The archaeology of the Spanish contact period in the Caribbean

The arrival of Spanish conquistadors and colonists to the Caribbean in the late fifteenth century set in motion the processes that produced the post-1500 New World. The sixteenth-century cultural and ecological exchanges among Europe, Africa, and the Americas that took place during the early contact period greatly affected the social and economic patterns of life in both the Old and the New Worlds. Nowhere was this change manifest as profoundly and dramatically as in the sixteenth-century Caribbean. This essay explores the archaeological insights into the processes of encounter between the Amerindian peoples of the Caribbean region and the first permanent Europeans in the Americas and the responses of each to contact with the other. Archaeological research has informed our understanding of this seminal era in New World cultural development in important ways. It had also allowed the documentation of both the cultural and demographic disintegration of the Caribbean Indians and the formation of Euro-American culture.     

Bone collagen preservation in the tropics: a case study from ancient Puerto Rico

Bone collagen is a well-characterized and generally robust protein that plays a key role in both radiometric dating and stable isotopic reconstruction of paleodiet. To be useful for such purposes, however, analyzed collagen must be relatively taphonomically unaltered. To date, little research has been conducted to document the taphonomic fate of bone collagen from archaeological sites in the tropics. In the present work, a large (n = 298) dataset of archaeological bone samples from sites on the island of Puerto Rico is examined by means of radiometric, chemical, and elemental analyses. The ultimate conclusion of this work is that while collagen loss may be accelerated in the tropics versus that seen in samples from higher latitudes, what collagen remains is typically sufficiently well-preserved and taphonomically unaltered as to make radiocarbon dating and/or stable isotopic analysis worthwhile.     

Sr/Sr variability in Puerto Rico: geological complexity and the study of paleomobility

The temptation to use biogeochemical techniques to resolve issues of paleomigration is evident and well intentioned. Knowledge of radiogenic strontium isotope baselines in a region of interest is a sine qua non of such archaeological studies of paleomobility. Here, we present the first detailed study of baseline ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values for the island of Puerto Rico. The high degree of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr variability present in this corpus of modern Puerto Rican bedrock and terrestrial malacological samples (0.70406–0.70909) is a testament to the complex geology of that island. This diversity of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values makes parsing issues of origin a difficult and highly contingent task. Given these complexities, regional studies seeking to assess paleomigration by such isotopic means should proceed with a great deal of caution.     

The question of national identity and the institutionalisation of the visual arts in Grenada

ABSTRACT. This article argues for a close relationship between national identity and the institutionalisation of the visual arts in Grenada. Art, which is intrinsic to all humans, predates its institutionalisation: it is only institutionalised in societies with a strong sense of national identity. In order to explain the role of national identity in the formation of national art, the article begins by examining the period following World War II, when Grenada – still under British colonialism – was undergoing intense social and political changes. To understand these changes, the analysis of the stratification system is paramount. The article delineates three groups on the basis of the value systems developed historically: the elite, the masses and a small, growing middle class situated between these two groups. The works of three prominent Grenadian artists illustrate the argument that institutionalisation of art requires a strong sense of national identity, and through this process the artistic development of a society occurs. Furthermore, understanding this process requires a focus on the ways in which social and political groups or classes impeded the development of a national identity, preventing the institutionalisation of the arts.     

论中国社会工作价值观的“社会主义化”

从产生的背景上看,社会工作是西方资本主义社会为维护和巩固自身统治而实施的一种制度改良方案,是直接为资本主义持久统治服务的。随着社会工作在我国的开展和普及,社会工作的本土化、＂社会主义化＂的问题也逐渐为人们所关注。文章还分析了社会工作价值观与中国古代社会工作价值观念、与社会主义核心价值体系的关系,并试图将它们统一起来,以便使社会工作更好地为构建社会主义和谐社会服务。     

Identifying integrative built environments in the archaeological record: An application of New Urban Design Theory to ancient urban spaces

Ancient Maya settlement patterns have long been described as dispersed. Instances of low-density or dispersed urbanism among agrarian-based societies are common in tropical civilizations, and are of particular interest due to their expressed problem of social integration. Traditionally, archaeologists have focused on classic hallmarks of state integration, including force, infrastructural control, large-scale ritual, and kinship; thus, reflecting the polar extremes of integration. Current models accord a more multi-scalar and dynamic nature to state and urban organization, and the need to pursue diachronic perspectives that consider more subtle and varied degrees of integration. With regard to settlement, examining the total patch of occupation on a landscape, how it developed, how it was divided up, and in turn brought together, is of interest. In this study I apply criteria developed in New Urban Design Theory, a body of thought and practice concerned with modern-day issues of dispersed and low density settlement, to evaluate an architectural complex at the Classic Maya centre of Buenavista del Cayo, Belize, believed to have functioned as an integrative space within the civic entity.     

