The newer anthropology

J. H. M. Beattie and R. G. Lienhardt, eds. Studies in Social Anthropology: Essays in Memory of E. E. Evans‐Pritchard by His Former Oxford Colleagues. New York: Oxford University Press, 1975. x + 394 pp. Illustrations, maps, figures, references, bibliography, appendices, and index. $16.00.     

Dietary shifting in the Nasca Region as inferred from the carbon- and nitrogen-isotope compositions of archaeological hair and bone

The topography of the Andean Region results in short travelling distances among ecologically distinct production zones. As such, it is possible to infer relative changes in residence based on the spatial variability in the isotopic composition of food resources. Here, we determine long-term diet through carbon- and nitrogen-isotope analysis of bone collagen for twenty-nine individuals from Cahuachi, an important ceremonial centre in the Nasca Region. We also reconstruct the temporal sequence of change in dietary isotopic compositions along hair samples for seventeen individuals buried at Cahuachi and the neighbouring site of Huaca del Loro.     

Preliminary geochemical assessment of limestone resources and stone use at Maya sites in the Three Rivers Region,Belize

The carbonate bedrock of northwestern Belize is poorly understood from the standpoint of both geochemistry and the use of stone in prehispanic Maya sites for buildings and monuments. The friable nature of the rock in this topographically rugged area makes it especially difficult to distinguish monuments from bedrock spall, as little carving, if any, survives, and identification rests on location and positioning. The research presented here analyzed 63 limestone samples collected from two sites in the Three Rivers Region of Belize. ICP-MS and ICP-AES were used to characterize the major, minor, and trace element chemistry of the limestone bedrock of the region and determine the amount of geochemical variability. Another important objective was attempting to trace the movement of monument stone and determining whether it was imported from outside of the sites. Bedrock, quarries, and possible monuments were all sampled for these purposes. Bedrock proved to be similar across wide areas. However, at Chawak But'o'ob, along the flank of the Rio Bravo, changes downslope in Mg concentration suggest a leaching of the bedrock by meteoric waters based on differences in porosity. At Maax Na, a hilltop site, in contrast, such leaching is not as apparent. Many monuments at both sites were found to be composed of stone similar in chemistry to the local bedrock, including several of the identifiable stelae. However, our analyses also revealed that a few monuments at Maax Na were made of material with a different chemical composition, apparently from stone imported to the site. These results suggest that the Maya deliberately selected certain types of limestone for certain purposes, and may even have traded in non-local rock. Overall, the methods used in this pilot study indicate there is real potential in more intensive, regional assessments of the materials used at archaeological sites, even in areas where the local stone does not have a distinctive geochemical signature.     

Dewey's Materialist Philosophy of Education: A Resource for Critical Pedagogues?

This article looks at some similarities and differences between key elements of Karl Marx's critique of capital and John Dewey's philosophy of education, both substantively and methodologically. Substantively, their analyses of the relation between human beings and the natural world—what Marx calls concrete labour and Dewey generally calls action—converge. Similarly, methodologically they converge when looked at from the point of view of their analysis of the relation between earlier and later forms of life. In Marx's case, it is his comparison of the relation between capitalist society and earlier societies. In Dewey's case, it is his comparison of the relation between adult experience and childhood experience. Dewey's practical realization of his distinction of adult and childhood experience in the creation of a materialist curriculum embodied in the Dewey laboratory school in Chicago (of which Dewey was director from 1896 to 1904) also accords in many ways with Marx's theory of concrete labour. On the other hand, their analyses diverge substantively when viewed from the point of view of their critique of capitalist society; Marx united concrete labour with his concept of abstract labour to provide a basis for criticizing modern society on its own terms rather than in terms of Dewey's concept of a cultural lag. The divergence is explained by their divergent methodologies in analyzing modern capitalist society. Despite this difference, the article concludes that critical pedagogues would do well to incorporate Dewey's materialist curriculum into their own practices—with modifications.     

Remembering a Vietnam War Firefight: Changing Perspectives over Time

Intense, deadly combat is one of the most traumatic of humanexperiences. How veterans remember it and how they retell it,is explored in this article by Marine Corps Oral Historian FredH. Allison. Allison compares two interviews of the same Marinetalking about the same horrific Vietnam firefight in which fiveof eight Marines on a reconnaissance patrol were killed. Oneinterview took place in-country two days after the firefight,the other 34 years later. The early interview is an oral snapshotof the world of a combat Marine, while the later interview isa study in how memory reconstructs a combat experience. In comparingthe two interviews the reader can begin to understand how veterans'memory works to organize and make comprehensible an event thatmight not have been orderly or comprehensible in the first place.