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.     

Ophiolites Associated with Pottery Production in Bronze Age Crete

This study investigates diversity among ophiolite‐bearing sediments that were exploited for pottery production in Bronze Age Crete (c.3000–1200 bc ). The focus is on loose and consolidated formations of Upper Tertiary to Quaternary ages that contain some detrital products of Mesozoic ophiolitic source rocks. A literature review, geological fieldwork, sediment sampling and petrographic analysis are combined to identify the origin, the geographical distribution and the stratigraphic position of these ophiolitic sediments, and to assess regional diversity in their mineralogy and texture. The results provide insights into current archaeological problems regarding the provenance and production of ophiolite‐bearing pottery in Bronze Age Crete.     

Avian Remains from Late Pre-colonial Amerindian sites on Islands of the Venezuelan Caribbean

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the results of the analyses of 3793 bird remains archaeologically recovered from seven late pre-Hispanic sites (～AD 1000–1500) on islands of the Venezuelan Caribbean. In order to address subsistence and manufacturing uses of bird bones, we first discuss the recovery process of this unique sample. We proceed to investigate the bones' archaeological contexts as well as the taphonomy in play and analyze diverse bone categories. We found that indigenous peoples consistently targeted several families of birds for food or feathers or both, and that avian bones were used for fashioning tools and adornments. We also discuss possible signatures of island campsite seasonal occupancy as inferred from the bio-ecology of the identified bird taxa. The data suggest that the differentiation of nesting grounds between the Red-footed and Brown Booby in the Southeastern Caribbean may be a result of anthropogenically-induced adaptation. The findings discussed in this paper open challenging avenues for assessing long-term changes in bird communities including the dynamics of resident and wintering bird populations.     

Editorial

Abstract

The Fiestas de Astures y Romanos (The Festival of Astures and Romans) is a thriving historical re-enactment performed in the town of Astorga, in north-west Spain. The objective of our research has been to explore the complex interactions between politics, the public, and heritage management, and to evaluate their impact upon archaeology as a discipline. We draw on a participant ethnography carried out during the 2011 event. The concept of ‘Celtic-Barbarian Assemblage’ enables us to understand how different usages of the pre-Roman past condition identity politics and heritage policies at the local level. Finally, we reflect upon our findings and suggest potential lines of action to tackle what we perceive to be the increasing gap between public and academic archaeology in Spain, whose long-term consequences can be detrimental for the discipline as a whole.     

Depositional Context as the Foundation to Determining the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Archaeological Potential of Offshore Wind Farm Areas in the Southern North Sea

Abstract

There is currently limited evidence on which to assess the submerged prehistoric potential in areas of renewable energy development. This paper presents a geomorphological approach to examine the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic archaeological potential in relation to the Round 3 offshore wind farm (OWF) areas of the southern North Sea. The depositional context and major stratigraphic correlations between the terrestrial sequence on east coast of Britain and offshore marine sequence of the southern North Sea are used to provide a first-order assessment for identifying horizons of archaeological interest in OWF zones. Using the examples Triton Knoll and East Anglia One OWF, the nature of renewable energy development on identified archaeological horizons is discussed, noting that any impact needs to be considered on a site-by-site basis. Studies are not only needed on the practical assessment of any development impact but also on the impacts of natural processes in OWF zones.     

Scale Locality and the Caribbean Historical Archaeology

Historical archaeologists have become increasingly concerned with regional analysis focusing on the interconnections between different archaeological sites in order to develop a better sense of social relations. This development is in part due to the realization of many years of research and subsequent topical and theoretical syntheses. It also reflects a shifting concern in research towards fluidity of landscape and translocality (Hicks in World Archaeol 37:373–391, 2005; Lightfoot K (2005). University of California, Berkeley; Orser CE Jr (1996) A historical archaeology of the modern world. Plenum, New York; Wilkie LA, Farnsworth P (2005) Sampling many pots: an archaeology of memory and tradition at a Bahamian Plantation. University Press of Florida, Gainesville). The Caribbean as a world area highlights the need for broader regional analyses where tensions between local specificities and global/translocal processes are mediated. These tensions have been explored through discussions of identity, agency, colonialism and political economy. In this volume we explore the utility of scale of analysis in the framing of colonial landscapes between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries in the Caribbean. Contributors to this volume have concentrated on the ways in which scale as a concept is explicitly analyzed or implicitly employed to shape how we as archaeologists focus on topics associated with the African Diaspora in the Caribbean to draw out narratives of everyday life.     

