Laura S Basell
Biographic Data
| ID | 4065140 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Laura S Basell |
| GIVEN NAMES | Laura S |
| FAMILY NAME | Basell |
| SIGNATURE | BASELL L S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Southampton |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8348-5565 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 307 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 18 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
A multi-scalar palynological investigation of plant- and land-use at a Mesolithic occupation site in central Ireland
Recent research on the archaeobotanical and pollen records from north-west Europe has suggested that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers actively shaped woodland environments. These early communities created small-scale clearances, exploited a variety of wild plants, and possibly managed specific taxa. Interpretation of such activities is complicated by the influences of herbivory and the challenges posed by spatial and temporal resolution. Despite tanta…
Excavations at the Stone Age Site of Nyabusora in the western Lake Victoria-Nyanza Basin, Tanzania
This paper presents excavation results from Nyabusora, northern Tanzania, conducted by M. Posnansky and W.W. Bishop (1959) and M. Posnansky (1961). Only preliminary reports have previously been published. It synthesises the site’s history, incorporating previously unpublished analyses and information from Posnansky’s original field notes, and presents new 2014 field survey results and new archival research. Nyabusora holds particular significance…
Assessing the impact of Nile water level fluctuations on the structural stability of the Philae temples in Aswan, Egypt
Time, the Middle Stone Age and lithic analyses following the Third Science Revolution
This paper is a response to the conference session 'Generic MSA: fact or fiction?' held as part of the PanAfrican Association Conference in 2022 in Unguja, Tanzania.It questions the validity of the concept of a 'generic Middle Stone Age' and goes beyond the simple debate of terminology that has persisted for nearly 75 years.Instead, it uses this as a starting point to discuss the past, present and future of lithic analyses, including the history …
Laser Scanning Shihrazad’s Baths
This article presents the first archaeological survey of the ornate Kidichi baths on Zanzibar. The baths were built either for or by Shihrazad, a wife of Zanzibar’s nineteenth-century ruler Said bin Sultan (1806–56). Laser scanning the ornate plaster stucco clarified two inscriptions, the precise meaning of which had been lost. By combining archaeological survey results with historical research and a translation of the inscriptions, a new narrati…
Eels, Beavers, and Horses
This paper examines interactions between co-occupants of riverine niches in north-west Europe during the Late Upper Palaeolithic using both ecological and archaeological data. It is argued that consideration of both the Lateglacial record and autecology of eel, beaver and horse supports a reinterpretation of some famous but enigmatic panels of Magdalenian mobiliary art as representations of eel fishing, along with horse and beaver exploitation in…
The Middle Stone Age of Eastern Africa
The Middle Stone Age (MSA) covers the evolution, emergence, and dispersal of Homo sapiens. This article focuses on archaeological data and on published material from key stratified sites with some form of geochronological control from across eastern Africa. The MSA is often characterised by a shift from handaxe production towards discoidal and Levallois techniques. Although evidence for the controlled use of fire remains minimal, it seems likely …
Radiocarbon dating & Bayesian modelling from the Grotte du Renne & a Neanderthal origin for the Châtelperronian
Hublin et al (2012) have published a new series of AMS determinations from the site of the Grotte du Renne at Arcy-sur-Cure, one of the key sites in discussions regarding late Neanderthal behavior and adaptation. The site is well known as one of the very few Châtelperronian sites that appear to contain evidence for the range of ornaments and objects that are usually found in sites of the Proto- or Early Aurignacian in Europe, and therefore associ…
Τesting models for the beginnings of the Aurignacian and the advent of figurative art and music
Chronology of the Grotte du Renne, Arcy-sur-Cure, France
Department of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane Site, Headington Campus, Oxford OX30BP, United [email protected] et al emphasise the primacy of stratigraphy intheir reply. Our Bayesian modelling incorporates thesame stratigraphic information in the form of ‘priors’,but the approach also allows us crucially to test theagreement between the radiometric data and the se-quence. Bayesian modelling is the only rob…
Chronology of the site of Grotte du Renne, Arcy-sur-Cure, France
