Archaeology and Prohibition

Abstract

The importance of alcohol to the archaeologist is investigated through a study of archaeological productivity before, during and after Prohibition. This contribution to the ethno-science of archaeology reveals that archaeological productivity is positively related to alcohol and its concomitant sin qua non: the bull session.

Archaeologists are self-selected from a specific genetic type, one of whose characteristics is the consumption of great quantities of alcoholic beverages while maintaining their ability to function {at least to communicate) with other archaeologists.     

Graphing evolutionary pattern and process: a history of techniques in archaeology and paleobiology

Graphs displaying evolutionary patterns are common in paleontology and in United States archaeology. Both disciplines subscribed to a transformational theory of evolution and graphed evolution as a sequence of archetypes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. U.S. archaeologists in the second decade of the twentieth century, and paleontologists shortly thereafter, developed distinct graphic styles that reflected the Darwinian variational model of evolution. Paleobiologists adopted the view of a species as a set of phenotypically variant individuals and graphed those variations either as central tendencies or as histograms of frequencies of variants. Archaeologists presumed their artifact types reflected cultural norms of prehistoric artisans and the frequency of specimens in each type reflected human choice and type popularity. They graphed cultural evolution as shifts in frequencies of specimens representing each of several artifact types. Confusion of pattern and process is exemplified by a paleobiologist misinterpreting the process illustrated by an archaeological graph, and an archaeologist misinterpreting the process illustrated by a paleobiological graph. Each style of graph displays particular evolutionary patterns and implies particular evolutionary processes. Graphs of a multistratum collection of prehistoric mammal remains and a multistratum collection of artifacts demonstrate that many graph styles can be used for both kinds of collections.     

Archaeology, anthropology and subsistence

Wherever and whenever one may wish to place the roots of the disciplines of archaeology and anthropology, the subsistence-based categories of savage hunters and civilized farmers still lie at the heart of the division of much contemporary intellectual labour. The sources of these categories can be traced back into the seventeenth century, although they were first systematically related to (pre)history and cultural difference in the mid-eighteenth century. The subsequent relations between these categories and the changing disciplines of ethnology, ethnography, and archaeology have not remained constant over time or space. However, the underlying assumption that subsistence practices are meaningful and useful societal categories has persisted for the past 250 years. The relationship between such concepts, the closely associated idea of social evolution, and anthropology and archaeology, in particular from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, is examined. It is suggested that finding ways of writing across such categories is a necessary step for the future of both disciplines.     

Paleoethnobotany: Modern Research Connecting Ancient Plants and Ancient Peoples

Paleoethnobotany is a growing subdiscipline of archaeology that utilizes information from numerous other disciplines to show the relationships between ancient plants and ancient peoples. The two primary disciplines that underlie paleoethnobotanical research are archaeology and botany. As such, the results of ongoing botanical research on taphonomic processes, genetic identification of ancient plant types, pollen analysis, phytoliths analysis, and seed identification directly affect the strength of paleoethnobotanical models of past human behavior. Preserved seeds form a significant portion of the archaeobotanical record. They represent not only the environment that was present when they were deposited but also a connection to the activity and culture of ancient people. Using the type of archaeobotanical remains and the archeological context of the remains, paleoethnobotanists study a diverse range of topics. These topics include, but are not limited to, the use of plants in ancient cultures, the development and rise of agriculture, and the relationship between agriculture and settlement patterns.     

科技考古研究范式之思考

范式自20世纪60年代创立以来,已普遍使用于多个科学研究领域,并于七八十年代引入至考古学。目前,国内外学界对考古学的研究范式有不少讨论,但对科技考古的研究范式的认知仍属空白。本文在简要介绍科学研究范式和考古学研究范式的基础上,首次提出了科技考古研究的3种范式,即科技范式、考古范式、科技考古融合范式,详细阐述了3种研究范式的理论、方法、实践等。此外,本文还指出：科技范式是推动科技考古研究发展的“发动机”,考古范式是掌控科技考古研究方向的“方向盘”,而科技考古融合范式则是协调科技考古各研究领域的“中控台”,真正让科技与考古融为一体。最后,笔者还对在科技考古研究范式下如何构建研究人员的知识体系提出了一些看法。     

A Historical Archaeology of Capitalism

Practitioners of historical archaeology can define the impact of ideology (as in Althusser) and disciplines of the self (as in Foucault), thus contributing to the study of capitalism in local historical situations. In describing the origins of modern conditions of exploitation, archaeologists can help to educate those exploited. In the Chesapeake region, historical archaeology has been used to create a more direct tie with the present than is usually the case, a tie that may serve to redistribute the power to interpret the past.     

