Salt Water Application of the Flotation Technique

Abstract

This paper reports on a successful experimentation with salt water flotation in conjunction with pre-Columbian research on the northwestern Pacific coast of Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica. Mechanical results are indicated, and the application of the technique by archaeologists faced with limitations of fresh water, but abundance of salt water, is encouraged.     

The Hand-Pump Flotation System: A New Method for Archaeobotanical Recovery

Abstract

At the sites of Acquachiara in Italy, el-Hemmeh in Jordan, and Beisamoun in Israel, archaeobotanical recovery was accomplished using flotation systems powered by hand-pumps, as opposed to non-circulating systems or systems powered by electricity or gasoline. These flotation tanks were simple and inexpensive to construct, easily operated by a single individual, highly durable, and easily transported. The speed of water flow was both ample and could be controlled without difficulty. These systems had the capacity to process samples at a rate sufficient to keep pace with large-scale sampling programs at all three sites. In three case studies, we describe two tanks that recycle water and one that does not, list the parts and procedures necessary to construct a hand-pump system, and detail the results of a recovery test that demonstrates the efficacy of this technique. The type of flotation tank described would be appropriate for a range of research projects with various resource constraints, enabling substantial paleoethnobotanical data collection with only a minimal initial investment of time and money.     

Archaeology,Cultural Property,and the Military

Abstract

Poland's ‘silent revolution’ which led to the disintegration of the Communist regime in 1989 was inevitably reflected in the financial situation of archaeological research. Some well-established institutions which lost their secure government funding were disrupted or even destroyed.

Cuts in the numbers of research staff (by around 30%), the change of research priorities from purely problem-oriented studies towards rescue excavations and the introduction of the market mechanism (in the system of grants and short-term contracts) began a process of painful reorientation and restructuring.

The challenge posed by private enterprise, by a gigantic programme of highways construction and by the emergence of wealthy sponsors brought about changes in the mentality of Polish archaeologists, changes which took place under the influence of growing surveillance by society at large and by the communications media.

Notions of social responsibility, ethics, effectiveness and financial transparency should define this ‘new’ reality which has been taking shape under the pressure of daily problems. However, far from all working archaeologists are able to understand this challenge.     

Introduction: recent approaches to pottery and society in the Southeast

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the themes of this special edition of Southeastern Archaeology on modern pottery studies and summarizes the articles included in this edition. Southeastern archaeologists increasingly are applying new theoretical constructs and techniques to ceramic studies. These new techniques, in conjunction with traditional typological analysis, allow archaeologists to approach the study of past peoples from a broader perspective.     

Archaeometric Clearinghouse

Abstract

The “Archaeometric Clearinghouse” aims to promote collaboration between field archaeologists and archaeometrists by disseminating information. It is not a book review column. The following notices of three symposium publications and two dedicatory volumes are therefore intended to be informative rather than critical. They call attention to the existence of books that are likely to be of interest to both archaeologists and archaeometrists, and they give a brief indication of the nature and scope of the contents.     

Re-visiting the field: Collaborative archaeology as paradigm shift

Abstract

The emphasis of the JFA on field methods resonates strongly with current disciplinary interest in multivocality and participatory research. In this new epistemology of inclusiveness, communities play an active role in the production of archaeological knowledge as well as in the conservation of cultural heritage. From the perspective of archaeologists trained in the U.S. who conduct research in Latin America, we historicize changes in the triadic relationship among archaeologists, contemporary communities, and things of the past. This examination focuses on the evolving social context of archaeological practice. The social milieu within which archaeology is conducted is explored further by reference to a recent survey of archaeologists that elicited comments on grand challenges to archaeology. A few examples of the many forms that an engaged archaeology might take are offered from the Maya region. Although collaborative research poses challenges that emerge as communities entangled with archaeological practice become research partners, we suggest that the enhanced relevance that accompanies this transformation is well worth the effort.     

Soft-Stone Sources on Crete

Abstract

Neutron activation analysis and other analytical techniques enable archaeologists to match certain stone artifacts with their sources in the living rock. Steatite, serpentinite, and chlorite, which are often called “soft stones,” have been matched with considerable success in tests on New World samples. Matching artifacts and sources helps the archaeologist in determining prehistoric exchange systems and thus gain considerable insights into ancient cultures.

In order to provide basic information on soft-stone sources on Crete with which samples from artifacts may be compared, a review of the literature and two field surveys were undertaken. The results indicate that soft-stone sources on Crete are more extensive than formerly believed. The correlation between soft-stone deposits and the location of ancient sites is also considered.     

