced locally for specific projects to large batches brought in from a distance and stored until needed. She demonstrate that embroideries were not simply used decoratively but to incorporate and enact different meanings within different parts of society: for example, the newly arrived Germanic settlers of the fifth century used embroidery to maintain links with their homelands and to create tribal ties and obligations. As such, the results inform discussion of embroidery contexts, use and deposition, and the significance of this form of material culture within society as well as an evaluation of the status of embroiderers within early medieval society. The results contribute significantly to our understanding of production systems in Anglo-Saxon England and Ireland.
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1789251478
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
This latest title in the highly successful Ancient Textiles series is the first substantial monograph-length historiography of early medieval embroideries and their context within the British Isles. The book brings together and analyses for the first time all 43 embroideries believed to have been made in the British Isles and Ireland in the early medieval period. New research carried out on those embroideries that are accessible today, involving the collection of technical data, stitch analysis, observations of condition and wear-marks and microscopic photography supplements a survey of existing published and archival sources. The research has been used to write, for the first time, the ‘story’ of embroidery, including what we can learn of its producers, their techniques, and the material functions and metaphorical meanings of embroidery within early medieval Anglo-Saxon society. The author presents embroideries as evidence for the evolution of embroidery production in Anglo-Saxon society, from a community-based activity based on the extended family, to organized workshops in urban settings employing standardized skill levels and as evidence of changing material use: from small amounts of fibers produced locally for specific projects to large batches brought in from a distance and stored until needed. She demonstrate that embroideries were not simply used decoratively but to incorporate and enact different meanings within different parts of society: for example, the newly arrived Germanic settlers of the fifth century used embroidery to maintain links with their homelands and to create tribal ties and obligations. As such, the results inform discussion of embroidery contexts, use and deposition, and the significance of this form of material culture within society as well as an evaluation of the status of embroiderers within early medieval society. The results contribute significantly to our understanding of production systems in Anglo-Saxon England and Ireland.
PreColumbian Textile Conference VII / Jornadas de Textiles PreColombinos VII
Author: Lena Bjerregaard
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1609621158
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 428
Book Description
From May 31st to June 4th, 2016, the 7th International European conference on pre-Columbian textiles was held in Copenhagen. This volume unites seven original articles on pre-Columbian textiles from Mexico, which compare information on 20th century finds first described by Alba Guadelupe Mastache with that from previously unpublished finds and recently discovered contexts. A unique chapter presents the technical analysis and replication of a pre-Columbian tunic recovered in a cave site in Arizona, at the northern margins of the Mesoamerican interaction sphere. Thirteen articles on archaeological textiles from the central Andes include analysis of both textile assemblages preserved in museum collections and those recovered during recent fieldwork in archaeological sites of the Andean desert coast. These include textile assemblages representing the Initial and Formative Periods, Paracas and Nasca contexts, the Middle Horizon, diverse late Intermediate Period assemblages and emblematic Inca garments.
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1609621158
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 428
Book Description
From May 31st to June 4th, 2016, the 7th International European conference on pre-Columbian textiles was held in Copenhagen. This volume unites seven original articles on pre-Columbian textiles from Mexico, which compare information on 20th century finds first described by Alba Guadelupe Mastache with that from previously unpublished finds and recently discovered contexts. A unique chapter presents the technical analysis and replication of a pre-Columbian tunic recovered in a cave site in Arizona, at the northern margins of the Mesoamerican interaction sphere. Thirteen articles on archaeological textiles from the central Andes include analysis of both textile assemblages preserved in museum collections and those recovered during recent fieldwork in archaeological sites of the Andean desert coast. These include textile assemblages representing the Initial and Formative Periods, Paracas and Nasca contexts, the Middle Horizon, diverse late Intermediate Period assemblages and emblematic Inca garments.
