"Decisions and Dispositions": Socializing Spatial Archaeology

Concerns with spatial dimensions and social inference have long histories in archaeology. However, the two histories are not always conjoined. This article considers changing understandings of space in archaeology in the last half century, and the variable nature of what "social" has denoted and connoted during that same span. The review highlights recurring calls for a social archaeology, and the degree to which, in such instances, social inference has been expressed in spatial terms, especially as these have recognized people's "decisions and dispositions" as shaping the archaeological record. Life histories of place receive special attention as ways of discerning the existence and social impact of such decisions and dispositions. These life histories constitute an arena in which archaeologists from diverse theoretical perspectives can offer complementary insights. Moreover, they exemplify ways in which social and spatial inferences in archaeology contribute to wider understanding of human experience. [Keywords: archaeology, social, space, place, life history]     

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.     

The Sea Peoples, from cuneiform tablets to carbon dating

The 13(th) century BC witnessed the zenith of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean civilizations which declined at the end of the Bronze Age, ～3200 years ago. Weakening of this ancient flourishing Mediterranean world shifted the political and economic centres of gravity away from the Levant towards Classical Greece and Rome, and led, in the long term, to the emergence of the modern western civilizations. Textual evidence from cuneiform tablets and Egyptian reliefs from the New Kingdom relate that seafaring tribes, the Sea Peoples, were the final catalyst that put the fall of cities and states in motion. However, the lack of a stratified radiocarbon-based archaeology for the Sea People event has led to a floating historical chronology derived from a variety of sources spanning dispersed areas. Here, we report a stratified radiocarbon-based archaeology with anchor points in ancient epigraphic-literary sources, Hittite-Levantine-Egyptian kings and astronomical observations to precisely date the Sea People event. By confronting historical and science-based archaeology, we establish an absolute age range of 1192-1190 BC for terminal destructions and cultural collapse in the northern Levant. This radiocarbon-based archaeology has far-reaching implications for the wider Mediterranean, where an elaborate network of international relations and commercial activities are intertwined with the history of civilizations.     

Tahitala's Revenge: Monumental Architecture and the Great Canoe,Lomipeau

In discussing ways that monumental architecture symbolises political power, I suggest that vehicles are a unique category of monument construction. Their ability to travel, and to be used for politically momentous tasks, increases the prestige of the rulers who make use of them. The Lomipeau, a large double‐hulled canoe used by Tongan rulers in the sixteenth century, exemplifies the concept of a monumental vehicle. To demonstrate the concept, I examine the origins of the canoe, the archaeology of sites associated with its exploits, and its use in ceremonial voyages of national importance. Identifying vehicles as a distinctive class of monumental architecture in future studies will help us to comprehend the complex variety of ways leaders express power across cultures.     

旧石器时代遗址发掘与记录方法讨论

随着技术的发展和研究理念的转变,旧石器时代考古遗址的发掘和记录方法也发生着变化。20世纪30年代周口店遗址发掘方法的改革是中国旧石器时代考古发掘史上的重大转折,奠定了中国旧石器时代考古发掘、记录方法的基础。90年代,中美联合考古在泥河湾地区的开展使中国旧石器时代考古遗址的发掘和记录方法与国际接轨,更加规范化、科学化。进入21世纪,新技术、新理念的应用使旧石器时代考古遗址发掘的记录方法更加多样化、提取的遗存信息更加科学化、综合化。本文以周口店遗址和泥河湾盆地旧石器时代遗址的发掘历史为主线,简要回顾旧石器时代考古发掘记录方法的变革;以东谷坨遗址的新发掘为例,介绍该遗址发掘和记录的一般规则和具体方法,呼吁建立具有科学性和包容性的旧石器时代遗址考古发掘操作规程。     

