Classic Lowland Maya Political Organization: A Review

This paper reviews recent archaeological research concerning Classic Maya lowland political systems (ca. A.D. 250–1000). It focuses specifically on (1) subsistence practices revealed through the analysis of prehistoric climate, available resources, agricultural technologies, and diet; (2) population distribution, density, and size revealed through the analysis of settlement practices and architectural function; (3) social differentiation and interaction revealed through the analysis of burial practices, diet and health, architecture, and production, consumption, and exchange patterns; and (4) ancient Maya political economy (how it was funded) revealed through the analysis of community organization, ritual activities, the Classic Maya collapse, and warfare. It finally ends with a brief discussion of the future of Maya archaeology. A key factor that recurs throughout this review is the noticeable amount of variability that existed—varied resources, subsistence strategies, settlement practices, and social and political systems. An understanding of this variability is the key to appreciate fully the Classic Maya.     

Late Classic Maya Pottery Production: Review and Synthesis

Studies of the organization of Maya pottery production have been pursued via numerous methods but without theoretical models. I review available data on production of Late Classic southern lowland Maya polychrome pottery in light of my calendrically based may model of geopolitical organization. I conclude that: (1) production arrangements vary by “kind” of pottery; (2) “craft specialization” and “workshops” are inappropriate concepts; (3) study of polychrome production necessitates multiple approaches, including analysis of decorative content; (4) better “bridging arguments” and “middle-range theory” are needed; (5) figural polychromes were “inalienable” wealth goods; and (6) they were painted in palaces of primary and secondary centers—may and k'atun seats in the model—in realm-specific signature styles.     

Protrusion, Bioturbation, and Settlement Detection during Surface Survey: The Lowland Maya Case

In upland settings in humid and semihumid temperate and tropical environments, bioturbation is a major factor in the burial of modest architectural remains, which are abundant components of the settlement systems of complex societies. Surface survey, favored by archaeologists of complex societies as a settlement detection method, seldom is appropriate for discovering architectural remains buried through bioturbation. Where the focus of analysis includes settlement represented by architectural remains, surface survey is appropriate only where all or a representative sample of all types of architectural remains are protrusive. Protrusion describes a relationship (affected by climate, environment, topography, and cultural variables) between the height of a ruined building and the depth of the biomantle, which is the zone of bioturbation. To enable archaeologists to assess the appropriateness of settlement detection procedures, including surface survey, I propose a scheme that classifies architectural remains in terms of their protrusion, building height, and visibility characteristics. The scheme can be employed to determine if and why architectural remains are protrusive in particular study areas. To demonstrate its analytical utility, I apply the scheme and the model of building burial through bioturbation that underlies it to the problem of Maya invisible settlement. I conclude that in the Maya lowlands of Mesoamerica, building remains buried through bioturbation are a more abundant settlement category than many archaeologists have supposed.     

The fractal geometry of ancient Maya settlement

Ancient Maya settlement patterns exhibit fractal geometry both within communities and across regions. Fractals are self-similar sets of fractional dimension. In this paper, we show how Maya settlement patterns are logically and statistically self-similar. We demonstrate how to measure the fractal dimensions (or Hausdorff–Besicovitch dimensions) of several data sets. We describe nonlinear dynamical processes, such as chaotic and self-organized critical systems, that generate fractal patterns. As an illustration, we show that the fractal dimensions calculated for some Maya settlement patterns are similar to those produced by warfare, supporting recent claims that warfare is a significant factor in Maya settlement patterning.     

At peace in the corn: Maya narratives and the dynamics of fieldwork in Guatemala

Between 1961 and 1996 civil war in Guatemala claimed the lives of an estimated 200,000 people, over 80% of whom (according to a United Nations Truth Commission) were Maya Indians. The experience of one Maya family, whose story is narrated, raises questions pertaining to continued insecurity, lack of justice, and uninvestigated crimes, the combined effects of which still haunt and charge community life throughout the countryside. Telling about the experience of one family also raises issues concerning the vicissitudes of representation and how fieldwork can, on occasion, yield unanticipated but rewarding returns.     

Sociopolitical network interactions: A case study of the Classic Maya

The organization of Classic Maya society emerged from diverse and overlapping social interactions which shaped a dynamic political landscape. Vying for power, elites legitimized their status by claiming ancestry from various supernaturals and engaged in conspicuous displays of competition, warfare, and ritual practice which were often recorded on stone monuments. By examining the inscribed relationships between Maya centers, we chart organizational changes in sociopolitical networks throughout the Classic period. Methods derived from social network analysis are used to examine temporal changes in the distribution and centralization of political power through different network interactions. We examine the intersection of antagonistic, diplomatic, subordinate, and kinship relationships and discuss how these overlapping networks contributed to dynamic changes in the Classic period. This case study demonstrates how current network analysis techniques can contribute to archaeological studies of the scalar dynamics and organizational changes of past social and political systems.     