Exploring Ancient Textiles
Author: Alistair Dickey
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 178925728X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 176
Book Description
Over the past 30 years, research on archaeological textiles has developed into an important field of scientific study. It has greatly benefited from interdisciplinary approaches, which combine the application of advanced technological knowledge to ethnographic, textual and experimental investigations. In exploring textiles and textile processing (such as production and exchange) in ancient societies, archaeologists with different types and quality of data have shared their knowledge, thus contributing to well-established methodology. In this book, the papers highlight how researchers have been challenged to adapt or modify these traditional and more recently developed analytical methods to enable extraction of comparable data from often recalcitrant assemblages. Furthermore, they have applied new perspectives and approaches to extend the focus on less investigated aspects and artefacts. The chapters embrace a broad geographical and chronological area, ranging from South America and Europe to Africa, and from the 11th millennium BC to the 1st millennium AD. Methodological considerations are explored through the medium of three different themes focusing on tools, textiles and fibres, and culture and identity. This volume constitutes a reflection on the status of current methodology and its applicability within the wider textile field. Moreover, it drives forward the methodological debates around textile research to generate new and stimulating conversations about the future of textile archaeology.
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 178925728X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 176
Book Description
Over the past 30 years, research on archaeological textiles has developed into an important field of scientific study. It has greatly benefited from interdisciplinary approaches, which combine the application of advanced technological knowledge to ethnographic, textual and experimental investigations. In exploring textiles and textile processing (such as production and exchange) in ancient societies, archaeologists with different types and quality of data have shared their knowledge, thus contributing to well-established methodology. In this book, the papers highlight how researchers have been challenged to adapt or modify these traditional and more recently developed analytical methods to enable extraction of comparable data from often recalcitrant assemblages. Furthermore, they have applied new perspectives and approaches to extend the focus on less investigated aspects and artefacts. The chapters embrace a broad geographical and chronological area, ranging from South America and Europe to Africa, and from the 11th millennium BC to the 1st millennium AD. Methodological considerations are explored through the medium of three different themes focusing on tools, textiles and fibres, and culture and identity. This volume constitutes a reflection on the status of current methodology and its applicability within the wider textile field. Moreover, it drives forward the methodological debates around textile research to generate new and stimulating conversations about the future of textile archaeology.
This Is Our Life
Author: Cara Krmpotich
Publisher: UBC Press
ISBN: 077482543X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
In September 2009, twenty-one members of the Haida Nation went to Oxford and London to work with several hundred heritage treasures at the Pitt Rivers Museum and the British Museum. The encounter set a new course for the relationships between the custodians of these cultural artifacts and the Indigenous people for whom the objects are a direct link to their past. Emotional and illuminating, tense and challenging, it was a transformative visit that none would soon forget. Featuring contributions from Haida and museum participants and a rich selection of illustrations, This Is Our Life details the remarkable story of the Haida Project. A fascinating look at the meaning behind objects, the value of repatriation, and the impact of historical trajectories like colonialism, this is also a tender story of the understanding that grew between the Haida visitors and museum staff. Beautifully written and illustrated, This Is Our Life offers a compelling view of the transformative potential of a conversation hundreds of years in the making.
Publisher: UBC Press
ISBN: 077482543X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
In September 2009, twenty-one members of the Haida Nation went to Oxford and London to work with several hundred heritage treasures at the Pitt Rivers Museum and the British Museum. The encounter set a new course for the relationships between the custodians of these cultural artifacts and the Indigenous people for whom the objects are a direct link to their past. Emotional and illuminating, tense and challenging, it was a transformative visit that none would soon forget. Featuring contributions from Haida and museum participants and a rich selection of illustrations, This Is Our Life details the remarkable story of the Haida Project. A fascinating look at the meaning behind objects, the value of repatriation, and the impact of historical trajectories like colonialism, this is also a tender story of the understanding that grew between the Haida visitors and museum staff. Beautifully written and illustrated, This Is Our Life offers a compelling view of the transformative potential of a conversation hundreds of years in the making.
