Cultural Transmission Theory and the Archaeological Record: Providing Context to Understanding Variation and Temporal Changes in Material Culture

Cultural transmission (CT) is implicit in many explanations of culture change. Formal CT models were defined by anthropologists 30 years ago and have been a subject of active research in the social sciences in the ensuing years. Although increasing in popularity in recent years, CT has not seen extensive use in archaeological research, despite the quantitative rigor of many CT models and the ability to create testable hypotheses. Part of the reason for the slow adoption, we argue, has been the continuing focus on change in central tendency and mode in archaeology, instead of change in dispersion or variance. Yet archaeological research provides an excellent data source for exploring processes of CT. We review CT research in the anthropological sciences and outline the benefits and drawbacks of this theoretical framework for the study of material culture. We argue that CT can shed much light on our understandings of why material technology changes over time, including explanations of differential rates of change among different technologies. We further argue that transmission processes are greatly affected by the content, context, and mode of transmission and fundamentally structure variation in material culture. Including ideas from CT can provide greater context for explaining and understanding changes in the variation of artifacts over time. Finally, we outline what we feel should be the goals of CT research in archaeology in the coming years.     

Integrating Archaeological Theory and Predictive Modeling: a Live Report from the Scene

Archaeological predictive modeling has been used successfully for over 20 years as a decision-making tool in cultural resources management. Its appreciation in academic circles however has been mixed because of its perceived theoretical poverty. In this paper, we discuss the issue of integrating current archaeological theoretical approaches and predictive modeling. We suggest a methodology for doing so based on cognitive archaeology, middle range theory, and paleoeconomic modeling. We also discuss the problems associated with testing predictive models.     

A Bayesian Approach to Ageing Perinatal Skeletal Material from Archaeological Sites: Implications for the Evidence for Infanticide in Roman-Britain

The skeletal remains of substantial numbers of perinatal human infants have been excavated from within a variety of archaeological contexts dating to the Romano-British period. It has been argued that the distribution of ages at death of these infants, which appears to exhibit a pronounced neonatal peak, provides evidence for infanticide. This study re-evaluates the osteological evidence for infanticide in Roman Britain by first identifying biases in traditional techniques for estimating the age of perinatal skeletons and then using a Bayesian procedure to reassess the ages at deaths of almost 400 infants from a number of Roman sites throughout England. We conclude that the apparent peak in neonatal mortality shown by earlier investigations is an artefact of regression-based age estimation. The distribution of ages at death in Romano-British infants is similar to a natural mortality profile.     

Occipitalization of the Atlas in Archaeological Material from the 16th–19th Century

During the anthropological analysis of skeletal material dated in the 16th–19th century from St Katarina monastery in Split, a female skull with occipitalization of atlas has been found. Anterior part of atlas and foramen magnum were fused, with numerous perforations on auricular surface of atlas. As the age at death was estimated at more than 70 years, it is most likely that this woman had progressive course of illness. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strontium Isotopes from the Earth to the Archaeological Skeleton: A Review

Strontium isotope analysis of archaeological skeletons has provided useful and exciting results in archaeology in the last 20 years, particularly by characterizing past human migration and mobility. This review covers the biogeochemical background, including the origin of strontium isotope compositions in rocks, weathering and hydrologic cycles that transport strontium, and biopurification of strontium from to soils, to plants, to animals and finally into the human skeleton, which is subject to diagenesis after burial. Spatial heterogeneity and mixing relations must often be accounted for, rather than simply ``matching' a measured strontium isotope value to a presumed single-valued geologic source. The successes, limitations and future potential of the strontium isotope technique are illustrated through case studies from geochemistry, biogeochemistry, ecology and archaeology.

从考古资料看仰韶文化的社会组织及社会发展阶段

仰韶文化早期,社会组织是以氏族制为基础的,属于母系氏族公社的高级阶段;到了中期,家族公社较前发展,社会性质应是父系氏族社会,父系制在多数地区已经形成;在晚期,家族公社所有制已经发展起来,父权制在各地区均已确立,并在大部分地区已开始达到酋邦(或古国)时期,文明基因已经孕育.     