The Swiss archaeologist Otto Hauser. His skeletal findings and hypothesis on the evolution of man and his extensive activities in the development of prehistorical research and evolution

New investigations on Otto Hauser's skeleton findings and the excavations of this Swiss citizen in Southwest France from 1906 until 1914 placed the activities of this archaeologist again in the focus of scientific and public interest. This paper describes life and oeuvre of Otto Hauser and discusses the importance of the skeletons found by him and Hermann Klaatsch as well as the consequences of their discovery. The efforts of Otto Hauser to publish his discoveries, to present and spread his view concerning the evolution of man were remarkably manifold as well as the parallels between ancient man and contemporary ethnic groups living on a low technological level drawn by him and to wake and to promote the interest in prehistory. Many books, brochures, articles and public lectures contributed to this intention as well as co-operation with local historians and scientists of other disciplines, and also many films, teaching and illustrative materials. The scientific collection of the authors of this article comprises more than 6,500 written documents and photos.     

Documenting domestication: the intersection of genetics and archaeology

Domestication, a process of increasing mutual dependence between human societies and the plant and animal populations they target, has long been an area of interest in genetics and archaeology. Geneticists seek out markers of domestication in the genomes of domesticated species, both past and present day. Archaeologists examine the archaeological record for complementary markers--evidence of the human behavior patterns that cause the genetic changes associated with domestication, and the morphological changes in target species that result from them. In this article, we summarize the recent advances in genetics and archaeology in documenting plant and animal domestication, and highlight several promising areas where the complementary perspectives of both disciplines provide reciprocal illumination.     

Interdisciplinarity to reconstruct historical introductions: solving the status of cryptogenic crayfish

Anciently introduced species can be confounded with native species because introduction pre‐dates the first species inventories or because of the loss of the collective memory of the introductions. The term ‘cryptogenic species’ denotes species of unknown or unclear status (native versus non‐native) in a given territory, and disciplinary approaches are often insufficient for solving their true status. Here, we follow an integrative, multidisciplinary approach to solve the status of a cryptogenic species, proposing that building on evidence from multiple disciplines can produce robust and clarifying insights. We undertook an exhaustive review of information on a putatively native crayfish (Austropotamobius italicus) in Spain. The reviewed information included taxonomy, genetics and phylogeography, history, archaeology, linguistics, biogeography, ecology, symbiotic organisms and even gastronomy and pharmacy. The knowledge produced by different scientific disciplines converges to indicate that A. italicus is a non‐native species in Spain. Historical documents even identify the first introduction event: crayfish were shipped from Italy to Spain in 1588 as a diplomatic gift from Francesco I de' Medici to King Philip II of Spain. Previous discussions on the status of A. italicus focussed on inconclusive and often confusing genetic results and excluded the rich and clarifying evidence available from other approaches and disciplines. Interdisciplinarity is an often‐invoked but rarely implemented practice in an academic environment that increasingly promotes narrow‐focussed specialization. Our review shows that the integration of disciplines can surpass disciplinary approaches in solving scientific controversies. Our results have straightforward implications for strategies to conserve biological diversity in Spain and Europe, urging a debate on the appropriateness of devoting conservation efforts to non‐native species.     

Pollen modelling, palaeoecology and archaeology: virtualisation and/or visualisation of the past?