Tracing the Roots of Municipal Archaeology in St Augustine,Florida: The Story of How ‘The Oldest City’ Connected Archaeology,Local Government,and the Public

Abstract

This article explores the history of public archaeology in St Augustine, Florida, and identi?es lessons that may be useful for archaeologists looking to develop a stronger relationship with the public. The City of St Augustine has developed an archaeology ordinance, it keeps an archaeologist on staff, and it boasts a grassroots non-pro?t organization dedicated to supporting archaeology in the city. This framework is the result of a conversation that has been taking place within the community since the 1930s. As public archaeologists seek new ways of establishing long-term relationships with community groups, this exceptional programme, which only exists because of community support, provides insights into how to build those relationships on a solid foundation.     

Cultural Capital: A Manifesto for the Future

Abstract

The paper deals with public archaeology in Latin America, understood as an enquiry: who benefits from archaeology? It focuses on the relationship between archaeologists and indigenous peoples and their rights. Countries with a majority of non-Indian population traditionally excluded natives from the nation building discourse, whilst some others forged idealised natives in the so-called Indigenismo ideology. Nationalism strongly enforced national, non-native ethos and mores. Archaeologists are usually unaware of Indian issues and contract archaeology has further complicated the situation in the recent decades. Indigenous groups are often restricted by the authorities with the assistance of archaeologists. Recently though several archaeologists have been challenging oppressive discourses and practices and are now interacting with natives.     

The Origins and Ethics of Maritime Archaeology – Part I

Abstract

For archaeologists, the principal value of prehistoric figurines is that they offer a means – however limited – into the cultures and lives of prehistoric peoples. There is a long tradition of archaeologists assuming that the figurines they unearth had a religious significance for the people who created them (since anthropomorphic figurines have a religious use in many cultures with which we are familiar). However, just as archaeologists began questioning their attribution of divine status to prehistoric figurines in the 1960s, practitioners of neopagan and goddess spiritualities – particularly those in the feminist spirituality movement – were adopting it. Moreover, in addition to describing prehistoric figurines as images of a Great Goddess who dominated prehistoric religious life, these contemporary feminist neopagans use reproductions of prehistoric figurines to inspire and enact their own spirituality. Feminist neopagan appropriation of prehistoric figurines has been problematic for many archaeologists, who quarrel – legitimately – with the conclusions feminist neopagans make about prehistory based on these artefacts. Yet, as this article argues, the contemporary religious use of prehistoric figurines should not be a matter for archaeologists to decide.     

The Mountainair Lithic Scatters: Settlement Patterns and Significance Evaluation of Low Density Surface Sites

Abstract

The Mountainair Lithic Scatters represent a kind of site all too frequently ignored by archaeologists. This paper suggests that field survey involving small projects should anticipate that isolated surface scatters can, with certain limitations, be placed into a settlement-pattern framework.     

Mixed messages Archaeology and the media

Abstract

Over the past few years in the UK, archaeology has joined gardening, cookery and home make-overs as a motherlode for popular TV programming and feature articles. From a period of shifting uncomfortably between dull, if worthy, accounts of new finds with a limited non-academic significance, and the blatant sensationalisation of evidence, there is an increasing tendency to make more of any ‘mysterious’ data particularly that involving bodies, Egyptians, cosmic links, drugs and sex. It makes for good viewing figures, but some archaeologists have expressed concern that the stories are skewing the subject. This paper offers evidence from the front-lines of both journalism and archaeology – and suggests that archaeologists should pay more attention to how they, too, tell stories.

[The grave]contained an inhumed body wearing hobnailed footwear accompanied by a small New Forest beaker placed at the neck. The body had been covered by a board of planks nailed together which rested on a ledge left towards the bottom of the grave pit.' (Cunliffe, 1991: 8)

SUNSPOT! The 1,700 year old skeleton of an womanstill wearing leather boots – has been dug up byarchaeologists on a farm at Over Wallop, Hants.' (The Sun, August 1991).     

The ethics of displaying human remains from British archaeological sites

Abstract

The 1998 exhibition London Bodies at the Museum of London provided an opportunity to review the ethical issues relating to the excavation, study and display of human remains in modern Britain. It is suggested that for most Britons the display of human skeletal material is not considered a problem, but that archaeologists would do well to ensure that their practices are in line with the views and beliefs of the society in which they work.     

Computer Use in Pottery Studies at Aphrodisias

Abstract

This article is intended primarily for archaeologists who may know little about computers, but suspect that the computer might be useful to them in their research. The emphasis is on the application of the computer to ceramics at the site of Aphrodisias, Turkey, where this system of field recording has evolved. The excavations at Aphrodisias have unearthed a relatively continuous stratigraphic sample of pottery from the Chalcolithic through to the Roman and Byzantine periods. This rich and varied corpus of material culture is now being analyzed with the aid of the computer. This article familiarizes the reader with the problems, methodology, and computer mechanics used to retrieve these data and shows how such a system can be used when a direct tie-up with a computer is impossible.     

