New York Yankees and Hollywood Anglos: The persistence of Anglo‐conformity in the American motion picture industry

Ideal types have received less attention than membership criteria in the ethnicity and nationalism literature. This article uses crowdsourced genealogical data and onomastics software to show that British Isles surnames and ancestry remain over‐represented among American actors, especially in roles connected with the national narrative. Conformity to the WASP ideal type persists despite the fact American actors are disproportionately born in Los Angeles, New York, and other large cities, where British ancestry is rare. Jewish actors are over‐represented, yet many have Anglo surnames. Compared to athletes and politicians, actors are significantly more likely to have Anglo surnames, especially those in genres depicting the nation. After declining among cohorts of stars born between the 1800s and 1961, the share of British Isles surnames has stabilised and remains in the majority. We argue that despite rising diversity, this reflects the continuing importance of the Anglo‐Protestant ethnic imago for American national identity.     

The Digital Reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo ship

This article describes the digital reconstruction of the ship remains from Mound 1, at the early 7th‐century Anglo‐Saxon burial ground at Sutton Hoo, East Anglia, UK. This research provides a critical component of the wider project to build a full‐scale reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo ship. The nature of the archaeological record relating to the Sutton Hoo ship is outlined, and the subsequent assumptions underpinning the digital reconstruction explained, followed by a step‐by‐step account of that work. Hydrostatic testing of the resulting digitally reconstructed hull is then presented, allowing new insight into the capacity and capability of the vessel.     

‘We'll have what they're having’, cultural identity through diet in the English Saxon Period

The roots of the English population lie in diverse cultural origins. Within the second half of the first millennium AD, there were two major migrations, firstly the Saxons in the immediate post-Roman period, and later following the ‘Viking’ incursions of the mid-9th century. This paper considers the visibility of these migrations in the animal economy. Zooarchaeological data from 141 Saxon sites within England were analysed for evidence of diet and animal husbandry. Results indicate that there were signatures specific to native British rural populations in the early Saxon phase, relying largely on a self-sufficient economy, consuming very few wild species or domestic birds. Saxon cultural differences were implied from a number of sites, dependant on the increased importance of cattle in the diet and as culturally symbolic animals signifying status and utilised for trade. There was also evidence for the earliest settlers to have used pigs as a ‘mobile larder’, to provide meat while they established herds and flocks of cattle and sheep. Regional differences were visible in the late Saxon phase, within Wessex and the Danelaw, related to agricultural changes in the midlands and central southern region, and cultural identity, particularly within the heartlands of the northern Danelaw, towards an increase in cattle production.     

Tristan da Cunha

This paper explores the ambiguities of Englishness/ Britishness from a political geography perspective. An Anglo‐British identity is described in which English territoriality is shown to be both more and less than the geographical area of England. Upper England comprises the south‐east corner of the country only — the Home Counties’ — which is identified as the Crown Heartland of a particularly conservative nationalism. Greater England is the British face of English identity which as hegemon, empire and currently through the City of London used and uses Upper England as a base for extra‐territorial projects. Finally the implications of this unusual nationalism are reviewed in terms of a possible break‐up of England.     

The Beasts At Large – Perennial Questions and New Paradigms for Caribbean Translocation Research. Part II: Mammalian Introductions in Cultural Context

Looking to clarify outstanding questions about human-animal dynamics in the pre-Columbian Caribbean, archaeologists have recently renewed investigation into the sociocultural context of mammal translocations to the islands. In this second instalment of a three-article series, I examine Amerindian ethnophoresy, that is, the process of anthropogenic species dispersal and its associated cultural practices, drawing on archaeological, ethnographic, and ethnohistoric evidence. Building on the ethnozoogeographic baselines established in Part I, I consider the tangible and intangible roles of introduced mammals, with particular attention given to subsistence, status, symbolic and ritual dimensions. I discuss enduring speculation over the management and incipient domestication of these species and its broader significance. Collectively, these topics are important because they inform explanation of the cause, extent and consequences of non-native animal introductions and allow us to understand translocation as an adaptive response to the natural and cultural environment. I conclude that resolution of the managed/domesticated status of non-native animals, in particular, constitutes the most critical research area in Caribbean ethnophoresy since this bears directly on the environmental impact and ecological legacy of mammal introductions in the region. This last topic is addressed in Part III of the series.     

Comparing bird bones from Saxon sites: problems of interpretation

Bird bones from Saxon settlements in England provide evidence for considerable exploitation of birds, especially domestic poultry. This paper discusses some of the problems of analysing the relative importance of birds and of the ratio of fowls and geese. Detailed comparison of the results from sites in Southampton suggest that the first questions the faunal analyst should be asking concern methods of recovery and quantification. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Beasts at Large – Perennial Questions and New Paradigms for Caribbean Translocation Research. Part I: Ethnozoogeography of Mammals

ABSTRACT

While researchers have long appreciated that mammal introductions were an important aspect of Amerindian-environment interaction in the prehistoric Caribbean, persistent questions about dispersal routes, animal management practices, possible domestication, and ritual use remain unresolved. In this three-article series, offered as a model approach for prehistoric translocation studies, I review the present state of knowledge on pre-Columbian Caribbean mammal translocations, focusing on three fundamental areas: (1) ethnozoogeographic distributions; (2) the sociocultural significance of translocated fauna; and (3) the ecological impact of introduced species. Here, in Part I, I consider species introduction patterns in relation to dispersal modes, the need to distinguish live introductions from the import of animal products, and the importance of direct-dating specimens to establish translocation chronology. In subsequent papers I explore topics II and III, advocating for a holistic approach to translocation research that integrates all three investigative areas to address larger questions about the role of introduced mammals in island society and ecology and their impact on human adaptation to the landscape. This first paper provides foundations for an ensuing final discussion in which I argue that intentional faunal translocation is sufficiently robust as a behavioural phenomenon across time and space to warrant theoretical treatment from an evolutionary perspective.     

Avian egg-shell from archaeological sites

Avian egg-shell occurs fairly commonly on archaeological sites, particularly in alkaline deposits. It is rarely studied in detail. Egg-shell structure is described briefly below and features which may be of value for identification purposes are discussed. Egg-shells from 14 archaeological sites are tentatively identified as goose, domestic fowl, duck and guinea fowl. It seems likely that confident identification should ultimately be possible using a combination of features. This should yield information complementary to osteological evidence for the history of the utilization of birds and their eggs.