Ancient Textiles
Author: Marie-Louise Nosch
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1782974393
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 789
Book Description
An understanding of textiles and the role they played in the past is important for anyone interested in past societies. Textiles served and in fact still do as both functional and symbolic items. The evidence for ancient textiles in Europe is split quite definitely along a north-south divide, with an abundance of actual examples in the north, but precious little in the south, where indirect evidence comes from such things as vase painting and frescoes. This volume brings together these two schools to look in more detail at textiles in the ancient world, and is based on a conference held in Denmark and Sweden in March 2003. Section one, Production and Organisation takes a chronological look through more than four thousand years of history; from Syria in the mid-third millennium BC, to Seventeenth Century Germany. Section two, Crafts and Technology focuses on the relationship between the primary producer (the craftsman) and the secondary receiver (the archaeologist/conservator). The third section, Society, examines the symbolic nature of textiles, and their place within ancient societal groups. Throughout the book emphasis is placed on the universality of textiles, and the importance of information exchange between scholars from different disciplines. A small book on finds First Aid for the Excavation of Archaeological Textiles is included as an Appendix.
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1782974393
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 789
Book Description
An understanding of textiles and the role they played in the past is important for anyone interested in past societies. Textiles served and in fact still do as both functional and symbolic items. The evidence for ancient textiles in Europe is split quite definitely along a north-south divide, with an abundance of actual examples in the north, but precious little in the south, where indirect evidence comes from such things as vase painting and frescoes. This volume brings together these two schools to look in more detail at textiles in the ancient world, and is based on a conference held in Denmark and Sweden in March 2003. Section one, Production and Organisation takes a chronological look through more than four thousand years of history; from Syria in the mid-third millennium BC, to Seventeenth Century Germany. Section two, Crafts and Technology focuses on the relationship between the primary producer (the craftsman) and the secondary receiver (the archaeologist/conservator). The third section, Society, examines the symbolic nature of textiles, and their place within ancient societal groups. Throughout the book emphasis is placed on the universality of textiles, and the importance of information exchange between scholars from different disciplines. A small book on finds First Aid for the Excavation of Archaeological Textiles is included as an Appendix.
Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur Band 51
Author: Jochem Kahl
Publisher: Helmut Buske Verlag
ISBN: 3967692582
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Book Description
Inhalt: Hartwig Altenmüller: Neues zu den Schutzsymbolen der magischen Ziegel von Totenbuch Spruch 151 Marianne Eaton-Krauss: The Mamur Zapt Mystery Series with a postscript on Gaston Maspero's acquaintance with Ibrahim Nasif al-Wardani, the as-sassin of Boutros Ghali Mahmoud A. Emam, Ehab Abd el-Zaher: Head of Statue (JE 91392) for a Vizier from the Temple of Behbeit el-Hagar Rolf Krauss: The morning star of PT and CT on the move, up or down the arcs of the ecliptic Elisabeth Kruck: Die Überlieferung der sieben Salböle als Beispiel epistemischer Beschleunigung Kacper Laube: The Sacred Landscape of Leontopolis (Tell el-Moqdam) in an Unpublished Manuscript of Auguste Mariette Alexandra von Lieven: Eine bisher unerkannte bildliche Umsetzung des Menuliedes in Dendara Elena Mahlich, Christoffer Theis: Ein ägyptischer Siegelabdruck aus Tunesien Morales, Antonio J. et al.: The Middle Kingdom Theban Project: Preliminary report on the University of Alcalá Expedition to Deir el-Bahari (Fifth-Sixth Seasons & Study Season – 2020-2021) Hana Navratilova, Aurore Motte: A pyramid casing stone with the opening passage of Kemyt, Dahshur, pyramid precinct of Senwosret III Rune Nyord: From crypt to cult: Pyramid Texts on Middle Kingdom mortuary stelae Wahid Omran: Akhmim in Durham: Investigating the Mummy Coffin DUROM.1999.32 Julian Posch: Some interesting copies of the Kemit Mohamed El Seaidy: The Anthropoid Coffin of Wennefer. A study of a sample from the Saqqara hoard of coffins Carolina Teotino: Die Horussöhne als Gabenbringer. Zur Überlieferung und Texttradierung auf Sarkophagen der ptolemäischen Epoche Andreas Winkler: The First Zodiac Sign and the Daimon: The Advent of an Astrological Tradition and Seven Elaborate Horoscopesw
