Classic Lowland Maya Political Organization: A Review

This paper reviews recent archaeological research concerning Classic Maya lowland political systems (ca. A.D. 250–1000). It focuses specifically on (1) subsistence practices revealed through the analysis of prehistoric climate, available resources, agricultural technologies, and diet; (2) population distribution, density, and size revealed through the analysis of settlement practices and architectural function; (3) social differentiation and interaction revealed through the analysis of burial practices, diet and health, architecture, and production, consumption, and exchange patterns; and (4) ancient Maya political economy (how it was funded) revealed through the analysis of community organization, ritual activities, the Classic Maya collapse, and warfare. It finally ends with a brief discussion of the future of Maya archaeology. A key factor that recurs throughout this review is the noticeable amount of variability that existed—varied resources, subsistence strategies, settlement practices, and social and political systems. An understanding of this variability is the key to appreciate fully the Classic Maya.     

The Not So Peaceful Civilization: A Review of Maya War

The first Maya encountered by Europeans in the early sixteenth century were exceedingly warlike, but by the 1940s the earlier Classic Maya (AD 250–1000) were widely perceived as an inordinately peaceful civilization. Today, in sharp contrast, conflict is seen as integral to Maya society throughout its history. This paper defines war, reviews the evidence for it in the Maya archaeological record, and shows how and why our ideas have changed so profoundly. The main emphasis is on the Classic period, with patterns of ethnohistorically documented war serving as a baseline. Topics include the culture history of conflict, strategy and tactics, the scope and range of operations, war and the political economy, and the intense status rivalry war of the eighth and ninth centuries AD that contributed to the collapse of Classic civilization. Unresolved issues such as the motivations for war, its ritual vs. territorial aims, and sociopolitical effects are discussed at length.     

Revisiting Settlement Contemporaneity and Exploring Stability and Instability: Case Studies from the Indus Civilization

ABSTRACT

“Map overestimation,” or “the contemporaneity problem,” derives from the assumption that settlements identified during surface surveys were occupied throughout individual periods. Inductive and simulation analysis have been used to ascertain the degree of contemporaneity in surface survey data sets, as variation in settlement location is critical for understanding population density and demography, which inform social, economic and political interpretations. This paper revisits the inductive approach to interrogating survey data developed by W. M. Sumner and the simulation model approach developed by R. E. Dewar to explore the survey data from two regions within South Asia’s Indus civilization. This analysis demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches. It also highlights the variability in settlement systems in different areas within the Indus civilization and shows that consideration of stability and instability within settlement systems is an important factor when considering dynamics of resilience and sustainability.     

Underwater Archaeology on Foot: a Systematic Rapid Foreshore Survey on the North Kent Coast, England

Foreshore archaeology can be considered 'underwater archaeology on foot', because it is possible to investigate the archaeological heritage at low tide without the need for diving. Rising sea-levels, increasing coastal erosion and the loss of important foreshore environments make immediate action necessary. In 2005, Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Kent County Council, supported by English Heritage, to continue a Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey on the North Kent Coast as part of a project started in 2001. In four weeks 378 monuments were updated and 198 new monuments recorded, among them a submerged forest, a trackway, several fish-traps and shipwrecks.
© 2007 The Authors     

Recovering social and cultural dynamics from plaster floors: chemical analyses at ancient Chunchucmil,Yucatan, Mexico

Phosphate analysis and trace metals analysis were used to determine activities that took place on plaster floors in domestic contexts at the ancient Maya site of Chunchucmil, Yucatan. Research on activities and the use of space contributes to an understanding of social relations within household groups as well as unforeseen patterns that structure refuse discard. The floors analyzed in this paper pertain to three structures in two neighboring houselots dating to the Early Classic (300–600 A.D.) period. Data from the chemical analyses were utilized in conjunction with associated architectural features and artifacts found on the floors. These three lines of information were interpreted with the help of models developed from ethnographic and ethnoarchaeological research. The results demonstrated functional differentiation of rooms within elaborate residences and suggested that front rooms were used to host visitors. The results also suggested that different types of debris were managed differently. Finally, chemical analyses suggest that non-elite Maya occasionally enacted rituals often restricted to elites.     

