Stable isotope analysis on human remains from the final Early Holocene in the southern Puna of Argentina: The case of Peñas de las Trampas 1.1

In this work are presented the results of isotopic analyses made on bone remains of human individuals (n?=?6) from the southern Puna of Argentina dated to the final Early Holocene (ca. 8230–8000 BP). They were found in structures located in Peñas de las Trampas 1.1, a rockshelter at 3582 m.a.s.l. in Antofagasta de la Sierra, in the southern Argentinian Puna. They contain multiple secondary burials. Bone fragments were recovered from at least six individuals, three in each structure. Stable isotopes of Carbon (δ¹³C) and Nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) analysis were aimed at defining aspects related to the palaeodiet of the six individuals within the palaeo-economic subsistence spectrum typical of hunter–gatherers. It is worth noting that these human remains are among the earliest from North-Western Argentina, where funeral practices are related with the transportation of certain anatomical parts. The palaeodietary inference considers, on the one hand, the extreme aridity of this geographical area and its impact on the isotopic ecology. And, on the other, it takes into account the fact that four of the six individuals under study were breastfed infants. The results are in agreement with the expected values of the period, which has been characterized as the beginning of the arid Altithermal.     

20世纪前半期新旧史学关系论争的综述

20世纪前半期关于新旧史学关系的探讨,参与学者人数之多,学术观点之复杂,在整个中国近代史学史上都是罕见的.本文对这场学术探讨进行了系统的梳理和评论,认为它在社会思潮、学术风气的演变以及近代史学学科逐渐完善的客观需求等因素的影响下,呈现了阶段性发展的特点.     

Stature estimation in a central Patagonian prehispanic population: development of new models considering specific body proportions

Stature estimation of individuals from extinct human populations is a classic topic in anthropology. The estimations, using regression formulae generated from different reference samples, display different results. This fact is related to inter‐populational differences in body proportions, which is a phenotypic trait mainly correlated with climatic parameters. The aim of this paper is to address the problem of stature estimation of an archaeological skeletal sample from Patagonia – a region for which there are no specific models available – using different methods and considering differences in body proportions between reference and target populations. The sample used in this analysis is composed of 35 Late Holocene adults of both sexes recovered in central Patagonia (Argentina). The stature of each individual was first reconstructed using the anatomical method [Fully G. 1956 . Une nouvelle me´thode de de´termination de la taille. Annales Medicine Legale 35 : 266–273], which has no assumptions on body proportions. The results were compared with estimations based on 32 different regression formulae [Trotter M, Gleser G. 1958. A re‐evaluation of estimation of stature based on measurements taken during life and the long bones after death. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 16 : 79–124. 10.1002/ajpa.1330160106] and three femur/stature ratios [Feldesman MR, Fountain RL. 1996. Race specificity and the femur/stature ratio. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 100 : 207–224. 10.1002/(SICI)1096‐8644(199606)]. The average reconstructed stature was 160.8 cm for females (95% confidence band = 155.6–166.2 cm), and 170.5 cm for males (95% confidence band = 168.8–172.2 cm). Most of the comparisons of the regression formulae and femur/stature ratios showed significant differences, which are explained by differences in body proportions between the Patagonian sample and the ones chosen as reference. Finally, a set of new equations was developed using simple regression techniques. It is suggested that whenever possible, population‐specific formulae should be used in archaeological studies. In any other situation, the choice of a reference population should be made by taking into account its geographic (latitudinal) provenance. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

从《汉书·地理志》体例看郡国沿革

班固撰写《汉书·地理志》,其所据原始资料著录之秦郡数目远不止三十六个,然其泥于三十六之数,于是删减了若干郡目,以自圆其说。司马彪撰写《后汉书·郡国志》,亦知秦郡总数不止三十六,其去南海,进黔中、鄣郡,增秦郡目至三十七,正反映了司马彪的无奈。     

A case of multiple metastasis in Late Holocene hunter‐gatherers from the Argentine Pampean region

