Mapping ancient chinampa landscapes in the Basin of Mexico: a remote sensing and GIS approach

This paper uses remote sensing data to document a raised field, chinampa system adjacent to the Postclassic kingdom of Xaltocan in the northern Basin of Mexico. Various forms of landscape information; historic records and maps as well as remote sensing; are considered to understand the chinampa system. The remote sensing data examined include 1950s aerial photographs, Landsat 7 data, and Quickbird VHR, multi-spectral imagery. This article evaluates the utility of each of these forms of data to identify buried chinampa features and integrates them in a GIS to produce a map of Xaltocan's chinampa landscape. Canals of various sizes and hydrological positions comprised the chinampas and integrated the system together. Occupying at least 1500–2000 ha, Xaltocan's chinampa system represents the largest pre-Aztec, chinampa system in the Basin of Mexico.     

Measuring skill in the production of bifacial pressure flaked points: a multivariate approach using the flip-test

Skill is an aspect of prehistoric technology that can inform us on many areas of investigation. This article discusses the notion of skill in prehistoric contexts and how skill is to be formally defined in relation to lithic bifacial tools. The nature of bifacial manufacture entails simultaneous attention to the facial, profile- and cross- section morphology of the core, since each flake removal affects all features. It is argued that bifacial skill can be measured using a multivariate approach, which takes all these features into account. An index measure, the “Bifacial Skill Score”, is proposed and evaluated using both experimental and archaeological data. This measure is argued to constitute a good proxy for skill in bifacial technology and a useful tool for comparative research.     

Interactive online tools for enhancing student learning experiences in remote sensing

The rapid growth in Information and Communications Technologies usage in higher education has provided immense opportunities to foster effective student learning experiences in geography. In particular, remote sensing lends itself to the creative utilization of multimedia technologies. This paper presents a case study of a remote sensing computer aided learning (RSCAL) program, which was developed in Australia to facilitate student active engagement with foundational knowledge and skills. We demonstrate how RSCAL has evolved to become scalable and responsive to newer pedagogical perspectives and emerging learner needs. It has become a recommended key resource in contemporary remote sensing education and training.     

Investigating agricultural sustainability and strategies in northern Mesopotamia: results produced using a socio-ecological modeling approach

Some of the most politically and culturally significant cities in first millennium BC northern Mesopotamia were located in agriculturally marginal landscapes. In order to sustain these settlements, variant cultivation techniques were practiced by local populations. Understanding the dynamics and implications of crop management practices requires that socio-ecological variables be addressed over recurrent crop cycles. This paper employs a coupled socio-ecological modeling approach that enables interactions between a quantitative environmental model and an agent-based social model by using the ENKIMDU simulation tool. The reconstructed landscape near the ancient city of Assur is used as the example setting to test the effectiveness of simulated cultivation strategies. These methods include sole dependence on biennial fallow and rainfall, gravity flow irrigation, application of manure, and the integration of all these approaches. Results obtained within ENKIMDU attempt to delineate agricultural constraints and potential benefits of the specific anthropogenic processes and strategies addressed.     

Prospects and problems in the use of hyperspectral imagery for archaeological remote sensing: a case study from the Faynan copper mining district,Jordan

Hyperspectral (multiple, narrow band) satellite imaging provides a useful discovery and analytical tool for archaeologists. The Hyperion instrument, flying on the Earth Observer 1 (EO-1) satellite, was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on November 21, 2000. Unlike 7-band Landsat or 15-band ASTER imagery, Hyperion provides 242 (196 calibrated) narrow bands in the visible (VIS) to shortwave infrared range (SWIR), enabling much more detailed archaeological and geological analyses. It was designed as a spectrometer specifically geared to mineralogical analysis, and the imagery is freely available via data acquisition (targeting) requests from NASA. We requested a Hyperion image swath targeted on Khirbat en-Nahas (KEN), an ancient copper smelting site along the Wadi al-Ghuwayb (WAG), a part of Jordan’s Faynan district, where extensive ore processing occurred from the 3rd millennium BCE to industrial scale production over several centuries in the early 1st millennium BCE (Iron Age) and continued until Medieval Islamic times. We use a combination of Principal Components Analysis (PCA), similarity matrices, and Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA) on a single image swath to help locate additional ore processing sites, distinguish different areas at KEN that drew on different ore deposits, and discern depositional differences that may help illuminate issues related to the organization of production at KEN. Extensive field surveys in the research area provide a unique opportunity to ‘ground-truth’ the results of the hyperspectral research. The results of our study show considerable promise for future work with Hyperion data sets, and illuminate new aspects of the copper smelting industry at Khirbat en-Nahas. However, the low spatial resolution of the imagery and the nature of weakly reflective bands in the near infrared (NIR) limit the utility of the results.     

