Subsistence and symbol: the interpretation of bird remains in archaeology

This issue of the journal is devoted to papers on the role of birds in archaeology. Most of the contributions are based on papers given at the second meeting of the Bird Working Group of the International Council for Archaezoology (ICAZ) held at the University of Southampton (UK) in September 1995. The meeting brought together archaeologists, zoologists and ornithologists, and the subjects discussed cover most of the relationships between humans and birds that can be established form the study of birds from archaeological sites.     

Administration of parks with rack art: A symposium and workshop in Jujuy Argentina,December 2003

Abstract

Visits to archaeological sites, within school, a history or archaeology club, or a family group, are the main means for young people to engage with the archaeological historic environment. The majority of archaeological sites easily accessible for such groups are those that have been 'sanitized' for public consumption. These are often devoid of explanation of the archaeological process which made them accessible. This paper looks at the contribution that working archaeological sites can make to young people's understanding of archaeology, with particular reference to visits made by branches of the Young Archaeologists' Club, based in the UK.     

Evaluating Community Archaeology in the UK

Abstract

Does community archaeology work? In the UK over the last decade, there has been a boom in projects utilising the popular phrase 'community archaeology'. These projects can take many different forms and have ranged from the public face of research and developer-funded programmes to projects run by museums, archaeological units, universities, and archaeological societies. Community archaeology also encapsulates those projects run by communities themselves or in dialogue between 'professional' and 'amateur' groups and individuals. Many of these projects are driven by a desire for archaeology to meet a range of perceived educational and social values in bringing about knowledge and awareness of the past in the present. These are often claimed as successful outputs of community projects. This paper argues that appropriate criteria and methodologies for evaluating the efficacy of these projects have yet to be designed. What is community archaeology for? Who is it for? And is it effectively meeting its targets? Focusing on the authors' experiences of directing community archaeology projects, together with the ongoing research assessing the efficacy of community archaeology projects in the UK, this paper aims to set out two possible methodologies: one of self-reflexivity, and one of ethnoarchaeological analysis for evaluating what community archaeology actually does for communities themselves.     

Thoughts on new approaches to combining the archaeological and historical records

For decades, archaeologists have looked for an appropriate means to integrate archaeological findings with the textual record. Often, in the past, the written word has been privileged over material remains. In this summary, which draws in part from the individual papers in this special issue, a new, more balanced approach that gives increased weight and greater independence to archaeological data is proposed. A series of implications and suggestions for current theoretical development in archaeology are advanced.     

古代陶器的研究视野——有关中国考古学方法的几点思考

本文以史前陶器为例,拓展了陶器研究中的新视野：指出陶器并非只是生活用品或文化序列的标志物,它与自然环境、经济方式、社会组织、意识形态等方面均有着密切的关系。而要真正全面了解陶器所潜藏的各种古代文化信息,就必须首先寻找获取信息的新途径。就史前陶器而言,传统的地层学、类型学方法已不能满足考古学发展的新要求,而自然科学技术、考古统计学、民族考古学、实验考古学则是有效地获得材料的主要途径。从某种意义上说,考古方法体系的陈旧比考古理论的滞后更加不利于中国考古学的健康发展。     

Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1982

ARCHAEOLOGY and art history are closely allied disciplines, particularly for the study of the medieval period. This paper seeks to compare and contrast archaeological with art historical approaches to medieval material culture in terms appropriate to an archaeological audience, much as Stanis?aw Tabaczyński examined the relationships between archaeology and history in the pages of this journal only a few years ago.¹ Rather than emphasize the distinctions between archaeology and art history, an attempt is made to focus on where these two disciplines intersect and how art history at the cusp of the new millennium differs from what archaeologists on both sides of the Atlantic often assume. This seeks to bring recent changes in art historical methods and theory to the attention of medieval archaeologists, suggesting that interdisciplinary cooperation between archaeology and the humanistic disciplines, including art history, should be strengthened.     

Writing the History of Archaeology in the Pacific: Voices and Perspectives

ABSTRACT

In histories of world archaeology to date the Pacific is all but missing. There has been some investigation into the history of archaeology in Australia and New Zealand, and other piecemeal work focusing on single countries or biographies of individuals, but much remains to be done. We offer a critical overview of general literature on the history of archaeology in the Pacific and stress the potential for a deeper knowledge of archaeology's histories in the region to transform current archaeological theory and practice. We then suggest important avenues for further investigation, including the historiography of Pacific archaeology, diverse national and linguistic traditions, international linkages between scholars and practitioners, pre-World War II excavations, theories about trans-Pacific contacts, and the often-hidden importance of women and Indigenous scholars and interlocutors in the field. Each of these themes is addressed by one or more of the papers in this special issue.     