Higham et al (2010) published a large series of new dates from the key French Palaeolithic site of the Grotte du Renne at Arcy-sur-Cure. The site is important because it is one of only two sites in Europe in which Châtelperronian lithic remains co-occur with Neanderthal human remains. A large series of dates from the Mousterian, Châtelperronian, Aurignacian and Gravettian levels of the site was obtained. The 14C results showed great variability, …
South-eastern Mediterranean peoples between 130,000 and 10,000 years ago
South-eastern Mediterranean peoples between 130,000 and 10,000 years ago, edited by Elena A. A. Garcea, Oxford, Oxbow Books, 2010, 192 pp., $96/48 (hardback), ISBN 078-1-84217-403-6 This clearly pr
Precision dating of the Palaeolithic
Chronology of the Grotte du Renne (France) and implications for the context of ornaments and human remains within the Châtelperronian
There is extensive debate concerning the cognitive and behavioral adaptation of Neanderthals, especially in the period when the earliest anatomically modern humans dispersed into Western Europe, around 35,000–40,000 B.P. The site of the Grotte du Renne (at Arcy-sur-Cure) is of great importance because it provides the most persuasive evidence for behavioral complexity among Neanderthals. A range of ornaments and tools usually associated with moder…
Archaeology in the Sirte Basin
This paper presents in summary form the results of three years of remote sensing and ground-truthing of archaeological sites falling within concession areas held by Shell Libya in the Sirte Basin. This area spans the frontier of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, ranging from Wadi ben Jawwad in the west to Ajdabiyah in the east and south to Jebel Zelten. The work was commissioned by Shell to inform them of archaeological sensitivities during their ongoi…
Radiocarbon chronology for the Early Gravettian of northern Europe
The authors explore the arrival of the earliest Gravettian in north-west Europe, using new high precision radiocarbon dates for bone excavated at Maisières-Canal in Belgium to define a short-lived occupation around 33 000 years ago. The tanged points in that assemblage have parallels in British sites, including Goat's Hole (Paviland). This is the site of the famous ochred burial of a young adult male, confusingly known as the ‘Red Lady’, now date…
Middle Stone Age (MSA) site distributions in eastern Africa and their relationship to Quaternary environmental change, refugia and the evolution of Homo sapiens
The Cyrenaican Prehistory Project 2008
The second (2008) season of fieldwork of the Cyrenaican Prehistory Project has significantly advanced understanding of the Haua Fteah stratigraphy and of the archaeology and geomorphology of the landscape in which the cave is located. The excavations of the McBurney backfill have reached a total depth of 7.5 m below the present ground surface, the depth at which two human mandibles were found in the 1950s excavations. Reconnaissance at the Hagfet…
Τesting models for the beginnings of the Aurignacian and the advent of figurative art and music
Precision dating of the Palaeolithic
The Cyrenaican Prehistory Project 2008
The second (2008) season of fieldwork of the Cyrenaican Prehistory Project has significantly advanced understanding of the Haua Fteah stratigraphy and of the archaeology and geomorphology of the landscape in which the cave is located. The excavations of the McBurney backfill have reached a total depth of 7.5 m below the present ground surface, the depth at which two human mandibles were found in the 1950s excavations. Reconnaissance at the Hagfet…
Chronology of the site of Grotte du Renne, Arcy-sur-Cure, France
Higham et al (2010) published a large series of new dates from the key French Palaeolithic site of the Grotte du Renne at Arcy-sur-Cure. The site is important because it is one of only two sites in Europe in which Châtelperronian lithic remains co-occur with Neanderthal human remains. A large series of dates from the Mousterian, Châtelperronian, Aurignacian and Gravettian levels of the site was obtained. The 14C results showed great variability, …
Radiocarbon chronology for the Early Gravettian of northern Europe
The authors explore the arrival of the earliest Gravettian in north-west Europe, using new high precision radiocarbon dates for bone excavated at Maisières-Canal in Belgium to define a short-lived occupation around 33 000 years ago. The tanged points in that assemblage have parallels in British sites, including Goat's Hole (Paviland). This is the site of the famous ochred burial of a young adult male, confusingly known as the ‘Red Lady’, now date…
Time, the Middle Stone Age and lithic analyses following the Third Science Revolution
This paper is a response to the conference session 'Generic MSA: fact or fiction?' held as part of the PanAfrican Association Conference in 2022 in Unguja, Tanzania.It questions the validity of the concept of a 'generic Middle Stone Age' and goes beyond the simple debate of terminology that has persisted for nearly 75 years.Instead, it uses this as a starting point to discuss the past, present and future of lithic analyses, including the history …