Americanist Archaeologies: 2008 in Review

ABSTRACT   A review of published literature, conference proceedings, and Internet sources pertaining to "Americanist archaeology" in 2008 reveals three major themes: conflict, catastrophe, and collaboration. Scholars debated the role of archaeology in planning for and executing military operations in the Middle East while maintaining a vigorous interest in structural and physical violence worldwide. Environmental archaeologists considered the effects of catastrophic events, including new theories over the demise of Clovis cultures. In addition, several major reports and regulations highlighted the complexities of indigenous relations and gender equity in the profession. Enhanced technologies, funding for global initiatives in human rights, economic and environmental sustainablility, and creative forms of engagement are reshaping "Americanist archaeology" as a democratic, anthropological, and relevant pursuit. [Keywords: archaeology, annual review, conflict, catastrophe, collaboration]     

Biological Analogy, Diffusionism, and Archaeology

A "biologization" of anthropological theory has recently been proposed by scholars from various subfields of the discipline. One aspect of that phenomenon is Harold K. Schneider's proposal to rewrite world history as a diffusionary process based on a biological model. It is asserted that he fails for several reasons: a misunderstanding of biology, a misunderstanding of archaeology, and a rejection of empiricism, making his theory less testable than standard evolutionary theory. The role of diffusion in culture change is not explained by recourse to faulty analogy and highly selected archaeological data. [biological analogy, diffusionism, archaeological theory, cultural evolution]     

The Peabody Museum, Frederic W. Putnam, and the Rise of U.S. Anthropology, 1866-1903

This article explores the intersection of the career of Frederic Ward Putnam with the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard to the history of U.S. archaeology between his appointment as professor in 1866 and his death in 1915. Putnam was also active in institutional developments at Chicago, Berkeley, and New York. [Keywords: Frederic Ward Putnam, U.S. archaeology, Peabody Museum]     

The potential of analogy in post-processual archaeologies: a case study from Basimane ward, Serowe, Botswana

This article presents the results of an ethnoarchaeological study of Basimane ward in Serowe, Botswana. It is argued that African archaeology is currently at the forefront of the debate on theory-building in ethnoarchaeology and that this debate is exemplified in the argument about the use of the Central Cattle Pattern (CCP) model as a direct historical analogy to Iron Age settlement in southern Africa. My case study demonstrates that the continuities of settlement architecture that are evident for the past century in Basimane ward should not be interpreted as the persistence of the cultural forms that are described in the CCP. Rather, the persistence of elements of the physical form of the CCP to post-colonial settlement is a testimony to the interplay between structure and human agency, to the capacity of people constantly to re-negotiate the rules – past and present, social and architectural – in order to make sense of the lives they live. The value of ethnoarchaeology to post-processual archaeology is not to provide a contemporary 'pattern' of material culture that may be compared to an ancient one in the form of a uniformitarian analogy, but rather to demonstrate that, according to the discursive nature of Giddens's duality of structure, archaeologists would be wrong to disengage structure and agency in order to 'find' them as separate archaeologically identifiable components.     

Clients, Contracts, and Profits: Conflicts in Public Archaeology

The client-oriented approach to contract archaeology is a technical service rather than genuine scientific research. Such an approach fails to meet the requirements of the law, fails to satisfy the needs of archaeological science, and frequently fails to protect the client's interests. A client orientation encourages an excessive emphasis on profits from contract work. Profits not only exclude a balance of archaeological, client, and public interests but threaten the scientific future of contract work. Solutions to the problem of client-oriented work include better academic training as researchers, support for government archaeologists, a strong professional consensus on ethical and performance standards, and attention to public interests. [ contract archaeology, client-oriented archaeology, research profits, research obligations, professionalism ]     

Human impacts on fisheries resources and abundance in the Danish Wadden Sea, c1520 to the present

For the past 30 years, the Danish Wadden Sea area has been protected by fishery and hunting regulations, pollution controls and settlement restrictions. Nevertheless, todays Wadden Sea is a depleted ecosystem when we compare it with past abundance and diversity of marine animal populations. This review indicates that the abundance of finfishes has undergone a long-term decline since the seventeenth century. The review also indicates a trajectory of ecological decline since the early twentieth century that seems to be related to: (1) fishing extractions which focused on undersized fish throughout the first half of the twentieth century; (2) habitat destruction, which was most marked in the first half of the twentieth century; and (3) pollution, which was worst in the third quarter of the twentieth century. Historical investigation reveals that we need to fundamentally revise present-day baselines about the potential species richness and abundance of the Wadden Sea.     