Recent developments in pollen modelling and landscape reconstruction have the potential to have a profound impact on our understanding of landscape change related to human activity. Initial findings have already revealed the weaknesses of a number of key assumptions previously made about pollen–landscape relationships. Close interrelationships exist between landscape reconstruction based on pollen analysis and archaeology, and model-based developments raise a range of pertinent issues for both disciplines. These include the way in which past vegetation patterning is conceptualised (the patch vs. the matrix), the nature of the underlying physical environment in vegetation placement, the development of hypothesis-led approaches and the scale of landscapes under consideration. This paper discusses these issues, and also raises questions concerning the meaning of landscape. It may be erroneous to term pollen-based reconstructions as landscapes given the heavily charged meaning of the word as understood by companion and end user disciplines.     

Palaeoecology and long-term human impact in plant biology

Human impact is a collective concept that requires a holistic approach. Human needs eventually caused the development of cultural landscapes that are at the base of the current landscapes. The papers included in this special issue are evidence that cooperation between different disciplines helps to understand the trend of environmental transformation from past to future. Palaeoecology studies ecosystems of the past and needs archaeology to deepen sociocultural intervention in environmental patterns. In a similar way, ecologists have to include the complexity of societies and economies into landscape ecology by adding principles of human ecology into sustainability science. A brief history of previous actions encouraging the integration of palynology, archaeobotany, archaeology, botany and ecology is reported. The application of integrated studies comes to a new point, the research on the Long-Term Human Impact.     

Status and Role in Archaeology:

Abstract

Three categories of individuals currently interested in the recovery of prehistoric archaeological material on the Plains as well as in the United States generally, may be distinguished: the professional archaeologist, the amateur, and the pot-hunter, or vandal. Each of these types is placed in perspective in relation to the others and to the field of prehistoric archaeology, with special emphasis on the status and roles of different types of pot-hunters.

The amateur is aligned with the professional, especially in terms of objectives and approach, while each is differentiated in status and role from the existing variety of pot-hunters. The position is developed that pot-hunters decidedly do not comprise a homogeneous grouping, there being within their numbers at least 3 subtypes, each manifesting important differences.

Federal and state antiquities legislation is viewed as inadequate, by itself, to check the destruction of prehistoric sites, objects, and related material. Such laws must be coordinated, not only with the effort of the professional and the amateur in undertaking controlled excavations, but also with the equally important task of demonstrating to unwitting pot-hunters the implications of their destructive activity in contrast to the positive contributions of the scientific approach to antiquities.     

Ancient DNA: Using molecular biology to explore the past

Ancient DNA has been discovered in many types of preserved biological material, including bones, mummies, museum skins, insects in amber and plant fossils, and has become an important research tool in disciplines as diverse as archaeology, conservation biology and forensic science. In archaeology, ancient DNA can contribute both to the interpretation of individual sites and to the development of hypotheses about past populations. Site interpretation is aided by DNA-based sex typing of fragmentary human bones, and by the use of genetic techniques to assess the degree of kinship between the remains of different individuals. On a broader scale, population migrations can be traced by studying genetic markers in ancient DNA, as in recent studies of the colonisation of the Pacific islands, while ancient DNA in preserved plant remains can provide information on the development of agriculture.     

Playing with language,creating complexity: Has play contributed to the evolution of complex language?

We argue that enhanced play may have contributed to the emergence of complex language systems in modern humans (Homo sapiens). To support this idea, we first discuss evidence for an expansion of playing behavior connected to the extended childhood of modern human children, and the potential of this period for the transmission of complex cultural traits, including language. We then link two of the most important functions of play—exploration and innovation—to the potential for cumulative cultural evolution in general and for the emergence of complex language in particular. If correct, the shorter childhood of Neanderthals—involving restrictions on time to experiment and innovate—may have restricted their language (and other symbolic) system/s. Consequently, fully investigating the role that play may have had in the transmission of language and the development of symbolic cultures in both modern humans and Neanderthals provides a new avenue of research for Paleolithic archaeology and related disciplines.     

How to Generate Student Excitement in Science

The Draw-an-Archaeologist Test (DART) is an easy way to elieit students' conceptions about archaeology and can be adapted to other subject matter. When implemented as the first activity of an archaeology unit, it provides a starting point for introducing archaeology and addressing students' misconceptions about it. In this drawing activity, students are asked to describe not only what archaeologists do, but who they are in terms of gender and ethnicities. This activity can be used to generate a discussion on equity and to access differences between genders and ethnicities, which fulfills one of the national science education standards for the history and nature of science.     

