CHALLENGES IN APPROACHES TO SKELETAL STATURE ESTIMATION: AN EXAMPLE FROM PREHISTORIC EASTERN MISSISSIPPI AND WESTERN ALABAMA

Abstract

Although stature is used widely as a bioarchaeological health indicator, its determination and subsequent interpretation are not always straightforward. A study of 77 individuals from eight prehistoric populations from the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway illustrates this issue. Application of three common stature estimation formulae to five Middle/Late Woodland and four Mississippian groups strongly suggests that use of partial versus whole bone, choice of element, and stature estimation method can create disparate patterns in health interpretation, not only for the direction of differences but particularly regarding the degree of differences among groups.     

CHEMICAL–MINERALOGICAL ANALYSES AND MICROSTRUCTURAL STUDIES OF PREHISTORIC POTTERY FROM RAHMATABAD,SOUTH‐WEST IRAN*

A series of prehistoric pottery samples excavated from Rahmatabad, south‐west Iran, were investigated using XRF and XRD analyses to determine their chemical and mineralogical compositions. The sample microstructures were also studied by SEM/EDX. The relative similarity of compositions, the fine, dense and homogeneous microstructures and the presence of high‐temperature phases such as diopside and mullite showed the use of high firing temperatures, in the range 950–1050°C. This, along with the homogeneity in shape, decoration and size ranges of the ware, all indicate the adoption of specialized pottery‐making techniques by the potters of Rahmatabad in the fifth to fourth millennia bc .     

ARCHAEOMAGNETIC RESULTS FROM SOME PREHISTORIC SITES IN BULGARIA

Six newly discovered prehistoric sites in Bulgaria have been studied archaeomagnetically in a joint work between the Geophysical Institutes in Sofia and Kiev. Two sites (Samovodene and Podgoritza) belong to the neolithic age, Slatino and Omurtag belong to the aeneolithic period, and the last two (Yunatzite and Plovdiv-Nebet tepe) are from the bronze and iron ages.     

HISTORICAL TESTIMONY FROM TIBETAN PREHISTORIC AGRICULTURE - AN ARCHEOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE TRANGO RUIN IN LHOKA PREFECTURE

<正>Suddenly the sealed asphalt road disappeared.The off-road vehicles drove along the north bank of the Yarlung Zangpo River in a mountain valley.In the distance,we could see the undulating mountain ranges changing shape as our vehicles moved along the riverbank.Gedun explained that those were the mountain ranges of Gokhlariju Mountain.     

旅游者符号实践初探——以杭州西湖“西子”诗词为例

旅游者符号实践概念的提出旨在进一步凸显旅游者在旅游吸引物符号建构中的主体性。本文以杭州西湖的"西子"诗词为例,初步探讨了旅游者符号实践概念的基本内涵、理论支撑与研究价值。旅游者符号实践并不是对已有符号记忆的被动接受,而是借助旅游者的亲身体验,不断将其运用到旅游实践中去加以检验、深化和再创造的动态演进过程。符号学理论、实践理论和(身体)现象学理论构成了旅游者符号实践研究的三大理论支撑。符号实践是旅游者符号体验过程中主观与客观、过去与现在、已知与可能、我者与他者、代表物与对象等诸多二元关系的中间环节和关键枢纽,既关系到旅游者的符号体验质量,也与旅游目的地可持续发展息息相关,因而具有一定的研究价值。     

ANTI-RACISM IN ‘WHITE’ AREAS: THE EXAMPLE OF TYNESIDE*

This paper discusses the development of anti-racist consciousness amongst educationalists in a predominantly white location in Britain (Tyneside). The notion that the emergence of anti-racism in ‘white’ areas can be adequately conceptualized in terms of anti-racism's move from ‘multiracial’ locations is rejected. It is argued that the development of anti-racist attitudes amongst Tyneside educationalists needs to be examined in terms of their experiences of working and living in the area. Through the use of a series of interviews it is shown how this group has reformulated anti-racism in the light of local social conditions.     

