Surveys and Mesoamerican Archaeology: The Emerging Macroregional Paradigm

This article is a review of regional archaeological surveys in Mexico, emphasizing published full-coverage surveys from the last 20 years. The geographic focus is non-Maya Mexico terminating at the Tropic of Cancer. The temporal focus is the 3000-year period from the earliest settled villages to the Spanish conquest (A.D. 1521), with emphasis on long-term evolutionary trajectories. The main argument is that explanations of regional-scale settlement patterns are proving to be incomplete now that archaeologists are confronted with site distributions on the macroregional scale. Implications of the emerging macroregional paradigm are discussed for current debates in Mesoamerican archaeology.     

The Hemerdon China Clay Works,Devon: A History and Description of the Site and Working Methods

This article presents an overview of the Hemerdon China Clay Works, 6 miles north-east of Plymouth (Devon), active from c.1860 to 1942. Based on research commissioned in advance of an extension to Headon West Quarry, it describes the development of the clay works and the methods of clay extraction and processing. Archaeological survey recorded a broad range of structures, features, earthworks and artefacts. They included the remains of an engine house of c.1907, two large masonry bases (probably associated with the flat rod system that transferred power from the engine) and a rocker beam. The article also describes a group of mica drags and settling tanks built c.1907. Combining this evidence with that gleaned from documentary sources, notably the large-scale Ordnance Survey mapping, an exceptionally detailed narrative has been constructed of the work's development through time. It has a relevance beyond the particular, and will help the future interpretation and management of the china clay extraction sites that are so characteristic of the region.