从九种核心期刊的文献计量分析看中国科技考古的发展

用科技献计量学的方法,对九种核心期刊,其中八种为考古类核心期刊,一种为物理类(原子能科学技术类)核心期刊所刊登的科技考古论进行献计量统计。每种期刊均从创刊号起统计到2002年底止,共计976篇论。从逐年论数统计中发现,我国科技考古论统计曲线呈现三个平台,它印证了我国科技考古的三个历史发展阶段：即倡导期(1950-1977),初步发展期(1978-1989),快速发展期(1990-2002)。这三个发展阶段与我国经济、科技发展期所对应。从按五大类科技方法统计发现,核技术方法共360篇,占总数36.8％;生物方法130篇,占总数13．3％;物理和化学方法427篇,占总数的43．7％;地球物理方法41篇,占总数的4．2％;计算机及其应用18篇,占总数的1.8％。统计表明,不少高新技术已在考古事业中得到应用,核技术方法及物理和化学方法占据了重要的位置。为了更完善地反映我国科技考古的全貌,需扩大统计调查期刊的数量。     

Imperial Intersections: Archaeologists, War and Violence—Comments

This is a commentary on a series of papers presented in the Imperial Intersections: archaeologists, war and violence session at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The session addressed issues surrounding archaeology, war and violence and the ethical responsibilities of archaeological practitioners. The papers in this volume have created more questions than answers, but as with all ethical scenarios, I was inspired to think and to examine critically aspects of archaeology that may have eluded past contemplation. In attempting to find commonalities and themes in the submissions I realized that almost every paper is concerned with the production of knowledge—how much access should there be; who should have access to knowledge; how should knowledge be disseminated; and when and if the knowledge should be reproduced. The central debate of “in whose best interest is this knowledge produced” is also explored in this review?     

Towards a Transpacific Archaeology of the Modern World

The historical archaeology of overseas Chinese communities is a rapidly growing subfield. Although historical archaeology is not widely practiced in China, there are well-developed interdiscipinary research centers that investigate the history and culture of migrants’ qiaoxiang (hometown) societies. Scholars in American Studies programs throughout Asia are also bringing new perspectives to the study of Chinese migration past and present. By collaborating with these scholars, archaeologists on the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project are developing new chronological, geographic, spatial, and material frameworks for the interpretation of overseas Chinese archaeological sites and landscapes.     

Post-medieval archaeology in Portugal

Abstract

Portuguese post-medieval archaeology corresponds to the period between the early 16th century and the late 18th century, identified in the archaeological record through several distinct artefact categories, of which ceramics are the most abundant. New products such as thin-walled moulded coarsewares and faience are found together with imports from different European countries, China and other Eastern lands. Although sites and finds are mentioned in Portuguese archaeological and art-historical literature from the late 19th century, it only became a scientific discipline in the 1980s. This paper aims to provide a general view of investigations in post-medieval archaeology for more than a century, focusing on contexts and finds, but also looking towards the discipline’s future.     

Reflections on Collaborative Archaeology and Large-Scale Online Research Infrastructures

ABSTRACT

The Archaeology Data Service (ADS) is an archive working at a national level in the UK, ensuring that archaeologists have access to high quality and dependable digital resources, including openly licensed legacy data for reuse. The ADS acts as a metadata aggregator for archaeological data held by larger heritage agencies and smaller regional organizations and participates in international aggregation infrastructure projects such as ARIADNE, which allows users to access archaeological resources held in many countries from a single interface. Large-scale infrastructures can facilitate the building of long-term, complex relationships and active collaborations, not just technical solutions. This paper reflects on the roles of stewardship and equity within ARIADNE and the ADS, two large-scale online research infrastructures, and how these types of infrastructures may help to create a more collaborative archaeology, including lessons learned, challenges and opportunities, and thoughts for the future.     