Chemical Residues as Anthropic Activity Markers. Ethnoarchaeology,Experimental Archaeology and Archaeology of Food Production and Consumption

ABSTRACT

Chemical residues preserved in floors can be considered anthropic activity markers. In fact, residues are strictly related to the activities performed and reflect their spatial distribution. We present a synthesis of the work carried out over the last few decades in Mexico and Italy related to the study of chemical residues in floors. Residues can be identified performing specific chemical analyses both of plastered or earthen floors samples. We outline a methodological approach concerning the use of the markers of the activities to interpret food production and consumption in the archaeological record, based upon evidence from experimental, ethnoarchaeological and archaeological examples. Here we point out the advantages and problems of such an approach, mainly related to equifinality, of the use of spot tests and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry techniques using examples from different sites in the world.     

Re-visiting the field: Collaborative archaeology as paradigm shift

Abstract

The emphasis of the JFA on field methods resonates strongly with current disciplinary interest in multivocality and participatory research. In this new epistemology of inclusiveness, communities play an active role in the production of archaeological knowledge as well as in the conservation of cultural heritage. From the perspective of archaeologists trained in the U.S. who conduct research in Latin America, we historicize changes in the triadic relationship among archaeologists, contemporary communities, and things of the past. This examination focuses on the evolving social context of archaeological practice. The social milieu within which archaeology is conducted is explored further by reference to a recent survey of archaeologists that elicited comments on grand challenges to archaeology. A few examples of the many forms that an engaged archaeology might take are offered from the Maya region. Although collaborative research poses challenges that emerge as communities entangled with archaeological practice become research partners, we suggest that the enhanced relevance that accompanies this transformation is well worth the effort.     

Life and death at precolumbian Lavoutte,Saint Lucia,Lesser Antilles

Abstract

The Caribbean archaeological record requires immediate attention and protection. Development and natural forces have impacted archaeological sites, destroying or severely damaging them. The precolumbian site of Lavoutte, located in northern Saint Lucia, has been known as a major Late Ceramic Age (a.d. 1000–1500) settlement since the 1960s, but it has been damaged over the past decades by both natural and human processes. Multidisciplinary field and laboratory methodologies were implemented during a rescue project at the site from 2009 to 2010. This paper presents the results of collaborative efforts between local and international organizations. The first goal was to demonstrate the importance of protection and rescue of endangered archaeological sites. Secondly, we aimed to show that by adopting a multidisciplinary approach including artifact analysis, bioarchaeology, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, and geochemistry, severely damaged sites can be of significant informational value.     

Assessing Methodologies in Archaeological Ethnography: A Case for Incorporating Ethnographic Training in Graduate Archaeology Curricula

Abstract

Archaeologists have increasingly turned to ethnography as a tool for understanding the contemporary social context of material culture, archaeological practice, and ‘de-colonizing’ archaeology. Furthermore, ethnographers have turned their analysis to the practice of archaeology, providing insights into key ethical dilemmas. This work has produced signi?cant dialogue, demonstrating the potential for research and collaboration at the interface of two sub-disciplines. However, much of the research to date has relied on a limited range of ethnographic methods. We suggest that archaeologists working in this area would bene?t from using a wider repertoire of ethnographic data collection tools and ethics training opportunities. We advocate for greater collaboration between archaeologists and ethnographers and provide suggestions on methods that are well-suited for use in archaeological practice. In the long term, the most effective and far-reaching solution may be to incorporate ethnographic methods training as fundamental to graduate programmes in archaeology.     

A Better Savage than the Savages: Thor Heyerdahl's Early Ethnographical Attempts and their Importance for the Development of the ‘Kon-Tiki Theory’

ABSTRACT

In this paper Thor Heyerdahl's early attempts at ethnography and his first contact with Polynesian archaeology are discussed. It is argued that Heyerdahl, prior to his first Pacific expedition to the Marquesas Islands in 1937, carried with him a romanticized perception of the Polynesian people, imagining them to be the last living ‘natural men’. This perception was shattered during his expedition, and the disappointing contrast between the imagined reality and the lived reality led Heyerdahl to separate the contemporary Polynesian population from the Polynesian archaeological record. It is further argued that this separation between contemporary Polynesians and the Polynesian archaeological record would form the foundation for the dual migration wave hypothesis Heyerdahl later launched with his ‘Kon-Tiki theory’.     

