Shellfishing and the Colonization of Sahul: A Multivariate Model Evaluating the Dynamic Effects of Prey Utility,Transport Considerations and Life-History on Foraging Patterns and Midden Composition

ABSTRACT

Archaeological evidence of shellfish exploitation along the coast of Sahul (Pleistocene Australia-New Guinea) points to an apparent paradox. While the continental record as a whole suggests that human populations were very low from initial colonization through early Holocene, coastal and peri-coastal sites dating to that time are dominated by small, low-ranked, littoral taxa to the near-complete exclusion of large, higher ranked, sub-littoral species, precisely the opposite of theory-based expectations, if human populations and predation rates were indeed as low as other data suggest. We present a model of shellfish exploitation combining information on species utility, transport considerations, and prey life-history that might account for this apparent mismatch, and then assess it with ethnographic and archaeological data. Findings suggest either that high-ranked taxa were uncommon along the Pleistocene coastlines of Sahul, or that abundant and commonly taken high-ranked prey are under-represented in middens relative to their role in human diets largely as a function of human processing and transport practices. If the latter reading is correct, archaeological evidence of early shellfishing may be mainly the product of subsistence activities by children and their mothers.     

Shellfish exploitation in Stone Age Arctic Norway: procurement patterns and household activities

Archaeological evidence for coastal shellfish exploitation in Arctic Norway mostly dates from 5300 to 1500 BC, encompassing the terminal Mesolithic, the Late Stone Age, and the beginning of the Early Metal Period. Shell middens are generally associated with semi-subterranean houses, but may also occur as free-standing deposits. The primary shellfish taxa exploited were Littorina littorea, Arctica islandica and Mytilus edulis. Most of the species utilized were available in the littoral zone and were easily procured in the course of daily household activities, but sub-littoral A. islandica would have required greater investment in procurement technology and time, as well as labor cooperation. Shellfish were an occasional dietary supplement and could also serve as fishing bait. Spatial and temporal variation in shellfish assemblages reflects local marine ecology, sea-level changes, household dynamics, and perhaps field processing. Interpretation of the existing data is constrained by inadequate midden sampling and documentation methods.     

Global Patterns in the Exploitation of Shellfish

ABSTRACT

Shellfish are a crucial resource for past and present subsistence-level societies around the world. Despite the diversity of environments in which shellfish are exploited, an examination of the global patterns of shellfish exploitation reveal surprisingly common patterns in the opportunities allowed and constraints imposed by relying on shellfish. These commonalities, linked to the fundamental features of shellfish and their exploitation, can illuminate diverse social and ecological factors likely to influence variability in their archaeological signatures. Here we review contributions to this special issue and explore common trends in shellfish use and its archaeological consequences.     

Two Occurrences of Weser Slipware from Early 17th Century Iroquois Sites in New York State

Abstract

Examples of Weser Slipware, recently recovered from two Iroquois sites in New York State, provide evidence for the intensification of Dutch mercantile activity along the mid Atlantic coast during the late 16th century and early decades of the 17th century.     

Change and continuity: Case studies in cultural anthropology

George D. Spindler and student collaborators. Burgbach: Urbanization and Identity in a German Village. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973. x + 134 pp. Glossary, references, recommended reading, maps, illus. $3.25 (paper).

Oriol Pi‐Sunyer. Zamora: Change and Continuity in a Mexican Town. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973. xii + 134 pp. Glossary, references, recommended reading, map, tables, illus. $2.75 (paper).

Richard A. Barrett. Benabarre: The Modernization of a Spanish Village. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1974. xiv + 106 pp. References, recommended reading, map, tables, illus. $3.00 (paper).

Helen Icken Saga. The Urban Poor of Puerto Rico: A Study in Development and Inequality. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1974. xii + 110 pp. Glossary, references, map, tables, illus. $3.00 (paper).     

Education as a cultural process

John Collier, Jr. Alaskan Eskimo Education: A Film Analysis of Cultural Confrontation in the Schools. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973. v + 130 pp. Illustrations, index and bibliography. $2.75 (paper).

Nancy Modiano. Indian Education in the Chiapas Highlands. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973. 128 pp. Illustrations and index. $2.75 (paper).

Harry F. Wolcott. The Man in the Principal's Office: An Ethnography. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973. vii + 334 pp. Tables, charts and references. $4.95 (paper).     

Signs of the impending apocalypse?

Allan W. Eister, ed. Changing Perspectives in the Scientific Study of Religion. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1974. xxii + 370 pp. Tables, figures, chapter notes, references, and index. $14.50.

J. Stillson Judah. Hare Krishna and the Counterculture. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1974. xviii + 301 pp. Tables, figures, references, selected bibliography, glossary, appendix, and index. $14.95.

B. Z. Sobel. Hebrew Christianity: The Thirteenth Tribe. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1974. xi + 413 pp. Chapter notes, bibliography, appendix, notes, references, and index. $12.50.

Edward A. Tiryakian, ed. On the Margin of the Visible: Sociology, the Esoteric, and the Occult. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1974. xv + 364 pp. Notes, bibliography, and author index. $9.95.     

The dynamics of anthropologizing‐some excursions in villages and towns

A. L. Ruffa, Ruth S. Freed, Lucie Wood Saunders, Edward C. Hansen, and Sula Benet, eds. City and Peasant: A Study in Sociocultural Dynamics. New York: New York Academy of Science, 1974. Annals of the New York Academy of Science, Volume 220, Article 6. 221 pp. Tables and references. $17.00 (cloth).     

