Finding the message in intricacy: The association of lithics and fauna on Lower Paleolithic Multiple Carcass Sites

This paper examines alternative models for the interpretation of Lower Paleolithic Multiple Carcass Sites based on analysis of the site of Holon, Israel. The nature of the lithic and faunal assemblages found at Holon are most consistent with a palimpsest site that represents repeated occupations of a marsh edge location by both hominids and carnivores, the remains of which have been moderated by natural agencies. It is argued that ambush hunting by hominids was likely to have been one of the activities involved in the accumulation of lithic and faunal remains on the site. A comparison of the lithic assemblage found at Holon with the lithic assemblages from Lower Paleolithic Single Carcass Sites suggest differences between the activities that took place on these sites and the type of activities that took place at Holon.     

黄山园内旅游解说类型与有效性分析

为了调查黄山园内旅游解说系统的类型与有效性现状,笔者以随机抽样的方式对300名黄山的游客进行了问卷调查.通过对调查数据分析与处理,本文从人员解说、解说牌示、游客中心、可携式出版物和综合解说技术5个方面对黄山园内旅游解说的有效性作出评价,认为黄山园内解说在以上几个方面还存在许多不足.建议通过加强受众分析和资源分析,采用多种解说技术来提高黄山园内解说质量.     

Social Spaces of Daily Life: A Reflexive Approach to the Analysis of Chemical Residues by Multivariate Spatial Analysis

Studying human activities requires an examination of the inherent epistemological problems in building arguments about the past based on chemical residues and modern observations. A reflexive approach to the analysis of chemical residues at the San Lucas archaeological site, a Classic Hohokam settlement located in Marana, Arizona, represents a unique opportunity to evaluate current techniques and paradigms for the interpretation of daily life activities. By incorporating an innovative program rooted in satellite remote sensing image analysis and spatial statistics, including new techniques, such as bulk density, loss on ignition, electrical conductivity, and salinity, results suggest that soil chemical analysis will benefit more from learning about structure and agency than from one single activity.     

The Interview Hurdle to Postgraduate Studies and the Job Market

Abstract

This paper explores the educational value of a rural trail—a field visit on foot—using as an example a trail in a small area of countryside near Lancaster in northern England. This trail provides those teaching rural geography in higher education with a means of developing their students’ skills of informed observation and interpretation of field evidence based on study and discussion on‐site. A trail can enhance the appreciation and teaching of conceptual matters such as cultural approaches to rural geography. It also encourages the integration of diverse theoretical approaches to rural studies (based on culture, planning and management) and the simultaneous consideration by students of both local (often personal) details and national (or even global) pressures for change. The paper concludes that the rural trail has considerable pedagogical and academic merit for rural geographers.     

Interpreting the Syria vote: parliament and British foreign policy

This article presents three distinct interpretations of how parliamentary war powers affect British foreign policy more generally, based on a detailed analysis of the debate preceding the vote in parliament in August 2013 on whether Britain should intervene in the Syrian civil war. The first interpretation treats parliament as a site for domestic role contestation. From this perspective, parliamentary war powers matter because they raise the significance of MPs' doubts about Britain's proper global ‘role’. The second interpretation treats parliament as a forum for policy debate. There is nothing new about MPs discussing international initiatives. But now they do more than debate, they decide, at least where military action is involved. From this perspective, parliamentary war powers matter because they make British foreign policy more cautious and less consistent, even if they also make it more transparent and (potentially) more democratic in turn. The final interpretation treats parliament as an arena for political competition. From this perspective, parliamentary involvement exposes major foreign policy decisions to the vagaries of partisan politicking, a potent development in an era of weak or coalition governments, and a recipe for unpredictability. Together these developments made parliament's war powers highly significant, not just where military action is concerned, but for British foreign policy overall.     

Late Holocene Fauna from Kuidas Spring in Namibia

We present the results of faunal analyses from the recently excavated site of Kuidas Spring in north-western Namibia. The site includes rock shelters, stone circles and stone cairns. Stone circles, which were built during the last 1500 years, are widely distributed over much of Namibia and parts of the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. Current interpretations suggest that after the introduction of livestock 2300 years ago, hunter-gatherers who became herders built stone circle settlements. However, our results based on the faunal remains indicate that Kuidas Spring was exploited as a hunting resource, and whether or not herders with (or without their) livestock occupied or visited the site remains unconfirmed. We also found that gemsbok made use of stone circles at Kuidas Spring when these features were not inhabited and show how such activity might impact the interpretation of archaeological material.     

