Method for photogrammetric surveying of archaeological sites with light aerial platforms

In this paper, we describe a complete methodology for performing photogrammetric surveying of archaeological sites using light aerial platforms or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems. Traditionally, the main problem with using these platforms is the irregular geometry of the photographs obtained. These irregular image block patterns are occasioned by uncontrolled circumstances (e. g. effect of wind, lack of flight control, etc.) which generate high imprecision in the positioning of camera stations. The method proposed here allows the execution of the photogrammetric flight following the predicted parameters determined in mission planning (camera focal length, photo scale, ground sample distance -GSD-, overlaps, etc.) so we can obtain regular flight geometries. Our method allows the use of conventional photogrammetric data reduction methods based on the use of stereoscopic photogrammetric workstations. Although flights with irregular patterns can allow the formation of stereo pairs within certain limits, conventional photogrammetric procedures often have great difficulty in processing these irregular image blocks. For this reason this system raises the staking out of the camera positions by using a robotized total station and a mini prism situated on the platform. This method is applied to a real photogrammetric survey of an archaeological site of the Tartessic epoch in Southern Spain. The results obtained, confirmed by a quality control of the photogrammetric flight, have demonstrated the viability of this methodology even when moderate wind effects appear.     

Constructing a suburban identity: youth, femininity and modernity in late-Victorian Merseyside

Suburban growth was one of the main characteristics of late-nineteenth-century British towns, and a suburban lifestyle rapidly became the aspiration of a high proportion of urban dwellers. This paper explores the experience of one young woman growing up in a late-Victorian suburb, and assesses the ways in which she negotiated the structures of this emerging ‘modern’ environment, so as to construct her own identity and behaviour. Evidence is drawn from one very detailed diary covering the period 1884–1892, and attention is focused on three aspects of everyday life: public and social space; domestic routine; and friendships and relationships. The conventional view of middle-class suburban domesticity is challenged by evidence from this diary, which suggests that it was the public and social life of the suburb that was of particular importance to young women. While older married women's experiences were centred upon maintaining a respectable home, the provincial suburban environment offered to young single women considerable opportunities for independent mobility and action, which were restricted by relatively few familial constraints. The diarist did not fundamentally challenge the culture of middle-class suburbia, but instead was able to manipulate many social expectations to her own advantage. As a site of on-going development and malleable norms, late-nineteenth-century suburbia offered its young elite residents opportunities for a certain degree of social, cultural and spatial autonomy that was understood to be essential to the life of the nascent community.     

Invisible colour: Landscapes of whiteness and racial identity in international development

Racialized identity in relation to international development is a surprisingly unanalyzed theme within anthropology, even though extensively explored in connection with contemporary western multi-cultural societies and historical relations between different parts of the world. In the paper I explore race and whiteness in relation to international development, emphasizing the importance of analyzing how the historical construction of racial identity continues to inform actual lived relationships of people belonging to different geographical spaces. In order to capture the importance of development in visual and everyday lives of people in different parts of the world, I use the term "developscape", adapting Arjun Appadurai's (1996) idea of globalization consisting of different "scapes", furhtermore, as asking how this "developscape" is racialized.     

Red deer antler technology and early modern humans in Southeast Europe: an experimental study

In technological approaches to prehistoric industries, there is currently a renewed interest in the transformation of osseous materials. This approach requires the construction of a technical reference base of manufacturing stigmata, as well as of the procedures and methods used to produce tool blanks.One of the better known processes for the production of blanks in the Upper Palaeolithic is extraction by a double longitudinal groove, observed only in the Gravettian. Aurignacian artefacts indicate that during this period blanks were obtained through a procedure of longitudinal fracturing (splitting) or diffuse percussion fracturing. The manner of implementing these procedures is, however, still poorly known.In order to better characterise this stage in the manufacturing of blanks for antler points, we conducted an experimental study. Based on a thorough analysis of the Spanish archaeological materials, we tested the procedure of fracturing by indirect percussion on deer antler. The results provide new criteria for the identification of blanks and their manufacturing processes. They also emphasize the possibility of predetermining the size of the blank and, consequently, the size of future projectile point.     

A multidisciplinary approach to reconstructing Late Glacial and Early Holocene landscapes

Understanding palaeotopographical variability forms the basis for understanding prehistoric societies. Alluvial and lacustrine environments, in particular, are key areas with both a high archaeological and palaeoecological potential. However, the often deep stratification of these sites, the high water table and the complex sedimentological variations can hamper a detailed reconstruction of the spatial relationship between prehistoric settlement and their environment. Combining different remote and proximal sensing techniques and coring data, can offer detailed insight into such landscapes. More specifically, the integration of mobile geophysical methods allows the collection of unprecedented continuous information on large-scale palaeolandscape variability. In this study we present a combined approach in order to map and model prehistoric landscapes and river systems in and around a Late Glacial palaeolake in north-western Belgium. Based on filtered and unfiltered digital elevation models, a survey area of 60 ha was selected, in which detailed mobile multi-receiver electromagnetic induction survey was conducted. The results allowed for the delineation of palaeochannels in the area and enabled modelling the depth of these features in the survey area, providing insight into their flow characteristics. ¹⁴C sampling enabled the dating of the evolving river system to the transition between the Late Glacial and the Early Holocene. Through additional coring, this river system could be traced further through the palaeolake area. Based on these results a detailed reconstruction was made of the palaeotopography that harboured the Final Palaeolithic and Early Mesolithic occupation of the study site.     

Où en Est la Sociologie Générale ?

Over the last two decades, history and social sciences have experienced a kind of merging, and a vast number of specialized domains have emerged. Yet the durkheim - ian register of "general sociology" seems somehow neglected. Firstly, this article analyzes the reasons for this neglect, and secondly, it indicates how, through a long-term reflexivity, one can formulate a new agenda for general sociology.