Misplaced Pages

#219780

62-630: The oldest known human settlement in the area dates from the Mesolithic (c. 9,000 years ago). The Etruscan presence is known from the 7th century BC, but the town proper was created by the Romans as Sextus ab urbe lapis ("Sixth mile from the Town Milestone"). The first churches were built in the early Middle Ages, among which the most important became the Pieve of San Martino. Sesto Fiorentino

124-420: A "ceramic Mesolithic" can be distinguished between c.  9,000 to 5,850 BP. Russian archaeologists prefer to describe such pottery-making cultures as Neolithic, even though farming is absent. This pottery-making Mesolithic culture can be found peripheral to the sedentary Neolithic cultures. It created a distinctive type of pottery, with point or knob base and flared rims, manufactured by methods not used by

186-553: A banker but made significant contributions in archaeology , ethnography , and several branches of biology . He coined the terms " Palaeolithic " and " Neolithic " to denote the Old and New Stone Ages, respectively. He helped establish archaeology as a scientific discipline, and was influential in debates concerning evolutionary theory. He introduced the first law for the protection of the UK's archaeological and architectural heritage. He promoted

248-596: A concept in use. In the archaeology of the Americas , an Archaic or Meso-Indian period, following the Lithic stage , somewhat equates to the Mesolithic. The Saharan rock paintings found at Tassili n'Ajjer in central Sahara , and at other locations depict vivid scenes of everyday life in central North Africa . Some of these paintings were executed by a hunting people who lived in a savanna region teeming with

310-539: A distinguished political career, with four main political agendas: promotion of the study of science in primary and secondary schools; the national debt, free trade, and related economic issues; protection of ancient monuments; securing of additional holidays and shorter working hours for the working classes. He was successful with numerous enactments in Parliament, including the Bank Holidays Act 1871 and

372-611: A generic term for hunter-gatherer cultures after the Last Glacial Maximum, whether they are transitional towards agriculture or not. In addition, terminology appears to differ between archaeological sub-disciplines, with "Mesolithic" being widely used in European archaeology, while "Epipalaeolithic" is more common in Near Eastern archaeology. The Balkan Mesolithic begins around 15,000 years ago. In Western Europe,

434-528: A keen interest in archaeology and evolutionary theory. In 1855, he and Charles Kingsley discovered the skull of a musk ox in a gravel pit, a discovery that was commended by Darwin. A collection of Iron Age antiquities Lubbock and Sir John Evans excavated at the site of Hallstatt in Austria is now in the British Museum 's collection. He spoke in support of the evolutionist Thomas Henry Huxley at

496-463: A macrolithic technology was used in the Mesolithic. In the Neolithic, the microlithic technology was replaced by a macrolithic technology, with an increased use of polished stone tools such as stone axes. There is some evidence for the beginning of construction at sites with a ritual or astronomical significance, including Stonehenge , with a short row of large post holes aligned east–west, and

558-404: A mark of the Neolithic. The terms "Paleolithic" and "Neolithic" were introduced by John Lubbock in his work Pre-historic Times in 1865. The additional "Mesolithic" category was added as an intermediate category by Hodder Westropp in 1866. Westropp's suggestion was immediately controversial. A British school led by John Evans denied any need for an intermediate: the ages blended together like

620-509: A partner at the age of 22. Around 1852, he assisted Darwin's research by examining and illustrating barnacles. In 1865, he succeeded to the baronetcy . In the early 1870s, Lubbock became increasingly interested in politics. In 1870, and again in 1874, he was elected as a Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone . He lost the seat at the election of 1880 , but was at once elected member for London University , of which he had been vice-chancellor since 1872. As an MP, Lubbock had

682-534: A possible "lunar calendar" at Warren Field in Scotland, with pits of post holes of varying sizes, thought to reflect the lunar phases . Both are dated to before c.  9,000 BP (the 8th millennium BC). An ancient chewed gum made from the pitch of birch bark revealed that a woman enjoyed a meal of hazelnuts and duck about 5,700 years ago in southern Denmark. Mesolithic people influenced Europe's forests by bringing favored plants like hazel with them. As

