Sourcing archaeological bitumen in the Olmec region

Prehispanic Mesoamerican peoples collected, processed, and used bitumen for decoration, sealant, and adhesive. Among the earliest to do so were the Olmec (1200–500 b.c.) of Mexico's southern Gulf coastal lowlands. Geochemical analysis of bitumen from Olmec archaeological contexts as well as from seeps in the Olmec region reveals that seeps can be geochemically differentiated and can be correlated with archaeological samples. Groups of sites with chemically different archaeological bitumen indicate multiple procurement networks reflecting complex regional systems of exchange and interaction. Organic geochemical analysis of bitumen provides a new tool to study procurement strategies and exchange patterns in Mesoamerica.     

Olmec archaeology: A half century of research and its accomplishments

The Olmec of Mexico's southern Gulf coast (3100-2450 B.P.) are the most famed of Formative period Mesoamerica's early complex cultures, and are particularly noted for their elaborate stone monuments. After five decades of research, scholars remain in sharp disagreement on what the archaeological record means with regard to the impact the Olmec had on social and political evolution in Mesoamerica. A discussion of interpretive problems and a review of 50 years of Olmec archaeology illustrates reasons for the disagreements, as well as the type, quantity, and quality of data that have been recovered from excavations. Those show that, until recently, knowledge of the Olmec has been based primarily on two limited pre-1970 data sets. New research is discussed, and topical issues in Olmec archaeology are treated in detail.     

How the Olmec used bitumen in ancient Mesoamerica

Bitumen, found in abundance in Mesoamerica’s southern Gulf Coast region in natural seeps and in many archeological contexts, is an important economic resource and exchange item that has received little consideration in Mesoamerica. Analyses of archeological, ethnoarcheological, and experimental data provide insights on the organization of bitumen processing activities, and the end product (archeological bitumen), which the Olmec (1200–400 BC) used in the production of many items. Archeological data are derived from investigations at El Remolino and Paso los Ortices— two Early Formative period levee sites in the San Lorenzo Olmec region. Our findings suggest that among the Olmec, bitumen processing was organized as a specialized activity, involving multiple production stages, but not necessarily elite involvement or control.     

In the Land of Olmec Archaeology

Abstract

Michael D. Coe and Richard A. Diehl, In the Land of the Olmec, two volumes plus maps. Volume I, The Archaeology of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, 416 pp.; Volume II, The People of the River, 198 pp. The University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas 1980. 100.00.

The recent publication of a comprehensive report describing the excavations at San Lorenzo, Tabasco, Mexico, In the Land of the Olmec by Michael D. Coe and Richard A. Diehl, provides a significant contribution to Mesoamerican archaeology and a suitable opportunity to review the present status of Olmec studies. The development of Olmec archaeology is a relatively recent phenomenon, with the modern era of research beginning with Matthew Stirling's surveys and excavations at several sites in Mexico's Gulf Coast region (1938–1946), and continuing with the University of California at Berkeley's excavations at the site of La Venta in the mid-1950s. The report by Coe and Diehl of the San Lorenzo investigations (1966–1968) adds considerably to our understanding of the origins and other aspects of Olmec civilization. These contributions, together with several continuing gaps in our knowledge, are reviewed by a resume of Olmec chronology, archaeological remains, external connections, and the implications of the Olmec for the evolution of Mesoamerican civilization.     

Early Olmec obsidian trade and economic organization at San Lorenzo

The Olmec were the first complex society to develop in Mesoamerica between 1800 and 600 cal B.C. The earliest large Olmec center during this period was the archaeological site of San Lorenzo which emerged as Mesoamerica's first large ritual and political center between 1400 and 1000 cal B.C. San Lorenzo's growth as a prominent center included the development of long distance trade relationships with adjacent areas of Guatemala and highland Mexico. High precision chemical analysis of obsidian imported for use in the fabrication of cutting tools is used to reconstruct the growth, size and extent of San Lorenzo's interregional exchange networks with areas of Mexico and Guatemala where obsidian occurs as raw material. A total of 852 obsidian artifacts were analyzed to reconstruct changes in obsidian procurement between 1800 and 800 cal B.C. This represents one of the largest samples of sourced obsidian from a Mesoamerican site and it provides a comprehensive picture for the development of interregional trade networks for Mesoamerica's first large Olmec center.     

