The construction of gender in colonial Latin America

When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away: Marriage, Sexuality and Power in New Mexico, 1500–1846. By RAMÓN GUTIÉRREZ. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991. Pp. xxx + 424.

Sexuality and Marriage in Colonial Latin America. Edited by ASUNCIÓN LAVRÍN. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1989. Pp. v + 349.

Gender and Disorder in Early Modern Seville. By MARY ELIZABETH PERRY. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990. Pp. 206.

To Love, Honor and Obey in Colonial Mexico: Conflicts Over Marriage Choice, 1574–1821. By PATRICIA SEED. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988. Pp. 322

História e Sexualidade no Brasil. Edited by RONALDO VAINFAS. Rio de Janeiro: Edicões Graal Ltda., 1986. Pp. 212.     

Book reviews

Women in the Muslim World. Edited by Lois Beck and Nikki Keddie. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1978. 698 pp. $30.00.

Iran: Monarchy, Bureaucracy and Reform under the Qajars: 1858–1896. By Shaul Bakhash. London: Ithaca Press (St. Anthony's Middle East Monographs, No. 8), 1978. £7.50.

Iran: The Illusion of power. By Robert Graham. London: Croom Helm, 1978. 228 pp. £7.95.

An Anthology of Modern Persian Poetry. Selected and translated with an introduction by Ahmad Karimi‐Hakkak. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1978 (Bibliotheca Persica: Modern Persian Literature Series, Number 1), xvii + 203 pp. $15.

Entrepreneurs of Iran. By Mohammad Reza Vaghefi. Palo Alto, Calif.: The Altoan Press, 1976. 196pp.     

What's in a bone? Recent advances in archaeological bone chemistry

This paper focuses on advances in archaeological bone chemistry since 1989. At that time studies generally shifted from development and application of techniques in bone chemistry to more experimental approaches. In stable isotope studies, controlled feeding experiments have been carried out to determine the routing of various dietary components into bone tissues. Biological apatite has been added to collagen as a tissue of study for stable carbon isotope analysis, providing the ability to study much older remains. Other elements have been added such as hydrogen for the study of paleoclimate and oxygen and strontium isotopes to study life history. Trace element studies have focused on methods of detecting and controlling for diagenesis, and barium has been added to the list of useful dietary indicators. Attempts to extract DNA from archaeological bone have been successful, however, this field is still in its early stages in terms of applications to understanding prehistoric biological relationships.     

Fjord fishing in Mesolithic Western Norway

Recent excavations at two rockshelters (Olsteinhelleren and Sævarhelleren) on the Hardanger fjord in Western Norway have provided an unparalleled opportunity to examine the Mesolithic subsistence economy of this region. Thousands of fish remains (as well as numerous mammal and bird bones) have been analysed from these assemblages. Results show that the fishery was dominated by gadids, but labrids and salmonids were also important. Many other fish were present in small quantities, including the first specimen of sturgeon from the Stone Age of Norway. The transition to a more specialised fishery at the younger site, Olsteinhelleren, may be a reflection of a switch to the use of this locality as a logistic camp for the targeting of gadid fish.