Publisher: Helmut Buske Verlag
ISBN: 3967692582
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Book Description
Inhalt: Hartwig Altenmüller: Neues zu den Schutzsymbolen der magischen Ziegel von Totenbuch Spruch 151 Marianne Eaton-Krauss: The Mamur Zapt Mystery Series with a postscript on Gaston Maspero's acquaintance with Ibrahim Nasif al-Wardani, the as-sassin of Boutros Ghali Mahmoud A. Emam, Ehab Abd el-Zaher: Head of Statue (JE 91392) for a Vizier from the Temple of Behbeit el-Hagar Rolf Krauss: The morning star of PT and CT on the move, up or down the arcs of the ecliptic Elisabeth Kruck: Die Überlieferung der sieben Salböle als Beispiel epistemischer Beschleunigung Kacper Laube: The Sacred Landscape of Leontopolis (Tell el-Moqdam) in an Unpublished Manuscript of Auguste Mariette Alexandra von Lieven: Eine bisher unerkannte bildliche Umsetzung des Menuliedes in Dendara Elena Mahlich, Christoffer Theis: Ein ägyptischer Siegelabdruck aus Tunesien Morales, Antonio J. et al.: The Middle Kingdom Theban Project: Preliminary report on the University of Alcalá Expedition to Deir el-Bahari (Fifth-Sixth Seasons & Study Season – 2020-2021) Hana Navratilova, Aurore Motte: A pyramid casing stone with the opening passage of Kemyt, Dahshur, pyramid precinct of Senwosret III Rune Nyord: From crypt to cult: Pyramid Texts on Middle Kingdom mortuary stelae Wahid Omran: Akhmim in Durham: Investigating the Mummy Coffin DUROM.1999.32 Julian Posch: Some interesting copies of the Kemit Mohamed El Seaidy: The Anthropoid Coffin of Wennefer. A study of a sample from the Saqqara hoard of coffins Carolina Teotino: Die Horussöhne als Gabenbringer. Zur Überlieferung und Texttradierung auf Sarkophagen der ptolemäischen Epoche Andreas Winkler: The First Zodiac Sign and the Daimon: The Advent of an Astrological Tradition and Seven Elaborate Horoscopesw
Textiles of the Viking North Atlantic
Author: Alexandra Lester-Makin
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
ISBN: 1837650136
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 244
Book Description
An examination of the uses, meanings, and social impact of Viking Age textiles. This volume offers the first full study of archaeological fabrics and their decoration found in the North Atlantic region and dating broadly from the Viking or Norse period. With contributions from both academic scholars and practitioners, it shows how approaching early medieval textiles from archaeological, historical and literary contexts, and through the processes of learning and employing the traditional skills of making them, brings about a more nuanced understanding of early medieval cloths: their creation, use and meanings within their respective societies. The book is divided into two parts. The first, "Textiles and their Interpretation", takes the reader on a journey from how wool was processed in the Viking Age, and the conservator's role in preserving and interpreting archaeological textiles, to different types of analyses that researchers use to understand and explain textiles from across the wide area of the Viking-influenced North Atlantic region. The second, "Understanding through Replicating", investigates the results of practical experiments in the reconstruction of surviving medieval fabrics and the resulting empirical conclusions that can be made about their manufacture and wider cultural implications.
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
ISBN: 1837650136
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 244
Book Description
An examination of the uses, meanings, and social impact of Viking Age textiles. This volume offers the first full study of archaeological fabrics and their decoration found in the North Atlantic region and dating broadly from the Viking or Norse period. With contributions from both academic scholars and practitioners, it shows how approaching early medieval textiles from archaeological, historical and literary contexts, and through the processes of learning and employing the traditional skills of making them, brings about a more nuanced understanding of early medieval cloths: their creation, use and meanings within their respective societies. The book is divided into two parts. The first, "Textiles and their Interpretation", takes the reader on a journey from how wool was processed in the Viking Age, and the conservator's role in preserving and interpreting archaeological textiles, to different types of analyses that researchers use to understand and explain textiles from across the wide area of the Viking-influenced North Atlantic region. The second, "Understanding through Replicating", investigates the results of practical experiments in the reconstruction of surviving medieval fabrics and the resulting empirical conclusions that can be made about their manufacture and wider cultural implications.