Placing the Pillar of Eliseg: Movement,Visibility and Memory in the Early Medieval Landscape

THE LANDSCAPE CONTEXT of the early 9th-century monument known as the Pillar of Eliseg is interrogated here for the first time with GIS-based analysis and innovative spatial methodologies. Our interpretation aims to move beyond regarding the Pillar as a prominent example of early medieval monument reuse and a probable early medieval assembly site. We argue that the location and topographical context of the cross and mound facilitated the monument’s significance as an early medieval locus of power, faith and commemoration in a contested frontier zone. The specific choice of location is shown to relate to patterns of movement and visibility that may have facilitated and enhanced the ceremonial and commemorative roles of the monument. By shedding new light on the interpretation of the Pillar of Eliseg as a node of social and religious aggregation and ideological power, our study has theoretical and methodological implications for studying the landscape contexts of early medieval stone monuments.     

Assessment of Visitor Management at the Archaeological Site of Umm Qais: Condition and Problems

Abstract

Umm Qais is one of the most significant archaeological tourist attractions in Jordan besides Petra and Jerash. It is also popular with locals due to its rich diversity of natural history features and landscapes. However, there has been no detailed study of approaches to visitor management at the site. This paper investigates the visitor management pressures on the site of Umm Qais, seeking to develop an understanding of the approaches that direct the process of visitor management in an archaeological site. The specific objective of this study is to identify and analyse the current visitor management measures and tools at the site. It explores issues of hard and soft visitor management through monitoring, visitor guidance, and interpretation. The study has been conducted as a qualitative case study, and its results are based on direct personal observation and discussions with the personnel that have been conducted on-site by the Jordanian authors.

Despite the visitor management applied approaches, results reveal important and continuing challenges for Umm Qais due to limited visitor monitoring, weak information, and poor restriction measures. Based on the findings of the study, some recommendations are made in order to permit the local heritage managers to develop the site and its visitor management appropriately. This is an essential process in aiding this potential World Heritage Site to update approaches and adapt to the changing circumstances related to the visitor needs for the site. This will contribute to heritage and tourism literature and practice by enhancing the knowledge of visitor management at a national level.     

Integrating LiDAR data and conventional mapping of the Fort Center site in south-central Florida: A comparative approach

Abstract

Publicly available LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data provide a potential windfall for archaeologists, permitting the creation of detailed topographic site maps with little more than an internet-connected computer and appropriate software. The quality of these LiDAR data for site mapping is variable, however, and may need to be supplemented with data obtained from conventional mapping techniques. We share insights from recent mapping of the Fort Center site (8GL13) in southern Florida. Specifically, we suggest a method—based on trial and error—for integrating LiDAR and total station survey data. We compare the results of our work with previous efforts at mapping the site based solely on conventional archaeological survey methods, as well as with results based on LiDAR data alone. We conclude that our combination of LiDAR data, corrected by conventional survey data, produces the most accurate map.     

Palynological interpretation of the Early Neolithic coastal open-air site at Sa Punta (central-western Sardinia,Italy)

The major goal of the present study has been to assess the ecological context of the Early Neolithic settlement under excavation in the coastal site of Sa Punta-Marceddì (Terralba, Sardinia, Italy) where a trench of Neolithic age has been brought to light. Based on the origins of the site's organic fossiliferous content, the purpose of this work is to achieve an understanding of: 1) the reasons why this location was chosen by EN man and 2) its functions. This research has enabled us to suggest a human paleoecological scenario over the course of the last three centuries of the 6th millennium BC in the inland area of the Oristano Gulf. On the basis of pollen spectra and the phytolith morphologies recognised, it is suggested that herbaceous vegetation covered the alluvial plain. Arable agriculture does not seem to have been practiced on the site, but the record of coprophilous fungi and endoparasites, along with clues that there were burning practices, suggest livestock farming activity. To date, a univocal interpretation of the function of this trench is still lacking. However, it is the oldest and the only evidence in Sardinia of a remarkable transformation of an open-air space due to settlement.     

