Change and Inertia on the Frontier: Archaeology at the Paraje de San Diego, Camino Real, in Southern New Mexico

Archaeological testing was conducted at the Paraje de San Diego, a late sixteenth- through nineteenth-century camp site on the Camino Real 30 mi north of Las Cruces. The site is well preserved, though the site structure is complex, reflecting repeated, short-term occupation. The archaeological record (especially the many, diverse ceramics to be recovered) reflects certain changing conditions in southern New Mexico and elsewhere over time. However, the record also indicates a pervasive resistance to development. This resistance, which might be a widespread frontier phenomenon, is called structural interia.     

Parchment Production in the First Millennium BC at Seglamen, Northern Ethiopia

Traditional Ethiopian and European processes of parchment manufacture and their associated tools are described and compared with artefacts recovered from an important pre-Aksumite site at Seglamen, in the highlands of northern Ethiopia. Many close similarities of tools used at Seglamen in both the earlier and later phases of the pre-Aksumite, from about 800 BC, to implements used by present-day Ethiopian scribes attest to the systematic production of parchment at Seglamen and to cultural continuity over a period of almost three millennia.     

Modeling and testing polity boundaries in the Classic Tuxtla Mountains,Southern Veracruz,Mexico

Combined application of GIS modeling of polity boundaries and qualitative characterization of those boundaries in the Tuxtla Mountains, southern Veracruz, Mexico generated interesting questions and some answers regarding the regional political landscape. Not only did this process elucidate possible boundary locations, the process of evaluating these different hypotheses proved to be a useful exercise in characterizing the boundary and the nature of interaction between the polities controlled by Matacapan and Totocapan during the Classic period. I develop a seven variable classification for political boundaries to be used with coarse-grained settlement data.     

The Southern Cities: Urban Archaeology in Pacific Guatemala and Eastern Soconusco,Mexico

Journal of Archaeological Research - Recent research is shedding light on the long and precocious urban tradition of the Pacific coastal rim of southeastern Mesoamerica, from eastern Soconusco,...     

Variability in Eritrea and the Archaeology of the Northern Horn During the First Millennium BC: Subsistence,Ritual, and Gold Production

Around the margins of Asmara, Eritrea, hundreds of sites dating to the early and mid-first millennium BC have been documented. They range from single family dwellings to small and large hamlets, small and large villages, and small towns. We call these Ancient Ona sites, using the Tigrinya term for ruin. Our findings testify to significant subsistence, ritual, and economic variation within a region of 12 by 17 km: (1) different subsistence strategies in the well-watered, open basin to the west of Asmara (emmer wheat, barley; cattle) compared to the uplands north and east of Asmara (lentil, teff; goats/sheep); (2) ritual events, marked by stone bulls' heads and a huge ash deposit at Sembel Kushet, that brought people together in rites of passage and intensification during Meskel-like ceremonies, including ritual exchange; and (3) the exploitation of gold north of Asmara among heterarchically organized communities that exchanged specialized products within this region.     

Intramural Burials of Children at Bronze Age Sites in the Southern Urals (Early 2nd Millennium Bc)*

Intramural child burials are rare in Bronze Age settlements of the Southern Urals. The study addresses this type of burial at sites associated with the Sintashta and Petrovka traditions. Their analysis generates two interpretations: one related to fertility and ancestor worship, the other to family relationships and the mentality of the people living in the Bronze Age.     

New Perspectives on Sincu Bara, a First Millennium Site in the Senegal Valley

The 67-ha site of Sincu Bara was discovered and extensively excavated in the 1970s. Three primary aspects of its archaeological interest were its vast size, its location in the Middle Senegal Valley, where some of the earliest regional polities in West Africa arose, and the extensive and diverse assortment of copper-based metal artifacts it produced. Deposits with brass appeared to be associated with radiocarbon dates as early as the fifth century AD. It appeared that most of the deposits related to a single, long-lasting occupation by people who arrived with sophisticated copper-based metallurgy in the fifth century and remained at least until the eleventh century, without discernible modification in their material culture. Results of new excavations in 1991–1992 indicate that this interpretation must be substantially modified, since considerable change in material culture, including the introduction of copper-based metals between AD 800 and AD 900, has now been documented. This article summarizes the data from these new excavations and suggests that earlier interpretations were based largely on material from disturbed, severely mixed deposits, which gave a false picture of homogeneity through time.Les soixante sept héctares constituant le gisement du Sincu Bara étaient découverts et fouillés dans les années soixante dix. Son intérêt archéologique est lié aux trois aspects: sa grande superficie, sa location dans la vallée moyenne du Sénégal où les premières unités politiques de l'Afrique de l'Ouest existaient, et finalement, la diversité des objets métalliques en cuivre que le site a livrée. Il apparaît que la plupart des dépôts appartient à une seule occupation de longue durée par un peuple qui est arrivé pendant la cinquième siécle AD, en possession de la connaissance de métallurgie à base de cuivre et qui montrait au moins jusqu'au onzième siécle peu de modification dans leur culture materielle. Les résultats des fouilles de 1991–1992 montrent que cette interpretation doit être modifiée, car il y a eu du changement considérable dans le matèriel, comme l'introduction des métaux à base de cuivre entre AD 800–900. Dans cet article, nous avons résumé les résultats des nouvelles fouilles et nous suggérons que les anciennes interpretations ont été largement fondées sur du matériel perturbé, des dépôts mixtes qui donnaient une image fausse de l'homogenité pendant cette période.     