旧石器考古学的目标、制约和挑战

旧石器研究可以设法解决包括现代人起源和扩散在内的最重大的考古学问题,因此常常会引起公众的关注和想象。要重建旧石器时代人类生活状况显然也面临着很多问题,既有数据局限性导致的实践上的限制,也有试图理解发现本身时遇到的解释性的困难。过去的研究已经证明了实验考古学和民族考古学可以解决其中一些问题,但这也突显了考古学家所面临的限制。     

Archaeology, Anthropology, and the Culture Concept

The culture concept has been central to anthropology since the formational period of the discipline. Yet for much of the discipline's history it was used without explicit definition. Recent attempts to define it have yielded a range of varied formulations in the subdisciplines of archaeology and sociocultural anthropology. Does this mean that the center of anthropology—shared belief in a unified culture concept—has been destroyed? Quite the opposite, the author concludes—the debate has yielded benefits.     

Individuals and the evolution of biological and cultural systems

Recently, it has been suggested that anthropologists could more effectively build scientific theories of cultural evolution by reference to biology rather than social science. In this way, the evolution of cultures might be more usefully viewed as an anolog to the evolution of species. In systematic biology, however, the nature of species continues to be the subject of a long-standing duality of thought. This duality is analogous to the longstanding conflict in anthropology over the nature of culture. We argue, by analogy to Michael Ghiselin’s work on species, that a culture is an individual, not a class, and that cultures, like other individual entities, evolve. This view is highly concordant with concepts of culture formulated in earlier decades of this century. It has also been the philosophical orientation of American archaeology for approximately the last 25 years. We conclude that both biology and anthropology have an equal potential of contributing to a general evolutionary theory.     

Language, Handedness, and Primate Brains: Did the Australopithecines Sign?

Evidence from comparative primate neuroanatomy, archaeology, and studies of vocalization systems of nonhuman primates suggests that human vocal language has a long evolutionary history and that there is continuity between our early primate ancestors' call systems and human speech. Old World monkeys exhibit cerebral asymmetries similar to those that appear related to human language. If arboreal monkeylike ancestors of humans were also characterized by cerebral asymmetry, then the fundamental asymmetry that forms the neurological substrate for human language may have been established through selection for simple "discrete" call systems in an arboreal habitat and would have occurred much longer ago than previously thought. The eventual shift from an arboreal to a terrestrial habitat was accompanied by increased complexity ("gradation") of vocal communication systems. The archaeological record of tools suggests that communication systems became still more complex under the selective pressures that led to bipedalism and that language had been selected for by the time that bipedalism was achieved. Contrary to the gestural hypothesis, right-handedness (which could not have preceded freeing of the hands) succeeded speech and may have been due to selective pressures for increased complexity of communication, causing a Field Effect upon the brain. [australopithecine, cerebral asymmetry, language, primate brains, right-handedness]     

A huge Workshop of the stone age in North China

Associate researcherWang (1935-) is Associate Director of the Institute of Archaeology of Shanxi Province and standing member of Shanxi Archaeological Association. Since he graduated from the geology department of the Beijing Geology College in 1961, he has been engaged in the study of paleo-anthropology and paleolithic archaeology. He was in charge of the excavation of Dingcun site in 1984. His main treatises are: «Archaeological Reconnaissances at Hsiach'uan in Chinshui County, Shanxi Province», «Microliths from Xueguan Country, Shanxi».Zhu Xiaodong (1965-0000) is a practice researcher of the Institute of Archeology of Shanxi Province, who graduated from the archaeology department of Beijing University in 1987, and took part in the excavation of Gold-Ox Mount site in Liaoning Province.     