RAPID REGIONAL ENLARGEMENT IN SWEDEN: A PHENOMENON MISSING AN EXPLANATION

According to Swedish register data, regional size and the extent of commuting have both increased rapidly in recent decades. From the perspective of policy-making authorities, this would indicate good prospects for regional development, as small regions could be integrated into larger ones resulting in increased economic growth. However, there are few concrete manifestations of such regional enlargement, and alternative datasets give other impressions of the effects of commuting. Here we argue that this apparent growth might stem from several problems inherent in a register-based way of measuring changes in commuting patterns. Thus, regional enlargement and the extent of commuting may be exaggerated when measured conventionally, and the high hopes of using such enlargement to lever regional development might be misplaced. More generally, this study considers the problems arising as census or other enquiry and interview based data are replaced by register data.     

ON THE INTENT TO MAKE CRAMP: AN INTERPRETATION OF VITREOUS SEAWEED CREMATION 'WASTE' FROM PREHISTORIC BURIAL SITES IN ORKNEY, SCOTLAND

Summary.   Vitreous slag-like material, known as 'cramp', from prehistoric cremation burial sites in Orkney is, apart from cremated bone, one of the recurrent remains found within or around Bronze Age burials. Although the suggestion that cramp was formed by the fusing of sand attached to dry seaweed while it was being burnt was first proposed in the 1930s, there has never been a consideration of seaweed's contribution to cremation other than as a potential fuel. Scientific analyses presented in this paper corroborate the use of seaweed. It is suggested that cramp may have been deliberately produced to act as an efficient collector of shattered bone which otherwise could have been lost during the cremation. Far from being a 'waste', cramp could well have been another form of 'human-remains' in its own right.     

MIDDLE HOLOCENE PERIODICITIES IN RAINFALL INFERRED FROM OXYGEN AND CARBON ISOTOPIC FLUCTUATIONS IN PREHISTORIC TROPICAL ESTUARINE MOLLUSC SHELLS

Stable oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios in modern and archaeological estuarine mollusc shells, Polymesoda radiata, change in accordance with seasonal salinity fluctuations in the Acapetahua estuary located on the Pacific coast of southern Mexico. This region receives ?3000 mm of precipitation annually, most during a wet season between April and October. The changing flux of fresh water and organic detritus into the estuary causes large changes in the oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of the estuarine waters and in the carbonate precipitated by P. radiata. Oxygen isotopic ratios in the shells of molluscs collected by late Archaic period populations (5000–4000 BP) in this region indicate that patterns of rainfall were similar to today. Modern shells, however, exhibit much more negative carbon isotopic values than observed in prehistoric shells. This change may be associated with the input of modern fertilizers into the estuary.     

AN EXAMPLE OF THE PROCESS OF ACCULTURATION IN THE EARLY ROMAN FRONTIER

Summary. This paper looks at how the process of acculturation can be detected in the archaeological record. It considers the specific case of acculturation in the Upper Rhine during the early Roman period and attempts to demonstrate how archaeological material can be used to evaluate social changes. Various aspects of the pottery assemblage, which relate to different aspects of pottery production and use, are considered such as production technology, style, and form. Many of the changes result from cultural changes which occurred as a result of interaction between the Roman and local peoples. Other works concerning acculturation are reviewed to determine what types of factors are involved in the process. These factors are considered, in relation to the Upper Rhine, in a discussion of the changes in the pottery and how they relate to social changes. Various explanatory models are proposed.     

我国中西部老工业基地产业衰退地域评价方法和特征研究

论文提出了评价产业衰退地域的指标体系,构建了基于综合评分和自组织神经网络的评价和分类模型,把我国中西部老工业基地划分为产业衰退特征明显的、具有较强的产业衰退特征、呈现出一定的产业衰退特征和产业衰退特征不明显的4大类城市,并分析了各种类型城市的特征和存在的问题。     

中国农村工业结构变化的省际差异分析

本文应用结构变化指数和专业化指数,定量分析了全国各省、市、区1986至1991年农村工业结构变化的差异、专业化差异及两者关系的差异,并根据各地专业化部门的变化趋势,对农村工业结构政策提出若干建议。