The center and the edge: Archaeology in Belize, 1809–1992

The archaeological history of Belize now spans, in a sense, 183 years. For all but the past quarter-century of that time, research in the country has ranged from sporadic to nonexistent. In recent years, however, forces both internal and external to Belize have brought about an explosion of fieldwork and reporting, as well as wide-ranging analyses, problem-focused studies, and the beginnings of placement of Belize in a theoretical frame. Review of the development of archaeological research in the country establishes a base on which to rest discussion of themes in current work, as well as the impact of Belizean data as regards changes in our assessment of Maya prehistory as a whole.     

Teaching Historical Research Skills to Undergraduates: Thoughts on Microcomputers and the Classroom

Abstract. In a classic article written in 1994, Robert Fogel assumed that the distribution of calories per head is log normal and that the variance of income per head is greater than the variance of calories per head. Using these assumptions, Fogel was able to conclude that approximately 50 percent of the economic growth since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution is due to changes in nutrition. The author tests those two assumptions with the 1888 cost of living survey (U.S. Department of Labor 1890). Although he finds that the variance of income is greater than the variance of calories per head, distributional tests reveal that the distribution of calories per head is not log normal. In particular, the calorie distribution is skewed to the left, and the tails of the distribution are thicker than those of a log-normal distribution. Graphical tests, however, show that the log-normal assumption is appropriate, and departures from log normality are quite modest. Kernel density estimates further confirm that the distribution of calories per head is approximately log normal. Given the nature of the departures from log normality, Fogel's calculations may understate the role that nutrition has played in economic growth.     

A Global Journey – Ancel Keys,the FAO,and the Rise of Transnational Heart Disease Epidemiology, 1949–1958

Few people have influenced western eating patterns in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries as much as physiologist and epidemiologist Ancel Keys (1904–2004). Keys not only developed the K Ration for the United States military, but also advocated for diets that lowered blood cholesterol and famously discovered the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet in the 1950s and 1960s. Keys’ interest in the Mediterranean diet arose from his service on the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)-World Health Organization (WHO) Joint Expert Committee on Nutrition, which allowed him to explore nutritional status, dietary habits, and regional eating patterns across the globe. This paper examines how Keys’ service as chair of the UN FAO Committee on Caloric Requirements and the UN FAO Expert Committee on Nutrition led him to think globally about the relationship between diet and cardiovascular health, and to launch the first international comparative epidemiological study of diet and heart disease, the Seven Countries Study.     

War in the feudal zone: state failure and the abandonment of anthropological research in Mexico and Central America

We analysed the extent to which violent, organised crime has disrupted anthropological research in Mexico and Central America by conducting a survey of anthropologists who work in the region. We found that although anthropologists will continue research in regions they perceive to have the socio-economic characteristics of a failed state they are far less inclined to work in areas that they perceive as excessively violent. We continue with examination of the state failure and feudalisation that are affecting the region. We conclude that in the feudal zones, the state has lost its comparative advantage in the use of force and that state intrusion into these areas increases armed collective violence in a manner similar to that described in the literature on warfare in tribal zones.     

Prehistoric nearshore and littoral fishing in the eastern Tropical Pacific: An ichthyological evaluation

Marine fish bones are abundant components of human food remains at prehistoric sites in the eastern Tropical Pacific. Their quantification and interpretation in terms of human procurement strategies have been hampered by the use of large-meshed sieves and by the obstacles presented to faunal experts by fish taxonomic diversity. Since many important food fish families are speciose, this paper emphasizes the importance of species-level identifications. Making extensive use of Spanish-language articles on fish distribution and ecology, and the commercial and artisanal fisheries literature, it identifies groups of nearshore and littoral fish species that show greater and lesser tolerance for hard substrates (reefs and rocks), estuaries and coastal lagoons, and deeper clearer waters farther offshore. Most of the regional archaeological sites were located near estuarine habitats. The drab-colored fish they attract are generally poorly known. Hence, a particularly detailed analysis is offered of fish behavior within low salinity coastal inlets. Fourteen archaeofaunal fish samples from Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador are evaluated in the light of the environmental information generated by the biological and fisheries surveys. It is concluded that most sites have a broadly estuarine orientation and that the input of hard substrates is everywhere <10%. Two sites, Salango, in Ecuador, and Vidor, in Costa Rica, exploited epipelagic fish that swim in large shoals and deep water demersal predators. Sites situated more than 10 km from the coast exploited a wide variety of marine fish. In Parita Bay, Panama, a comparison of fish faunas from Cerro Mangote (6000 B.P.) and Sitio Sierra (1800 B.P.) elicits the hypothesis that regional fishing strategies shifted between these dates from a shore-based, netless strategy to a more complex one that incorporated fine-meshed gill-nets and watercraft.     

