The Experiment in Archaeology: A Comparison of Two Case Studies

Abstract

A critical comparison is made between two recent case studies in American archaeology, The Dynamics of Stylistic Change in Arikara Ceramics by James Deetz and “Archaeology as Anthropology: A Case Study” by William A. Longacre. The notion of experiment is introduced as a standard of comparison which results in a lesson about archaeology as a science.     

Tourism and Archaeology in Brazil: Postmodern Epistemology in Two Case Studies

This article discusses the relationship between archaeology and tourism in Brazil. After providing a diachronic perspective of the interaction between both two case studies in which we have been involved are examined: the Palmares maroon (Alagoas) and the Erasmos plantation (São Paulo). They exemplify how since the end of the last dictatorial period archaeology and tourism have been increasingly concerned with the social dimensions of both disciplines.     

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.     

Paleochannel Studies in Archaeology: The Case of The Vychegda River,Northeastern European Russia

Geological and geomorphological settings are often taken into account when choosing strategy in archaeological studies. In the Vychegda River valley (Archangelsk Province, Komi Republic), at the end of the Late Pleistocene and in the Holocene, lateral channel migrations were the dominant process of riverine landscape changes and hence directly influenced human occupation of the valley. Therefore, to assess the physical settings of archaeological sites we employed paleochannel analysis, a geomorphological technique aimed at reconstructing river channel transformations in the historical and geological past. The potential application of paleochannel analysis in archaeology includes designing archaeological surveys and predicting destructive river actions at archaeological sites located in river valleys.     

Education in Maritime Archaeology: The Egyptian Case Study

The investigation of archaeological sites of maritime nature started in Egypt more than a century ago, with the discovery of the Dahshur boats (Haldane 1998) and the ancient harbour of Pharos (Jondet 1912); however, education in maritime and underwater archaeology in Egypt is still in its infancy. This paper will look at the development of maritime archaeology in Egypt as a scientific discipline and the progress achieved to date in providing Egyptian archaeologists with education and training in aspects of maritime archaeology and underwater cultural heritage.     

National History, Non-national Archaeology: The Case of Denmark

The early development of Danish archaeology (including the centuries before AD 1800) is discussed in terms of its relationship with national history, and with various ideas about regional phenomena and concepts of cultural identity. Danish archaeologists followed a dual strategy, by subscribing both to national sentiment, but also to the 'un-national' notion of close culture-historical links between regions. Confusion of text-based historical aims, and those of archaeology, caused problems. The main strengths of archaeology – its unique material perspective and concepts, historical, spatial, and contextual (including social and mental dimensions) – are stressed.     

中全新世内蒙古东南部和中南部环境考古对比研究

全新世(Holocene)是第四纪最后冰期结束至今的这一段时间,又被称为冰后期(Postglacial)。地球上不同区域的气候变化具有各自的特点,最后一次冰期不可能是统一的,国际第四纪委员会将全新世的起点确定为距今10000±300年。一般将全新世划分为早、中、晚三期,各地就自身的气候特征     

Scientific Discourse and Local Discourses: The Case of African Archaeology

To the extent that knowledge is the product of a complex construction of Nature-Culture facts more or less perpetuated, the challenge, for archaeology as science discovering and explaining the pasts for developees, is to learn how to manage: (1) its scientific “facts” more or less stabilized or hardened in function of precise, reproducible, universal “buildings of facts,” these facts being combined in networks and allied to specific societal facts, according to a dichotomy between Nature and Culture positioned as incommunicable poles of the world, and (2) traditional, ordinary, daily “facts,” local, contextual“facts” encountered during our activities, publications, lectures, and exchanges with everybody. These facts link approximately or unconsciously Nature and Culture, two poles we moderns have created and separated ontologically. How to produce a legitimate cooperation between these two conflicting discourses during the applications and the improvement of the processes which form, even in the case of archaeology, what is currently termed “development.”Pour l’archéologie en tant que science découvrant et expliquant les passés des peuples en voie de développement, le savoir étant le produit, selon les cultures, de fabrications complexes de faits de Nature-Culture plus ou moins pérennisés, le défi consiste à apprendre à gérer ensemble: (1) ses “faits” scientifiques, plus ou moins stabilisés ou durcis selon des “mises en fait” précises, répétables, universelles, ces faits étant établis en réseau et alliés à tel ou tel secteur de la société en question selon une dichotomie établissant la Nature et la Culture comme pôles incommunicants du monde; et (2) les “faits” de savoirs traditionnels, ordinaires, quotidiens, faits locaux, contextuels rencontrés durant nos activités, publications, cours et échanges avec tout le monde. Ces faits lient approximativement ou inconsciemment la Nature et la Culture, ces deux pôles que nous, modernes, avons créés et ontologiquement séparés. Comment légitimement, même en Archéologie, faire collaborer ces deux discours, en conflit lors des applications et améliorations des processus relevant de qu’on appelle couramment le Développement?     