Missing networks: The case of European freight transport

The concept of missing networks refers to the absence of strategic layers or components of Europe's transport and communications infrastructure which may be both material or immaterial in nature. The paper reviews some of the issues that need to be taken into account when dealing with these missing networks and shows how these can be resolved in practice with respect to European freight transport. It is argued that what is needed in this case is an inter‐modal perspective and a multi‐layer view of networks. Combined transport can be regarded as an efficient way of overcoming current limits by improving inter‐modal transit potential thereby enabling a much better use to be made of existing capacity.     

Excavations at E1 Remolino: Household Archaeology in the San Lorenzo Olmec Region

Abstract

Studies on the Olmec frequently focus on large centers and monumental works of art, often ignoring the important role of peripheral sites in regional hierarchies. Recent investigations at the Early Formative period (900–1500 b.c., uncorrected radiocarbon years) site of El Remolino help balance this “elite centered” focus by collecting household and community level data at a habitation area away from the regional center of San Lorenzo. Subsurface testing and extensive excavations produced evidence of living surfaces, features, and refuse disposal patterns, which together with phytolith data improve our understanding of a lower order Olmec site. El Remolino was established in the San Lorenzo phase as a permanent settlement whose inhabitants pursued fishing, hunting, gathering, and plant cultivation. The degree to which this site was politically or economically dependent on the elite center of San Lorenzo is unknown.     

Settlement and subsistence among the Early Formative Gulf Olmec

Mounting archaeological evidence suggests that floodplain resources, not maize (Zea mays) agriculture, were instrumental in the emergence of Early Formative (ca. 1500–900 uncal BC) complexity across Mesoamerica’s isthmian lowlands. The lion’s share of these data derives from the Pacific side of the isthmus; discussions of the Early Formative Olmec along Mexico’s southern Gulf lowlands have not kept pace. This paper presents settlement and subsistence data that highlight the role of floodplain resources in the development of Gulf Olmec politico-economic complexity. These data support a non-agricultural alternative to traditional models of Gulf Olmec emergence at San Lorenzo, the premier Early Formative Gulf lowlands center. Increased productivity of maize toward the end of the Early Formative period challenged San Lorenzo’s extant politico-economic basis, bringing about a short-term, hyper-acceleration of elite competitive displays. Ultimately, the adoption of maize agriculture generated a reorganized Middle Formative period (ca. 900–400 uncal BC) landscape in and around San Lorenzo. This agrarian adjustment saw occupation move out of the floodplain and into the upland areas, a process sometimes characterized as a cataclysmic system collapse in the Coatzacoalcos basin.     

基于流域尺度的道路网空间组织特征及依赖性分析——以石羊河流域为例

以石羊河流域为研究区,在GIS理论方法指导下计算石羊河流域道路网密度,分析了道路网密度与人口密度、GDP密度之间的相关性,在此基础上,分析了石羊河流域道路网密度和道路网空间依赖-偏好指数分布及空间特征。结果表明:石羊河流域的道路网密度以金昌市、武威市为中心向外发散,道路网密度呈带状分布,从南部天祝县城延伸至金昌市金川区。石羊河流域社会经济发展对道路网的依赖性很强,其中超强依赖或超强偏好的乡镇有2个,强依赖或强偏好的乡镇有28个,中等依赖或中等偏好的乡镇有44个,较弱依赖或较弱偏好的乡镇有24个,弱依赖或弱偏好的乡镇只有7个;道路网依赖-偏好指数空间分布差异大,变化明显。     

Skeletal element abundances in archaeofaunal assemblages: economic utility,sample size,and assessment of carcass transport strategies

Economic utility indices provide a means of interpreting butchery and transport decisions reflected in the relative abundance of skeletal elements. Because of destructive taphonomic processes, interpreting skeletal element abundances in terms of carcass transport strategies requires that faunal analysts consider only those elements which accurately reflect their original abundances following human discard. In this study we use resampling techniques to examine the impact of sample size on correlations between high-survival skeletal element frequencies and economic utility in four simulated population assemblages reflecting distinct carcass transport strategies. Correlations alone do not accurately reflect the true relationship between bone abundance and economic utility as particular transport strategies have a tendency to generate high frequencies of Type II errors as sample size decreases. We show that the Shannon evenness index can be used as a quantitative means of distinguishing between bone assemblages characterized by subtle variations in skeletal element abundances. The evenness index can also be used to evaluate whether observed correlations reflect sampling error. Results from our simulations are applied to three published faunal assemblages to evaluate likely carcass transport strategies.     

