Regional perspectives on Wari state influence in Cusco,Peru (c. AD 600–1000)

The archaeological reconstruction of ancient states requires consistent regional measures of state-directed power and influence. This paper presents data from a series of systematic archaeological surveys in the Cusco region of highland Peru to evaluate patterns of influence by the Wari state during a period of colonization from ca. AD 600–1000. We discuss interpretive debates over the nature and intensity of Wari social power, suggesting that site-based studies can be contextualized meaningfully using our large-scale dataset, which offers settlement patterns at varying distances (0–70 km) from Pikillacta, a Wari administrative center. We discuss local settlement patterns before and during Wari colonization, as well as the distribution of Wari pottery and local Wari-influenced wares. We then use a geographic information systems analysis of travel time from key sites to evaluate the broad regional distribution patterns of local and Wari ceramic styles. Although the regional survey data do not inform us reliably about all kinds of social power, we conclude that the Wari cultural, economic, and political influence over the Cusco region was limited and discontinuous—an example of colonization that resembles the practices of other early states.     

Six seasons of wild pea harvest in Israel: bearing on Near Eastern plant domestication

Harvest experiments of wild crop relatives are essential for our understanding of the biology of wild plants embodied in the economy of ancient forager communities. Most of the previous experimental harvest reports spanned a single season and therefore are unable to address questions concerning long-term yield potential. Herein we report on six consecutive harvest seasons taking place at four sites in Israel that harbour wild pea populations: three typical Pisum fulvum sites and one typical Pisum elatius site. Three out of the four sites showed no indication of a decline in grain yield as a result of repeated harvest and the removal of a considerable portion of mature seeds. Site-specific factors seem to have a strong influence on the grain yield as no seasonal yield similarity was observed between adjacent and ecologically similar sites harbouring the same wild pea taxon. The erratic year-to-year wild pea yield we observed calls for a reassessment of the presumed role of grain legume species in Near Eastern hunter–gatherers' diet. Combined with published data on cultivation of wild pea, our results are inconsistent with models suggesting protracted domestication of Near Eastern grain legumes or with the preliminary attempts to apply Niche Construction Theory to the study of plant domestication in the Near East.     

On the identity of Euowenia robusta De Vis, 1891 with a description of a new zygomaturine genus

An occluded skull and dentaries, recovered from the Floraville Local Fauna, northern Queensland, is referred to Euowenia robusta De Vis, 1891. The specimen has distinctive zygomaturine features including a quinquetubercular upper third premolar and lower molars with cristids obliqua, directly challenging the synonymy of E. robusta with Nototherium inerme and N. mitchelli proposed by Woods (1968 Woods, J. T. 1968. The identity of the extinct marsupial genus Nototherium Owen. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 15: 111–116.  [Google Scholar]). Comparison with the genotypic Euowenia grata (De Vis, 1887) has further confirmed that E. robusta does not belong within the Diprotodontinae. After examining all named zygomaturine genera, including a large data set of Zygomaturus trilobus Macleay, 1858, it is concluded that Euowenia robusta can not be placed within any known zygomaturine genus and, therefore, a new genus is proposed. It is perhaps the most derived of all the zygomaturines described to date from the Australian Cenozoic.     

Specula

Sans résumé éric Brian (mars 2001). Charles Alunni (février 2001). Laurent Nottale (19 février 2001).     

Commercial developments and their impact on maritime heritage: the Northern Ireland experience

This paper refers to the body of international, national and regional legislation that exists to protect submerged cultural heritage sites. It advocates the use of the consultation process available through current legislation to protect submerged sites through preservation or through record by archaeological mitigation. It reviews the main types of commercial seabed developments and opens discussion on the appropriate archaeological response.