Living with the Flood
Author: Samantha Paul
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1782979670
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 174
Book Description
The site at Mill Lane, Sawston, represents millennia of human activity within a dynamic and changing landscape setting. River valleys have been a focus for human activity since the early Holocene and, in addition to providing abundant archaeological evidence for this activity, the proximity to water also highlights the potential for the preservation of both archaeological remains and palaeoenvironmental source material. However, human activity within river valleys also commonly bridges areas of both wetland and dryland; ecological zones which are often approached using quite different archaeological methods and which present considerable differences in levels of archaeological visibility and preservation. The site at Mill Lane offered an uncommon opportunity to explore the interface between these two types of environment. Here we present the results of the study of a wetland/dryland interface on the edge of palaeochannels of the River Cam in Cambridgeshire. Through the integrated archaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of a site on the western edge of Sawston, a detailed picture of life on the edge of the floodplain from the late glacial to the post-medieval periods has been developed. At the heart of this is the relationship between people and their changing environment, which reveals a shifting pattern of ritual, occupation and more transitory activity as the riparian landscape in a wooded setting became a wetland within a more openly grazed environment. The presence of potential built structures dating to the early Neolithic, the early Bronze Age and the early Anglo-Saxon periods provides some sense of continuity, although the nature of these structures and the environmental context within which they were constructed was very different. The site at Mill Lane, Sawston, represents millennia of human activity within a dynamic and changing landscape setting. River valleys have been a focus for human activity since the early Holocene and, in addition to providing abundant archaeological evidence for this activity, the proximity to water also highlights the potential for the preservation of both archaeological remains and palaeoenvironmental source material. However, human activity within river valleys also commonly bridges areas of both wetland and dryland; ecological zones which are often approached using quite different archaeological methods and which present considerable differences in levels of archaeological visibility and preservation. The site at Mill Lane offered an uncommon opportunity to explore the interface between these two types of environment. Here we present the results of the study of a wetland/dryland interface on the edge of palaeochannels of the River Cam in Cambridgeshire. Through the integrated archaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of a site on the western edge of Sawston, a detailed picture of life on the edge of the floodplain from the late glacial to the post-medieval periods has been developed. At the heart of this is the relationship between people and their changing environment, which reveals a shifting pattern of ritual, occupation and more transitory activity as the riparian landscape in a wooded setting became a wetland within a more openly grazed environment. The presence of potential built structures dating to the early Neolithic, the early Bronze Age and the early Anglo-Saxon periods provides some sense of continuity, although the nature of these structures and the environmental context within which they were constructed was very different. The site at Mill Lane, Sawston, represents millennia of human activity within a dynamic and changing landscape setting. River valleys have been a focus for human activity since the early Holocene and, in addition to providing abundant archaeological evidence for this activity, the proximity to water also highlights the potential for the preservation of both archaeological remains and palaeoenvironmental source material. However, human activity within river valleys also commonly bridges areas of both wetland and dryland; ecological zones which are often approached using quite different archaeological methods and which present considerable differences in levels of archaeological visibility and preservation. The site at Mill Lane offered an uncommon opportunity to explore the interface between these two types of environment. Here we present the results of the study of a wetland/dryland interface on the edge of palaeochannels of the River Cam in Cambridgeshire. Through the integrated archaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of a site on the western edge of Sawston, a detailed picture of life on the edge of the floodplain from the late glacial to the post-medieval periods has been developed. At the heart of this is the relationship between people and their changing environment, which reveals a shifting pattern of ritual, occupation and more transitory activity as the riparian landscape in a wooded setting became a wetland within a more openly grazed environment. The presence of potential built structures dating to the early Neolithic, the early Bronze Age and the early Anglo-Saxon periods provides some sense of continuity, although the nature of these structures and the environmental context within which they were constructed was very different.