Inter-Firm Linkages and Regional Impact of Transnational Corporations: Company Case Studies from Shanghai, China

By undertaking two company case studies in Shanghai, this article reveals that the actual regional impact of direct investment from TNCs is much greater than FDI data themselves may indicate. Such impact extends far beyond foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) as well as the invested regions. The joint venture with the local side controlled by a regional government tends to have fewer suppliers from other regions than the other with the local side owned by a state ministry. Through the extensive linkage networks with FIEs, industrial growth, technology transfer, management improvement and job creation have been indeed spread over many domestic enterprises. The government in the relevant region should employ proper measures to develop these linkages, especially in regions that have difficulties in attracting TNC investment. The two companies studied mirror the general situation in the automotive and the electronics industries, respectively. Further study on the indirect supply linkages with FIEs appears inviting.     

Archaeology, Development and Conflict: A Case Study from the African Continent

Apart from wars, other contexts of social conflict have recently become a setting in which archaeologists are faced with acute, sometimes armed, violence. On the African continent, a region often overlooked in discussions of “archaeology in conflict”, rapid economic development has led to several such scenes. The paper discusses a particularly poignant example from the Middle Nile valley in Sudan, where large dam projects have been met with various levels of opposition by affected populations. Local communities opposing the construction of further planned dams on the Nile are increasingly stressing ‘cultural survival’ and fear of ‘developmental genocide’ as two of their major motivations for fighting these projects. Assuming a close link between the developer and archaeological salvage missions, affected people have started to use the expulsion of salvage teams from their territory as a strategy of resistance—posing an ethical dilemma for the archaeologists who struggle to find a position in the increasingly violent controversies accompanying these contested development projects.     

The Archaeology of Capitalism in Iceland: The View from Vieey

This paper examines the particular nature of Icelandic capitalism as it emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Drawing on a recent project investigating the material processes surrounding the rise and fall of an early capitalist venture in the fishing industry, the role of commodities and their intersection with issues of colonialism and nationalism is explored. The study centers on a village community established in 1907 on an island in the bay of Reykjavík, which saw two periods of boom and bust in its short life before the village was abandoned in 1943.     

Towards an Inclusive Archaeology in Jerusalem: The Case of Silwan/The City of David

Abstract

The village of Silwan, in East Jerusalem, contains the remains of most ancient Jerusalem, often termed “The City of David”. In recent years the excavation and presentation of the archaeology of Silwan has been placed in the hands of a Jewish settler non-governmental organization. Their incorporation of this site into the Jewish-Israeli narrative is multifaceted — mixing religious nationalism with theme-park tourism. As a result, conflict with local Palestinians occurs at the very basic level of existence, where the past is used to disenfranchise and displace people in the present. The volatile mix of history, religion and politics in the City of David/Silwan threatens any future reconciliation in Jerusalem, which must be based on the empowerment of local people and the adoption of a proactive inclusive archaeological stance in which the many voices of the past are heard.     

本土史学与中国话语:《清代山东经营地主的社会性质》的对外流播及其影响

在马克思主义唯物史观指导之下,1959年山东大学青年教师景甦和罗仑出版《清代山东经营地主的社会性质》一书,探讨了中国农业资本主义萌芽问题。该书从生产关系的研究角度,着眼山东乡村并专注农民阶级,从内部提炼区域社会发展的历史方向,彰显了近代中国区域发展的差异性以及乡村历史的独特性,在利用本土史学资源的基础上形成了具有中国特色的学术话语。该书还借用田野调查扩充史料来源,重视计量分析在史学上的运用,朴素地显示出史学与社会科学相结合的跨学科研究趋向。该书外译英文后,为西方学者推重,并对后者产生涵容互摄的学术影响。该书所体现出的立足本土史学并形成中国学术话语的治学风格,在中外学术交流频仍的当今富有借鉴意义。     

木炭在考古学研究中的应用

利用考古发掘出土的木炭可以重建考古遗址周围的环境,重建植物群,探索遗址的居民与自然界植被的关系,寻找有关古人类的信息。该对木炭在考古学研究中的可行性、必要性及取样与鉴定方法进行了简要的概括,并以研究实例进一步说明木炭的鉴定过程,对拓宽我国科技考古研究方法有一定的意义。     

The Archaeology of Resilience: A Case Study from Peel Town,Western Australia, 1829–30

International Journal of Historical Archaeology - This paper describes the archaeology of one family’s tolerance to the stressors associated with the settlement of a new place. Artifacts...     

1949年以后台湾地区考古学的发展历程——以台湾大学《考古人类学刊》为视角

台湾大学《考古人类学刊》是我国台湾地区刊登考古学文章最为集中的期刊,通过对其1953-2006年发表的学术论文和作者的统计分析,可以审视自创刊以来台湾考古学的发展及其成就.该刊刊载论文以民族学、考古学和人类学三大学科为支柱,其中民族学类论文为最大宗,考古学类次之,人类学文章紧随其后.台湾考古经历了三个阶段:20世纪50年代对日据时期日本学者工作的梳理和总结,再到60年代以中原(殷商)考古为主导,逐步过渡到70年代以后台湾地区考古的本土化和重新定位.