SECTION 10

#1732772812220

744-603: A result of ideological reluctance, different worldviews and an active rejection of the sedentary-farming lifestyle. In one sample from the Blätterhöhle in Hagen , it seems that the descendants of Mesolithic people maintained a foraging lifestyle for more than 2000 years after the arrival of farming societies in the area; such societies may be called " Subneolithic ". For hunter-gatherer communities, long-term close contact and integration in existing farming communities facilitated

806-498: A water-dependent species like the hippopotamus , animals that no longer exist in the now-desert area. John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, 4th Baronet , PC , DL , FRS , FRAI (30 April 1834 – 28 May 1913), known as Sir John Lubbock, 4th Baronet , from 1865 until 1900, was an English banker, Liberal politician, philanthropist , scientist and polymath . Lubbock worked in his family company as

868-734: Is a Natufian carving in calcite . A total of 33 antler frontlets have been discovered at Star Carr. These are red deer skulls modified to be worn by humans. Modified frontlets have also been discovered at Bedburg-Königshoven, Hohen Viecheln, Plau, and Berlin-Biesdorf. Weaving techniques were deployed to create shoes and baskets, the latter being of fine construction and decorated with dyes. Examples have been found in Cueva de los Murciélagos in Southern Spain that in 2023 were dated to 9,500 years ago. In North-Eastern Europe , Siberia , and certain southern European and North African sites,

930-634: Is a rare Mesolithic animal carving in soapstone from Finland . The rock art in the Urals appears to show similar changes after the Paleolithic, and the wooden Shigir Idol is a rare survival of what may well have been a very common material for sculpture. It is a plank of larch carved with geometric motifs, but topped with a human head. Now in fragments, it would apparently have been over 5 metres tall when made. The Ain Sakhri figurine from Palestine

992-425: Is less used of areas farther east, and not at all beyond Eurasia and North Africa . The type of culture associated with the Mesolithic varies between areas, but it is associated with a decline in the group hunting of large animals in favour of a broader hunter-gatherer way of life, and the development of more sophisticated and typically smaller lithic tools and weapons than the heavy-chipped equivalents typical of

1054-523: The 1875 FA Cup Final . His nephew, Percy Lubbock , was a prominent man of letters and another nephew was the writer and historian Basil Lubbock . Lubbock married Ellen Frances Horden in April 1856. Five years after her death, on 17 May 1884 he married Alice Lane Fox, the daughter of Augustus Pitt Rivers . He rebuilt Kingsgate Castle , near Broadstairs in Kent, as his family home, where he died in 1913. He

1116-624: The Ancient Monuments Act 1882 , along with another 28 acts of Parliament. When the Liberals split in 1886 on the issue of Irish Home Rule , Lubbock joined the breakaway Liberal Unionist Party in opposition to Irish home rule. A prominent supporter of the Statistical Society , he took an active part in criticizing the encroachment of municipal trading and the increase of the municipal debt. Lubbock's thoughts about

1178-537: The Antiquity of Man , he coined the term Neolithic in 1865. Sir Charles Lyell has made much use of my earlier articles in the Natural History Review , frequently, indeed, extracting whole sentences verbatim, or nearly so. But as he has in these cases omitted to mention the source from which his quotations were derived, my readers might naturally think that I had taken very unjustifiable liberties with

1240-777: The Bankers' Benevolent Fund – a charity for bank employees, past and present, and their dependants. In January 1884, he helped found the Proportional Representation League , later to become the Electoral Reform Society . He authored the pamphlet Proportional Representation shortly after the founding of this organization. He is credited with the now-common use of multi-member districts instead of country-wide districting proposed by Thomas Hare in his 1859 single transferable voting (STV) proposal. In recognition of his contributions to