Temporal nature and recycling of Upper Paleolithic artifacts: the burned tools from the Molí del Salt site (Vimbodí i Poblet,northeastern Spain)

Recent research in Paleolithic archeology has stressed the importance of temporal issues in assemblage interpretation. Archeological assemblages are temporal constructs, formed by the addition of an unknown number of depositional events. This temporal dimension is also evident at the artifactual level, since single artifacts may undergo different events of modification and/or uses over time. The recycling of previously discarded blanks for tool production is one of the best examples of the temporal nature of artifacts. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the importance of recycling in a Late Upper Paleolithic site, examining a type of artifact – burned tools – that has up to now been little used to approach this issue. Our results suggest that recycling was probably a significant component of Upper Paleolithic provisioning behavior, with important implications in site formation processes and the typological variability of assemblages. The expedient or curated character of recycling is also discussed.     

A sequence of inland desert settlement in the Oman peninsula: 2008–2009 excavations at Saruq al‐Hadid,Dubai, UAE

The 2008–2009 excavations conducted by the Dubai Desert Survey at Saruq al‐Hadid, Dubai, have transformed our interpretation of the site from an Iron Age bronze production centre to a site with multiple occupations over the course of more than three millennia; they underline the importance of this site for understanding land use and settlement patterns in the deserts of the Oman peninsula. Saruq al‐Hadid probably began as an oasis site where nomadic pastoralists during the Umm an‐Nar and Wadi Suq periods camped and took advantage of a relatively well‐watered landscape. In contrast, Iron Age remains at the site do not bear any definite signs of settlement per se; instead, the material culture suggests that Saruq al‐Hadid may have been one of several sites in south‐east Arabia that were dedicated to a snake cult. The site is capped by waste from an intensive metalworking operation that appears to have taken place during the later first millennium BC. Iron age and later remains from the site tie Saruq al‐Hadid to a regional network of settlement and trade centres and suggest that, like the mountain piedmont and coasts, the sandy desert expanses of the Oman peninsula held economic and ritual importance in the overall landscape.     

Directional layouts in central lowland Maya settlement

This paper suggests the existence of non-random, directional patterns in the location of housemounds across the Late Classic Maya settlement landscape at Baking Pot, Belize, and then explores the wider implications of this patterning in the central Maya lowlands. It introduces an anisotropic method – based on nearest neighbour bearings and successive grid offsets – in order to explore possible rectilinear organisation in settlement layouts despite the presence of uneven and irregular patterns of archaeological dating and recovery. The results suggest a grid-like distribution of houseplots and, by implication, also a set of routes running throughout the housemound landscape and local Maya neighbourhoods during the site's Late and Terminal Classic history. Furthermore, different possible alignments in different parts of the site are tentatively regarded as an indication of shifting orientations to localised grids, following the shift in alignment of monumental architecture, as the settlement landscape expanded over time. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings with respect to the broader interpretation of Maya settlement patterns.     

“Anthropogenic” Pollen Assemblages from a Bronze Age Cemetery at Linga Fiold,West Mainland,Orkney

Pollen analyses from a variety of contexts in a Bronze Age cemetery are used to reconstruct aspects of activity around the site during mound construction and use. Various tests are used to assess the reliability of the pollen assemblages recovered, and error analysis used to determine whether perceived differences between contexts are significant and therefore able to support an archaeological interpretation. The data suggest that the mounds were constructed on pasture land, that pyre fuel was predominantly turf, from both heathland and grassland sources, and that polleniferous material including sources ofPlantago lanceolata and cereal pollen were deposited on some cist floors before they were filled.     

Native grasslands and the stabilization of earthwork archaeological sites on the middle Missouri River,North Dakota

Abstract

Site condition and management practices at six Missouri River archaeological sites are reviewed and the condition of the sites compared between observations in 1993 and 1998. Earthwork sites in a cover of prairie or pasture grasses that have been mown for interpretation purposes have become more infested with ground squirrels. Tall prairie or shrubland obscures site features but these animals are less numerous on sites with such cover. One mown site in an urban area had no ground squirrels, suggesting that the animals had been removed by local urban dwellers or their cats and had no chance to re-invade. The long-term stability of archaeological sites can best be achieved by allowing native prairie grasses to grow tall, leaving only small samples of the site area open, or by control of ground squirrel numbers.     