Spatial Autocorrelation and the Classic Maya Collapse: One Technique, One Conclusion

A pair of articles appearing recently in this journal (Whitley & Clark, Journal of Archaeological Science12, 377-395, 1985; Kvamme, Journal of Archaeological Science17, 197-207, 1990) apply spatial autocorrelation analysis to the distribution of terminal long-count dates from southern Lowland Classic Maya monuments. The authors employ similar techniques yet arrive at contradictory conclusions regarding the presence of geographical patterning in the collapse of the Classic Maya civilization in this region. Kvamme's contention, however, that Whitley & Clark conducted an inappropriate analysis and arrived at an erroneous conclusion is unsubstantiated. Both articles present appropriate analyses and report results which support the presence of spatial patterning in the Lowland Maya dates.     

‘The first duties of persons living in a civilized community’: the Maya, the Church, and the colonial state in southern Belize

In recent years, historical geography has been at the forefront of new scholarship on the spatiality of colonial power and its complex relations with indigenous communities. This literature shows that imperial policies – emerging through state and scientific institutions, cultural practices, and capitalist ventures – required particular ways of conceptualizing, mapping, and organizing spaces and territories which transformed the geographies of indigenous communities, livelihoods, and identities. Through a close reading of archival texts from the late 19th and early 20th century, this paper examines the spatial and political relations between three groups: the Catholic Church, the British colonial state, and the Maya communities of southern British Honduras. Differences between the Catholic Church and the British colonial state – in their aims and approach to winning hegemony over the Q'eqchi' and Mopan Maya – were accommodated and assuaged by a tacit agreement: that the Maya must be settled in permanent communities. Colonial power, in both its spiritual and statist modalities, was imminently geographical, and this geography comprised the common ground between Church and state in their approach to the Maya.     

Ancient Maya wood selection and forest exploitation: a view from the Paynes Creek salt works,Belize

Ancient building construction wood preserved in a peat bog below the seafloor in a shallow mangrove lagoon in Paynes Creek National Park, Belize, provides an exceptional record of Classic Maya wood use. Identifications of construction wood at Early Classic Chan B'i, and Late Classic Atz'aam Na, are reported and discussed to assess forest exploitation and species selection over time. Black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) dominates the Early Classic assemblage. The Late Classic assemblage is characterized by greater variability and an absence of mangrove species. When considered in the environmental context, identified species conform to principles of optimal foraging. The change in the wood assemblage over time suggests overexploitation of forest resources, resulting in deforestation of the local landscape and subsequent adaptation of foraging behavior. Deforestation is linked to the wider social context in which growing inland populations created demand for salt, putting greater pressure on the forest resources exploited by the Paynes Creek salt works for fuel and timber.     

The magdalenian in Western Central Europe: Settlement pattern and regionality

Magdalenian material from northern Switzerland, southwestern and southeastern Germany, the middle Rhine, and central Germany is examined for differences among these geographical areas. Several regional features, including a broad range of archaeological data, can be identified and indicate two regional groupings, a southwestern and a northeastern. The first includes sites from central Germany and the middle Rhine, while the second includes northern Switzerland and southwestern Germany. The southeastern German sites cannot be firmly placed within this pattern because of the insecure data base. The main differences are in prey species, hunting and settlement patterns, and some characteristics of the mobile art. The comparison does not allow a finer separation, although the two regional groups could probably be subdivided into smaller geographical units. Alternative explanations are discussed and further avenues of research are proposed.     

游客抽样调查中"拒答"现象的原因分析及应对措施——以崆峒山游客抽样调查为例

本文对游客抽样调查中的拒答现象和拒绝率进行了阐述和分析,探讨了拒答现象产生的原因和应对措施。指出：游客抽样调查中的拒答现象是值得重视又容易忽视的,是旅游流、旅游心理、旅游目的地类型和其他社会因素综合作用的结果,而非单纯地由游客心理决定。所以要降低拒绝率,需要从消除游客心理障碍和提高游客主动参与性入手,促使游客主动配合调查,减少拒绝现象,提高调查的成功率和准确率。     

Settlement and Subsistence in the Remote Western Pacific: Archaeological and Radiocarbon Data from Alamagan,Northern Mariana Islands

Small, remote islands were marginal environments for prehistoric human populations. We report archaeological and radiocarbon data from Alamagan, a small and isolated island in the northern part of the Mariana Islands archipelago. Challenging environmental conditions, including rugged terrain, active or recent volcanism, and uncertain freshwater availability posed significant challenges for permanent settlement throughout the Northern Islands. The Alamagan archaeological investigations documented 14 megalithic domestic structures, or latte sets, as well as isolated and non-portable Latte Period artifacts, and one historical site. Test excavations were undertaken at two of the latte features. These investigations add to a growing body of data suggesting colonization of the Northern Islands during the middle part of the Latte Period (probably during the late a.d. 1200s or early 1300s). We consider the implications of these data for the study of human adaptations to marginal insular environments in the Pacific.     