Seasonal Patterns of Coastal Exploitation on the Farasan Islands,Saudi Arabia

Here we present the results of the analysis of coastal exploitation patterns in the southern Red Sea during the Middle Holocene. We focus on the shell midden cluster of the Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia, which comprises over 3,000 shell midden sites. These sites date from 6,500 to 4,500 cal BP and are part of an arid landscape. We focus on one site, JW1727, which provides a snapshot of marine exploitation and will help to understand the use of food resources within the region. Stable isotope values (δ¹⁸O) were collected from the marine gastropod Conomurex fasciatus (Born 1778), which represents 72% of shell weight of JW1727, in order to reconstruct the season of capture. Results demonstrate that 1) every season is represented within the dataset; and 2) there is increased C. fasciatus deposition during the summer and autumn months. This indicates a diet consisting of C. fasciatus throughout the year in combination with other food sources and an increase of the C. fasciatus component during the arid seasons, possibly linked to the unavailability of vegetation. Additionally, size measurements of C. fasciatus were carried out to examine changes in size distribution throughout the occupation of the site that could be related to overexploitation of C. fasciatus. However, no significant trends could be observed. In sum, the results suggest a sustainable and constant habitation of the Farasan Islands despite the highly arid conditions.     

Sonic Tomography for Masonry Walls Characterization

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, Sonic Pulse Velocity tests (SPV tests) are widely applied for detecting the morphology, hidden defects, and voids within structural elements. This technique, largely applied because non invasive and easy to perform, reveals particularly adapt in the case of ancient buildings, where usually any damage is not tolerated due to the historical preservation requirements. Moreover, recently the SPV tests have been also applied with tomography technology to obtain images of sonic speeds from which it is possible to rapidly reconstruct the internal elements morphology.

In this article, the results of some SPV tomographies regarding masonry elements are presented. The tests are carried out with the aim of establishing consistency and accuracy of this technique in determining the morphology of the investigated elements. The influence of investigation points number and noise smoothing is taken into account, too. At first, the results of a tomography derived from synthetic data of an ideal section are shown. Then, the SPV tomographies of some masonry specimens and of elements sections of a real case study are illustrated and compared among them.     

Monitoring Cultural Heritage in a Long-Term Project: The Norwegian Sequential Monitoring Programme

Abstract

A sequential monitoring programme for archaeological sites and monuments was started in Norway in 1997. The purpose of this ongoing monitoring was to produce more accurate figures for loss and damage and to detect long-term trends in loss/damage patterns. In this article we present the method used to document the sequential monitoring, the extent of and the most important causes of loss and damage to archaeological heritage, and we discuss both the strengths and weaknesses of the method used in this monitoring programme. The results so far point to agriculture as the single most important cause of loss, and together with housing and leisure it is also the most important cause of damage. In the large parts of Norway where agriculture is marginal and has been characterized by small farms and grass based livestock production, regrowth of fallow fields leads to cultural landscape change and the loss of archaeological sites.     

A Multidisciplinary Study on the Seismic Vulnerability of St. Agostino Church in Amatrice following the 2016 Seismic Sequence

ABSTRACT

The big earthquake of August 24, 2016 and subsequent major shocks severely damaged many historic villages in Central Italy and dramatically showed the intrinsic vulnerability of the diffused architectural heritage. The St. Agostino church is one of the collapsed historical buildings, being inside the epicentre village of Amatrice. During the long seismic earthquake swarm, progressively the church was damaged and monitored. This multidisciplinary study of the damage of the church includes correlations of all the data derived from three steps geomatics surveys (3D aerial and terrestrial models): the archival drawings and images documenting previous events distressing the building, the previous strengthening intervention, and finally the seismic site response analysis (from Amatrice’s accelerometric station). Through a back analysis carried out by a finite elements model, it was possible to understand the seismic vulnerability of this historical building, in relation to the previous interventions and damage events. The proposed methodology, based on the interdisciplinary data analysis, provides useful information for the next strengthening projects of damaged historical monument.     