1302-599: The Ethnological Society from 1864 to 1865, vice-president of Linnean Society in 1865, and President of the International Congress of Prehistoric Archaeology in 1868. In 1865 he published Pre-Historic Times , which became a standard archaeology textbook for the remainder of the century, with the seventh and final edition published in 1913. His second book, On the Origin of Civilization ,

SECTION 20

#1732772812220

1364-838: The Simplified Spelling Society . Darwin rented land, originally from Lubbock's father, in Sandwalk wood where he performed his daily exercise, and in 1874 agreed with Lubbock to exchange the land for a piece of pasture in Darwin's property. When Darwin died in 1882, Lubbock suggested the honour of burial in Westminster Abbey , organising a letter to the dean to arrange this, and was one of the pallbearers. In May 1884, an article appeared in Scientific American describing experiments by Lubbock in

1426-406: The archaeology of China , and can be mostly regarded as happily naturalized, Mesolithic was introduced later, mostly after 1945, and does not appear to be a necessary or useful term in the context of China. Chinese sites that have been regarded as Mesolithic are better considered as "Early Neolithic". In the archaeology of India , the Mesolithic, dated roughly between 12,000 and 8,000 BP, remains

1488-466: The last glacial period ended have a much more apparent Mesolithic era, lasting millennia. In northern Europe, for example, societies were able to live well on rich food supplies from the marshlands created by the warmer climate. Such conditions produced distinctive human behaviors that are preserved in the material record, such as the Maglemosian and Azilian cultures. Such conditions also delayed

1550-408: The " Neolithic package" (including farming, herding, polished stone axes, timber longhouses and pottery) spread into Europe, the Mesolithic way of life was marginalized and eventually disappeared. Mesolithic adaptations such as sedentism, population size and use of plant foods are cited as evidence of the transition to agriculture. Other Mesolithic communities rejected the Neolithic package likely as

1612-599: The "Younger Stone Age". Compared to the preceding Upper Paleolithic and the following Neolithic, there is rather less surviving art from the Mesolithic. The Rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin , which probably spreads across from the Upper Paleolithic, is a widespread phenomenon, much less well known than the cave-paintings of the Upper Paleolithic, with which it makes an interesting contrast. The sites are now mostly cliff faces in

1674-687: The Banking Busy Bee, Improve his shining Hours? By studying on Bank Holidays, Strange insects and Wild Flowers He corresponded extensively with Charles Darwin , who lived nearby at Down House . Lubbock stayed in Downe except for a brief period from 1861 to 1865, when he lived in Chislehurst . Both men were active advocates of English spelling reform , and members of the Spelling Reform Association, precursor to

1736-615: The Early Mesolithic, or Azilian , begins about 14,000 years ago, in the Franco-Cantabrian region of northern Spain and Southern France . In other parts of Europe, the Mesolithic begins by 11,500 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene ), and it ends with the introduction of farming, depending on the region between c.  8,500 and 5,500 years ago. Regions that experienced greater environmental effects as

1798-788: The Eastern Baltic. Spreading westward along the coastline it is found in the Ertebølle culture of Denmark and Ellerbek of Northern Germany, and the related Swifterbant culture of the Low Countries . A 2012 publication in the Science journal, announced that the earliest pottery yet known anywhere in the world was found in Xianrendong cave in China, dating by radiocarbon to between 20,000 and 19,000 years before present, at

1860-741: The Neolithic farmers. Though each area of Mesolithic ceramic developed an individual style, common features suggest a single point of origin. The earliest manifestation of this type of pottery may be in the region around Lake Baikal in Siberia. It appears in the Yelshanka culture on the Volga in Russia 9,000 years ago, and from there spread via the Dnieper-Donets culture to the Narva culture of

1922-454: The Old and New Stone Ages , respectively. He also introduced a Darwinian-type theory of human nature and development. "What was new was Lubbock's ... insistence that, as a result of natural selection, human groups had become different from each other, not only culturally, but also in their biological capacities to utilize culture." Lubbock complained in the preface to Pre-Historic Times about Charles Lyell : Note.—In his celebrated work on

