Bison Bone Fragmentation and Survivorship: a Comparative Method

Zooarchaeologists usually describe a bone fragment as a particular portion or segment using terminology based on skeletal orientation (e.g. proximal, anterior, lateral). A more precise understanding of bone fragmentation can be achieved by naming portions for discrete anatomical features and defined zones. Since the anatomical features are the diagnostic criteria for identifying and orienting bones, each specimen normally has at least one such portion, and a complete element contains all of them. This recording method facilitates study of the relationship between survivorship and volume density, and it enhances inter-site comparisons. The method employs the minimum number of elements (MNE) and minimum animal units (MAU) across a site-wide aggregate. Although illustrated here with an analysis of bison bones, the method can be adapted for the study of other taxa as well as for inter-species comparisons.     

Differences between NISP and MNE in cutmark analysis of highly fragmented faunal assemblages

Documentation of cutmarks is standard protocol in contemporary zooarchaeology. However, there is currently no consensus about how to best quantify them. This study examines differences in cutmark patterning using two approaches: 1) by means of an experiment, comparing a control cutmark pattern to ten simulated highly fragmented sets of front and rear limbs using %NISPcut as the quantitative unit, and 2) by quantifying an archaeological faunal assemblage using both the number of identifiable specimens (NISP) and the comprehensive minimum number of elements (cMNE). Results reveal significant differences in cutmark patterning between the control set and the simulated fragmented sets. Additionally, the ordinal-scale frequencies of cutmark anatomical portions (proximal, shaft, distal) are inconsistent and fluctuate across the simulated sets. Results of the zooarchaeological analysis show that differences between the two quantification methods are significant. In general, this study suggests that on heavily fragmented assemblages, interpretations of butchering behavior based on cutmark patterning are influenced by the chosen unit of quantification. Overall, using NISP as the quantitative unit provides inconsistent results, whereas, by alleviating the effects of high fragmentation, cMNE is more reliable.     

Systemic Flexibility,Production Fragmentation and Cluster Governance

The recent process of production fragmentation and the rapid growth of firm clusters have been explained by the increasing need for output flexibility. Although the mainstream literature relates flexibility mostly to labour adjustments, this paper investigates sources of flexibility as being related to forms of inter-firm production. Two extreme cases are compared: industrial districts and monopsonistic clusters. The nature and the implications of production flexibility are discussed in both settings. It is argued that the governance structure of industrial districts affects the dynamics of inter-firm linkages, which in turn enables systemic flexibility to be achieved.     

Positive Aspects of Community and the Dangers of Fragmentation

This essay seeks to explain the premisses of the communitarian movement in the USA, and to respond to some of its principal critics. At the heart of the debate is the fundamental question of the proper balance between individual liberty and commitment to the common good. The solution to this could be a form of ‘responsive’ communitarianism which in some situations (such as the present-day USA) may argue for more community, and in others (such as contemporary China) may press for a better anchoring of individual rights. In his examination of the centrifugal forces which can be unleashed by the search for ever-more-exclusive forms of community, Etzioni argues that excessive insistence on self-determination can weaken countries seeking to establish democratic government and threaten democracy in countries which have already attained it.     

Observations on the Geographical Dimensions of Russia's Resource Abundance

A UK-based authority on Russia's economic geography examines the geographical dimensions of Russia's resource abundance, devoting particular attention to the spatial redistribution of resource rents generated by extraction, primary processing, and fabrication. After establishing Russia's credentials as a "resource-abundant economy," the author identifies the country's resource regions and considers their relative importance in terms of population, territory, and national economic contribution. He then considers the various dimensions (and different geographies) of resource rent, focusing on the oil and gas sector. The paper extends Gaddy and Ickes' (2005) macro-economic assessment and discusses the consequences of rent redistribution for interregional income flows as well as Russia's territorial cohesion. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O11, O13, O18, Q30. 5 figures, 1 table, 55 references.     

甲骨文“瓠”“瓢”“卣”考辨

甲骨文■三种形体不同之字,前辈学者考释其为卣字的繁简之异。然三字所从文字偏旁有异,在甲骨卜辞中的语境和用法完全不同,说明这是三个有相互关联、而字义完全不同之字。把三字所从■偏旁与自然界实物对比后发现,■尽管形态有异,但它是匏(匏、葫芦)的象形文字。从瓠从皿的■字,是葫芦瓢漂在盛水器皿中之形,它是瓢的会意字。从瓠从倒立庐形的■字,殷商时期其材质由木质转变为青铜,盛放专用鬯酒,是为卣字。对瓠、瓢、卣三字的考订,证实了文字形体的细微差异与甲骨文字义关系密切的观点。     

Taxonomic reassignment of the Paleolithic human navicular from Cueva de los Torrejones (Guadalajara,Spain)