The Cave Who Never Was: Outsider Archaeology and Failed Collaboration in the USA

Abstract

The alleged 1982 discovery of a phantasmagorical Late-Antique necropolis in southern Illinois has largely escaped the attention of professional archaeologists, despite thousands of artefacts having been sold to naive collectors and would-be revolutionary scholars for more than a quarter of a century. The site (named Burrows Cave after its notorious finder) is a staple of outsider archaeology, like 10,000-year-old pyramids and ancient astronauts. Burrows Cave flourishes in the extra-disciplinary realm of hyperdiffusionist archaeology, terra incognita outside the bounds of the traditional science and thus not considered worthy of examination by scholars. This essay explores the significance of US archaeologists’ failure to critically yet respectfully engage with a public who is extremely interested in archaeological discoveries but sceptical of scholarly elitism. Professionals’ disinterest has resulted in a dismissal of outsider archaeology en masse, leaving the worst abuses unchecked. This leaves the public with few clues to distinguish the impossible from the improbable, unorthodox, or iconoclastic. Audacious enterprises such as Burrows’ are left to flourish, driving wedges between archaeologists and the interested public, preventing effective collaboration and dialogue. Burrows Cave is a lesson for aspiring archaeologists: proof of what happens when professionals turn up their noses at opportunities for engagement with community interests.     

Flotation versus dry sieving archaeobotanical remains: A case history from the Middle Horizon southern coast of Peru

Abstract

During excavations at the site of Casa Vieja located in the Peruvian coastal desert, archaeological plant remains were systematically collected to assess whether it is more productive and informative to sieve sandy sediments in dry environments or to process such samples by water flotation, a persistent methodological concern. At Casa Vieja, dual subsamples were collected and analyzed using both of these procedures. For dry, sandy sediment conditions, each processing strategy was found to yield a different view of the botanical remains. Dry sieving recovers more of the larger plant specimens whereas water flotation yields more of the smaller-sized material. These results should be incorporated into archaeological research designs in the future, especially for desert environments.     

Malta’s Unintentional Consequences: Archaeological Heritage and the Politics of Exclusion in the Netherlands

Abstract

We argue that the apparently successful implementation of the European Malta Convention (1992) in the Netherlands resulted in a relatively closed archaeological policy system, which separates ordinary people from experts. As a result, citizens were increasingly excluded from the archaeological process. The process of closure and exclusion is made visible by investigating Dutch amateur archaeologists and their changing roles within Dutch archaeology. Amateur archaeologists are a group of semi-experts often deemed essential to the quality of research and policy regarding archaeological heritage. Their marginalization after Malta caused discussion and frustration, undermining public support for the initial policy goal of the Malta Convention: conservation of archaeological heritage. Our analysis draws on recent academic debates concerning the policy-practice nexus in processes of Europeanization. Reducing negative side effects and re-targeting policies for greater efficacy and democracy requires insight into the pathways of implementation.     

The past as commodity: Archaeological images in modern advertising

Abstract

Despite increasing scholarly interest in archaeology and popular culture, the subject of archaeology and advertising has attracted little notice. This article takes a first step towards exploring the topic by deconstructing select ‘archaeoadverts’ from popular North American magazines, published primarily during the last two decades. Particular attention is given to images of Greek, Roman and Egyptian cultures. The sample is used to address several overarching questions: What popular preconceptions about archaeology and the archaeological record do advertisers believe are most effective? What kind of ‘authority’ do modern consumers grant to antiquity? How permeable are the boundaries between past and present? And do archaeologists unwittingly collude in perpetuating some of the detrimental stereotypes projected by these advertisements?     

Archaeometric Clearinghouse XVII

Abstract

Rapid escalation of fieldwork costs during the past years has required archaeologists to pursue innovative methods for maximizing the amount of fieldwork for the funds available. One of the more labor intensive aspects of fieldwork is the recovery of cultural materials through the use of manual shaker screens. During the past several years, several archaeologists in the midwestern United States have utilized slightly modified, commercially-manufactured agricultural machines for this task. The result is a very cost-efficient method of artifact recovery which drastically reduces the amount of time spent at this task, allowing excavators to spend much more of their field time in excavation and data recording. It has also proved to be very nondestructive to artifacts passing through the machine. Instructions for modifying and using the machine are presented.     

The Empire of the Hittites

Abstract

The paper deals with six recent studies which relate to the on-going debate over the chronology of the eleventh to the ninth century B.C.E. strata in the Levant and thus to the history of the region in the Iron Age. The paper takes issue with methodological problems relating to the questions of ethnographic comparison in archaeology, interpretation of biblical sources by archaeologists, pottery typology and dating. It offers a different interpretation of the finds at Hazor, Beth-shemesh, Tel Batash, Horbat Rosh Zait, and Bethsaida.