Before Farming, the archaeology and anthropology of hunter-gatherers

ISSN 1476-4261 online ISSN 1476-4253 annual paperback

Welcome to Before Farming, the journal designed for archaeologists and anthropologists researching hunter-gatherers past and present.

The online journal is quarterly, published by the Western Academic & Specialist Press.

Each year a paperback volume is published. This is a compilation of the previous year's online issues. Because it is not always possible to transfer all elements of the online version directly to print this volume is not an exact reproduction of the online version of the journal.

 

Scope of Before Farming

  • Geographical: both Old World and New World.
  • Temporal: all periods including the present.

    Subject matter: all aspects of hunter-gatherer behaviour and related issues of methodology and interpretation.

    Authors of reports on individual sites or peoples are asked to place them in a regional context to engage a wide-ranging audience.

     

    Referring to this journal



    The online version of this journal is a hybrid, a cross between an electronic and print journal. Our aim is to achieve the speed of publication of an online journal with the readability of print. The main parts of the journal are designed to be downloaded and printed out for ease of reading. Conventions on citing online journals are constantly evolving but we give here what we believe to be the essential information for referring to an article in the online version of Before Farming.

    To refer to any item in the journal you need to know:

  • issue number
  • item number (applies to all items, including editorial, news, reviews, articles).

    Each separate item in the journal has its own reference number which you will find at the bottom of each page of the relevant PDF files.

    It is not essential to supply the page range as each article is numbered from 1, this may be added as a personal preference, or if you need to refer to one or more pages within the item. See below for more details.

     

    Issue number


    There are usually four online issues a year and they are referred to with the year thus:

    2003/1 is the first issue of 2003.

    In 2002 we had a combined issue 3 & 4 and this is referred to as 2002/3_4 for technical reasons.

     

    Item number


    The reference for each item is clearly stated at the foot of each page of the PDF files, next to the page number.

    Until the end of 2003 the issue number and item number were stated as follows, using item 2 in 2003/2 as an example:

    2003/2 (2)

    with the figure in brackets referring to the item.

    From 2004/1 in response to international guidelines we have changed this potentially confusing reference method and from issue 2004/1 onwards each item still has its own reference number but it will be stated thus, using item 2 in 2004/1 as an example:

    2004/1 article 2

    which should end any confusion between the article number and the issue number.

All items are referred to as articles, thus a book review which is item 6 in issue 2004/1 is called article 6. The reference for each item is clearly stated at the foot of each page of the PDF files, next to the page number

 

Page numbers


You do not need to refer to page numbers unless you are citing a particular page or pages because each PDF file is numbered from 1. If you wish to do so you should add the page number/s after the issue and article number.

EG: to refer to pages 4 to 10 of article 3 in issue 2002/1, your reference will be to:

Mitchell, P 2002. Hunter-gatherer archaeology in southern Africa: recent research future trends. Before Farming [online version] 2002/1 article 3:4-10.

If you wish you may add, after the words "online version", either the URL of the journal (http://www.waspress.co.uk/journals/beforefarming/)

or the URL of the article

(http://www.waspress.co.uk/journals/beforefarming/journal_20021/abstracts/papers/20021_03_s.pdf)

 

 

The paperback version of Before Farming


A compilation of the papers for each year is produced annually after the end of the year. This volume is not necessarily identical to the online versions. It has a separate ISSN number, ISSN 1476-4253. Its pages are numbered sequentially from 1. To refer to an item in the paperback, therefore, the minimum requirement is to state that you are referring to the print version and to give the author, title and page numbers, you do not need to cite the item number or quarterly issue number, although you may if you prefer.

Using the article already given as an example for the online journal:

Mitchell, P 2002. Hunter-gatherer archaeology in southern Africa: recent research future trends. Before Farming [online version] 2002/1 article 3:4-10.

the paperback version could be referred to simply as pages 26-61 in the 2002 volume, as follows:

Mitchell, P 2002. Hunter-gatherer archaeology in southern Africa: recent research future trends. Before Farming [print version] 2002:26-61.

 

Copyright policy


All work published in Before Farming is subject to copyright. Please use it fairly in the course of your teaching or studying, ensuring that the author's name and its place of first publication appear on any copies you make of any part or parts of the work. Contact the publisher in the first instance for permission to reproduce for sale, in any manner or in any medium, any part or parts of this publication.

This journal will only thrive and continue to be of use to you and your fellow students and teachers if subscribers pay subscriptions - it costs money to edit, design, format and keep the journal online and to print the annual paperback version. Please do not give away your password if you are an individual subscriber.

 

Contents


The views expressed in papers in this publication are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher, the editor or his associate editors.

We make no warranty with respect to the journal's contents which are provided on an AS IS and AS AVAILABLE basis.

 

Cover illustration


The editor and publisher would like to thank Nicolai Praslov and Andrei Sinitsyn, former director and director respectively of the Kostenki excavations, for letting us use the Venus figurine image which our designer at Bitmap, Bristol, has used in creating this front cover.

 

Development of the journal



This journal is evolving. We will develop it over time to suit your requirements and to take advantage of helpful changes in technology. Please tell us about features you would find particularly useful and any you find unnecessary.

 

 

© Western Academic & Specialist Press Ltd 2008