Projectile Point Rejuvenation: A Technological Analysis

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the experimental production, use, and rejuvenation of 30 projectile points. Breakage patterns and morphological change of points resulting from rejuvenation are documented. The debitage produced during each stage of the experiment was examined from a technological perspective and assessed in terms of its archaeological visibility. The assemblages resulting from point production and rejuvenation are quite different from one another and each can be identified through a technological analysis. The study indicates that a curational behavior such as rejuvenation can be identified in the archaeological record if the proper sampling, field recovery, and analytical techniques are employed.     

The Politics of the Past: Constructing a National Identity through Heritage Conservation

Modern nation‐states use images of a chosen past to construct a national identity. In Vilnius, the remains of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania are used to construct an identity, and the aim of this exercise is to improve the economic performance of the city. Academics and professionals, alarmed of the loss of authentic values, and the living society, alarmed at the deteriorating container quality of the city, caused by this Politics of the Past, are coming forward to prevent this disinheritance. New agencies created to materialise the rejuvenation of historic urban space, together with unprecedented changes in values, and social disharmony have turned the Politics of the Past in Vilnius into an instructive heritage discourse, which is further diversified by the involvement of local experts who are now taking charge of heritage protection.     

以家庭为单位的活动参与：联合与独立家庭维持性活动中的性别差异—— 以北京市家庭为例

个体的日常活动发生在复杂的情境下,受到来自地理环境和社会环境的制约。以往研究揭示了制约下的个体在活动参与上展示出明显的性别差异。然而,传统以个体为单位的研究,忽视了家作为地方秩序的口袋,其内部分成员之间的互动对不同性别家庭成员活动参与的影响。本文从家庭内部分工的视角,研究夫妻双方在参与家庭维持性活动的时间利用的差异。在分析差异形成的过程中,在家庭区位特征、个体社会经济特征外,关注了配偶的社会经济特征、家庭成员间的互动对个体参与独立与联合家庭维持性活动的影响。研究结果验证了我们的假设,微观个体活动参与及时间利用的性别差异,不仅受到社会与地理环境制约,而且是家庭成员之间互动、分工的结果。以家庭为单位的分析能更好地补充和解释以往性别差异的研究成果,为个体活动、移动行为等研究提供新的视角。     

Core Use-Life Distributions in Lithic Assemblages as a Means for Reconstructing Behavioral Patterns

Artifacts with varying use-lives have different discard rates and hence are represented unequally among archaeological assemblages. As such, the ability to gauge the use-lives of artifacts is important for understanding the formation of archaeological assemblage variability. In lithic artifacts, use-life can be expressed as the extraction of utility, or work potential, from existing stone volume. Using experimental data and generalized linear modeling, this study develops models of artifact use-life on cores in the form of reduction intensity. We then apply these models to two archaeological case studies to (a) reconstruct the reduction intensities of archaeological cores and (b) investigate the survivorship curves of these archaeological cores across the reduction continuum using the Weibull function. Results indicate variation in core reduction and maintenance with respect to raw material properties and place use history and implicate evolutionary differences between Early Stone Age hominins and Holocene modern humans.     

Clovis,Folsom, and Midland components at the Debra L. Friedkin site,Texas: context,chronology, and assemblages

The archaeological transition from Clovis to Folsom and Midland in the North American Great Plains coincides with the end of the Pleistocene and onset of the Younger Dryas. Comparisons exploring the adaptive changes that took place during this period frequently employ regional-scale approaches. The focus on regional-scale analyses largely results from the dearth of sites repeatedly visited by multiple early Paleoindian groups. However, regional-scale comparisons have the potential to overlook smaller-scale differences. The Debra L. Friedkin site, Texas offers an opportunity to study Midland, Folsom, and Clovis technology and site-use at a single site. This paper presents the context and chronology of the Midland, Folsom, and Clovis assemblages and a site-scale analysis of lithics from the Friedkin site. It is argued that point production and late-stage reduction were primary activities, and the use of bifacial cores for flake tools was important throughout these occupation periods. Site use at Friedkin differs from early Paleoindian occupation at the nearby Gault site and expands our understanding of settlement and technological organization in the region.     