Sesto Fiorentino - Misplaced Pages Continue

1984-594: The Paleolithic and Neolithic. By the time of Vere Gordon Childe 's work, The Dawn of Europe (1947), which affirms the Mesolithic, sufficient data had been collected to determine that a transitional period between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic was indeed a useful concept. However, the terms "Mesolithic" and "Epipalaeolithic" remain in competition, with varying conventions of usage. In the archaeology of Northern Europe, for example for archaeological sites in Great Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, Ukraine, and Russia,

2046-459: The Paleolithic. Depending on the region, some use of pottery and textiles may be found in sites allocated to the Mesolithic, but generally indications of agriculture are taken as marking transition into the Neolithic . The more permanent settlements tend to be close to the sea or inland waters offering a good supply of food. Mesolithic societies are not seen as very complex, and burials are fairly simple; in contrast, grandiose burial mounds are

2108-548: The Royal Society , he was keenly involved in the scientific debates of the time, as well as serving as the Vice Chancellor of London University . During 1842, his father brought home a "great piece of news": the young Lubbock said later that he initially thought that the news might be of a new pony, and was disappointed to learn it was only that Charles Darwin was moving to Down House in the village. The youth

2170-549: The Upper Paleolithic immediately followed by the Mesolithic. As "Mesolithic" suggests an intermediate period, followed by the Neolithic, some authors prefer the term "Epipaleolithic" for hunter-gatherer cultures who are not succeeded by agricultural traditions, reserving "Mesolithic" for cultures who are clearly succeeded by the Neolithic Revolution, such as the Natufian culture . Other authors use "Mesolithic" as

2232-538: The adoption of a farming lifestyle. The integration of these hunter-gatherer in farming communities was made possible by their socially open character towards new members. In north-Eastern Europe, the hunting and fishing lifestyle continued into the Medieval period in regions less suited to agriculture, and in Scandinavia no Mesolithic period may be accepted, with the locally preferred "Older Stone Age" moving into

2294-489: The ancient stone circle from being built on. This, and other threats to the nation's heritage, persuaded him that some legal protection was needed. In 1874, he introduced a parliamentary bill that would identify a list of ancient sites that deserved legal protection. After several later attempts and against some opposition, it was not until 1882 that a much watered down version, The Ancient Monuments Act , came into being. Though restricted to 68 largely prehistoric monuments, it

2356-471: The colors of a rainbow, he said. A European school led by Gabriel de Mortillet asserted that there was a gap between the earlier and later. Edouard Piette claimed to have filled the gap with his naming of the Azilian Culture. Knut Stjerna offered an alternative in the "Epipaleolithic", suggesting a final phase of the Paleolithic rather than an intermediate age in its own right inserted between

2418-541: The coming of the Neolithic until some 5,500 BP in northern Europe. The type of stone toolkit remains one of the most diagnostic features: the Mesolithic used a microlithic technology – composite devices manufactured with Mode V chipped stone tools ( microliths ), while the Paleolithic had utilized Modes I–IV. In some areas, however, such as Ireland, parts of Portugal, the Isle of Man and the Tyrrhenian Islands,

2480-836: The corresponding period in the Levant and Caucasus . The Mesolithic has different time spans in different parts of Eurasia . It refers to the final period of hunter-gatherer cultures in Europe and the Middle East, between the end of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Neolithic Revolution . In Europe it spans roughly 15,000 to 5,000  BP ; in the Middle East (the Epipalaeolithic Near East ) roughly 20,000 to 10,000  BP . The term

2542-681: The county of Wiltshire , his title commemorating the largest Stone Age site in Britain, which he had helped to preserve. He was President of the Royal Statistical Society from 1900 to 1902. In November 1905, together with Lord Courtney of Penwith , he founded the Anglo-German Friendship Committee which sought to counteract the influence of the British war party, whose anti-German propaganda

