Evolutionary Foraging Models in Zooarchaeological Analysis: Recent Applications and Future Challenges

The last few decades have witnessed a rapid rise in the use of foraging models derived from behavioral ecology to explain and predict temporal and spatial differences in faunal assemblages. Although these models build on conventional ideas about utility firmly embedded in zooarchaeological analyses, when cast in an evolutionary framework these ideas produce some of the most sophisticated and elegant interpretations of archaeofaunas to date. In this article I review the methodological and practical strengths and weaknesses of current zooarchaeological applications of foraging models. Recent applications of foraging models to the zooarchaeological record reveal important variability in human-prey interactions across time and space. Case-specific applications generate theoretical and methodological advances that augment and are complementary to model building in allied fields. Recent applications also identify shortcomings in the underlying assumptions and rationale of some foraging models that mirror past and on-going discussions in anthropology and biology. I discuss how these shortcomings can fruitfully direct future applications and research in foraging economics.     

Investigating the Influence of Spatial and Temporal Granularities on Agent‐Based Modeling

Epidemic agent‐based models (ABMs) simulate individuals in artificial societies that are capable of movement, interaction, and transmitting disease among themselves. ABMs have been used to study the spread of disease at various spatial and temporal scales ranging from small communities to the world, over days, months, and years. The representations of space and time often vary between different epidemic ABMs and can be influenced by factors such as the size of a modeled population, computational requirements, population environments, and disease‐related data. The influence that the representations of space and time have on epidemic ABMs is difficult to assess. Here we show that the finest representations of space and time—termed spatial and temporal granularities (STGs)—in a parsimonious ABM affect speed, intensity, and spatial spread of a synthetic disease. Specifically, we found disease spread faster and more intensely as spatial granularity is coarsened, whereas disease spread slower and less intensely as temporal granularity is coarsened in a parsimonious ABM. Our study is the first to use the same epidemic ABM to examine the influence of STGs. Our results demonstrate that STGs influence ABM dynamics including early disease burnout and that an interrelationship exists between the coarsening of STGs and the speed and intensity at which disease spreads. Our parsimonious ABM is extended based on a structured community model and we found STGs also influence ABM dynamics in a more realistic context that includes hierarchical movement. Broadly, our study serves as a basis for further inquiry toward the influence of space–time representations on more realistic models that include multiscale mobility, routine movements (e.g., commuting), and heterogeneous population distributions.     

India's Energy Security: Challenges and Opportunities

A noted specialist on India's energy security reviews the range of energy-related issues that will have a bearing on that country's ability to sustain the high current rates of economic growth and development into the future. The author explores the multiple challenges India confronts in securing (through domestic production and external sources) an adequate mix of energy supplies (hydrocarbon fuels, nuclear power, renewable energy sources) and describes as well as analyzes a broad front of actions (both government programs and the activities of private companies) taken to address them. The analysis illuminates India's important role in the production and consumption of several forms of energy. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O130, P280, Q400. 5 figures, 64 references.     

Some Remarks About the Future of Geographical Analysis: The Journal and the Sub‐Discipline

This paper expands upon a GA 50^th Anniversary panel presentation made at the 2018 New Orleans American Association of Geographers meeting. It notes that retrospectives for this topic already exist, both in terms of the journal and the sub‐discipline. This paper presents discussion about the following selected prominent transitional themes bridging the past and the future of geographical analysis: space–time data; geographic uncertainty and error; and, dimensional reduction spatial statistical modeling. It also presents discussion about the following three themes that are expected to receive considerable future attention: negative spatial autocorrelation; synergies between spatial statistics and spatial optimization; and, big spatial data. The first two of these topics essentially have been ignored in the literature to date.     

Recent Directions and Developments in Geographical Information Systems

Geographical information systems (GIS) are tools for handling and processing spatially referenced information that have permeated all facets of archaeology, frequently revolutionizing research by allowing easy access to vast amounts of information, new ways of data visualization that promote insight through pattern recognition, and unique methodologies that allow entirely new approaches to the study of the past. This comprehensive review examines and critiques recent advances achieved through GIS in regional and within-site databases, locational analysis and modeling, regional simulation, studies of landscape perception through intervisibility analysis, and models of spatial allocation, territoriality, and site access. The future prospects of GIS are enormous with the growth of the Internet, the resultant linking of databases, expected enhancements in satellite remote sensing, and the increasing pervasiveness of global positioning systems for spatial data capture. If there is a persistent theme that emerges from the chronicles of contemporary scientific cartography, it is that the creation of a map almost inevitably leads to unexpected revelations. — Hall, Mapping the Next Millenium: How Computer-Driven Cartography Is Revolutionizing the Face of Science     

Challenges and Opportunities in Cross-cultural Geographic Inquiry

While qualitative fieldwork in cross-cultural settings is central to human geography, there has been limited focus in the literature on the expectations and skills required to succeed as a field researcher in this area. Some practical advice is available for researchers who are new to cross-cultural fieldwork (e.g. graduate students, junior faculty members) and for advisers preparing young academics for such endeavours; however, themes are often treated individually rather than as a collective whole. This paper provides suggestions for novice field researchers by drawing on the experiences of four female graduate students engaged in qualitative geographic research. It identifies some major issues that influence the feasibility and efficacy of cross-cultural fieldwork, and provides practical suggestions to help prospective researchers plan for and implement field-based research projects in these contexts.     

Cultural Tourism: Marketing Challenges and Opportunities for German Cultural Heritage

Because of the generally precarious state of public finance in Germany, at federal, state and community levels, expenditure for cultural purposes is being reduced constantly. Therefore, cultural institutions such as heritage sites are virtually compelled to find additional sources of funding to improve their financial situation and ensure their long‐term survival. One of the more suitable means of increasing the revenue situation on an ongoing basis is to improve and expand the cultural tourism offerings. Despite this significance of cultural tourism, an empirical study established that German heritage sites have by no means exploited the real potential of cultural tourism in a comprehensive manner. Thus, the objective of this paper is, on the basis of a well‐founded delineation of the concept and demand‐side situation, to demonstrate the potential success factors for developing cultural tourism and to do so from a marketing perspective.     

The Challenges and Opportunities of Foreign-born Instructors in the Classroom

Foreign-born instructors are an integral part of the US education system. While universities see them as contributing to internationalization, many students, parents and legislators are concerned about their impact on students' educational achievement. Supported by data collected from students and professors, the author identifies the main problems students experience with foreign-born instructors, as well as the main challenges foreign-born instructors face in adjusting to the US education system. Recommendations are developed aimed at improving classroom interactions between American students and foreign-born instructors and it is shown how the instructor's ‘foreignness’ can be an important teaching resource, particularly in disciplines such as geography.     

Measuring Impacts of Condition Variables in Rule‐Based Models of Space‐Time Choice Behavior: Method and Empirical Illustration

The use of rule‐based systems for modeling space‐time choice has gained increasing research interests over the last years. The potential advantage of the rule‐based approach is that it can handle interactions between a large set of predictors. Decision tree induction methods are available and have been explored for deriving rules from data. However, the complexity of the structures that are generated by such knowledge discovery methods hampers an interpretation of the rule‐set in behavioral terms with as a consequence that the models typically remain a black box. To solve this problem, this paper develops a method for measuring the size and direction of the impact of condition variables on the choice variable as predicted by the model. The paper illustrates the method based on location and transport‐mode choice models that are part of Albatross model—an activity‐based model of space‐time choice.