Editorial Introduction

Abstract

Developing holistic accounts of indigenous peoples’ lifeways in colonial intercultural settings requires data that provide insights into patterns of landscape use and variations in social, economic, and cultural practices away from nodes of colonial activity. However, the mobile settlement patterns of some indigenous peoples mean that the data necessary for such investigations can be rare. In western Cape York Peninsula of northeastern Australia, culturally modified trees (CMTs) associated with the collection of wild honey or “sugarbag” provide opportunities to investigate indigenous patterns of landscape use and processes of economic change within colonial settings. Here we use CMT data to suggest that increased engagement with invader-settlers resulted in intensification of indigenous wild food production. This study exemplifies the complexity of socioeconomic shifts that accompanied European colonization worldwide, and illustrates how landscape-level data can provide information on the broader histories of indigenous peoples within colonial settings.     

Editorial Introduction

Abstract

The recovery of artifacts by sieving provides an essential means of standardizing excavated archaeological data. A simple but robust sieving apparatus is described here, which offers safety, efficiency, and reliability in use. The sieve frame is assembled largely from standard components, and only simple fabrication is required for the various parts. The apparatus has been successfully tested through many seasons of fieldwork, and at sites from Palaeolithic caves to urban post-medieval excavations.     

Editorial Introduction

Franz Boas defined anthropology over a century ago as a four-field discipline in danger of fragmentation. It has endured with stresses and strains by maintaining many integrative ties among the sub-disciplines. Vibrant links indicate that a healthy endeavor remains among anthropologists dedicated to an interdisciplinary approach. Little and Kennedy suggest that the story can be told by the histories of individuals, institutions, ideas, and traditions. However, they focus on individuals and institutions and seldom consider the histories of ideas, leading them to omit significant events. Fagan describes the origins of archaeology more thoroughly and situates individuals within the larger context.     

Editorial Introduction

Abstract

International response to the problem of looting of archaeological sites has been hampered by the difficulty of quantifying the damage done. The scarcity of reliable information negatively impacts professional and public policy making, rendering consensus about the scale of the problem and the effectiveness of policy responses difficult to achieve. We report here on the use of publicly-available satellite imagery for quantifying the damage caused by looting of archaeological sites in Jordan. The ease of use and affordability of imagery such as that provided by Google Earth make the identification, quantification, and monitoring of archaeological site looting possible at a level previously unimagined. Our findings about looting at archaeological sites in Jordan shed light on the potential for a broader application of the method.     

Editorial Introduction 35(1)

In recent decades many anthropological studies have suggested new approaches to conversion in order to grasp the connections between local Christianities and modernities. However, the relationship between conversion in indigenous societies and modernity remains problematic. The notion of transformation is often used as an ideological concept, which gives little information on the nature of the process of conversion, which is organized by complex processes of transitions and continuities. A better understanding of the various forms of indigenous Christianity is crucial to the development of an anthropology of Christianity.     

Editorial Introduction 35(4)

O'Brien, Jay and William Roseberry, eds. Golden Ages, Dark Ages: Imagining the Past in Anthropology and History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991. x + 288 pp. including references and index. $35.00 cloth.

Gallant, Thomas W. Risk and Survival in Ancient Greece: Reconstructing the Rural Domestic Economy. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991. xvi + 267 pp. including notes, bibliography, and index. $39.50 cloth.

Abrahams, Ray. A Place of Their Own: Family Farming in Eastern Finland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. xi + 205 pp. including photographs, charts, bibliography, and index. $59.95 cloth.     

Editorial Introduction 35(3)

Sherzer, Joel. Kuna Ways of Speaking: An Ethnographic Perspective. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1983. xii + 260 pp. including bibliography and guide to pronunciation. $22.50 cloth.