Oldowan behavior and raw material transport: perspectives from the Kanjera Formation

The archaeological record of Oldowan hominins represents a diverse behavioral system. It has been suggested that exploitation of lithic resources by Oldowan hominins was simplistic and represented mostly use of local sources of stone. Here we investigate the raw material selection and transport behaviors of Oldowan hominins reflected in the stone artifact assemblages from the Kanjera South Formation, South Rachuonyo District, Kenya. Using geochemical methods (ED-XRF) artifacts are linked to primary and secondary source outcrops throughout southwestern Kenya. These data show that hominins selected raw materials for transport at frequencies that are significantly different from their availability on ancient landscapes. Furthermore, a substantial proportion of the assemblage represents transport over relatively long distances (>10 km). Our study further suggests that in the early stages of stone tool use hominins used a wide variety of raw materials and selected these materials at some distance from their eventual discard locations. Early hominin behavior may have incorporated an understanding of raw material source distributions across a more extensive landscape than has been previously documented. This supports the growing perspective that Oldowan technology represents a more complex behavioral pattern than is usually associated with the beginnings of hominin tool use.     

Developing trainee teacher practice with geographical information systems (GIS)

There is general agreement that geographical information systems (GIS) have a place within the geography classroom; they offer the potential to support geographical learning, exploring real-world problems through student-centred learning, and developing spatial thinking. Despite this, teachers often avoid engaging with GIS and research suggests that the lack of GIS training in initial teacher education is partially to blame. In response to this, this article explores how 16 trainee geography teachers were supported to develop their use of GIS across a one-year, postgraduate teacher training course in England. The project, an interpretive case study underpinned by a constructivist epistemology, used questionnaires and interviews to elicit trainees’ understandings of the nature of GIS, and to explore their engagement with it across their training year. Results suggest a programme of embedded training developed in trainees a more nuanced understanding of the value of GIS for supporting geographical learning and, thereby, increased self-efficacy towards and engagement with it in their teaching practice. However, not all trainees embraced GIS as a pedagogical tool and the study raised several key issues for geography teacher education, including the knowledge culture within schools in the teacher training partnership, and the importance of trainee self-efficacy towards GIS.     

Facilitating spatial thinking in world geography using Web-based GIS

Advocates for geographic information system (GIS) education contend that learning about GIS promotes students’ spatial thinking. Empirical studies are still needed to elucidate the potential of GIS as an instructional tool to support spatial thinking in other geography courses. Using a non-equivalent control group research design, this study examines the effect of using Web-based GIS in a world geography course on the development of students’ spatial thinking abilities. The findings indicate that Web-based GIS activities implemented in this study significantly enhanced students’ spatial thinking skills.     

The post‐politics of transport: establishing a new meeting ground for transport politics

This paper brings together two disparate but critical bodies of literature about contemporary citizen participation in the Australian city: transport politics and post‐politics. The argument is advanced that state and citizen actor relations—as they exist in the governance and management of Australian urban transport—have taken on characteristics of post‐politics. By conceiving of citizen participation in this manner, new ways of understanding it are generated and it is possible to appreciate how such participation is shaped by state actors both across time and in response to the politicisation of transport proposals. The paper illustrates the extent to which citizen engagement has become a new focal point in transport politics, particularly given citizens' capacities to politicise proposals and transport trajectories. It achieves such ends by drawing upon key‐informant interviews conducted between 2013 and 2016 with public transport advocates, select resident groups, and local and state level planning officials from Melbourne, Australia.     

Land Classification: Providing an Explanation for the Decision Making Process

This paper considers the impact of technology on methods used to classify land potential. With developments in new technologies such as Expert Systems (ES) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), McKeown (1987) proposes a new method by which to explain the decision making process for land classification to an end user. Consideration is given to McKeowns' concept and the literature reviewing both traditional land classification methods and ES and GIS systems.     