Archaeology in the Sirte Basin
This paper presents in summary form the results of three years of remote sensing and ground-truthing of archaeological sites falling within concession areas held by Shell Libya in the Sirte Basin. This area spans the frontier of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, ranging from Wadi ben Jawwad in the west to Ajdabiyah in the east and south to Jebel Zelten. The work was commissioned by Shell to inform them of archaeological sensitivities during their ongoi…
Eels, Beavers, and Horses
This paper examines interactions between co-occupants of riverine niches in north-west Europe during the Late Upper Palaeolithic using both ecological and archaeological data. It is argued that consideration of both the Lateglacial record and autecology of eel, beaver and horse supports a reinterpretation of some famous but enigmatic panels of Magdalenian mobiliary art as representations of eel fishing, along with horse and beaver exploitation in…
Radiocarbon dating & Bayesian modelling from the Grotte du Renne & a Neanderthal origin for the Châtelperronian
Hublin et al (2012) have published a new series of AMS determinations from the site of the Grotte du Renne at Arcy-sur-Cure, one of the key sites in discussions regarding late Neanderthal behavior and adaptation. The site is well known as one of the very few Châtelperronian sites that appear to contain evidence for the range of ornaments and objects that are usually found in sites of the Proto- or Early Aurignacian in Europe, and therefore associ…
Chronology of the Grotte du Renne, Arcy-sur-Cure, France
Department of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane Site, Headington Campus, Oxford OX30BP, United [email protected] et al emphasise the primacy of stratigraphy intheir reply. Our Bayesian modelling incorporates thesame stratigraphic information in the form of ‘priors’,but the approach also allows us crucially to test theagreement between the radiometric data and the se-quence. Bayesian modelling is the only rob…
The Cyrenaican Prehistory Project 2008
The second (2008) season of fieldwork of the Cyrenaican Prehistory Project has significantly advanced understanding of the Haua Fteah stratigraphy and of the archaeology and geomorphology of the landscape in which the cave is located. The excavations of the McBurney backfill have reached a total depth of 7.5 m below the present ground surface, the depth at which two human mandibles were found in the 1950s excavations. Reconnaissance at the Hagfet…
Middle Stone Age (MSA) site distributions in eastern Africa and their relationship to Quaternary environmental change, refugia and the evolution of Homo sapiens
Chronology of the Grotte du Renne (France) and implications for the context of ornaments and human remains within the Châtelperronian
There is extensive debate concerning the cognitive and behavioral adaptation of Neanderthals, especially in the period when the earliest anatomically modern humans dispersed into Western Europe, around 35,000–40,000 B.P. The site of the Grotte du Renne (at Arcy-sur-Cure) is of great importance because it provides the most persuasive evidence for behavioral complexity among Neanderthals. A range of ornaments and tools usually associated with moder…
Archaeology in the Sirte Basin
This paper presents in summary form the results of three years of remote sensing and ground-truthing of archaeological sites falling within concession areas held by Shell Libya in the Sirte Basin. This area spans the frontier of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, ranging from Wadi ben Jawwad in the west to Ajdabiyah in the east and south to Jebel Zelten. The work was commissioned by Shell to inform them of archaeological sensitivities during their ongoi…
Radiocarbon chronology for the Early Gravettian of northern Europe
The authors explore the arrival of the earliest Gravettian in north-west Europe, using new high precision radiocarbon dates for bone excavated at Maisières-Canal in Belgium to define a short-lived occupation around 33 000 years ago. The tanged points in that assemblage have parallels in British sites, including Goat's Hole (Paviland). This is the site of the famous ochred burial of a young adult male, confusingly known as the ‘Red Lady’, now date…
Chronology of the Grotte du Renne, Arcy-sur-Cure, France
Department of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane Site, Headington Campus, Oxford OX30BP, United [email protected] et al emphasise the primacy of stratigraphy intheir reply. Our Bayesian modelling incorporates thesame stratigraphic information in the form of ‘priors’,but the approach also allows us crucially to test theagreement between the radiometric data and the se-quence. Bayesian modelling is the only rob…
Chronology of the site of Grotte du Renne, Arcy-sur-Cure, France