Prolegomenon to a history of paleoanthropology: The study of human origins as a scientific enterprise. Part 1. Antiquity to the eighteenth century

Interest in the history of paleoanthropology and the other disciplines related to human origins studies has grown considerably over the last several decades. Some very informative historical surveys have been written by prominent scientists reflecting on the major developments in their fields. Some well‐known early examples include Glyn Daniel's The Idea of Prehistory (1962) and The Origins and Growth of Archaeology (1967), which focus primarily on the history of archaeology, Kenneth Oakley's “The problem of man's antiquity: an historical survey” published in the Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) [Geology] (1964), and L. S. B. Leakey's Unveiling Man's Origins; Ten Decades of Thought about Human Evolution (1969), with the latter two focusing on the contributions of geology, paleontology, and biology to the problem of human evolution.     

The impact of recent events on human genetic diversity

The historical record tells us stories of migrations, population expansions and colonization events in the last few thousand years, but what was their demographic impact? Genetics can throw light on this issue, and has mostly done so through the maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the male-specific Y chromosome. However, there are a number of problems, including marker ascertainment bias, possible influences of natural selection, and the obscuring layers of the palimpsest of historical and prehistorical events. Y-chromosomal lineages are particularly affected by genetic drift, which can be accentuated by recent social selection. A diversity of approaches to expansions in Europe is yielding insights into the histories of Phoenicians, Roma, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, and new methods for producing and analysing genome-wide data hold much promise. The field would benefit from more consensus on appropriate methods, and better communication between geneticists and experts in other disciplines, such as history, archaeology and linguistics.     

Primate archaeology 3.0

The new field of primate archaeology investigates the technological behavior and material record of nonhuman primates, providing valuable comparative data on our understanding of human technological evolution. Yet, paralleling hominin archaeology, the field is largely biased toward the analysis of lithic artifacts. While valuable comparative data have been gained through an examination of extant nonhuman primate tool use and its archaeological record, focusing on this one single aspect provides limited insights. It is therefore necessary to explore to what extent other non-technological activities, such as non-tool aided feeding, traveling, social behaviors or ritual displays, leave traces that could be detected in the archaeological record. Here we propose four new areas of investigation which we believe have been largely overlooked by primate archaeology and that are crucial to uncovering the full archaeological potential of the primate behavioral repertoire, including that of our own: (1) Plant technology; (2) Archaeology beyond technology; (3) Landscape archaeology; and (4) Primate cultural heritage. We discuss each theme in the context of the latest developments and challenges, as well as propose future directions. Developing a more “inclusive” primate archaeology will not only benefit the study of primate evolution in its own right but will aid conservation efforts by increasing our understanding of changes in primate-environment interactions over time.     

Dating And Environmental Reconstruction From Prehistoric Mud-Dauber Nests:Some Possibilities

Abstract

The preserved contents in nests of mud-dauberwasps recovered from archaeological investigations may provide data to the archaeologist on dating and local environmental conditions at the time of site occupation. In addition, a unique, butneglected, opportunity is afforded the entomologist to study remains not otherwise available.     

方兴未艾的古代DNA的研究

保留在古代生物遗骸中的遗传物质DNA是一种重要的遗传资源。古代DNA的研究对于了解包括人类在内的各种生物的起源、进化和迁徙有重要意义。古代DNA的研究有其自身的特点,并且已经取得一系列重要成就。本文综述古代DNA研究的历史、方法和进展。 Abstract：DNA present in ancient samples can be recovered,amplified and analysed.It opens a new window for genetic analysis in many different disciplines,such as anthropology,archaeology,human population genetics,animal and plant evolutionary taxonomy and forensic science.In general,ancient DNA is rare in quantity,damaged in quality.To ensure the reproducibility and reliability of the results,great cares should be taken,such as various measurements against contamination and phylogenetic analysis of ancient DNA sequences.In this paper we review recovery,amplification and analysis of ancient DNA,also discuss the guidelines to ensure the authenticity of ancient DNA and the recent advances in ancient DNA study.