GIS,Archaeological Survey,and Landscape Archaeology on the Island of Kythera,Greece

Abstract

GIS and quantitative analysis are used to explore a series of simple but important issues in GIS-led survey. we draw on information collected during intensive archaeological field survey of the island of Kythera, Greece, and consider four questions: the relationship between terracing and enclosed field systems; the effect of vegetation on archaeological recovery; site definition and characterization in multi-period and artifact-rich landscapes; and site location modelling that considers some of the decisions behind the placing of particular Bronze Age settlements. we have chosen GIS and quantitative methods to extract patterns and structure in our multi-scalar dataset, demonstrating the value of GIS in helping to understand the archaeological record and past settlement dynamics. The case studies can be viewed as examples of how GIS may contribute to four stages in any empirically based landscape project insofar as they move from the spatial structure of the modern landscape, to the visibility and patterning of archaeological data, to the interpretation of settlement patterns.     

Multi-element soil prospection aiding geophysical and archaeological survey on an archaeological site in suburban Sagalassos (SW-Turkey)

In order to take full advantage of the archaeological information contained within buried archaeological sites, it is important to apply an integrative approach combining complementary prospection methods. In this study, geochemical prospection data are combined with archaeological and geophysical survey results on an unexcavated site in suburban Sagalassos (SW-Turkey), with the aim of obtaining better insights into the structural shapes and past functionalities of the area. Spatial and multivariate statistical analyses of the chemical data reveal anomalies of K, P and Zn on a location where archaeological and geophysical results suggest the presence of ceramic producing kilns. These elemental enrichments are thought to result from burning wood or dung as fuel for the detected kilns. In addition, local anomalies of Co, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn and Ni were found to reflect the working and storage of ophiolitic clays, employed as a raw material for ceramic production. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal in a 2.5 m deep drill core in this zone provides ages between AD 120 and 350 at depths of 50 and 60 cm. Al, As, Ba, Ca, Na, Sr, Ti and Pb are considered geogenic elements in this study. The present study supports the theory that geochemical prospection holds potential as a surveying technique, as it was found that chemical data facilitate the interpretation of structures detected by geophysical and archaeological methods, thereby creating an extra dimension to the interpretation of survey data. The results further argue in favour of using strong-acid extractions and the consideration of a large suite of elements when applying chemical soil survey as an archaeological prospection technique, and highlight the importance of considering site lithology. Multivariate statistics proved to be invaluable in distinguishing anthropogenic from lithological soil patterns.     

Testing the efficacy and reliability of common zooarchaeological sampling strategies: a case study from the Caribbean

Zooarchaeological analysis typically involves implementing a suitable sampling strategy that provides meaningful information representative of a site under investigation. To test the efficacy of how various sampling procedures can influence interpretation of a faunal assemblage, we analyzed in full, a large assemblage of mollusks (minimum number of individuals [MNI] = 58,000+) from the late Ceramic Age (ca. AD 850–1440) site of Coconut Walk on the island of Nevis (northern Lesser Antilles, Caribbean). These remains were recovered from 25 discrete 1 × 1 m units within a larger 5 × 5 m trench that overlaid a dense midden deposit. Using statistical procedures, we compared the results of the number of identified specimens (NISP), MNI, and weight (g) of each mollusk taxon between both units and plana to determine how different sampling strategies would have affected the interpretation of mollusk composition across space and time had different sampling procedures been used. The results reveal that sampling less than 16% (4 out of 25 squares for this study) of a midden is likely to produce results outside of a 95% confidence interval for the population composition, with samples of connected squares having a higher likelihood to lie outside the interval. Discerning change between plana (or layers) may require a larger sample (i.e., 16%+). In addition, samples selected randomly or judgmentally will produce similar results, provided that proper spacing is given between units. The data in this case suggest that the midden was efficiently sampled for midden composition and key species at a rate of 16% of the surface area.     

Issues of In Situ Conservation at Jinsha,People’s Republic of China

Abstract

The archaeological site of Jinsha, in Sichuan Province, China, was excavated in 2001, revealing extensive evidence of a substantial 3000 years old settlement. The site was subsequently sheltered and in 2007 an on-site museum was constructed. The shelter’s performance, in terms of environmental control, public interpretation and site management, is assessed. The need for more scientific research on site material science is highlighted.