Higham et al (2010) published a large series of new dates from the key French Palaeolithic site of the Grotte du Renne at Arcy-sur-Cure. The site is important because it is one of only two sites in Europe in which Châtelperronian lithic remains co-occur with Neanderthal human remains. A large series of dates from the Mousterian, Châtelperronian, Aurignacian and Gravettian levels of the site was obtained. The 14C results showed great variability, …
South-eastern Mediterranean peoples between 130,000 and 10,000 years ago
South-eastern Mediterranean peoples between 130,000 and 10,000 years ago, edited by Elena A. A. Garcea, Oxford, Oxbow Books, 2010, 192 pp., $96/48 (hardback), ISBN 078-1-84217-403-6 This clearly pr
Precision dating of the Palaeolithic
Radiocarbon dating & Bayesian modelling from the Grotte du Renne & a Neanderthal origin for the Châtelperronian
Hublin et al (2012) have published a new series of AMS determinations from the site of the Grotte du Renne at Arcy-sur-Cure, one of the key sites in discussions regarding late Neanderthal behavior and adaptation. The site is well known as one of the very few Châtelperronian sites that appear to contain evidence for the range of ornaments and objects that are usually found in sites of the Proto- or Early Aurignacian in Europe, and therefore associ…
Τesting models for the beginnings of the Aurignacian and the advent of figurative art and music
The Middle Stone Age of Eastern Africa
The Middle Stone Age (MSA) covers the evolution, emergence, and dispersal of Homo sapiens. This article focuses on archaeological data and on published material from key stratified sites with some form of geochronological control from across eastern Africa. The MSA is often characterised by a shift from handaxe production towards discoidal and Levallois techniques. Although evidence for the controlled use of fire remains minimal, it seems likely …
Eels, Beavers, and Horses
This paper examines interactions between co-occupants of riverine niches in north-west Europe during the Late Upper Palaeolithic using both ecological and archaeological data. It is argued that consideration of both the Lateglacial record and autecology of eel, beaver and horse supports a reinterpretation of some famous but enigmatic panels of Magdalenian mobiliary art as representations of eel fishing, along with horse and beaver exploitation in…
Laser Scanning Shihrazad’s Baths
This article presents the first archaeological survey of the ornate Kidichi baths on Zanzibar. The baths were built either for or by Shihrazad, a wife of Zanzibar’s nineteenth-century ruler Said bin Sultan (1806–56). Laser scanning the ornate plaster stucco clarified two inscriptions, the precise meaning of which had been lost. By combining archaeological survey results with historical research and a translation of the inscriptions, a new narrati…
Time, the Middle Stone Age and lithic analyses following the Third Science Revolution
This paper is a response to the conference session 'Generic MSA: fact or fiction?' held as part of the PanAfrican Association Conference in 2022 in Unguja, Tanzania.It questions the validity of the concept of a 'generic Middle Stone Age' and goes beyond the simple debate of terminology that has persisted for nearly 75 years.Instead, it uses this as a starting point to discuss the past, present and future of lithic analyses, including the history …
A multi-scalar palynological investigation of plant- and land-use at a Mesolithic occupation site in central Ireland
Recent research on the archaeobotanical and pollen records from north-west Europe has suggested that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers actively shaped woodland environments. These early communities created small-scale clearances, exploited a variety of wild plants, and possibly managed specific taxa. Interpretation of such activities is complicated by the influences of herbivory and the challenges posed by spatial and temporal resolution. Despite tanta…
Excavations at the Stone Age Site of Nyabusora in the western Lake Victoria-Nyanza Basin, Tanzania
This paper presents excavation results from Nyabusora, northern Tanzania, conducted by M. Posnansky and W.W. Bishop (1959) and M. Posnansky (1961). Only preliminary reports have previously been published. It synthesises the site’s history, incorporating previously unpublished analyses and information from Posnansky’s original field notes, and presents new 2014 field survey results and new archival research. Nyabusora holds particular significance…
Assessing the impact of Nile water level fluctuations on the structural stability of the Philae temples in Aswan, Egypt
Archaeology (15 works) · Geography (15 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (12 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (11 works) · Cave (7 works) · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies (7 works) · Geology (7 works) · Radiocarbon dating (6 works) · Biology (5 works) · Chronology (5 works)