Itaakpa,a Late Stone Age site in southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Itaakpa rockshelter was excavated in three short field seasons, from 1985 to 1988, during which a human maxilla and mandible were found in a context characteristic of the ceramic phase of the West African Late Stone Age (LSA). An AMS date of 2210±80 b.p. was obtained from burned palm kernels from the same level. There was no apparent stratigraphic or archaeological break between this level and the layers above, and the pottery indicates continuity of occupation; the upper part of the sequence compares well with other, more recent, sites known in the area. The dimensions of the human teeth show an affinity with those found at Shum Laka, a rockshelter in southwestern Cameroun, in an archaeological context similar to that at Itaakpa. The site is only the third to be found in Nigeria (along with Iwo Eleru and Rop Rockshelter) where human remains suitable for comparative analysis have been identified in a good stratigraphic context along with LSA artifacts.     

After the Typhoon: Multicultural Archaeologies of World War II on Peleliu,Palau, Micronesia

Abstract

In the autumn of 1944, one of the worst battles of the Pacific War took place between the Americans and Japanese on the small Micronesian island of Peleliu in the Palau group. Over more than two months of combat, its garrison fought almost literally to the last man, while US casualties were proportionately among the heaviest of the entire war. Afterwards largely overlooked in the public consciousness, the battlefield is now the best preserved of the Pacific theatre and is the subject of an extensive archaeological survey, coupled with a programme of large-scale unexploded ordnance removal. This paper is the second of two, following our previous publication summarizing the more conventional results of the fieldwork. Here, we instead explore the deeper ways in which the material culture of Peleliu can illuminate the multicultural histories of the fighting and thus enable the battlefield to stand as a lasting, reflective memorial to all those whose lives it touched. We address the neglected narratives of the Japanese, the Korean and Okinawan forced labourers, and also the marginalized members of the US forces including African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans. In particular, we attempt to bring out the indigenous perspective on the material heritage of an imported and deeply alien war. In combination, we hope the research can provide new theoretical avenues of exploration for the archaeology of battlefields.     

The Opening and Closing Sequences of the Battle of Jutland 1916 Re‐examined: archaeological investigations of the wrecks of HMS Indefatigable and SMS V4

This paper presents the findings from surveys carried out in March 2016 of two wrecks sunk during the Battle of Jutland. The remains of HMS Indefatigable had previously only been partially understood. SMS V4, was found and surveyed for the first time. They represent the first and last ships sunk and allow the timings of the opening and closing of the battle to be established. In the case of HMS Indefatigable, the discovery that the ship broke in two, seemingly unnoticed, substantially revises the narrative of the opening minutes of the battle.     

Biblical Archaeology: a Plea for its Continuation

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to propose a ritualistic reading of Old Testament ritual texts based on the theory of Roy A. Rappaport. ² 2. Rappaport's ritual theory as it is expressed in Rappaport's major work, Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999). One of Rappaport's more or less overlooked views is that in order to be able to “understand” a certain ritual, one will have to become acquainted with this ritual's liturgical orders, its encoded message. In other words to understand a ritual it is necessary in some way to be informed of this ritual's particular worldview.

As I focus on the ritual texts of the so called P material in the Pentateuch, and in particular on the law of the Nazirite in Numbers 6,1–21, I use this notion of Rappaport's as a hermeneutical key to the reading of the ritual texts.

It is my claim that when we try to answer the questions posed by a ritual text, if we limit our search to the worldview of the ritual in question, we will not only be using an approach which is methodologically sound and appropriate, we will also receive better answers.     

The DEEPSAL Project: Using the Past for Local Community Futures in Jordan

ABSTRACT

The Deep Past as a Social Asset in the Levant (DEEPSAL) project, conducted in 2015–16 by the Council for British Research in the Levant, examined two communities in southern Jordan, Beidha and Basta, who live near significant Neolithic archaeological sites. The project collected information on the communities’ current socioeconomic conditions, their relationship with local cultural heritage and how that cultural heritage currently benefits or hinders them. The information was used to inform nascent strategies to utilize the sites sustainably as development assets and suggest alternative strategies as necessary. The results showed that a tourism-based strategy is suitable for Beidha but there was a need to focus on basic business skills. For Basta a tourism-based strategy is currently unsuitable, and efforts should rather focus on supporting educational activities. The results of the project are presented here within the context of archaeology’s increasing interest to use archaeological resource to benefit local communities, and outlines lessons for that effort.