High modernism in the Arctic: planning Frobisher Bay and Inuvik

This paper considers Frobisher Bay and Inuvik, two Canadian Arctic towns, as examples of the high-modernist planning that swept the globe during the middle decades of the twentieth century, but also Cold War projects reflecting a sudden interest in the Arctic as a region of military significance. Building on the framework provided by James Scott in Seeing like a State (1998), the paper details the connections between modernization theory and Cold War militarism before turning to the strikingly parallel case studies. In each instance, federal officials proposed ambitious urban models designed to simultaneously overcome the hostility of a northern environment and catapult native northerners into conditions of modern living. While the limits and failings of such schemes varied by location, both sites were also laboratories for social scientists employed by the federal government to document and analyze the modernization of the Arctic. The work of these scholars represents a particularly rich and complex record of governmental interventions, tied variously to Cold War imperatives, in northern lives and landscapes at a time of great faith in the transformative power of modern engineering.     

The archaeology of climate change in the Caribbean

This paper emerges from an attempt to more actively integrate archaeology with ongoing geographical and environmental discussions of human responses to the effects of climate change in the Caribbean. If archaeology is to contribute to the mitigation strategies currently being developed, then robust interpretations are necessary that can be practically integrated with inter-disciplinary action. This paper discusses the methods needed to provide the high-resolution data and interpretations required using archaeological and palaeoenvironmental research from a case study area in northern Cuba. Using data collected from an ongoing collaborative archaeological research project with the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, we evaluate whether it is possible to make useful interpretations of human response to past changes in sea-level, precipitation and hurricane activity. Specifically, the effects of these activities on the changing nature of settlement locations, food procurement strategies and household architecture among pre-Columbian communities are evaluated. Indigenous mitigation strategies are identified and used to inform modern day preparation for the impacts of climate change in the Caribbean.     

试析上古时期的历史记忆与历史记载

上古时期口耳相传的历史记忆是后世历史记载的源头.在相关的历史记载中还可以看到其某些影子.出现于早期历史记忆中的"人"多为"英雄"或"圣人",而非普通的人.逐渐剥落掉神的身影,而呈现出真正的"人"面貌,已经是野蛮与文明之际的事情.但是即使在这个时期,人--神之间仍然有着千丝万缕的联系.历史记忆是古代文明出现上升的阶梯.     

New insights into the consumption of maize and other food plants in the pre-Columbian Caribbean from starch grains trapped in human dental calculus

In a first region wide study, starch grains from human dental calculus from the pre-Columbian insular Caribbean (dating to ca. 350 B.C.–A.D. 1600) are used to identify important plant foods in the diet and to assess potential dietary differences related to age or sex. Results give important insights into pre-Columbian maize (Zea mays) consumption throughout the region, confirming recent studies that indicate that maize was more commonly consumed in the insular Caribbean than originally thought. No age or sex based differences in maize consumption were found. Furthermore, based on the results of new experiments regarding grinding and pressure damage to starch grains, it is clear that maize in the Caribbean was ground, baked and consumed as bread as was the case in large parts of the mainland. Based on our results we tentatively suggest maize consumption in the Caribbean was at least in some cases associated with feasting and ceremonial activities. The variety in other plant foods identified (mostly tuberous root crops) shows that the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the region consumed a broad spectrum, but locally variable diet in which a variety of root crops functioned as staple crops, including marunguey (Zamia sp.) and sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). We found no indications for the traditionally assumed heavy reliance on manioc (Manihot esculenta) cultivation in the region.     

19世纪英国济贫院制度评析

济贫在英国有着久远的传统,从17世纪开始,济贫院在英国逐步发展起来,1834年后,“院内救济”成为新济贫法体系的核心。济贫院遵循“劣等处置”和“济贫院检验”两个原则,济贫法委员会希望通过济贫院的威慑作用,促使贫民自力更生,减少济贫开支。济贫院在英国社会保障制度和福利国家形成过程中起到不可忽视的作用。学术界对济贫院的评价存在较大的争议,本文拟对这一制度进行评析,希望引起学术界对这一制度的更多关注。     

Late Holocene climatic fluctuations and soil genesis in southern Patagonia: effects on the archaeological record

Geoarchaeological research conducted at five localities in southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego identified a mollisol within late Holocene aeolian and colluvial deposits associated with archaeological material. The mollisol's origin and development are related to an increase in humidity (c. 1000 BP) following an episode of severe drought during the Medieval Warm Period. Corroborating data is supplied from dendroclimatic and pollen studies. A drastic reduction in frequency of artefact distribution recorded at the sites studied corresponds to this pedologic event, suggesting a greater human presence at these sites during earlier, regional-scale arid conditions. However, the paucity of archaeological remains may also be the result of the low resolution of cultural evidence following the pedologic development due to superimposition over previous archaeological deposits.     