The Second Conquest: Religious Conversion and the Erosion of the Cultural Ecological Core among the Mopan Maya

This paper discusses how Protestant missionaries have affected the core cultural ecological activities among the Mopan Maya, specifically focusing on the maintenance of maize diversity and stingless beekeeping. Although seemingly unrelated to activities such as maize farming and beekeeping, foreign Protestant missionaries disrupt the traditional relationship with and perception of the natural world held by the Mopan Maya. Core cultural ecological activities have declined in importance and frequency as the spiritual landscape changes. This paper will demonstrate that in the traditional Mopan Maya world, religion, environment, and land use activities are often interwoven. When change occurs in one area, the ramifications of this change are often seen in other areas of the Mopan Maya cultural ecological landscape. The Mopan interweave objects in the natural world with those in the spiritual world.     

Middle paleolithic scraper reduction: Background,clarification, and review of the evidence to date

The hypothesis that the principal varieties of Middle Paleolithic scrapers reflect varying degrees of resharpening and rejuvenation, rather than discrete emic types, has generated considerably controversy over the past decade. While there have been certain misunderstandings surrounding the proposed models of scraper reduction, this controversy also reflects different approaches taken by prehistorians in interpreting lithic artifacts. Placing the notion of scraper reduction in the context of lithic processes generally known as the Frison Effect, this article presents the background and intellectual context of this interpretation and attempts to clarify the models themselves and their test implications. It also reviews and summarizes data generated by several independent tests of the hypothesis and presents new data bearing on this question.     

Paleolithic occupations of the Göllü Dağ, Central Anatolia,Turkey

Abstract

Systematic archaeological surface reconnaissance of the Göllü Da? volcanic complex from 2007 to 2012 documented more than 230 findspots with Paleolithic artifacts, ranging from isolated finds to extensive and dense scatters of artifacts. Most of the activities represented relate to exploitation of the rich obsidian resources in the region. Paleolithic artifacts are attributed mainly to the Middle Paleolithic based on the presence of Levallois technology but there is a substantial Lower Paleolithic component represented by handaxes and other large bifacial tools. Upper and Epipaleolithic sites and artifacts are scarce or absent in the survey sample. The distributions of handaxes and Levallois elements differ substantially, reflecting differences in site preservation and exposure as well as organization of prehistoric activities. Multiple variants of Levallois are represented but centripetal preferential and unipolar flake production dominate. The frequent co-occurrence of different Levallois forms suggests flexible reduction strategies. Distributions of different classes of artifact across the survey area indicate that the Middle Paleolithic occupations of Göllü Da? were not entirely oriented toward workshop activities.     

Experimental analysis of the practical limits of lithic refitting

We report on the results of an experiment aimed at determining the effects of experience/aptitude, lithic reduction type (biface v. core), and flake size cut-offs on different rates of success in refitting studies. We found that experience matters, but that there can be large differences in aptitude for refitting; that cores are easier to refit than bifaces; and that the effort of refitting increases considerably for flakes smaller than 5–6 g. We propose the use of an asymptotic equation fit to a cumulative curve as a way to determine when a study has reached the point of diminishing returns for a given flake size cut-off, and to help determine differences in aptitude for refitting.     

In-Plane Seismic Response Analyses of a Historical Brick Masonry Building Using Equivalent Frame and 3D FEM Modeling Approaches

ABSTRACT

This article aims at contributing to the seismic performance assessment of a historic brick masonry building by finding a strength reduction coefficient through the use of linear and nonlinear modeling approaches, using Finite Element Method and Equivalent Frame modeling. To reduce the uncertainties, ambient vibration tests (AVT) were implemented. Series of simulations was performed using nonlinear dynamic analyses and incremental dynamic analysis curves were compared with the pushover curves. Results indicate that the mass-proportional pushover curve meets the mean of results obtained from IDA and the strength reduction coefficient falls into the range given in EN 1998–1 for unreinforced masonry.     

