Status and Power in Classic Maya Society: An Archeological Study

This article uses archeological data to examine how social relations allocate economic and political power in ancient complex societies. Based on recent excavations in the Copan Valley, Honduras, the socioeconomic organization of the basic residential group is reconstructed and the existence of a pervasive social hierarchy demonstrated. I argue that during the Late and Terminal Classic periods, the Maya were organized into a series of internally ranked and externally stratified status lineages (Goldman 1970) that structured social, economic, and political relationships.     

四种竹子的花器官形态描述

近几年来南京林业大学竹种园中4种竹子出现开花现象.首次描述了鹅毛竹(Shibaoea chinensis)和异叶苦竹(Arundinaria simonii f.heterophylla)的花部形态特征,补充描述了月月竹(Chimonobambusa sichuanensis)和福建茶秆竹(Arundinaria amabilis var.convexa)的花部形态特征.     

Theory Testing in Prehistoric North America: Fruits of One of the World's Great Archeological Natural Laboratories

This paper has several interconnected goals. First and most generally, we will review the project represented by the papers in this dedicated issue and the SAA Symposium (2012) on Social Complexity and the Bow. This project centers on the ever‐stronger and broader theory testing now becoming feasible in archeology and anthropology, in this case exploiting the unique natural laboratory represented by what we refer to as the North American Neolithic transitions. Second, we will strive to synopsize the papers in this issue as opportunities to falsify two general theories of the cause of increases in social complexity associated with the North American Neolithic: warfare and social coercion theories.¹ We argue that, though much work remains to be done, the current evidence supports one of the central predictions of both these theories, that the local arrival of elite bow technology was a central driver of local transitions to increased social complexity. This conclusion, if ultimately verified, has profound implications for the possibility of general theories of history. Third, we will argue that several important details of this evidence falsify warfare theory and support (fail to falsify) social coercion theory (the authors' favored perspective). Moreover, several potential falsifications of social coercion theory are amenable to alternative interpretations, leading to new falsifiable predictions. Finally, we discuss how interactions with our colleagues in this project produced new insights into several details of the predictions of social coercion theory, improving our interpretative capacity.     

Siva in the Forest of Pines: An Essay on Sorcery and Self-Knowledge

Siva in the Forest of Pines: An Essay on Sorcery and Self-Knowledge . Don Handelman and David Shulman. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. 246 pp.     

旧石器时代石制品热处理研究:回顾与展望

热处理技术作为旧石器时代古人类提高石器制作工艺水平的代表性技能, 一直以来倍受国际学术界的重视, 在已经开展的40余年工作中积累了丰硕的研究成果。由于我国旧石器时代石料的特点及热处理研究的某些技术手段本身存在局限性, 尚未在考古遗址中发现热处理行为及相关遗物, 目前我国热处理研究仍处于空白阶段。本文主要介绍旧石器时代热处理技术的原理与工艺及相关研究手段, 特别是针对热处理技术的实验研究。相信随着认识的加深, 石制品热处理研究会在我国旧石器考古学研究中发挥重要作用。