Chenque I site is a prehistoric cemetery located in Lihué Calel National Park (La Pampa province) in the Western Pampean region of Argentina. Hunter‐gatherer societies made use of this site during the Final Late Holocene for at least 700 years (1030–370 BP). Currently 41 burial structures have been excavated, and more than 150 individuals have been recovered. There is great variability in mortuary patterns at the site (simple, multiple, primary, secondary burials, and also a variant not previously observed in the region). The life‐ways of this population have been investigated through the evaluation of several biological and cultural factors. Several pathological conditions have also been identified in this cemetery. Burial no. 12 contains a skeleton of an adult male that shows multiple pathological lesions, compatible with a neoplastic disease. These lesions have been analysed using several methodological strategies: macroscopic, radiological and microscopic. This is the first time that this kind of disease has been identified from a prehistoric burial in Argentina. In this paper the location and characteristics of the lesions are evaluated, and the different neoplastic diseases that could have produced them are discussed. Since the people buried in this cemetery belonged to highly mobile societies, a key issue is to infer the consequences that this disease would have had on the dynamics of the group in which this person lived, because of the gradual deterioration of his health and physical strength. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Medieval socio-economic historiography in Western Europe: towards an integrated approach

The revival of interest in the economic history of the Middle Ages after World War II has benefitted first to the study of the fourteenth and fifteenth century through the introduction to historical practice of the theories and methods of modern economic science. Secondly the discussion on the early medieval economy launched by Pirenne's posthumous book on Mohammed and Charlemange (1937) resulted in a more dynamic and economic interpretation of the Carolingian renaissance and in a vivid discussion about its end around the year one thousand. On the contrary the centuries between these two periods, i.e. the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries, although they witnessed the biggest demographic expansion since Neolithic times, the movement of the great clearances and the growth of big cities, have been neglected. The author argues for a renewed interest in the economic history of these centuries through a more integrated approach now that the quantitative approach has passed its zenith and interest in individual people is reviving, especially the common people and their behaviour and habits. Archeology, demography and anthropology can be used for this purpose in the context of a more integrated social history of the period, no longer dominated by historians of law and institutions.     

Landscapes of the Ghost Dance: A Cartography of Numic Ritual

Recent historical and ethnographic research indicates that the study of ritual behavior could be greatly enhanced by combining parameters of place and landscape use with interpretation of material culture. This strategy is especially useful for identifying the archaeological record of ritual among societies that incorporated topographic features and natural resources into their liturgical order. In this article we apply a behavioral framework to the study of Numic ritual technologies. By intergrating ethnographic and historic data on the geography, practice, and material culture of the nineteenth-century Nevada Ghost Dance, we demonstrate how this framework helps to determine the configuration of a ritual place and its position relative to other ritual and nonritual places.     

The shadow of the civil war: A historiography of civil war memory

The memory of the Civil War has become one of the most vibrant and contested subjects in nineteenth-century American history over the past two decades. Studies of Civil War memory potentially can reveal much about the cultural, political, and intellectual world of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Gilded Age. Whereas the Civil War has often been studied in historical isolation, histories of memory thrust off the standard constraints of periodization to emphatically link the Civil War with late nineteenthcentury history. David W Blight's award-winning synthesis Race and Reunion (2001) both indicates the topic's rapid maturation and heightens the need for a historiographical excursion to assess the collective strengths and weaknesses of this burgeoning subfield. The following essay explores the convergence of factors, both within and outside of the historical profession, which have encouraged the boom in memory studies. In addition, it traces the emerging historiography to examine both the creative diversity of the field as well as its common assumptions, insights, and strategic limits.     

Skeletal age at death: an evaluation of the miles method of ageing

The accuracy of Miles' method of ageing individuals within a population, based upon an analysis of the rate of dental wear, was evaluated in a sample of 202 living Lengua Indians from the Chaco area of Paraguay. The preliterate and culturally isolated status of the Lengua provided a useful base for comparison with populations that are likely to be encountered by archaeologists. The independent age estimates from maxillae and mandibles of the same individuals were found to be highly correlated with each other and to the actual ages of those individuals (Spearman rank-correlation test maxillae r_s = 0·58, mandibles r_s = 0·95, medians of populations rank-sum R = 99·5 > 95). No significant differences (P > 0·05) were found between the mean ages of any of the Miles subgroups, as indicated by the t-test for paired comparisons. The present study provides evidence of the reliability of the Miles method of ageing archaeological populations on the basis of occlusal wear. These findings are evaluated in the light of the sources of error inherent in the Miles system of analysis.     

