Kinship and mobility in 11th-century A.D. Gammertingen,Germany: an interdisciplinary approach

Excavation in and around a Medieval church in Gammertingen, Germany, revealed the skeletal remains of eight individuals dating to the 10th and 11th century AD. Archaeologists hypothesized that the individuals were the first members of a family later known as the Counts of Gammertingen, a medieval high nobility family. In an interdisciplinary approach, Strontium isotope and ancient DNA techniques were performed in order to test the hypothesis that the church was used as a family burial site and to investigate the provenance of family members. Seven of the eight individuals can be placed in a three-generation genealogy. The isotope analyses establish that the eighth individual had a different birthplace and possibly became a member of the Counts of Gammertingen through marriage. Further, genetic data revealed that distant relatives of the paternal lineage are still present in this area today. Thus, the combined results lead to a very detailed knowledge about a 1000-year old noble family.     

Land, Kinship Relations and the Rise of Enclosed Settlement in First Millenium B.C. Britain

Enclosed settlements are characteristic of the first millennium B.C. in Britain, contrasting with the predominantly open settlements of the fourth to second millennia. Settlement enclosures have recently been interpreted in symbolic terms, the enclosure marking social divisions between social groups. Anthropological studies indicate that divisions between groups may be more clearly marked in societies which use land intensively than in ones which use it extensively, because of the need to prevent valuable land from passing outside the group by out-marriage and inheritance. The earlier first millennium B.C. was a period of agricultural intensification in Britain. It is suggested that settlement enclosure became widespread at this time because agricultural intensification led to land becoming more valued as a form of property. This in turn led to changes in kinship relations, with the division between 'insiders' and 'outsiders' becoming more significant than before. Apparently 'special' deposits of material in enclosure ditches have been interpreted as a way of reinforcing such a division.     

Biology,Biography, and Technology: Review in Kinship and Genetics

This review considers four recent works on in vitro fertilization; human egg donation; the relation among family, kinship and nature; genetic databases, and medical research. Assisted reproductive technology has increasingly become a tool for the artificial production of body parts. Anthropology is reformulating kinship and family theories, taking into account their relationship with biology (in the strict sense of body) and technology as primary “agents” of reproduction and the socio-cultural constitution of selves.     

Prehistory in the northwest tropical Pacific: The Caroline,Mariana, and Marshall Islands

The earliest identified settlement is in the Marianas, dated to about 3500 B.P., while the other islands in the region appear to be settled from about 2000 B.P. onward. The archaeological remains reveal diverse approaches to island living. While Nan Madol and Leluh in the eastern Carolines are major architectural achievements, a discussion of these sites does not detract, for example, from the terrace systems of Palau or the lattestone groups of the southern Marianas. Of equal interest is the settlement of atolls and their recently recognized potential for preservation of stratified deposits. As information allows, each island or group is considered on an individual basis in order to allow for each specific island context to be assessed. This is described within the broader themes of architecture, chronology, environment, material culture, settlement pattern, social organization, and subsistence. In conclusion, the current standing of prehistory in the region is outlined in relation to early settlement, environment, social organization, chronology, settlement pattern studies, portable material culture, subsistence, and atolls. Finally, suggestions for the future are made.