Evidence of human activity and hominin remains are very scarce inland on the Iberian Peninsula. This fact raises the issue of the scarcity of evidence that Paleolithic Homo sapiens occupied this area outside of the littoral margins (Atlantic, Cantabrian, and Mediterranean coasts). Here, we comparatively describe a human right adult navicular bone recovered in the Cueva de los Torrejones site, located in the village of Tamajón (Guadalajara, Spain). This fossil was preliminarily established as belonging to Homo cf. neanderthalensis, due to the late Pleistocene faunal association, mainly because of the presence of Crocuta crocuta and Panthera pardus. The metrical and morphological study of the navicular T93-S3.27 from Cueva de los Torrejones clearly differentiates it from Neandertals and their ancestors, the hominins from Sima de los Huesos, allowing for this fossil to be taxonomically assigned with confidence as H. sapiens. The navicular from the Cueva de los Torrejones is absolutely and relatively medio-laterally narrow with a low wedging index as those of fossil and modern H. sapiens, and clearly different of Neandertals. The increased discoveries and publications of new naviculars belonging to genus Homo, together with the findings of P. pardus and C. crocuta in more recent chronologies in the Iberian Peninsula, are compatible with this reevaluation. We propose a probable chronology for this fossil between 12 and 15 ka and ca. 25 ka, based on the biostratigraphy and the oldest presence of H. sapiens in the Iberian Peninsula. This work confirms the human presence within the Iberian Peninsula during the Upper Paleolithic and reopens the question of the peopling of the inner Peninsula during this period.     

Bone frequencies: differential transport, in situ destruction,and the MGUI

Human transport of bones with high food values, and destruction of bones with low density values are the traditionally invoked explanations of the frequencies of bones in archeological contexts. The manner in which these two explanations have been used suggests archaeologists assume the explanations to be independent of one another. The transport explanation is operationalized as the modified general utility index (MGUI) of Binford, and the destruction explanation is operationalized with measures of bone density. Statistical correlation of the MGUI with bone density, while weak, indicates that many high utility bones have low density values while many low utility bones have high density values. Because low density bones tend to be destroyed more readily than high density bones, inferences of human utility strategies derived from bone frequencies and based on the MGUI may be inaccurate. The utility strategies suggested by three archaeofaunas are compared to bone density, and two of these faunas are shown to potentially be the result of differential destruction and not human transport as measured by the MGUI.     

Technological,Functional and Contextual Aspects of the K2 and Mapungubwe Worked Bone Industries

Mapungubwe (AD 1220–1290) is generally regarded as the first urban centre in southern Africa, functioning as the seat of power for an extensive but short-lived polity. More than 80 years of excavations here, and at its nearby predecessor K2 (c. AD 1000–1220), resulted in a substantial assemblage of material remains from elite and commoner contexts. This assemblage includes a large collection of worked bone objects, such as needles, awls, tubes and objects of personal adornment. Of particular interest are the bone arrowheads and link-shafts, of which a significant number of specimens were found complete and intact. Such quantities of well-preserved worked bone objects are unique in the archaeological record of the region. The worked bone assemblages from these two sites provide a rare opportunity to study multiple components of the production process as well as the use context of bone objects. In this paper, we characterise the K2 and Mapungubwe worked bone industries through various morphological, technological, use-trace and contextual approaches and discuss the significance of these aspects in terms of raw material selection and manufacture and archaeological use context. In particular, this study shows the complexity of these worked bone industries over time.     

Resources,Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women's Empowerment

This paper begins from the understanding that women's empowerment is about the process by which those who have been denied the ability to make strategic life choices acquire such an ability. A wide gap separates this processual understanding of empowerment from the more instrumentalist forms of advocacy which have required the measurement and quantification of empowerment. The ability to exercise choice incorporates three inter-related dimensions: resources (defined broadly to include not only access, but also future claims, to both material and human and social resources); agency (including processes of decision making, as well as less measurable manifestations of agency such as negotiation, deception and manipulation); and achievements (well-being outcomes). A number of studies of women's empowerment are analysed to make some important methodological points about the measurement of empowerment. The paper argues that these three dimensions of choice are indivisible in determining the meaning of an indicator and hence its validity as a measure of empowerment. The notion of choice is further qualified by referring to the conditions of choice, its content and consequences. These qualifications represent an attempt to incorporate the structural parameters of individual choice in the analysis of women's empowerment.     

Fragmentation and preservation of bird bones in uneaten food remains of the Gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus

This paper presents fragmentation patterns of bird bones in uneaten food remains of the gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus. The victims' bones show a relatively low degree of fragmentation. Elements of the pectoral girdle and wing predominate while head and leg elements are poorly represented.     

Public Opinion and Policy Representation: On Conceptualization,Measurement, and Interpretation

The congruence between public preferences and public policy is of special importance in representative democracies. We want to know whether the public is getting the policies it wants and, if not, whose preferences are being represented. To directly evaluate congruence, scholars need to measure what the public wants in a particular policy area and then correctly match it to policy in that area. This is difficult to do. Not surprisingly, while much scholarship examines the congruence of positions, little research examines actual policy congruence. Even the work that there is on the subject offers limited information. In this paper, I assess what we can infer about congruence from the different scholarly traditions in the study of representation. I also consider prospects for research on the match between public preference inputs and public policy outputs, particularly when we cannot assess it directly.     