Mortality,Money, and Commemoration: Social and Economic Factors in Southern California Grave-Marker Change During the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Social and economic factors significantly influenced grave-marker choice in southern California cemeteries during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Gradual changes in the American way of death since Victorian times underwent punctuated shifts in mortuary attitudes, commemoration practices, and funerary materials following moments of extreme social and economic duress. While the form of gravestones slowly evolved from large monuments to smaller flush markers during the late 1800s and early 1900s, they collectively experienced a pronounced shift during the 1920s, reflecting American responses to the devastating human losses of World War I and the 1918–19 influenza pandemic. Financial conditions directly affected decisions regarding those materials selected to mark the deceased as well. Although overall trends reveal that granite gravestones gradually replaced marble as the marker of choice in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, pronounced fiscal struggles during the 1907 Bankers’ Panic and the Great Depression were evinced in distinct surges in less expensive marble and metal grave markers.     

Iron Production in North Pare,Tanzania: Archaeometallurgical and Geoarchaeological Perspectives on Landscape Change

Archaeology, archaeometallurgy and geoarchaeology are combined in this research to examine the chronology and development of iron metallurgy and its environmental repercussions in North Pare, Tanzania. Pare was a prominent centre for iron production from at least the second half of the first millennium AD, and it has been assumed that this technology—with its demand for wood charcoal—had a significant and detrimental effect on local forest cover. This research sought to examine this claim by exploring the spatial, chronological and technological characteristics of iron production in Pare in conjunction with geoarchaeological evidence. Contrary to older assumptions, our results demonstrate that erosion processes were well established in North Pare before the documented intensification of smelting and smithing activity, and that iron production continued despite environmental changes. We suggest that although iron production may well have contributed to deforestation and erosion in Pare, it is unlikely to be the sole causal factor.     

Democracy and Conflict in Post-apartheid Southern Africa: Dilemmas of Social Change in Small States

The article examines the process of political change in the small southern African kingdoms of Lesotho and Swaziland. After an overview of the post-colonial political and economic history of the two states, the author analyses the pressures for, and resistance to, political liberalization and shows how moves in this direction have failed to assauge internal conflict, and indeed, have in some respects exacerbated such conflict. The intervention of outside actors in the attempt to resolve conflict poses a danger to the fragile national sovereignty of these states.     

Colonialism, Past and Present, in New Mexico

San Jose de las Huertas was established as a land grant community by the Spanish crown in 1765 and occupied for about 60 years. Many of its residents returned to the area after a brief respite, to found the village of Placitas, which exists today. Archaeological excavation at Las Huertas, documentary research and oral history from descendants of the original settlers reveal the shifting impact of different colonialisms, each accompanied by an image of modernity. Spanish demands were attenuated by distance and waning power. American impositions are more problematic, involving a new political economy, conflicts over land and water, as Placitas converts to a bedroom suburb of Albuquerque.     

Local Production Systems and Organizational Change: Hierarchization and Competing Firm Networks in Marinha Grande,Portugal

European local production systems have evolved and restructured in recent decades. One path of change has been an internal reorganization towards more hierarchization among local firms and the emergence of formal firm networks and an economic reconcentration. This article supports these observations and provides evidence from the mould industry in Marinha Grande, Portugal. The formal firm networks are, however, heterogeneous and they constitute new competitive strategies, that challenge the historical organization and institutions of the industrial districts and local production systems in which small was beautiful.     

上海辐射与近代苏南地区思想观念的嬗变

由于受上海的辐射,近代苏南地区促动思想观念嬗变的因素如经济基础的变迁、近代教育的兴盛、科学知识的昌明等已经具备,变是必然的!而思想观念的嬗变是看不见、摸不着的,这就要求我们对思想观念的嬗变确立起可以考察的指标,本试从上海辐射的角度对民国时期苏南地区思想观念嬗变的指标和嬗变概况作一简论,刍荛之见,方家正之。