中国文明起源研究的回顾与思考

1928年发掘殷墟揭开了用考古资料探讨中国早期文明的序幕。但是探索中国文明起源主要是新中国成立以后展开的,可以划分三个阶段:早期阶段,20世纪50年代至70年代;研究的热潮阶段,20世纪80年代至90年代;新进展与新问题阶段,2000-2011年。学术界已经形成共识,开展文明起源研究的主力军只能是考古学,田野考古才是解决问题的关键。对国外考古学研究文明起源的成果缺乏深度了解也阻碍了中国文明起源研究的深入进行。目前已有学者自觉地认识到要主动开展多学科合作研究。探源工程,相对而言在专项研究上,容易得出新的认识,可是在宏观上做总结性的概括则有待不断地解读、探索。     

Forty years of Industrial Archaeology Review: A Personal View

ABSTRACT

This article presents a personal view of the origins and development of Industrial Archaeology Review in the 40th volume of its publication. This is preceded by an account of the earlier journals to publish articles on industrial archaeology, as well as a brief account of such articles in the sister journal, Post-Medieval Archaeology. A short history of Industrial Archaeology Review is included for future reference purposes. The range of authors contributing to the journal is considered, from the volunteers in local industrial archaeology societies to the professional archaeologists of the later period. Attention is given to the importance of the publication of the annual Rolt Memorial Lectures, as well as the occasional themed issues where articles on specific topics have been grouped together. Finally, the article suggests how best use can be made, in this article and in the journal generally, of the advantages of digitisation.     

‘The first duties of persons living in a civilized community’: the Maya, the Church, and the colonial state in southern Belize

In recent years, historical geography has been at the forefront of new scholarship on the spatiality of colonial power and its complex relations with indigenous communities. This literature shows that imperial policies – emerging through state and scientific institutions, cultural practices, and capitalist ventures – required particular ways of conceptualizing, mapping, and organizing spaces and territories which transformed the geographies of indigenous communities, livelihoods, and identities. Through a close reading of archival texts from the late 19th and early 20th century, this paper examines the spatial and political relations between three groups: the Catholic Church, the British colonial state, and the Maya communities of southern British Honduras. Differences between the Catholic Church and the British colonial state – in their aims and approach to winning hegemony over the Q'eqchi' and Mopan Maya – were accommodated and assuaged by a tacit agreement: that the Maya must be settled in permanent communities. Colonial power, in both its spiritual and statist modalities, was imminently geographical, and this geography comprised the common ground between Church and state in their approach to the Maya.     

考古学研究方法散论--评塔尔格伦的《史前考古学方法》

从上个世纪30年代起,欧美不断有考古学家著文对长期停留于文化史研究的考古学及其类型方法提出强烈的批评,塔尔格伦教授的<史前考古学方法>就是其中较具代表性的一篇.我国的考古类型学也经历了类似的发展历程.虽然已有不少学者对类型方法进行过探讨,但其中仍存在一些不足之处分型分式的标准不严、实践滞后于理论和研究方法过于单一等.我们应该建立一个客观的研究方法和理论体系以促进中国考古学的进一步发展.     

《古代的交互作用:欧亚大陆的东部与西部》述评

最近 ,英国剑桥大学麦克唐纳研究所出版《古代的交互作用 :欧亚大陆的东部与西部》文集 ,它集中展示了欧亚大陆的考古及东西文化交流的最新成果。 1998年以来 ,剑桥大学举办了 3次大型国际会议 ,内容涉及欧亚大陆史前学、人类学、语言和文化。本书为 2 0 0 0年“史前后期欧亚草原的开发”会议文集。由著名考古学家伦福儒教授作序 ,收入不同国家学者的文章 2 1篇 ,全面介绍了欧亚草原新石器晚期至铁器时代初的考古发现和的研究成果 ;另有部分文章涉及该区域内的植物考古学与人种学的Y染色体DNA分析     

The politics of memory: Commemorating the centenary of the First World War

This symposium examines how the centenary of the First World War has been marked in five countries: Australia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. Given their distinctive national historical experiences and political cultures, the metanarratives of the war in these countries differ; as does the relationship between the state and sub-state actors in memory making. However, in each case the commemorations of the war have been shaped by a negotiation between the state and other agents of memory at the sub-state level. National memory has also been consciously projected into international relations, through carefully orchestrated anniversary ceremonies and performative memorial diplomacy. But, despite these transnational commemorative practices, the centenary of the war remains predominantly framed within local and national imaginings.