Genome, evolution, Drosophila and beyond: the new dimensions

A century ago a little fly with red eyes was first used for genetic studies. That insignificant fly, called at that time Drosophila ampelophila, revolutionized biology while becoming the model we know today under the name of Drosophila melanogaster. Since then its study has never ceased, but the field of interest has somewhat changed during the century. To caricature a little, today we essentially learn from Drosophila meetings that the fly has a brain! It is true that the fly is a tremendous model organism for neurobiology. But this fly is, in fact, an appropriate and recognized model for the whole of biology. Indeed, Drosophila meetings are exceptional opportunities to gather biologists of diverse backgrounds together. There we not only learn about the latest improvements in our field of interest, but surely appreciate learning another bit of biology. From this biological melting pot has emerged a culture very specific to the fly community. Thus besides neurobiology, cell biology and development, a diversity of other research fields exist; they all have their own place in the cultural and historical dimension of the "drosophila" model. Several communications from those diverse research fields were presented at the 8th Japanese Drosophila Research Conference (JDRC8) and are briefly covered here. We believe it more judicious to call the model "drosophila" without a capital initial, as the model has never really been limited to only the Drosophila genus. The vernacular name "drosophila" is currently used to designate any fly of the Drosophilidae family and we believe the term more appropriate than "small fruit fly" or "vinegar fly" to better include the species and ecological diversity of the model.     

Man, vegetation and climate during the Holocene in the territory of Sagalassos, Western Taurus Mountains, SW Turkey

Past vegetation change and the influence of climate change and anthropogenic pressure during the Holocene is constructed from a series of palynological records sampled from three locations within the territory of the antique site of Sagalassos. The disappearance of the original deciduous oak woodlands and increases in anthropogenic indicator species around 5300 and 4300 b.c. correspond with an increase in settlements in the region. A period of drought following the deforestation may have hampered the recovery of deciduous oak. The timing of the onset of the Bey?ehir Occupation Phase (BO-Phase) in the territory differs between locations, estimates ranging from ca. 1000–800 b.c. to the start of the Hellenistic period (334 b.c.). The most intense period of arboriculture coincides with the Roman and late-Roman periods. Increases in human pressure on the landscape as reflected in the pollen record correspond with an increased rate of sedimentation and fire activity. The timing of the end of the BO-Phase again differs between locations. Estimates range from the 4th century a.d. to the mid 7th century a.d., when a region-wide shift to dry environmental conditions is observed. Numerical analyses show that post BO-Phase vegetation change is largely driven by climate and displays a succession of dry and wet periods that coincided with well-defined European climate shifts, including the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age. Current agricultural activities in the region are of a very recent (20th century) origin.     

High Y-chromosomal diversity and low relatedness between paternal lineages on a communal scale in the Western European Low Countries during the surname establishment

There is limited knowledge on the biological relatedness between citizens and on the demographical dynamics within villages, towns and cities in pre-17th century Western Europe. By combining Y-chromosomal genotypes, in-depth genealogies and surname data in a strict genetic genealogical approach, it is possible to provide insights into the genetic diversity and the relatedness between indigenous paternal lineages within a particular community at the time of the surname adoption. To obtain these insights, six Flemish communities were selected in this study based on the differences in geography and historical development. After rigorous selection of appropriate DNA donors, low relatedness between Y chromosomes of different surnames was found within each community, although there is co-occurrence of these surnames in each community since the start of the surname adoption between the 14th and 15th century. Next, the high communal diversity in Y-chromosomal lineages was comparable with the regional diversity across Flanders at that time. Moreover, clinal distributions of particular Y-chromosomal lineages between the communities were observed according to the clinal distributions earlier observed across the Flemish regions and Western Europe. No significant indication for genetic differences between communities with distinct historical development was found in the analysis. These genetic results provide relevant information for studies in historical sciences, archaeology, forensic genetics and genealogy.