明代云南汉族移民定居区的分布与拓展

云南汉族分布区发展最快的时期是明代。明代80余万汉族军事移民大规模进入云南,深入传统的当地民族世居区或边疆地区,建立卫所,定居屯田,促使云南涌现出大量的汉族移民新区,形成相对稳定和独立的汉族社会和汉夷杂居的发展趋势,基本奠定了明清以后直到今天云南各民族分布格局和民族交融的基础,成为明清以来云南边疆开发和社会变迁的重要推动力。     

The Public Communication of Science and Non-Formal Education Within the Framework of Public Argentine Archaeology: The Case of Archaeology Workshops

Abstract

This article presents and analyses a method of public communication in archaeology carried out by a group of researchers within a non-formal educational framework, as a contribution to public archaeology in Argentina. This project included diverse activities, such as archaeology workshops for children and teenagers, which took place in museums in four cities located in three regions: Paraná (North-east), Tres Arroyos and Lobería (Pampas), and Lamarque (Patagonia). A conceptual evaluation is presented based on the application of a non-participational observation methodology, that includes the analysis of posters made by those attending the workshop and surveys conducted by the archaeologists at the culmination of the activity. This study suggests that workshops can be one of the most effective strategies employed by researchers to publicly communicate archaeology, and therefore can be of use to other research teams that have as their objective the democratization of knowledge generated in scienti?c-academic spheres.     

The Natufian: Settlement variability and economic adaptations in the Levant at the end of the Pleistocene

The relationship between current interpretations of Natufian settlement and subsistence and available archaeological data are examined in light of recent research, particularly in Jordan. Regional variability in adaptive strategies is discernible, particularly between forest and coastal sites versus steppe and desert sites. Greater evidence of plant processing and more intensive occupation characterize settlement in the former, although year-round occupation has yet to be conclusively demonstrated. Patterned variability also exists between two classes of steppe and desert area settlements. One set of steppe and desert sites is characterized by a broad range of activities and moderate settlement permanence and activity intensity, while less permanent occupation and more specialized activities focused primarily on hunting typify the other set of sites. Evidence for food production in the Natufian is examined and, although the domestication process may have begun, no morphological evidence exists for the domestication of plants or herd animals. Finally, worthwhile areas for future research are outlined.     

Settlement structures and cemetery at Wadi Shab-GAS1, Sultanate of Oman: Report on the 2002 and 2003 field seasons

Many chronological and cultural facets of Early and Middle Holocene Prehistoric Oman are still unclear. Archaeological excavations of settlements and cemeteries are adding new data to the reconstruction of a chronological and cultural framework. Wadi Shab-GAS1 is a Middle Holocene site found at the beginning of the 1980s and later destroyed by urbanisation. It is located in a rich environmental niche, on a cliff facing the sea and near a permanent freshwater source. Three years of fieldwork at this site brought to light structural remains, a cemetery and interesting material culture.     

淮河的光芒:黄河与长江的联结──《舞阳贾湖·序》

俞伟超先生在大型考古发掘报告《舞阳贾湖》的序中,高度评价了舞阳贾湖遗址在新石器时代考古学研究中的重要价值,指出贾湖遗址在文化特征上的多重性格,为史前文化区系类型研究带来了新的启示,对以器物特征为主要标志的考古学文化属性的划分提出了新的思考。     

Innovation,diffusion, and culture contact: The holocene archaeology of Ghana

Stressing recent research, this review of Ghana archaeology highlights what we know of the advent of sedentism, agriculture, iron technology, and urbanism in Ghana and examines how certain patterns in Ghanaian prehistory depart from the expectations of the progressive evolutionary model that has framed our understanding of world prehistory. It is also argued that the archaeology of Ghana has much to contribute to current debates on the relationship between material culture and identity, and the impact of the Atlantic economy on non-European peoples, and to our understanding of cultural diversity in the past.