这次研讨会议论了一战百年在奥地利、法国、德国、英国、美国这五个国家是如何庆祝的。考虑到各国不同的历史经验以及政治文化,这些国家关于一战的元叙事各不相同,国家与次国家主体关系的记忆也是如此。不过,每个国家的战争纪念,都是国家与其他次国家层面主体协商的结果。通过精心策划的纪念仪式日以及表演性纪念外交,国家记忆被有意识地投射到了国际关系之中。除了这些跨国纪念活动,一战的记忆主要是在地方以及国家的想象框架内形成的。     

文明话语与帝国文化——关于义和团运动后传教士参与劫掠北京的一场争论

1901年义和团战争以后,美国社会围绕传教士参与对华劫掠兴起了一场争论,对这场争论的考察揭示出无论是马克.吐温和一些反帝国主义者,还是美国海外传教团体,争论双方都利用了当时流行的文明话语来论证自己的观点。这一文明话语为美国的扩张和海外非正式帝国的建立提供了支持和合法性,因而构成了一种帝国文化。     

The Discourse of Fear: Effects of the War on Terror on Canadian University Students

This multimethod study is based on written narratives, demographic questionnaires, and interviews. I examine data collected from 99 students of a Canadian university to explore how the War on Terror has affected them. The findings are divided into four categories. The first category of the respondents is mute about the war’s effects. The second shows a disjuncture between the respondents’ lives and the war. The third reflects the effects on the Canadian soldiers’ friends or relatives, and the final represents those who do not have personal connections to the war but feel deeply affected by it. The discourse of fear appears as the most prominent effect in the narratives of the respondents. The basic themes that emerged from the discourse of fear (racism, Islamophobia, and social control) are then developed and discussed as they pertain to the respondents. The findings have many implications for both researchers and educators.     

A Two‐Tiered Method for Identifying Trends in Media Framing of Policy Issues: The Case of the War on Terror

Research on media framing of policy issues has flourished. Yet the varied approaches to conceptualizing and operationalizing issue frames that make this literature rich also hinder its advancement. Here, we document the benefits of a two‐tiered method: the first level accounts for issue‐specific frames, while the second level tracks frames that generalize across issues. For this study, we draw on generalizable frames from prospect theory (loss vs. gain frames) and social identity theory (self‐referential vs. other‐referential frames). We discuss the theoretical merits of a two‐tiered approach, arguing that it should yield compound insights greater than the sum of its parts. Applying this method to newspaper coverage of the war on terror, we find a strong trend at the generalizable level: media framing of the war shifted over time from a predominant use of “fear” (self‐referential loss) frames to an increasing use of “charity” (other‐referential gain) frames. Our approach further reveals that the fear frames used in the lead‐up to the Iraq War were not driven by issue‐specific frames related to terrorism or weapons of mass destruction as we might have thought, but rather by frames related to the anticipated threats to U.S. troops. This study sharpens our understanding of how framing of the war evolved, but more broadly it suggests that a two‐tiered approach could be applied both within and across policy issues to advance our understanding of the framing process.     

宗族社会与地域文明——以安徽贵池南山刘氏宗族为例

明清民国时期,安徽贵池南山刘氏宗族是一个典型的聚族而居、族有祠、宗有谱的宗族社会,宗族建设所馈留的文化遗存较为丰富,体现在古墟落、祠堂、民居及文化建设的典籍和艺术珍品等方面,反映出中国传统宗族社会聚落一方、营建一方的一般态势,也折射出宗族社会与地域文明的内在关联。     

生态文明导向的旅游发展方式转型——基于崇明岛案例

生态文明是人类文明发展的高端形态。生态文明导向的旅游发展方式转型,实质是旅游科学发展方式的实践建构和理论探索。传统旅游发展方式注重景观资源、资本要素的投入,忽视人本关怀。旅游业作为＂国民经济战略性支柱产业与人民更加满意的服务业＂的＂国计民生＂高端定位,为旅游发展方式转型提出了明确的方向。新旅游发展方式,是一种呵护自然生态、彰显人本关怀、坚守公平正义、凸显科学与伦理的文明发展方式。为此,本文基于长江口的崇明岛案例,探讨了旅游发展方式转型的低碳化模式,提出了生态旅游质量提升的一般理论模式。