Great white shark teeth used as pendants and possible tools by early‐middle Holocene terrestrial mammal hunter‐gatherers in the Eastern Pampas (Southern South America)

Two great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) teeth recovered in a terrestrial mammal hunter‐gatherers context in the Pampas are described. Associated lithic (mainly quarzite) tools, and the predominant exploitation of the Lama guanicoe relate the ancient inhabitants of the site with those of the early‐middle Holocene sites of the Area Interserrana of the Provincia de Buenos Aires. According to the stratigraphic context and the terrestrial fauna, the age of the deposit seems to be constrained to the early‐middle Holocene. The root tips of the shark teeth are marked by an artificial transvers groove fitted to tie a thread. Tooth edge serrations are strongly eroded, suggesting they were used as tools. We favour the hypotheses that the fish could have stranded on the beach or a small estuary in the neighbourhood, or that the teeth were obtained from the body of a pinniped attacked by a shark and sobsequenty found by humans. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Storage adaptations among hunter–gatherers: A quantitative approach to the Jomon period

Food storage economies among hunter–gatherers have been fundamentally important in research within anthropological archeology. It is well recognized that food storage was a key element in the evolution of hunter–gatherer societies. This paper examines storage facilities utilizing a digital planimeter to evaluate the volume and morphology of storage pits in the Jomon period (ca. 13,750–500 cal. BC). Quantitative analysis of Jomon storage pits shows temporal and spatial variability in terms of size. This research demonstrates that the quantitative analysis of storage pits is an effective way to improve our understanding of storage and its role in the Jomon economy in particular and subsistence adaptations in general. Thus, this approach has potential applications to other storage economies worldwide.     

Experimental history: the appeal of postmodemism in historiography

Use, truth and time constitute the basic elements of the epistemological structure of history. That structure went through three stages: pre-modern (from ancient times to the late eighteenth century, before the professionalization of history took place), modern (the period of professional history, from the late eighteenth century to the 1970s), and post modern (post 1970s). In these three stages, use, truth, and time successively occupied the core of the epistemological structure of history. Postmodernist history, which puts time at the core of its epistemology, is an extreme form of historicism. Even more than historicism, it has emphasized the determining effect of time and change on historical truth and historical consciousness. The privatization of historical narrative and reading has prodded history to become experimental. Experimental history no longer proclaims the truth about the past. Instead, under specific historical circumstances, it strives to produce texts that will be recognized by individual historians and provides these texts to readers, who will make their own judgments. Whether these texts are true will be decided through the uses they produce. In this way, any historiographical practice will be an experiment conducted by an historian in the present and that will consist in searching for the truth about the past. The success of this experiment will depend entirely on the experimental environment, that is, on the conditions provided by the reading environment. __________ Translated from: Beijing Shifan Daxue Xuebao 北京师范大学学报 (Journal of Beijing Normal University), Vol. 5, 2004     

庐陵史学特征及其在中国史学史上的地位

庐陵史学发达宏富,史备众体,尤其是在宋明时期,史学大家叠出,史学著作丰硕,史书类型繁多。诞生了龙衮、欧阳修、徐梦莘、罗泌、龙文彬等众多的史学家,编撰了《江南野史》、《新唐书》、《新五代史》、《集古录》、《三朝北盟会编》、《路史》、《西域行程记》、《广舆图》、《豫章书》和《明会要》等重要史学著作。庐陵史学重文献网罗、考证和历史经验总结,从整体上看具有父子同撰、通今博古、文史兼通、诗文咏史、金石证史等特征,有史料、校勘和辑佚价值。庐陵史学享誉海内外,口碑较好,在中国史学史上具有重要地位和作用。     

Experimental history: the appeal of postmodernism in historiography

Use, truth and time constitute the basic elements of the epistemological structure of history. That structure went through three stages: pre-modern (from ancient times to the late eighteenth century, before the professionalization of history took place), modern (the period of professional history, from the late eighteenth century to the 1970s), and post modern (post 1970s). In these three stages, use, truth, and time successively occupied the core of the epistemological structure of history. Postmodernist history, which puts time at the core of its epistemology, is an extreme form of historicism. Even more than historicism, it has emphasized the determining effect of time and change on historical truth and historical consciousness. The privatization of historical narrative and reading has prodded history to become experimental. Experimental history no longer proclaims the truth about the past. Instead, under specific historical circumstances, it strives to produce texts that will be recognized by individual historians and provides these texts to readers, who will make their own judgments. Whether these texts are true will be decided through the uses they produce. In this way, any historiographical practice will be an experiment conducted by an historian in the present and that will consist in searching for the truth about the past. The success of this experiment will depend entirely on the experimental environment, that is, on the conditions provided by the reading environment.     