Sesto Fiorentino - Misplaced Pages Continue

2604-696: The end of the Last Glacial Period . The carbon 14 datation was established by carefully dating surrounding sediments. Many of the pottery fragments had scorch marks, suggesting that the pottery was used for cooking. These early pottery containers were made well before the invention of agriculture (dated to 10,000 to 8,000 BC), by mobile foragers who hunted and gathered their food during the Late Glacial Maximum. Epipalaeolithic Near East Caucasus Zagros While Paleolithic and Neolithic have been found useful terms and concepts in

2666-487: The end of the 19th century, craftsmen who had been trained at Richard-Ginori began to start their own pottery studios, some of which also grew into factories. There are currently over one hundred producers of pottery in Sesto Fiorentino, and a state school for teaching pottery, now called L'Istituto Statale d'Arte. Sesto Fiorentino was annexed by plebiscite to the newly unified Kingdom of Italy in 1860. The town

2728-590: The establishment of public libraries and was also a founding member of the X Club . John Lubbock was born in 1834, the son of Sir John Lubbock, 3rd Baronet , a London banker, and his wife Harriet. He was brought up in the family home of High Elms Estate , near Downe in Kent. The family had two homes, one at 29 Eaton Place, Belgrave Square where John was born, and another in Mitcham Grove. Lubbock senior had studied mathematics at Cambridge University and had written on probability, and on astronomy. A Fellow of

2790-459: The famous 1860 Oxford evolution debate . During the 1860s, he published many articles in which he used archaeological evidence to support Darwin's theory. In 1864, he became one of the founding members (along with Thomas Henry Huxley and others) of the elite X Club , a dining club composed of nine gentlemen to promote the theories of natural selection and academic liberalism. He held a number of influential academic positions, including President of

2852-731: The field of human-animal communication . In 1884, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society and in 1893, a member of the American Antiquarian Society . He received the 1903 Prestwich Medal from the Geological Society of London . Lubbock was one of eight brothers and three sisters; three brothers, Alfred , Nevile and Edgar , played first-class cricket for Kent . Edgar and Alfred also played football and played together for Old Etonians in

2914-681: The first monograph on UK Springtails ( Collembola ) ( Monograph on the Collembola and Thysanura , Ray Society, London), and on other natural history topics. He discovered that ants were sensitive to light in the near ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum. He also noted that ants used the angle of the sun for orientation. In 1874 he became the first President of the British Beekeepers Association . A verse in Punch in 1882 described his activities: How doth

2976-491: The nature and value of politics were deeply influenced by his scientific research, particularly his writings on early human society. He believed that the cognitive foundations of morality could be shaped through political economy, particularly through a national education system that implemented subjects mandated by the state. He held that the minds of children could be shaped in the direction of democracy, liberalism and morality through learning how to read and write. To this goal he

3038-579: The open air, and the subjects are now mostly human rather than animal, with large groups of small figures; there are 45 figures at Roca dels Moros . Clothing is shown, and scenes of dancing, fighting, hunting and food-gathering. The figures are much smaller than the animals of Paleolithic art, and depicted much more schematically, though often in energetic poses. A few small engraved pendants with suspension holes and simple engraved designs are known, some from northern Europe in amber , and one from Star Carr in Britain in shale . The Elk's Head of Huittinen

3100-583: The sciences, Lubbock received honorary degrees from the universities of Oxford , Cambridge (where he was Rede lecturer in 1886), Edinburgh , Dublin and Würzburg ; and was appointed a trustee of the British Museum in 1878. He received the German Order Pour le Mérite for Science and Arts in August 1902. From 1888 to 1892, he was president of the London Chamber of Commerce , and he

3162-515: The term "Mesolithic" is almost always used. In the archaeology of other areas, the term "Epipaleolithic" may be preferred by most authors, or there may be divergences between authors over which term to use or what meaning to assign to each. In the New World, neither term is used (except provisionally in the Arctic). "Epipaleolithic" is sometimes also used alongside "Mesolithic" for the final end of

