Division of Archaeology

People

Preston Thor Miracle

University Senior Lecturer

Office: 1.5, West Building.
Phone: +44 (0) 1223 333532
Fax: +44 (0) 1223 333503
Email: ptm21@cam.ac.uk

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Current Research Interests

My field and laboratory research in recent years has centred on five major themes. The first is human strategies and agency in the context of environmental and social changes from the end of the last ice age through the spread of farming in Southern Europe; this has been the focus of fieldwork in Istria, Croatia. The Pupicina cave project involved examining the nature and tempo of environmental changes across the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary, the timing and nature of human (re)colonization of the area, the social contexts of these changes, and the spread/adoption of food production. We have excavated over a dozen sites from nearly 50 prehistoric sites identified in survey; analyses have involved about 20 scholars.

A second theme is the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic body; this research is being conducted as part of the five-year, Cambridge-based, Leverhulme-funded project on Changing beliefs about the human body. This project includes a new synthesis of the emergence of the constructed body with the `Human Revolution', and the detailed analysis of body treatment and embodiment in three diachronic case studies: Natufian–PPNB, southern Scandinavia, Danube Gorges.

A third theme is Neandertal subsistence practices as revealed through zooarchaeological analyses. This zooarchaeological work has focussed on key Mousterian sites from Croatia, of which the most prominent is Krapina. Krapina has been central to discussions of morphological variability in Neandertals, their mortuary behaviour, and `cannibalism'. In my recent monograph on the faunal remains from the site, I focus on the competence of Neandertals in food procurement (including rhino hunting) as well as their behavioural flexibility.

The fourth theme is the social contexts of food preparation and consumption. This theme was relatively neglected by archaeologists until recently; I have approached it through zooarchaeology—specifically feasting in the Mesolithic.

The fifth theme is Palaeolithic art.

Current Research Projects

Reports on Recent Research Projects

Palaeolithic of Northern Bosnia, Joint Research Project with the Institute for Protection of Cultural-Historical and Natural Heritage of Republic of Srpska and Museum of the Republic of Srpska. Survey and testing of Palaeolithic sites (2006–) Excavations at Vela spila, Croatia. Joint Research Project with the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Cultural Centre of Vela Luka, Croatia (2010–)

Completed field research

Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Settlement of the Northern Adriatic Region of Croatia. Joint Research Project with the Archaeological Museum of Istria, Pula and Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences. (2003–2005). Pupicina Cave Project. Joint Research Project with the Archaeological Museum of Istria, Pula and Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences (2001–2002). Dynamic Environments and Hunter-Gatherer Strategies in the Late-Glacial Northern Adriatic Basin. Joint Research Project with the Archaeological Museum of Istria, Pula, Institute of Anthropology, Zagreb University, and Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences (1999–2000). Changing Paleoenvironments and Epipaleolithic Adaptations in the Northern Adriatic Basin. (1995–1998). Joint Research Project with the Department of Archaeology, Zagreb University, Archaeological Museum of Istria, Pula and Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Current laboratory research

Analysis of faunal remains from Vela Spila, Korcula Island, Upper Palaeolithic-Mesolithic cave site in Dalmatia, Croatia. Analysis of faunal remains from Vindija Cave, Croatia. Analysis of faunal remains from Romuladova Cave, Croatia. Analysis of faunal remains from Mujina pecina, Middle Palaeolithic cave site in Dalmatia, Croatia. Analysis of faunal remains from Palaeolithic to Iron Age sites in Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Fieldwork in 2009-2010

From 2010-11
Preston Miracle continued with ongoing projects in the Balkans. In Bosnia-Herzegovina he directed a second season of excavations at Rastuša Cave in July 2011, focusing on the Middle Palaeolithic layers. In Croatia he returned to the site of Vela Spila on Korčula Island for a second excavation season in September 2011 with the support of the British Academy. Cambridge graduands and students are well represented on the team and include: Becky Farbstein, Christopher Stimpson and Cynthia Larbey. This seasons work focused on two big transitions - the PleistoceneHolocene (documented in one trench) and the Mesolithic-Neolithic (documented now in all three trenches). The 20102011 field seasons will make an important contribution to our knowledge of Mesolithic adaptations and the nature and pace of the transition to farming in the region.

Fieldwork in 2010-2011

From 2009-10
Preston Miracle continued with ongoing projects in the Balkans and India in 2009-2010. In Bosnia- Herzegovina and with funding from the McDonald Institute he directed two fieldwork seasons of the project ‘Prehistoric Landscapes across the Sava’. This project continues his earlier work in the region with the important addition of Neolithic-Iron Age expertise from Marc Vander Linden (Leicester University) who directed the test-pitting and is taking responsibility for the Late Prehistoric part of the project. The spring field season focused on site survey and test-pitting in the Vrbas Valley, and provided material for Gary Marriners MPhil dissertation (McBurney Lab) on geoarchaeology and landscape change in the region. In the summer field season the team excavated at Rastuša Cave, revealing an important sequence of Middle Palaeolithic, Late Upper Palaeolithic and Copper Age deposits. The earliest component is associated with many cave bear remains. In Croatia he returned to the site of Vela Spila on Korčula Island (Croatia) to start new excavations with the support of the British Academy. Cantab graduands and students are well represented on the team and include: Rachel Ballantyne, Becky Farbstein, Chris Stimpson, Pia Spry-Marques, Suzie Pilaar-Birch, Clare Rainsford and four undergraduates. Work to date (ongoing at the time of writing) has exposed important Early Bronze Age and Copper Age deposits; Neolithic and Mesolithic deposits are visible in the open sections currently being cleaned. Preston made a third trip to India to finish analyses of Pleistocene faunas from Cathedral and Charnal House Caves. He continued with work on Middle and Upper Palaeolithic faunal assemblages from Vindija, Veternica and Romualdova Caves, Croatia.