成物祈求或技术控制——青铜时代铸铜祭祀功能再析

在中国青铜时代的王都、诸侯国的都城遗址或区域中心,有大量的铸铜祭祀遗存被发现。以往对铸铜祭祀的功能分析多是基于后世文献的相关记载,认为"女性投炉"是确保铸铜能够顺利进行的一种成物祈求。然而从仪式化生产的角度来看,这一时期铸铜祭祀的成物祈求作用并不突出,铸铜祭祀本身可能和铸铜技术一样,作为重要的知识体系为统治阶层所掌控,成为其权力控制的一种方式。     

Stable isotopes and human diet in central western Argentina

Central western Argentina is the southern boundary of prehispanic maize in the archaeological record. This paper explores the stable isotope information from human bone (δ¹³C, from collagen and δ¹³C from apatite) and tooth (δ¹³C from enamel) samples in order to characterize the temporal and spatial trends of these isotopes and to understand them in terms of human diet. We analyzed 104 human individuals from the last 6000 years. Using the Kellner and Schoeninger (2007) model the results shows a high variation in human diet with few human individuals with a notably high significance of C₄ plants (probably maize) as an energy source and these samples have a chronology around ca. 1000 years BP. On the other hand a high variation in an individual’s dietary life history is shown by differences between δ¹³C collagen, apatite and enamel.     

区域知识管理的目标、原则与方式研究

为了能动响应信息化、全球化带来的机遇与挑战,在动态市场中持续发展,以及解决区域内部知识生产、知识交换和知识分配等方面的问题,区域必须进行有效的知识管理。作为知识系统,区域知识管理目标应该是如何设计出一个适应系统,强化私人主体和公共机构的知识生产能力和知识价值实现能力,管理的核心在于激励私人创造知识的积极性和公共管理的核心在于激励私人的创造知识的积极性和公共知识流通与分配方面。区域知识管理必须遵循人本主义原则、遵循市场规律原则、区域性原则和制度学习原则,并相应采用多级管理模式。     

9. MOVING FROM,AND BEYOND,INVENTED CATEGORIES: AFTERWORDS

The decentering of narratives is no longer sufficient for bringing the past into sharper focus. As a discipline, we must contend with the continued power imbalance in the production and circulation of histories. It is necessary to give equal valence to histories produced by embracing a range of historical methods, many of which the essays in this forum explore. Doing so expands understandings of what counts as theory in our histories and their obligations in society.     

Constructing free trade: from Manchester boosterism to global management

The free trade doctrine, now global common knowledge, has followed a complex spatio-temporal path of knowledge production from its origins in Manchester at the turn of the nineteenth century. While grounded in normative and cognitive claims, its transformation from local self-interest to global doctrine was a result of the scale-jumping tactics of the Anti-Corn Law League, combined with the popularity in Western Europe of private property liberalism and the hegemonic global positionality of early nineteenth-century Britain. Corn Law repeal in 1846 in London was constructed as the point in space–time where doctrine became practice, and Britain's subsequent prosperity was seen as proof of its validity. After 1880, except in Britain until 1914 and the colonies, performance belied the doctrine as progressive liberalism became influential, and import-substituting industrialization an effective catch-up strategy, for other nations. The free trade doctrine was reasserted, however, with the emergence of US hegemony, as a rationale for breaking up non-US colonial preference systems and, more recently, neoliberalism. The free trade doctrine is now performed routinely under the auspices of the World Trade Organization. Nevertheless, it remains a local epistemology, whose truth-like status is kept insulated from rigorous challenge by alternative epistemologies and practices.     

Current issues in Chinese Neolithic archaeology

Every year archaeologists in China discover numerous rich sites demonstrating significant regional variability in Neolithic cultures, primarily from about 6500 B.C. to 1900 B.C. This paper discusses a topic not covered in detail in current or forthcoming publications, the origins and development of agricultural systems. Recent fieldwork in both northern and southern China suggests that initial steps toward settled agricultural villages began circa 11,000 B.P. I review evidence for the cultivation of millet, rice, and other plants as well as animal husbandry in different regions of China. There are several later Neolithic sites in northern China with evidence for rice cultivation. I suggest how future research projects can investigate regional variation and change over time in subsistence and settlement during the Neolithic Period.