'Ava’: a Beaker-associated woman from a cist at Achavanich, Highland, and the story of her (re-) discovery and subsequent study

This contribution describes the discovery and subsequent investigation of a cist in a rock-cut pit at Achavanich, Highland. Discovered and excavated in 1987, the cist was found to contain the tightly contracted skeletal remains of a young woman, accompanied by a Beaker, three flint artefacts and a cattle scapula. Initial post excavation work established a date for the skeleton together with details of her age and sex, and preliminary pollen analysis of sediments attaching to the Beaker was undertaken. The findings were never fully published and, upon the death of the excavator, Robert Gourlay, the documentary archive was left in the Highland Council Archaeology Unit. Fresh research in 2014–17, initiated and co-ordinated by the first-named author and funded by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland with assistance from National Museums Scotland, the Natural History Museum and Harvard Medical School, has produced a significant amount of new information on the individual and on some of the items with which she was buried. This new information includes two further radiocarbon dates, a more detailed osteological report, isotopic information pertaining to the place where she had been raised and to her diet, histological information on the decomposition of her body, and genetic information that sheds light on her ancestry, her hair, eye and skin colour and her intolerance of lactose. (This is the first time that an ancient DNA report has been published in the Proceedings.) Moreover, a facial reconstruction adds virtual flesh to her bones. The significance of this discovery within the Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age of this part of Scotland is discussed, along with the many and innovative ways in which information on this individual, dubbed ‘Ava’, has been disseminated around the world.Copyright © 2018 rests with the Society and the individual authors. Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CreativeCommons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ The permission to reproduce the Society's copyright-protected ma-terial does not extend to any material which is identified as being the copyright of a third party. Authorisation to reproduce such material must be obtained from the copyright holders concerned. The attached file is the published pdf

Exploring orientation cues in both digital and physical books

Electronic books (eBooks) and eReaders are now a commonplace tool in the reading experience for many readers. Yet these have long received mixed reviews. Designing suitable interactions that support successful eReading experiences is a relevant task. This paper reports on an exploration of orientation cue designs for electronic books through consideration of design techniques implemented in both physical books (pBooks) and eBooks. We executed a case study of contemporary pBook and eBook orientation cue designs and report on the results of a heuristic evaluation with a small set of expert evaluators. Our findings identify the need for further investigation of the design of orientation cues for both pBooks and eBooks

‘Ava’: a Beaker-associated woman from a cist at Achavanich, Highland, and the story of her (re-)discovery and subsequent study

This contribution describes the discovery and subsequent investigation of a cist in a rock-cut pit at Achavanich, Highland. Discovered and excavated in 1987, the cist was found to contain the tightly contracted skeletal remains of a young woman, accompanied by a Beaker, three int artefacts and a cattle scapula. Initial post-excavation work established a date for the skeleton together with details of her age and sex, and preliminary pollen analysis of sediments attaching to the Beaker was undertaken. The ndings were never fully published and, upon the death of the excavator, Robert Gourlay, the documentary archive was left in the Highland Council Archaeology Unit. Fresh research in 2014–17, initiated and co-ordinated by the rst-named author and funded by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland with assistance from National Museums Scotland, the Natural History Museum and Harvard Medical School, has produced a signi cant amount of new information on the individual and on some of the items with which she was buried. This new information includes two further radiocarbon dates, a more detailed osteological report, isotopic information pertaining to the place where she had been raised and to her diet, histological information on the decomposition of her body, and genetic information that sheds light on her ancestry, her hair, eye and skin colour and her intolerance of lactose. (This is the rst time that an ancient DNA report has been published in the Proceedings.) Moreover, a facial reconstruction adds virtual esh to her bones. The signi cance of this discovery within the Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age of this part of Scotland is discussed, along with the many and innovative ways in which information on this individual, dubbed ‘Ava’, has been disseminated around the world

A study of children’s search query formulation habits

The strategies children use for digital information search in educational settings are rarely explored. Open questions remain on such fundamental issues as to which information-seeking strategies children employ, how they construct queries, and if the strategies that are taught are effective when using modern search engines. We conducted an observation study with school children to gain insights into these questions. As a result of this study, we identified query-creation and query-reformulation strategies that children use

Searching for the origins of bere barley: a geometric morphometric approach to cereal landrace recognition in archaeology

Bere is a landrace of barley, adapted to the marginal conditions of northern Scotland, especially those of the Northern and Western Isles. The history of bere on these islands is long and, in an era of diminishing landrace cultivation, bere now represents one of the oldest cereal landraces in Europe still grown commercially. The longevity of bere raises the possibility of using grain characteristics of present-day specimens to identify bere in the archaeological record. Geometric modern morphometric (GMM) analysis of grains from bere and other barley landraces is conducted to determine whether landraces can be differentiated on grain morphology. Results indicate that there are morphological differences between bere and other British and Scandinavian landraces, and between bere from Orkney and the Western Isles, both of which are apparent in genetic analysis. This finding paves the way for the identification of bere archaeologically, helping to establish its status as living heritage and securing its commercial future. More broadly, this work indicates the potential of grain GMM for the recognition of cereal landraces, permitting the ancestry and exchange of landraces to be traced in the archaeological record

Vegetation Changes and Woodland Management Associated with a Prehistoric to Medieval Burnt Mound Complex at Ballygawley, Northern Ireland

This work was supported by Road services, Northern Ireland, Jacobs and Headland Archaeology Ltd.Peer reviewedPostprin

Multi-level engagement in augmented reality children’s picture books

We demonstrate our AR enhanced picture book that provides multiple levels of interaction and engagement. Holding the camera at a range of heights facilitates reader exploration of layered book features and content. These multi-level enhancements extend the traditional learning possibilities of books while providing increased opportunities for both shared and individual reading

Who was that? Enriched eReading through in-book visualisation

The shift to electronic books has opened a realm of possibilities for assisting users in reading books, but little of this potential has been realised. Today’s eReaders offer simple search features but rarely make any ongoing supportive data about a book’s content available. We investigated the use of visual aids for eBook reading and developed an eReader prototype. Our prototype provides a timeline of character appearances throughout a book, coupled with interactive identifications and lists of characters as they appear within the narrative. We present results of a user study in which we observe that contextually-relevant information can enhance a reader’s experience

Through the Cowgate: life in 15th-century Edinburgh as revealed by excavations at St Patrick's Church

Excavations in the grounds of St Patrick's Church, Edinburgh were undertaken by Headland Archaeology from November 2006 to February 2007 on behalf of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh in advance of the construction of a hotel on the site. Soil analyses suggested that flash floods had swept through this part of Cowgate up until the early development of the medieval town upslope in the 11th-12th centuries. This early pattern was followed by the gradual build-up of material washed downslope from the High Street; this contained midden material and dung beetles, illustrating the nearby presence of the town. The site lay outwith the bounds of the burgh until the 14th century, when a substantial ditch was cut across the site, believed to be the medieval town boundary. The ditch was backfilled in the 15th century and finds and samples have revealed a vivid picture of life in the medieval town. The ditch was a stinking rubbish dump for many kinds of human and animal detritus, which illustrates that the Cowgate was a busy thoroughfare to the town's markets and contained a variety of industries, including horn working. After the ditch was filled in deep midden deposits, characteristic of this area of Edinburgh, built up on the site.</jats:p