In 2012 it was 50 years ago that the initial independent core of the Faculty of Archaeology was founded. On the occasion of this 50th anniversary the Board of the Faculty of Archaeology has asked the editors of the Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia to produce a special volume of Analecta and open its pages not only for Prehistoric research but to all Archaeological disciplines. The editors invited the permanent staff of the Faculty to provide a contribution. The End Of Our Fifth Decade is the result. The subjects offered are very diverse and provide the reader with a written'Tableau de la troupe', as it was intended to be. The first contributions are about the present. They deal with the problem of preserving archaeology in situ, the evaluation of twenty years of the Malta convention and the current variety of approaches in archaeology. However the rest of the book is about the past. This volume is organised in such a way that you go back in time and as good archaeologists we start from the top and dig our way into the past. The part about the past starts in the 17th century AD in the Caribbean and end with research on a 300 000 years old site from Germany.

Table of Contents:
Problems with preservation in situ Willem J.H. Willems Twenty years after Malta: archaeological heritage as a source of collective memory and scientifi c study anno 2012 Monique van den Dries, Sjoerd van der Linde The internationalization of archaeological discourse? John Bintliff A short history of archaeological research in the Lesser Antillean archipelago Arie Boomert Indigenous religious traditions in Central Nicaragua: ethnohistorical documentation for an unknown archaeological record Laura N.K. Van Broekhoven, Alexander Geurds Caribbean encounters: rescue excavations at the early colonial Island Carib site of Argyle, St. Vincent, Corinne L. Hofman, Menno L.P. Hoogland The ancient Mexican Books of Time: interpretative developments and prospects Maarten E.R.G.N. Jansen Structuring the landscape in Iron Age and Roman period (500 BC- AD 250): the Multi-period site Oss-Horzak Richard Jansen, Stijn van As Investigating imperial space on the Palatine Hill in Rome: preliminary results of the Domus Flavia 2012 research campaign Natascha Sojc, Leon J. Coret, Lisa C. Gotz Decoration and ideology in Nero's Domus Aurea in Rome Paul G.P. Meyboom, Eric M. Moormann Connectivity in the south-western part of the Netherlands during the Roman period (AD 0-350) Jasper de Bruin Archaeobotanical evidence of the fungus Covered smut (Ustilago hordei) in Jordan and Egypt 159 ReneT.J. Cappers et. al. Adonis: a Greek ritual and myth in the Etruscan world L. Bouke van der Meer Avoiding crop failure in the Iron Age: maslins and emergency crops on the loess soils of western continental Europe, with a special note on oat (Avena sativa) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica) Corrie Bakels Hallstatt burials of Oss in context Harry Fokkens et. al. Decorated and'killed'? The bronze sword of Werkhoven David Fontijn, Liesbeth Theunissen, Bertil van Os, Luc Amkreutz Master and apprentice? A short note on wall construction in Ancient Syria Diederik J.W. Meijer The materiality and social value of amber objects during the Middle Jomon in Japan Ilona R. Bausch Workshop sites in a Neolithic quarry landscape (Geul valley, southern Limburg, the Netherlands) Alexander Verpoorte The archaeological practice of discovering Stone Age sites Milco Wansleeben, Walter Laan A causewayed enclosure near Ermelo? Hans Kamermans, Joanne Mol, Eric Dullaart, Miranda de Kreek New perspectives for microwear analysis Annelou van Gijn Radiocarbon and fossil bones: what's in a date Hans van der Plicht Chronology of the Dutch Neolithic Bandkeramik Culture: a new attempt Pieter van de Velde Burning down the house: the burnt building V6 at Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria Peter M.M.G. Akkermans et. al. The trouble with stratigraphy: case studies from the Near East Bleda S. During Stable isotopes of Upper Weichselian land snails from Lakitelek (Hungary): a contribution to understanding the climatic context of the Upper Palaeolithic of the Hungarian basin Alexander Verpoorte et. al. Confi rmation of the presence of Cucubalus baccifer L. (Caryophyllaceae) in the British Pleistocene Michael H. Field Beyond'15 minutes': revisiting the late Middle Pleistocene archaeological record of Maastricht-Belvedere (The Netherlands) Dimitri De Loecker, Wil Roebroeks Schoningen: the history and results of 20 years archaeozoological research Thijs van Kolfschoten