SECTION 50

#1732772812220

3224-444: The unnamed Italian town in " The Adventure of the Empty House " was Sesto, and a bust of Holmes stands in the town. Mesolithic The Mesolithic ( Greek : μέσος, mesos 'middle' + λίθος, lithos 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic . The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymously, especially for outside northern Europe, and for

3286-441: The work of the eminent geologist. A reference to the respective dates will, however, protect me from any such inference. The statement made by Sir Charles Lyell, in a note to page 11 of his work, that my article on the Danish Shell-mounds was published after his sheets were written, is an inadvertence, regretted, I have reason to believe, as much by its author as it is by me." In the 1870s, he bought land at Avebury to prevent part of

3348-420: Was a protagonist in the late 19th century workers struggle, and in 1897 it elected the second socialist member ever of the Italian Parliament, Giuseppe Pescetti . In 1899 it was the first town in Tuscany to have a socialist mayor. Sesto Fiorentino is twinned with: Sesto Fiorentino and its surroundings inspired the setting for the book The Adventures of Pinocchio . Sherlock Holmes scholars determined that

3410-432: Was a strong supporter of the Elementary Education Act 1870 and he defended the introduction of the national curriculum during the 1870s and 1880s. In 1879, Lubbock was elected the first president of the Institute of Bankers . In 1881, he was president of the British Association , and from 1881 to 1886, president of the Linnean Society of London . In March 1883, he founded the Bank Clerks Orphanage, which in 1986 became

3472-425: Was later President of the Association of Chambers of Commerce of the United Kingdom. In local politics, he was from 1889 to 1890 vice-chairman and from 1890 to 1892 chairman of the London County Council . In February 1890 he was appointed a privy councillor ; and was chairman of the committee of design for the new coinage in 1891. On 22 January 1900, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Avebury , of Avebury , in

3534-406: Was published in 1870. He held the position of President of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland from 1871 to 1872, as well as the position of Vice President of the Royal Society in 1871. During this period he worked with John Evans , the other key figure in the establishment of the discipline of archaeology. He invented the terms " Palaeolithic " and " Neolithic " to denote

3596-436: Was soon a frequent visitor to Down House, and became the closest of Darwin's younger friends. Their relationship stimulated young Lubbock's passion for science and evolutionary theory. John's mother, Harriet, was deeply religious. In 1845, Lubbock began studies at Eton College . After finishing school, he was employed by his father's bank, Lubbock & Co. (which later amalgamated with Coutts & Co. ), of which he became

3658-427: Was subject to the Archbishop of Florence . Later it was under the Florentine Republic , which dried the plain and boosted the area's economy starting from the Renaissance age. In 1735, Marquis Carlo Ginori founded one of the first porcelain plants in Europe, the Manifattura di Doccia . Now under the name Richard-Ginori, the company is still located in Sesto, and is the largest porcelain manufacturer in Italy. Toward

3720-431: Was succeeded by his eldest son, John . He was buried in St Giles the Abbott Church, in Farnborough, London . Three years later, his remains were disinterred and placed in a family burial ground a few hundred yards from the church, along with the original stone Celtic cross marking his grave. In 1986, Bromley Council, unknown to the Lubbock family, moved the cross back to the main church graveyard. The following

3782-401: Was the forerunner of all later laws governing the UK's archaeological and architectural heritage. Lubbock was also an amateur biologist of some distinction, writing books on hymenoptera ( Ants, Bees and Wasps: a record of observations on the habits of the social hymenoptera. Kegan Paul, London; New York: Appleton, 1884), on insect sense organs and development, on the intelligence of animals,

SECTION 60

#1732772812220

3844-478: Was then at its zenith, and smooth the way towards more amicable relations between England and Germany . Lubbock was a proponent of easy access for all to books and was deeply involved in the passing of the Public Libraries Act , 1892. The quotation, "We may sit in our library and yet be in all quarters of the earth", is often attributed to Lubbock. This variation appears in his book The Pleasures of Life . In addition to his work at his father's bank, Lubbock took

#219780