Performance evaluation to support European regional development – A university–industry perspective

Regional-level innovation policies and development activities, which are not only technology oriented but that also address intellectual issues, knowledge and absorptive capacity enhancement as sources of innovation and economic growth, are posing challenges regarding their management. One of the main challenges that arises with these new types of regional-level development activities relates to their evaluation because insufficient attention is paid to the design and building of the current evaluation frameworks suggested for the context of regional development. This study presents a framework to design and build a performance evaluation system to support the performance measurement of regional development activities. Utilizing operational-level development activities as an empirical example, this study aims to improve the understanding of performance evaluation in university–industry collaborations in the context of regional development. The presented framework highlights the role of evaluation as part of the learning process in regional development activities between universities and industrial and public-sector organizations. The results of the study show that it is also possible to use the evaluation system to increase understanding of the interplay between operational level development activities and regional development programmes.     

Introduction: Gender Interventions in Research,Teaching and Practice

This study investigates the counter-intuitive observation that older students tend to thrive better than younger students in online classes. We use a variety of measures to compare performance and attitudes of undergraduates and continuing adult professionals in separate but nearly identical class sections led by the same instructor at a US university during the same nine-month study period. Findings are consistent with theoretical predictions about differences in readiness of younger and older adults for self-directed learning experiences. Results also suggest that online educators should be proactive in stimulating younger students' participation in class discussions, and should find ways to evaluate explicitly the tacit learning that online discussion can foster.     

The application and misapplication of mass analysis in lithic debitage studies

The technique of debitage mass analysis based upon size grades of debitage populations is shown to be prone to errors when making interpretations about the kind of tool produced or the kind of lithic reduction technology used. Significant sources of error may originate from differences in individual flintknapping styles and techniques, raw material size and shape variants, and mixing of debitage from more than one reduction episode. These sources of error render debitage Mass Analysis ineffective for determining the kind of stone tool reduction activities practiced at excavated sites. Mass Analysis may be effective for determining artifact reduction sequences if it is used on debitage from a single reduction episode or part of a reduction episode. However, it is shown that Mass Analysis when used for assessing reduction sequence information, must also control for the effects of raw material variability, assemblage mixing, and flintknapping styles.     

Creating Space for the Successor: The Discourse Strategies of Pro- and Anti-GM Factions Regarding the Future of Agriculture in New Zealand

A struggle between different forms of food production for the future of agriculture space has been occurring in many regions of the world. Drawing on the literature of the geography of food and the theory of productive worlds, we propose that the discourse strategies deployed by competing actors should be considered part of the set of conventions that guide productive activities. Two examples of discourse strategies are outlined: the use of articulation to position a desired outcome within a historically resonant discourse in order to gain legitimacy; and the maintenance of a strategic tension between isomorphism and differentiation such that a stance is perceived as a credible choice. We describe and map the impacts of these discourse strategies as they were deployed by anti- and pro-genetic modification groups in the struggle to become the “natural” successor to New Zealand's conventional agricultural heritage. The shifts in discourse positions of the two protagonists highlight the increased hybridity and regional complexity of the worlds of food and the battle for agricultural space.     

Geoarchaeological investigations at Diepkloof Rock Shelter,Western Cape,South Africa

The sedimentary sequence at Diepkloof Rock Shelter formed through a complex interaction of depositional and post-depositional processes and was variously influenced by biogenic, geogenic, and anthropogenic agents. Here, we present the results of a micromorphological study of the sediments at Diepkloof, focusing in particular on the numerous anthropogenic inputs and modifications recorded within the sequence. By applying the microfacies concept, we were able to identify hearth burning and maintenance, bedding construction and burning, and surface modification by trampling as major processes that contributed to the formation of the site. The human activities recorded within the sediments show a marked change throughout the sequence, implying a shift in the use of the site over time. The present study also provides a context for evaluating other classes of artifacts and data collected from the site.     