Occlusal microwear texture analysis and the diets of historical/prehistoric hunter‐gatherers

With the exception of few studies, occlusal microwear of pre‐agricultural modern humans has not been documented. In this study, microwear fabrics of samples from seven historic/prehistoric hunter‐gatherer populations with known and diverse dietary habits, representing mostly meat‐eaters from different environments, arctic/tundra (Tigara from Point Hope), cold‐steppe (Fuegians) and Mediterranean (Chumash), and mixed‐diet hunter‐gatherers from tropical climates (Andamanese and Khoe‐San from Matjes River, Riet River, and Oakhurst Shelter), were analysed to better understand how dietary differences affect microwear in these groups and to establish a reasonable comparative database for interpreting fossil hominins microwear. Significant microwear differences, related to diet and food preparation techniques, between the meat‐eaters and mixed‐diet hunter‐gatherers were detected. Finer scale differences within each of these dietary categories were also observed. Ethnographic accounts indicate that the Tigara and Andamanese ingested hard particles attached to their food as a result of their food preparation techniques; their microwear fabrics also reflect highly abrasive diets. On the other hand, as expected, the microwear signatures of the Chumash and Fuegians indicate a diet low in abrasives, reflecting their almost exclusive reliance on marine meat for subsistence and the low amounts of extraneous particles attached to this meat. The mixed‐diet Khoe‐San occupy an intermediate position between the Tigara and Andamanese on the one hand, and the Chumash and Fuegians on the other, with regard to the level of abrasives ingested. The Khoe‐San ate large amounts of hard plants, most likely responsible for abrading their enamel surface. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Chronicles and historiography: the interrelationship of fact and fiction

Notwithstanding the great progress in medieval historiography during the last century, a conceptual and methodological basis in regard to the analysis of narrative sources is still missing. This paper indicates some of the challenges posed by fourteenth-century chronicles while focusing on contemporary testimonies about Clement V, pope between 1305 and 1314. Discussion of the different testimonies allows drawing some conclusions and paves the way for a new approach to medieval narrative sources.     

Diet,nutritional status and oral health in hunter‐gatherers from the central‐northern coast of Patagonia and the Chubut river lower valley,Argentina

Archaeological research in central‐northern Patagonia (Atlantic coast and lower the valley of Chubut river) showed that this area was used since at least the Middle Holocene. Stable isotope analyses (¹³C and ¹⁵N) of human bone samples indicate that hunter‐gatherers living in that area had a terrestrial‐marine diet including guanaco meat, land plants, mollusks and pinnipeds. Despite this general trend, intersite variability and changes through time were noted, especially after the late Holocene. These results have been reinforced by archaeofaunal, technological and bioarchaeological records. In this paper, three hypotheses are examined: (a) the diet of these populations was complete and rich enough to ensure good health status and avoid nutritional deficiencies; (b) carbohydrate consumption increased progressively after 1000 BP, when pottery technology was adopted and (c) this kind of mixed diet would have been qualitatively more nutritious than that of other populations of the region, which would have resulted in better nutritional and healthy conditions. These three hypotheses are compared with dental results obtained from 563 permanent teeth from 45 individuals (34 adults and 11 juveniles from both sexes), rescued from burial sites. Indicators of oral health were assessed through the observation of caries, abscesses, wear, pulpar cavity exposure and ante mortem loss. Features of nutritional status such as enamel hypoplasia, porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia were also examined. Given the availability of direct radiocarbon dating for most of the sample, three temporal series were determined: ‘Before 1000 BP’, ‘1000–5000 BP’ and ‘Post‐contact’. No evidence of alimentary stress or iron deficiency was found in individuals from the three series, which accounts for healthy and good nutritional life conditions. After 1000 BP, the results show a progressive increase in the caries percentage and a decrease in abscesses, dental wear and ante mortem losses frequency. This is possibly related to more consumption of processed foods in the last 1000 years. These results were compared with similar studies based on samples from different environments and latitudes of Patagonia. Evidence suggests that mixed diets (marine‐terrestrial) would have been more appropriate and nutritionally complete than exclusively marine or terrestrial diets. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

From innovation to use: Ten eclectic theses on the historiography of technology

Abstract

The paper argues that most (Anglo‐Saxon) historiography of technology, including recent sociologically‐oriented work, is concerned with innovation rather than technology, and that there has been an unfortunate conflation between the two. Distinguishing innovation from use allows an engagement between the history of technology and history more generally, and is essential to the investigation of questions concerned with gender, race, and class in the history of technology. Moreover a focus on use allows us to make better sense of such terms as “technological determinism”. The history of innovation, while interesting and important, cannot address many issues which should be central to the history of technology, and cannot answer many of the questions historians of technology pretend to ask. A history of technology‐in‐use does so and, at the same time, opens up new areas for investigation, including the history of maintenance, repair and remodelling, as well as further developing accounts of innovation based on use. The paper deals largely with modern technology, and draws on a number of different, and all too often disjointed, traditions of thinking about the role of technology in history.