WAC Matters: A Different View to that of Shepherd and Haber

This paper is a response to Shepherd and Haber??s (Public Archaeol 10(2):96?C115, 2011) critiques to World Archaeological Congress, from the viewpoint of the current Secretary of WAC. While most of the issues discussed have been already answered and corrected by Smith (Public Archaeol 10(4):223?C234, 2011), this paper adds my own views on two of these controversial issues: the meeting between WAC and Rio Tinto Limited in 2007 to explore options to work together on enhancing cultural heritage management and protection in mining activities (where I attended as the WAC Treasurer), and the Archaeologists Without Borders Program (as member of the committee for this program).     

Macronutrient-based model for dietary carbon routing in bone collagen and bioapatite

Carbon stable isotope ratios (??¹³C), measured in human bone collagen (??¹³C_collagen) and bioapatite (??¹³C_bioapatite), are commonly used indicators in ancient human diet reconstruction. The underlying assumption is that human tissues broadly reflect the ??¹³C signal of dietary food sources (??¹³C_diet) plus an isotopic offset. However, interpretation of results may be confounded by the differentiated routing of macronutrients (energy, that is carbohydrates and lipids, and protein) having associated different isotopic signals (??¹³C_energy, ??¹³C_protein). Multiple regression analyses were conducted on data from controlled animal feeding experiments compiled by Froehle et al. (J Archaeol Sci 37:2662?C2670, 2010). We derived a simple algebraic macronutrient-based model with ??¹³C_bioapatite?=?10.1?+???¹³C_diet (??) and ??¹³C_collagen?=?4.8?+?0.74 ??¹³C_protein?+?0.26 ??¹³C_energy (??). While the established relationship for ??¹³C_bioapatite is similar to previously known results, the model also suggests that ??¹³C_collagen signal contributions originate from surprisingly consistent proportions of protein and energy macronutrients. Given that feeding experiments explore extreme variations in the proportion of diet macronutrients, the applicability of the proposed model and its predictions were tested in a variety of well-known, wild animal and human, natural contexts. Possible biochemical mechanisms explaining these empirical results are discussed.     

Analysis of a protohistoric net from Shahi Tump,Baluchistan (Pakistan)

The fire that partly destroyed a 4th millennium BCE building at Shahi Tump in the Kech Valley of south-western Pakistan is responsible for the exceptional preservation by carbonisation of a net found on the burnt floor as a heap of entangled cords and knots. Macro- and microscopic observation has allowed a reconstruction of the techniques used to manufacture the net from a two-strand plied cord. The comparison of the phytoliths extracted from the archaeological net to those from a modern reference collection suggests the use of fibres that originate from the leaves of a local palm species: the desert palm or Nannorrhops ritchieana (Griff.) Aitch. Besides the technical and archaeobotanical aspects of the study, the paper discussed past and present uses of the desert palm in the arid regions of the Middle East as well as the possible utilisation (fishing, carrying etc.) of the protohistoric net.     

The Holocene Archaeology of Southwest Ethiopia: New Insights from the Kafa Archaeological Project

Abstract  

Southwest Ethiopia’s cool, moist, and steep highlands differ from other African environments, and may have fostered distinct patterns of Holocene resource use and intensification. Prior to 2004, only a few archaeological projects probed eastern and northern margins of this region. The Kafa Archaeological Project (2004–2006) excavated ten caves and rockshelters in different environments in the heart of southwest Ethiopia to obtain a Holocene chronology and compare it with adjacent regions. At Kumali Rockshelter, middle Holocene deposits show use of a microlithic industry to obtain wild game, and excellent macrobotanical preservation promises to reveal changes in plant use from 4,700 ¹⁴C bp to the present. Ceramics and domestic animals appear at Kumali and Koka by ~2,000 ¹⁴C bp, suggesting herding and pottery making appeared late and contacts with neighboring regions were tenuous. Technologically conservative people continued microlith production and sporadic rockshelter use into the eighteenth century CE.     

Wu Youxing 吳有性 et les Épidémies Pestilentielles

Faced with the terrible mortality of the epidem ics during the last years of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) and the inefficacy of the treatm ents applied, Wu Youxing (ca 1580–1660), the author of the Wenyilun 温疫論 (Treatise on warmfactor epidemics), completed in 1642, proposed a new etiological explanation of these diseases, with a highly critical attitude towards his predecessors. Reception to the book was mixed; it sometimes encountered opposition due to the audacity of some of Wu Youxing’s conceptions, but also, most likely, to the discrepancy between the author’s assertions and the failures in actual application.     

Picturing the city: young people's representations of urban environments

Urban environments form the setting of everyday life for most Western young people. This article explores visual representations of cities made by young people in a range of environments within four countries. The findings inform a larger study on urban geographies within geography education. We analyse students' drawings of cities regarding physical characteristics, activities and issues. There are many commonalities between drawings from the four countries, the majority showing a ‘big, busy city’ representation with skylines, traffic and shopping areas. There are also distinctive characteristics for each set, for example Finnish students tended to emphasise environmental and social issues more than in the other countries. In relation to methodology, we conclude that drawings, supported by contextual information, are a useful source to understand young people's representations of cities. Further, this research supports thinking about how to merge young people's experiences and imaginaries with the teaching of urban geography.