福建漳平奇和洞遗址的骨制品

奇和洞遗址是福建境内三普期间发现的最重要的遗址之一,洞口沉积物系列从晚更新世末期至全新世早期,出土的69件骨制品中,旧石器时代3件,新石器时代早期66件。对骨制品进行的统计、观察表明:制作骨制品一般都要根据所需工具的要求选择不同厚度和不同位置的骨骼作原料,经过敲击(或劈裂骨骼)、取坯(挑选适合的坯件)、整形、磨制等工序;时代越晚,骨制品数量越多,制作工艺水平也从粗糙、简单逐渐发展到成熟、规整、美观。骨制品的出现是人类工具改革的重要里程碑,标志着人类在获取食物资源方面有了更多的手段。     

江苏东台开庄遗址制骨手工业试析

开庄遗址出土了较多带有加工痕迹的骨角料,对这些骨角料进行的分析可以复原开庄遗址的制骨手工业.开庄的制骨手工业具备了专业化生产的基本特征,但是其专业化程度较低.尽管如此,其与聚落的对应关系表明,制骨手工业在史前开庄人的生产生活中占有比较重要的地位.相对于制骨作坊,开庄遗址的骨角器加工更像是整个村落或氏族统一组织管理的小规...     

Which Bone to Pick: Creation,Curation, and Dissemination of Online 3D Digital Bioarchaeological Data

A fluorescence of shape-capture technologies at many different scales, including synchrotron, CT, micro/nano-CT, laser scanning, and photogrammetry, has led to a proliferation of digital data in bioarchaeology. The question remains how these new 3D datasets, alongside traditional bioarchaeological data, can be disseminated, and what ethical concerns are raised by trying to bring a sensitive topic into the ‘Open Access’ era. A survey of current resources and policies suggest the need for establishing best-practice standards. This paper outlines a sample of current resources, alongside modes of access and dissemination strategies to develop a picture of online Digital Bioarchaeological Data (DBD) use.     

Bone preservation,decay and its related conditions in ancient human bones from Kuwait

By means of scanning electron microscopy, four out of a series of twelve inhumations from the Hellenistic Period were examined for traces of the decay process. The changes represented the result of erosion and biological decomposition of human bones on a small island in the northern part of the Persian Gulf over a period of ca. 2200 years. Special emphasis was given to bone preservation and blood cell survival, and to bone changes due to physicochemical erosion and fungus, bacterium, insect and plant-root activity. Related soil and climatic conditions were taken into consideration. The observations should be evaluated to understand the unusual state of preservation of the bones and to avoid possible misinterpretation of pseudo-pathological bone changes as ante-mortem pathology.     

The Snake Bone Case: Law,Custom, and Justice in a Papua New Guinea Village Court

One of the outcomes of judgmental administrative attitudes toward indigenous praxis in colonial Papua New Guinea was a convention that an antagonistic relationship existed between European law and ‘native custom‘. By the end of the colonial period the defence of ‘custom’ had become part of an anti-colonial polemic among indigenous intellectuals and politicians. The Village Court system was established in this rhetorical climate. Its mission, reinforced in legislation, included the favouring of ‘custom’ in the dispensation of justice. Subsequent academic and journalistic commentaries on the development of the Village Court system have perpetuated a binary notion of the relationship between law and custom, whether portraying it as antagonistic or articulatory. This article focuses on a single case from a Port Moresby village court, involving an accusation of attempted sorcery. The case raises questions not only about the validity of the discursive law/custom dichotomy but about the notion of custom itself in the context of the dispensation of justice in contemporary Papua New Guinea. It is suggested that in village court praxis, the notion of custom serves the exploitation of village court officers as cheap labour in the justice system.     

Americanist Stratigraphic Excavation and the Measurement of Culture Change

Many versions of the history of Americanist archaeology suggest there was a stratigraphic revolution during the second decade of the twentieth century—the implication being that prior to about 1915 most archaeologists did not excavate stratigraphically. However, articles and reports published during the late nineteenth century and first decade of the twentieth century indicate clearly that many Americanists in fact did excavate stratigraphically. What they did not do was attempt to measure the passage of time and hence culture change. The real revolution in Americanist archaeology comprised an analytical shift from studying synchronic variation to tracking changes in frequencies of artifact types or styles—a shift pioneered by A. V. Kidder, A. L. Kroeber, Nels C. Nelson, and Leslie Spier. The temporal implications of the analytical techniques they developed—frequency seriation and percentage stratigraphy—were initially confirmed by stratigraphic excavation. Within a few decades, however, most archaeologists had begun using stratigraphic excavation as a creational strategy—that is, as a strategy aimed at recovering superposed sets of artifacts that were viewed as representing occupations and distinct cultures. The myth that there was a stratigraphic revolution was initiated in the writings of the innovators of frequency seriation and percentage stratigraphy.