Managing Environmental Impacts of Recreation and Tourism in Rainforests of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area

This paper describes environmental impacts of tourism and recreation activities in the world heritage listed rainforests of northeast Australia and presents management strategies for sustainable visitor use of the protected area. Tropical rainforests are characterised by their low resistance and moderate to high resilience to impacts associated with human visitation. Visitor use in the World Heritage Area is mostly associated with walking tracks, camping areas, day use areas and off‐road vehicle use of old forestry roads and tracks. Adverse environmental impacts range from vegetation trampling, soil compaction, water contamination and soil erosion at the local scale through to spread of weeds, feral animals and soil pathogens along extensive networks of old forestry roads and tracks at the regional scale. Concentration of visitor use is the most desirable management strategy for controlling adverse impacts at most World Heritage Area visitor nodes and sites, and includes methods such as site hardening and shielding to contain impacts. For dispersed visitor activities, such as off‐road vehicle driving and long‐distance walking, application of best practice methods by the tourist industry and recreational users such as removal of mud and soils from vehicle tyres and hiking boots before entering pathogen‐free catchments, together with seasonal closure of roads and tracks, are the preferred management strategies. Retention of canopy cover at camping areas and day use areas, as well as along walking tracks and forestry roads is a simple, yet effective, management strategy for reduction of a range of adverse impacts, including dispersal of weeds and feral animals, edge effects, soil erosion and nutrient loss, road kill and linear barrier effects on rainforest fauna.     

Let no space go to waste: comparing the uses of space between two Late Classic centers in the El Paraíso valley,Copan, Honduras

Phosphorus analysis of earthen and plaster floors has been used in Mesoamerica to locate and identify activities at ancient sites. This study uses phosphorus analysis to discern if the inhabitants of two Late Classic coeval and proximal sites located in the El Paraíso Valley of Honduras were different culturally from each other. The buried earthen and plaster surfaces of both sites were systematically sampled and analyzed for phosphorus remains. The patterns of elevated phosphorus from these open spaces were subsequently compared to determine if differences in the habitual use and treatment of open spaces could be discerned. These differences are evaluated as a function of behavioral norms, functional responses, and cultural dispositions in order to evaluate the extent to which these two populations were indeed different from each other.     

Were Olduvai Hominins making butchering tools or battering tools? Analysis of a recently excavated lithic assemblage from BK (Bed II,Olduvai Gorge,Tanzania)

A new interpretation of early stone-tool use by hominins at Olduvai depicts them as involved in battering activities (using pounding tools) rather than making cutting butchering tools as is commonly inferred in most other Plio-Pleistocene sites where lithics appear associated to faunal remains. The bulk of this interpretation is based on the recognition of the stigma of percussion activities in anvils and detached by-products. Renewed excavations at BK after more than half a century of the beginning of the digging at the site by M. Leakey have produced a new and unbiased lithic assemblage. The taphonomic study of the faunal assemblage has shown that BK is an anthropogenic site where carcass butchery practices were repeatedly performed over a vast amount of time. The present analysis of the lithic artefacts supports this interpretation by showing that the obtainment of flakes was the principal aim in stone knapping. We argue that a number of technical traits observed in the lithic collection of BK can be best interpreted as the result of bipolar loading rather than the by-products of battering activities. Since BK has provided the second largest collection of hominid-modified bones from Olduvai, it is concluded that detached pieces produced in the course of bipolar reduction might have played an active role in bone modification and that active rather than passive percussion behaviors might have been responsible for the formation of the lithic assemblage. The functionality of the Oldowan stone tools are discussed under the light of the new study.     

Measuring reduction in stone tools: an ethnoarchaeological study of Gamo hidescrapers from Ethiopia

Stone tools were knapped, not built. This truism means that tools were reduced from larger pieces in the production process. But many tools were further reduced in use, to repair damage or as edges dulled. Reduction reduced size (trivially), but also changed the proportions among tools' elements or dimensions. Such allometric variation (change in proportion as a function of change in size) is useful to estimate the degree of reduction that tools experienced. Reduction itself is a measure of curation, a theoretical concept of great interest in lithic studies and Paleolithic archaeology. To determine the reduction that archaeological tools experienced, we must compare their size and proportions at first use to the same properties at discard that we directly measure. By now many size estimates can be made from discarded tools. Some are experimentally tested but few are validated using direct ethnoarchaeological controls. We validate two allometric reduction measures—ratios of plan area to thickness and of an estimate of original to discarded volume—against direct measures of use and reduction in ethnographic Gamo hidescrapers from Ethiopia.