The 'Landscapes of Settlement Project' has carried out archaeological and paleoenvironmental research in the Lake Mývatn region of N. Iceland since 1996. Animal bone collections dating from the late 9th century to the early 13th century AD have been recovered from five sites in different ecological zones around the lake, and three of these sites provide multiple phases datable through radiocarbon, artefacts, and volcanic tephra. Modern systematic biological and geological investigations in the Mývatn district date to the 19th century and a detailed picture of the recent ecology can be combined with both archaeological and historical evidence for long term resource exploitation by humans in this inland region. Analysis of bird bones and bird eggshell suggests that the locally managed sustainable harvest of migratory waterfowl eggs carried out over the last 150 years extends back to the 9th century. These inland archaeofauna also include significant numbers of marine fish and sea birds, marine mollusca, and a few seal and porpoise bones. Marine fish remains recovered indicate specialised transport of partial skeletons missing most cranial and some thoracic vertebrae, suggesting that a cured fish product was being regularly brought to inland farms during the early years of the settlement. Inter-regional exchange and a pre-Hanseatic artisanal fish trade prior to AD 1000 suggests the importance of preserved marine fish in early Scandinavian economies, and may shed light on the source of the 11th century 'fish event horizon' recently documented in southern Britain.

This paper outlines the radiocarbon program applied to the excavation and skeletal assemblage from the cemetery of the medieval Priory and Hospital of St. Mary Spital in London. Problems encountered in dating medieval cemeteries are outlined. The problems were addressed through the application of Bayesian modeling to validate and refine conventional approaches to constructing phases of archaeological activity. It should be noted that this project was solely funded by the developer of the land; such projects rarely undertake even modest programs of , 4 C dating. We aim to show how the investment of a proportionally small sum, compared to the overall project costs, may reap significant benefits. ST. MARY SPITALThe Priory and Hospital of St. Mary Spital was an Augustinian monastery that looked after the sick and poor on the outskirts of the medieval City of London (Figure 1). It was founded around AD 1197 and became London's largest medieval hospital, looking after 180 people (Stow 1908:151). The hospital was refounded in 1235 on a much larger scale (Thomas et al. 1997). The public infirmaries lay north of the entrance yard and the lay sisters who looked after the sick lived in a house next to the infirmary. The church lay at right angles to the infirmary and to its north lay the monastic cloister surrounded by possible guest quarters, a refectory with an adjacent kitchen and a dormitory over cellars, and a chapter house. To the east lay a kitchen, the canon's infirmary, and a number of other structures, which underwent intensive alterations in the 15th and early 16th centuries, including one that may be the infirmarer's workshop-a rare example of a medieval pharmacy. Figure 1 Site location map. © Museum of London Archaeology Service. 'English Heritage,

ABSTRACT.A slice of pine from the period covered by single-year calibration data (Stuiver 1993) was selected to serve as part of the quality assurance procedures of the English Heritage radiocarbon dating program, following successful wigglematching of 14 C measurements from structural 15th century English oak timbers (Hamilton et al. 2007). The timber selected was a roofing element from a house on Jermyn Street, central London, demonstrated by dendrochronology to have been felled in AD 1670. Eighteen single-ring samples were dated by the 14 C laboratories at Groningen, Oxford, and SUERC: each laboratory was sent a random selection of 6 samples. This approach was intended to mimic the mix of samples and relative ages incorporated into Bayesian chronological models during routine project research. This paper presents the results of this study.

Radiocarbon measurements on a partially articulated female human skeleton, recovered from the foreshore of the river Thames in London, raised interesting questions of interpretation when the body did not produce the anticipated Neolithic date. A relatively recent 14C age and a strong marine component to the individual's diet, identified by stable isotope measurements, means that the date of death is difficult to estimate accurately, although the body probably does not constitute a forensic case.

This paper outlines the history of preservation in situ as practised in London over the last hundred and fi fty years. It touches upon the early development of the City of London and the destruction of signifi cant remains, which gradually lead to a heightening of sensitivities and public concern for preservation, particularly of built fabric such as the Roman defences. The role of cases such as the Walbrook Mithraeum and Rose Theatre are discussed, both infl uential in changing the relationship between development and archaeology. The paper concludes by noting how much we have learnt from past mistakes, but notes that more can be done to make these sites more accessible.keywords London, archaeology, Roman, Rose Theatre, urban preservation in situ