Julius Drachsler's Intermarriage in New York City

Abstract

Julius Drachsler's 1921 book, Intermarriage in New York City, examined 171,356 individual marriage license applications from New York City in the years 1908–12. The author found little intermarriage across social lines among immigrants but a considerable amount among their U.S.-born children. This study replicates Drachsler's by taking a 1% sample (N = 1,714 cases) of the same set of marriage license applications for the same years. The replication results show that Drachsler correctly found an increasing trend to intermarriage between the first and second generations, and with close to the same proportions as Drachsler's work. The replication study of New York City marriage licenses is also consistent with the results from a 1910 sample of married couples living in New York City, taken from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Sample. The replication study differs from Drachsler's reported findings on the extent of intermarriages across social lines of nationality and race, mainly due to the idiosyncratic way that Drachsler defined those two constructs. The New York City marriage license files offer the researcher further opportunities to pose and answer questions about intermarriage.     

Coming of age in applied archaeology

Thomas F. King, Patricia Parker Hickman, and Gary Berg. Anthropology in Historic Preservation. New York: Academic Press, 1977. xi +344 pp. $15.00.

Michael B. Schiffer and George J. Gumerman, eds. Conservation Archaeology. New York: Academic Press, 1977. xxi + 495 pp. $19.50.     

Anthropology and education: History,method and applications to American schooling

Joan I. Roberts and Sherrie K. Akinsanya, eds. Educational Patterns and Cultural Configurations: The Anthropology of Education. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1976. xiv + 412 pp. Bibliography, biographical notes, and references. $7.95 paper.

Joan I. Roberts and Sherrie K. Akinsanya, eds. Schooling in the Cultural Context: Anthropological Studies of Education. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1976. xiv + 499 pp. Biographical notes and references. $8.95 paper.

Nobou Kenneth Shimahara and Adam Scrupski, eds. Social Forces and Schooling: An Anthropological and Sociological Perspective. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1975. xiv + 358 pp. Biographical notes and references. $6.95 paper.     

The history of cultural anthropology: Two views

Elvin J. Hatch. Theories of Man and Culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 1973. viii + 384 pp. References and index. $12.00.

Paul J. Bohannan and Mark Glazer, eds. High Points in Anthropology. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1973. xix + 449 pp. References. $6.95.     

Changing views of women in society, 1975

Ernestine Friedl. Women and Men: An Anthropologist's View. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1975. xi + 148 pp. Illustrations, map, references, and relevant case studies. $3.50 (paper).

M. Kay Martin and Barbara Voorhies. The Female of the Species. New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1975. x + 432 pp. Tables, figures, illustrations, references, and index. $15.00 (cloth), $6.50 (paper).

Evelyn Reed. Woman's Evolution: From Matriarchal Clan to Patriarchal Family. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1975. xviii + 491 pp. Glossary, Bibliography, and index. $15. (cloth), $4.95 (paper).     

Anthropology of women: The natural history stage

Carolyn J. Matthiasson, ed. Many Sisters: Women in Cross‐Cultural Perspective. New York: The Free Press, 1974. xxi + 433 pp. Illustrations, maps, figures, bibliography, and index. $15.00

Yolanda Murphy and Robert F. Murphy. Women of the Forest. New York: Columbia University Press, 1974. xii + 236 pp. Maps, bibliography, and index. $10.00 (cloth); $3.45 (paper).     

Groping Toward Globalization: In Search of an Anthropology Without Boundaries

Donal B. Cruise O'Brien. Saints and Politicians: Essays in the Organization of a Senegalese Peasant Society. African Studies Series 15. New York and London: Cambridge University Press, 1975. 213 pp. Tables, bibliographies and index. $13.95.

Patrick Cole. Modern and Traditional Elites in the Politics of Lagos. African Studies Series 12. New York and London: Cambridge University Press, 1975. 297 pp. Bibliography and index. $17.50.     

Clearing Up After the Science Wars: A Response to Emily A. Schultz

Melville J. Herskovits. Life in a Haitian Valley. New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1971 [1937]. xviii + 371 pp. Appendices, references, and index. $2.50, paper.

Melville J. Herskovits and Frances S. Herskovits. Trinidad Village. New York: Octagon Press, 1976 [1947]. viii + 351 pp. Illustrations, appendices, references, and index. $15.00.     

Rom to Rom/Rom to Gaje

Rena C. Gropper. Gypsies in the City. Princeton: The Darwin Press, 1975. xi + 235 pp. Tables, figures, maps, illustrations, appendix, glossary, bibliography and index. $9.95

Farnham Rehfisch, ed. Gypsies, Tinkers and Other Travellers. London and New York: Academic Press, 1975. x + 303 pp. Figures, tables, glossary and index. $15.25.

Anne Sutherland. Gypsies: The Hidden Americans. New York: The Free Press, 1975. x + 330 pp. Tables, figures, appendices, glossary, bibliography and indices. $13.95.     

American education‐the image in the mirror

Solon T. Kimball. Culture and the Educative Process: An Anthropological Perspective. New York: Teachers College Press, 1974. x + 285 pp. $10.00 (cloth).

George D. Spindler, ed. Education and Cultural Process: Toward an Anthropology of Education. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1974. xii + 559 pp. Tables, figures, appendixes and indexes. $6.95 (paper).     

Middle‐east,Midwest

Barbara C. Asward, ed. Arabic‐Speaking Communities in American Cities. New York: A joint publication of the Center for Migration Studies of New York, Inc., and the Association of Arab‐American University Graduates, Inc., 1974. vii + 191 pp. Appendix.