Rural out-migration and economic standing in a prairie setting

"This study attempts to trace the determinants of rural out-migration for a typical portion of the Canadian Prairies, namely agricultural Manitoba. In concentrating on the 'push' factors responsible for gross out-migration over the period 1966-71, the study considers aspects of several dimensions: spatial, economic, social, ethnic and demographic. However, in order to explore the ramifications of interaction between migration and these multifaceted factors, a model is construed which dwells not only on the forces responsible for out-migration, per se, but also on those capable of regulating rural economic structure and agricultural welfare."     

Applications of satellite remote sensing for research and heritage management in Indian prehistory

Multidisciplinary spatial studies are relatively limited in Indian archaeology, despite their potential for research and heritage management. This paper discusses applications of satellite remote sensing, field studies and GIS, in the context of Palaeolithic archaeology. The study region covers an area of around 8000 km², in the state of Tamil Nadu, South India, and is characterized by a rich and diverse Palaeolithic record. Satellite images of varied spatial resolutions were interpreted to address both regional and site-specific research questions. Thematic maps were generated from satellite data and refined with intensive field investigations. These were used for demarcating sources of raw material, and in investigating variability in the distribution of sites through time in relation to a range of geological and geomorphological features. Satellite data and field studies also aided in mapping impacts on sites resulting from modern landuse patterns. The paper also discusses the development and testing of a model to detect potential areas where new sites may be rapidly located.     

Investigation of past archaeological landscapes using remote sensing and GIS: a multi-method case study from Mount Ida,Crete

Spatial analysis in geoarchaeological applications can be improved by implementing a wider set of geoecological parameters, in order to provide more precise results. The aim of the paper is to show how geoscientific ground-truth and techniques can be adopted for detailed archaeological studies using a comprehensive set of environmental variables that might have influenced ancient settlement patterns. The project focuses on spatial patterns of archaeological sites as well as Bronze Age communication paths in Central Crete by applying a multi-method approach (surveying, remote sensing, DEM analysis, least-cost analysis, candidate site detection, predictive modelling, etc.). In contrast to conventional archaeological GIS applications this enhanced strategy offers promising prospects regarding landscape and settlement modelling.     

Direct detection of Southeast Asian smelting sites by ASTER remote sensing imagery: technical issues and future perspectives

Satellite-based multi-spectral remote sensing data were used in an attempt to identify control signatures for known prehistoric copper smelting sites in Thailand. It had been hoped that these characteristic signals could then be used as a reference for the detection of unknown Southeast Asian metal production sites, with the overall intention of strengthening the evidence base for early technological interactions with China and India. Regrettably, control signatures were not identified from the ASTER data due to issues of scale, chemistry, and vegetation, but we are able to offer reasons for this setback that might lead other scholars to develop successful applications of this methodology in more amenable (non-tropical) environments. Combined with ground truthing, intensive survey, excavation, and the technological analysis of metallurgical assemblages, this potentially useful and cost effective approach could lead to improved data density for the metal technology transmission discussions currently spanning Eurasia.     

A political economy approach to the allocation of health care resources: the case of remote areas of Queensland

This article describes and accounts for the existing distribution of medical services in remote areas. In contrast to traditional geographical approaches which have sought to explain problems associated with service provision in remote areas in terms of high costs of overcoming vast distances and low population thresholds, it is argued that such geographical and economic factors alone are an insufficient basis for explanation. Rather, it is necessary to view this issue in the broader context of existing ideology that underpins the procedures relating to the allocation of society's scarce resources, and the role of political and bureaucratic processes that are responsible for health care inequities. The adoption of apolitical economy framework recognises the problem of resource allocation as essentially a political matter requiring an analysis of power relations.     

絜矩:一个已消亡的文化概念

“絜矩之道”是《礼记·大学》篇所提出的一个思想文化概念,后经朱熹的重新阐发,在宋元明清时代有重要影响。其基本含义有君子应重视对人民大众行为的师范表率作用、恕道、均平思想等。但是,这个文化概念在近代以后则湮灭不彰。其根本原因,在于它的基本思想内涵被消解在已有的更成熟的也更为深刻的文化概念中,它实际上是中国古代“均平”思想的另一种解说,而缺乏一个文化概念所应具有的独立性品格。思想的历史证明,思想概念的生命力,永远属于那些新生的富有活力的东西。     

Talking the talk: Debating debate in northern Afghanistan

The ethnographic focus of this article is on the ways in which Afghan families who lived in northern Pakistan as refugees are currently reflecting upon to their complex experiences of return to their country through a rich and complex culture of debate, as well as the deployment of other verbal and peformative skills, especially imitation. More broadly, it argues that the comparative study of situated practices of debate offers unique insights for the anthropological analysis of Islam, which an expanding body of work on the ways in which piety minded Muslims embody and cultivate ethical and moral values has thus far overlooked.     

Integrated GIS,remote sensing and geomorphologic approaches for the reconstruction of the landscape habitation of Thessaly during the neolithic period

The aim of this study is to manifest the contribution of integrated approaches such as GIS, geomorphology, remote sensing and DEM analysis for the detection of neolithic settlements, the modeling of habitation and the reconstruction of neolithic landscape in the area of Thessaly.