中古家训的社会价值分析

本文通过对《颜氏家训》和司马光《家范》两者的篇目设置、关注重点、治家原则以及家族命运的担忧与期望诸问题进行讨论,分析中古家训的社会价值,借以阐释中古社会历史发展的趋势特征。     

论战国赵都中牟的历史地位

战国初期,赵国都城由晋阳迁往中牟。以迁都中牟为契机,赵国很快完成了政治改革,加快了在中原的扩张,最终实现了由封闭到开放,由卿士到诸侯的战略转折和跃进,由此奠定了赵国前期历史化发展的格局。     

Identifying with the old or the new state: nation‐building vs. Yugonostalgia in the Yugoslav successor states

The article examines to what degree attachment to a former multinational state which breaks up may complicate national consolidation in new states, as was the case in the Soviet Union and Titoist Yugoslavia. In the former Yugoslavia such attachment is usually referred to as ‘Yugonostalgia’, and various opinions have been expressed about its strength and possible political consequences today. Only in 2011, however, was an attempt made to measure Yugonostalgia quantitatively and analyse this phenomenon comparatively in the various successor states. A large‐scale survey showed that while Yugonostalgics in some countries were less loyal than other citizens towards the new state this was not the case in Serbia. In Croatia, the number of respondents who felt Yugoslav has gone down since independence far more than in any other state; probably a result of a massive public campaign to discredit continued identification with the former state.     

山东日照两城镇的发掘及其学术价值

山东日照两城镇遗址的发掘为当时重建中国古史添加了极为有力的新证据,直至今日其学术价值仍不可低估。     

从考古发现看西周燕国殷遗民之社会状况

本文利用考古及金文、文献资料,对燕国的殷遗民状况进行了分析,认为燕国对殷遗民采取的是安抚、利用政策,其中的一部分殷遗贵族仍具有相当高的社会地位,但大多数殷遗民成为燕国平民阶层的组成部分.     

Reterritorilizing the Relationship between People and Place in Refugee Studies

The article discusses different conceptions of space and place in refugee studies, especially contributions from anthropology and geography. A main distinction is drawn between two understandings of space and place; an essentialist conception, stating a natural relationship between people and places and an alternative conception attempting to de-naturalize the relationship between people and places. The consequences of applying different conceptions of space and place for the development of refugee policies and representations of refugees and displaced persons are addressed. For many displaced persons, displacement is experienced as being physically present at one place, but at the same time having a feeling of belonging somewhere else. It is argued that though attempts to de-naturalize the relationship between people and places have been important for how the refugee experience is conceptualized, there has been too much focus on imagination accompanied by a neglect of the local perspective of migrants and displaced people. In the local perspective of forced migration, the present lives of displaced people are emphasized. Especially the attitudes from the host communities, the policy environment that displaced people are part of, and their livelihood opportunities are the focus of regard. 'Territoriality' and 'reterritorialization' of the relationship between people and places are discussed as tools to analyse the local perspective of forced migration in general and the strategies of internally displaced persons and their hosts in Sri Lanka in particular.     

The Quaternary fossil record of the genus Testudo in the Iberian Peninsula. Archaeological implications and diachronic distribution in the western Mediterranean

This paper explores the presence of tortoise remains and its meaning in Palaeolithic archaeological contexts. We focus on two topics: (1) the presence or absence of the genus Testudo from the Early Pleistocene to the Holocene in SW Europe; and (2) the relationship between Testudo and the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental conditions diachronically. In order to address this objective, we collected published and unpublished data from different sites on the eastern Iberian Peninsula. The results obtained by this study demonstrate that Testudo hermanni was the only tortoise present in this area until recent times and its presence in archaeological sites is almost always related to anthropic activities. Finally, the disappearance of Testudo from archaeological sites in some areas is related to climatic changes and events that occurred during the last stages of the Pleistocene.