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1782979670
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 174
Book Description
The site at Mill Lane, Sawston, represents millennia of human activity within a dynamic and changing landscape setting. River valleys have been a focus for human activity since the early Holocene and, in addition to providing abundant archaeological evidence for this activity, the proximity to water also highlights the potential for the preservation of both archaeological remains and palaeoenvironmental source material. However, human activity within river valleys also commonly bridges areas of both wetland and dryland; ecological zones which are often approached using quite different archaeological methods and which present considerable differences in levels of archaeological visibility and preservation. The site at Mill Lane offered an uncommon opportunity to explore the interface between these two types of environment. Here we present the results of the study of a wetland/dryland interface on the edge of palaeochannels of the River Cam in Cambridgeshire. Through the integrated archaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of a site on the western edge of Sawston, a detailed picture of life on the edge of the floodplain from the late glacial to the post-medieval periods has been developed. At the heart of this is the relationship between people and their changing environment, which reveals a shifting pattern of ritual, occupation and more transitory activity as the riparian landscape in a wooded setting became a wetland within a more openly grazed environment. The presence of potential built structures dating to the early Neolithic, the early Bronze Age and the early Anglo-Saxon periods provides some sense of continuity, although the nature of these structures and the environmental context within which they were constructed was very different. The site at Mill Lane, Sawston, represents millennia of human activity within a dynamic and changing landscape setting. River valleys have been a focus for human activity since the early Holocene and, in addition to providing abundant archaeological evidence for this activity, the proximity to water also highlights the potential for the preservation of both archaeological remains and palaeoenvironmental source material. However, human activity within river valleys also commonly bridges areas of both wetland and dryland; ecological zones which are often approached using quite different archaeological methods and which present considerable differences in levels of archaeological visibility and preservation. The site at Mill Lane offered an uncommon opportunity to explore the interface between these two types of environment. Here we present the results of the study of a wetland/dryland interface on the edge of palaeochannels of the River Cam in Cambridgeshire. Through the integrated archaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of a site on the western edge of Sawston, a detailed picture of life on the edge of the floodplain from the late glacial to the post-medieval periods has been developed. At the heart of this is the relationship between people and their changing environment, which reveals a shifting pattern of ritual, occupation and more transitory activity as the riparian landscape in a wooded setting became a wetland within a more openly grazed environment. The presence of potential built structures dating to the early Neolithic, the early Bronze Age and the early Anglo-Saxon periods provides some sense of continuity, although the nature of these structures and the environmental context within which they were constructed was very different. The site at Mill Lane, Sawston, represents millennia of human activity within a dynamic and changing landscape setting. River valleys have been a focus for human activity since the early Holocene and, in addition to providing abundant archaeological evidence for this activity, the proximity to water also highlights the potential for the preservation of both archaeological remains and palaeoenvironmental source material. However, human activity within river valleys also commonly bridges areas of both wetland and dryland; ecological zones which are often approached using quite different archaeological methods and which present considerable differences in levels of archaeological visibility and preservation. The site at Mill Lane offered an uncommon opportunity to explore the interface between these two types of environment. Here we present the results of the study of a wetland/dryland interface on the edge of palaeochannels of the River Cam in Cambridgeshire. Through the integrated archaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of a site on the western edge of Sawston, a detailed picture of life on the edge of the floodplain from the late glacial to the post-medieval periods has been developed. At the heart of this is the relationship between people and their changing environment, which reveals a shifting pattern of ritual, occupation and more transitory activity as the riparian landscape in a wooded setting became a wetland within a more openly grazed environment. The presence of potential built structures dating to the early Neolithic, the early Bronze Age and the early Anglo-Saxon periods provides some sense of continuity, although the nature of these structures and the environmental context within which they were constructed was very different.