Urban development,redevelopment and regeneration encouraged by transport infrastructure projects: The case study of 12 European cities

This paper attempts to describe the potential of urban transport infrastructure projects such as metro, regional rail and tram, to indirectly work as a catalyst for the development and redevelopment of urban areas as well as the regeneration of declining areas. The paper presents the outcome of research on a sample of 12 European cities—Athens, Bratislava, Brussels, Helsinki, Lyon, Madrid, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Stuttgart, Valencia, Vienna and Zurich. This research is part of the Transecon project which was funded by the European Commission under the competitive and sustainable growth programme of the fifth framework— and concerned with all kinds of different indirect effects (economic, social and spatial) of new transport infrastructure investments in European cities. The outcome of the research points out that urban transport infrastructure may have a catalytic effect on the development, redevelopment and regeneration of urban areas but there are a lot of other influencing factors which make such re-urbanization processes a successful or unsuccessful story.     

Fluvial transport of bovid long bones fragmented by the feeding activities of hominins and carnivores

This study explores the hydraulic transportability of bovid long bone fragments created through hominin and carnivore carcass consumption in order to determine the effect of fluvial transport on the incidences of hominin- and carnivore-induced bone surface modifications. Transportability was determined using an oval race track flume and 311 long bone fragments from modern control collections of hominin- and carnivore-modified bone. Results show that the fluvial transport of long bone fragments is predicted by animal size class and bone specimen size, as measured by maximum cortical thickness, maximum length, and maximum width. All of these variables can be measured on fossil specimens. Long bone portion (midshaft, near-epiphysis, and epiphysis) does not affect transport and hydraulic transport does not substantially modify the incidences of tooth, percussion, and cut marking in transported or lag assemblages in low energy fluvial environments. Implications of this study are: 1) animal size classes, and cortical thickness, length, and width of long bone fragments can be used to identify fluvial winnowing in fossil assemblages; 2) analyses concerning the relative timing of hominin and carnivore carcass consumption based on the proportions of long bone fragments bearing tooth, percussion, or cut marks can be meaningfully applied to fossil assemblages deposited in low-energy fluvial environments.     

An Analysis of Log Raft Open Water Performance and Crew Capability to Move Megaliths Pre-classic Olmec Used for Colossal Head Sculptures

In Mesoamerica, Preclassic Olmec society used large stones for monumental head sculptures, some of which weighed over 20 tonnes. These megaliths were retrieved from the Tuxtla Mountains and transported a distance of at least 80 km to their principal centre at San Lorenzo. The methods and routes used are uncertain, but water–based routes using rafts have been considered the more likely strategy. Of two watercraft types proposed, a log raft configuration has been more favoured. This research examines the possibility that rafts were used and considers structural viability and as the primary motive force, human physiological capabilities. Analyses were undertaken of both raft and crew and their combined performance under these loads. Maritime and meteorological factors found in the Gulf of Mexico were also applied to technological parameters. These analyses show that a log raft configuration would not have been a viable means to move such highly valued stones upstream on rivers, nor over open water.     

Road transport in the English Industrial Revolution: An interim reassessment

Recent studies by Albert, Pawson and others have led to a new appreciation of road transport in the Industrial Revolution; traditionally, it is canal development rather than road transport expansion that has been seen as the key sector in contemporary transport improvement. Fresh examination of the traditional emphasis on canals underlines the new findings on the road sector. The role of canals in raw material movement may be undeniable, but the marketing side of the industrializing economy has largely been forgotten. Detailed comparison of the different properties of canal and road transport reveals yet further weaknesses. Among them is the peculiar susceptibility of canals to frost and drought. Using a prediction technique based on Manley's monthly temperature means for Central England, it emerges that in one out of every two years, frost may have impeded canal-working for upwards of 20 days. A number of possible directions for further research are outlined. Of particular importance is the need for studies of transport demand.     

Determining Olmec maize use through bulk stable carbon isotope analysis

Bulk stable carbon isotope analysis on absorbed organic residues in ceramics can be an effective method for discerning patterns of maize use when the ceramics come from relatively uniform archaeological contexts. The bulk stable carbon isotope method is faster and less costly than the more commonly used compound-specific stable carbon isotope analysis. Moreover, the bulk stable carbon isotope method can determine the presence of C4 plant carbon in samples in which organic compounds have degraded. Bulk stable carbon isotope analysis was used to discern patterns of maize (Zea mays mays) use among a sample of 24 ceramic sherds from an Early Franco Period feasting deposit (ca. cal 650 B.C.) at the Olmec site of San Andrés, La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico. A comparison of the δ 13C results of different categories of ceramics showed that proportionally more maize was used in luxury beverage service wares than in utilitarian vessels, suggesting that maize-based beverages were prominent in this probable elite feasting episode.