How Much Do We Actually Know? A Comparison of the Organization of Preventive Archaeology in Romania and in Europe, 2000–15

This study focuses on the organization of preventive archaeology in Romania and several other European countries over the last fifteen years. It provides data comparing the number and density of archaeological sites in Romania identified as a result of large-scale investment projects. It also discusses some important aspects regarding the financial and human resources involved in preventive archaeological excavations in Romania and other European countries. The paper attempts to outline the steps that need to be taken in Romania to ensure the continuing preservation of archaeology. These are: 1. A proper understanding of the importance of certain sites in comparison to others; 2. An accurate understanding of the importance of Article 9 of the Valletta Convention, which focuses on the concept of ‘public awareness’; 3. Prioritizing archaeological projects with useful results; 4. The creation of accurate digital databases, using GIS platforms. Ultimately, it is argued that we need to excavate, but we need even more to preserve, capitalize, and promote the archaeological patrimony, to facilitate the access of the public to archaeological sites, and to make people understand why it is crucial to protect our monuments.     

The technological versus methodological revolution of portable XRF in archaeology

Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) instruments have gained considerable attention within the archaeological community. Few other recent instrumental developments have generated such debate. Much of this debate, which is dominated by scepticism over analytical performance, has occurred in informal settings. Rather than judge the use of pXRF based on unpublished work and conference banter, we conducted an extensive literature review of peer-reviewed research that used this technology. Our focus is developing an understanding of how, where, and why pXRF is being used in archaeology. What interests us most are research designs into which only pXRF could be integrated and the new research approaches these instruments may facilitate. Trends that emerged from the literature are surprising. For example, only 43% of the archaeological “pXRF” papers actually involve handheld instruments. In addition, more than four-fifths of handheld pXRF in archaeology is apparently conducted in laboratory contexts. Only 3% has been conducted in a fieldhouse or on-site laboratory, and 15% at an excavation, on a survey, or inside a historic structure. Here we argue that, while the technical capability to analyse archaeological materials using portable instruments may exist, it is not necessarily true the methodological and theoretical frameworks are in place to allow such activities to be archaeologically successful and significant. Because handheld pXRF is uniquely suited to in situ analysis, we expect the first changes in methodological and theoretical approaches will involve space, context, and related frameworks.     

Sites,sacredness, and stories: Interactions of archaeology and contemporary paganism

Folklore has, until very recently, been at the fringes of archaeological research. Post-processual archaeology has promoted plurality in interpretation, however, and archaeology more widely is required to make itself relevant to contemporary society; so, contemporary folkloric practices vis-a`-vis archaeological remains are once again receiving attention. In this paper we examine contemporary Pagan understandings of and engagements with “sacred sites” in England. Specifically, we explore how Pagan meanings are inscribed and constituted, how they draw on “traditional” understandings of sites and landscapes, and instances in which they challenge or reify the “preservation ethic” of heritage management. From active interactions with sites, such as votive offerings and instances of fire and graffiti damage, to unconventional (contrasted with academic) interpretations of sites involving wights and spirit beings, Neolithic shamans, or goddesses, there are diverse areas of contest. We argue archaeology must not reject Pagan and other folklores as “fringe,” but, in an era of community archaeology, transparency and collaboration, respond to them, preferably dialogically.     

Just Methodology? A Review of Archaeology’s Debts to Michael Schiffer

Michael Schiffer’s Behavioral Archaeology is one of several moves in mid- to late twentieth century archaeology toward actualistically based, detailed materials analysis with the aim of developing uniformitarian principles to apply to archaeological cases. Substantial parallels exists between Schiffer’s agenda and its products and those of at least some zooarchaeologists and taphonomists, including use of chaîne opératoire or behavioral chain approaches and experimentation, as well as other materials analysis agendas. Differences as well as similarities are explored, as are continued impediments to development of archaeology as a systematic science.     

?Theorising a Realm of Practice?: introducing archaeological heritage management as a research field

The paper introduces the field of archaeological heritage management, and the four papers on this subject here presented. Comparisons are made with Cultural Resource Management, Cultural Heritage Management and Archaeological Heritage Management. The research discussed here examines the management of archaeology in practical situations, including those involving indigeneity, to develop a body of theory that will help to illuminate such practice in terms of our own contemporary culture.     

考古学研究方法散论--评塔尔格伦的《史前考古学方法》

从上个世纪30年代起,欧美不断有考古学家著文对长期停留于文化史研究的考古学及其类型方法提出强烈的批评,塔尔格伦教授的<史前考古学方法>就是其中较具代表性的一篇.我国的考古类型学也经历了类似的发展历程.虽然已有不少学者对类型方法进行过探讨,但其中仍存在一些不足之处分型分式的标准不严、实践滞后于理论和研究方法过于单一等.我们应该建立一个客观的研究方法和理论体系以促进中国考古学的进一步发展.