With Issue 11 finally done and dusted, we here at Assemblage are shaking off the summer writing-up fug and are moving on to greater things. With behind the scenes preparations for Issue 12 swiftly coming together and looking increasingly promising, we've also been working on providing additional content in the mean time.

State of the Arch is back with a vengeance, this time providing two perspectives on the issue of the impact that next year's tuition fee rises will have on archaeology as a whole and those who wish to pursue a career in the field. While Rachel Sites provides us with a blog post considering the implications of the use of satellites and other high-tech advances in archaeology that have been hitting the headlines in recent months.

This update also sees the return of the old fan-favourite 20 Questions, but with a slight difference. Having seemingly run out of staff members to grill, we've decided to turn to those archaeologists who work out in the field, as well as other areas. Our first participant in this new setup is commercial archaeologist Julian Thorley.

Hello!

The new academic year starts with a new editorial team. Us oldies are still kicking around but it's very much over the new crew from now on.

If you missed it over the summer, we finally managed to publish the long-awaited Issue 11.  There are four papers for you to check out over on our dedicated issue pages, as well as an editorial piece from the out-going team. We also published a number of book reviews over the summer, including one this week by Ellie Collies, who reivews 'From Trackways to Motorways' by H. Davies.

Finally, if you're a new postgrad and want to join the team, send us an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or keep an eye out for invitations to one of our open meetings.

Our final paper in assemblage 11 is a detailed analysis of the door-orientations of brochs and duns in Iron Age Scotland. Thomas Crowther argues for an analysis that takes regionality and different architectural forms into account. The paper considers the potential practical as well as cosmological or symbolic causes of various orientations.  It concludes that a regionally differentiated approach is a necessity to understanding these enigmatic structures, as well as separating the probably functionally distinct brochs and duns.

Thomas Crowther obtained his undergraduate degree at the University of Chester, and this paper is based on his BA thesis. Thomas has since gained an MA in socio-cultural anthropology at Durham University and is about to begin a PhD at the same institution. The PhD will be an archaeological and anthropological exploration of the influence of light in Iron Age Scotland. His wider research interests include prehistoric British archaeology, modern commemoration and the role of dreams and the imagination in society.

Book Review

This week, Sarah Viner reviews Serjeantson, D. and Field, D., (eds) 2006. Animals in the Neolithic of Britain and Europe.

Coming Soon: The assemblage 11 editorial