Status and Role of Formation Theory in Contemporary Archaeological Practice

Since Binford appropriated the term “middle-range theory,” it has signified the process of reasoning from the extant material record to the cultural past. Merton's sociological concept of middle-range theory is relevant to archaeology, but does not mean what Binford denoted by it. More accurately, Binford's domain should be called “formation theory.” By whatever name used, archaeologists differ greatly in our views of its role and status. Somehow, formation theory has come to be viewed as method but not theory, and as intrinsic to materialism, but irrelevant if not antithetical to other ontologies. Yet it is as critical to the contextual understanding of the past sought by many archaeologists today—a role that, among others, belies formation theory's marginal status in academic practice.     

A Framework for Assessing the Vulnerability of Archaeological Sites to Climate Change: Theory,Development, and Application

Abstract

The predicted impacts of climate change on cultural heritage are likely to be dynamic and complex. Understanding the potential risks at site level is vital to ensure that appropriate adaptation and mitigation measures are put in place. There is, however, a dearth of tools and methodologies suitable for use by heritage managers. In this paper the potential of vulnerability analysis for site-based assessment is explored. A six-step vulnerability framework, adapted for cultural heritage, is illustrated utilizing material from two case-study sites (Brú na Bóinne and Skellig Michael). The implementation of each step in the proposed framework is demonstrated to aid those wishing to apply the method in practice. The ‘values based’ approach taken is suitable for a wide range of cultural heritage including landscapes, monuments, and buried archaeology. The six-step framework and the utilization of indicators provide a method that allows comparison between sites and yet is sufficiently flexible to account for localized concerns. The framework will aid decision makers with planning and prioritization.     

The Nomad as State Builder: Historical Theory and Material Evidence from Mongolia

Theory on nomadic political complexity has largely been based on twentieth century ethnography and numerous historical accounts of the military confederations of pastoral nomads. Over the past two decades, archaeologists have increasingly used material evidence to evaluate ideas about nomadic polities and have added indigenous and local-scale perspectives to an understanding of nomadic political process in many regions across the Old World. One of these is Mongolia, a major center of nomadic state and empire formation, where archaeologists have recently focused attention on an early regional polity that arose at the end of the first millennium BC and is known as the Xiongnu (also Hsiung-nu) state. This paper synthesizes the latest archaeological research on the Xiongnu state in order to evaluate historical models that explain state emergence among nomads on the far eastern steppe. The material record from Mongolia adds the detail and resolution needed to refine existing explanations for Xiongnu state emergence.      

Vagueness and Archaeological Interpretation: A Sensuous Approach to Archaeological Knowledge Formation through Finds Analysis

The rapid development of natural scientific methods coupled with the recent popularity of new materialist philosophies in archaeological theory has raised discussion about the possibility of a return to empiricism in archaeology. While empiricism as a pragmatic philosophy is in line with archaeology’s hands-on character, the recent development has left some concerned about the vanishing role of vagueness and ambiguity in archaeological interpretation. In this setting, the exactitude of natural scientific methods is seen as a process of simplification that compromises the tacit dimensions of archaeological knowledge. This article discusses vagueness as an elementary part of all archaeological knowledge formation, with a particular emphasis on the role of perception and senses in finds analysis. Archaeological finds analysis is explored as an example of epistemologically vague and creative hypothesis formation.     

长江三峡地区远古人类埋葬习俗（墓葬）资料的考古发现与研究

本文根据考古发掘公布的数百座新石器时代墓葬资料,对长江三峡地区距今约6000年至4000年之间的远古人类埋葬习俗作了系统研究,反映了当时人类社会历史发展中的各个方面。     

Notes from Mount Desert Island: Interviewing Maine Fishermen to Find Archaeological Sites

In an attempt to discover submerged archaeological sites, the author interviewed commercial fishermen, divers, and others with intimate knowledge of the Maine coast between Stonington and Prospect Harbor. Investigators compiled information from several small maritime communities, focusing on the portions of their populations in contact with the sea. A wealth of data regarding the location of infrastructure, wrecks, and inundated prehistoric sites was gathered between 2006 and 2011. Patterns emerge when the findings are compared to the historical record, to commercial fishing zones, or to known archaeological sites. The results of the survey will be discussed, as well as the efficacy of the project, and the sometimes surprising relationship between the data and the physical and cultural landscapes of the area.