Unpacking reliability: The success of Robert Bosch,GmbH in constructing antilock braking systems as reliable products

This paper focuses on the process of negotiating standards of reliable performance in the introduction of a new technology as a way to explain the eventual success of one device over its competitors. Using the introduction of the antilock braking system as a case study, the author examines three systems, produced by Dunlop, Kelsey‐Hayes, and Bendix, which failed to achieve success on the market and contrasts them with the work of engineers at Robert Bosch, GmbH, whose ABS became the dominant antilock technology by the 1980s. An important aspect of the social construction of technology, the problem of reliability is one only addressed through a network of social and technical factors.     

The Archaeological Survey of India and Communal Violence in Post‐independence India

This article argues that that the discipline of archaeology as practised by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) significantly contributed to communal violence in post‐Independence India. The essay investigates several legacies handed down from the colonial ASI to the post‐Independence ASI, with a goal of explaining the contribution of archaeology to the ongoing disturbances at Ayodhyā in Uttar Pradesh. The colonial ASI was marked by four characteristics: it was a monument‐based archaeology based on geographical surveys, literary traditions and Orientalist scholarship. These four characteristics combined to form a traditionalist, location‐driven excavation agenda that privileged specific holy sites in the post‐Partition era, sustaining the violent disagreements between Hindu and Islamic populations of India and Pakistan.     

Variation in strontium isotope ratios of archaeological fauna in the Midwestern United States: a preliminary study

Strontium isotope values (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) in bone and tooth enamel have been used increasingly to identify non-local individuals within prehistoric human populations worldwide. Archaeological research in the Midwestern United States has increasingly highlighted the role of population movement in affecting interregional cultural change. However, the comparatively low level of geologic variation in the Midwestern United States might suggest a corresponding low level of strontium variation, and calls into question the sensitivity of strontium isotopes to identify non-local individuals in this region. Using strontium isotopes of archaeological fauna, we explore the degree of variability in strontium ratios across this region. Our results demonstrate measurable variation in strontium ratios and indicate the potential of strontium analysis for addressing questions of origin and population movement in the Midwestern United States.     

Bison butchery at Cooper,a Folsom site on the Southern Plains

Cooper, a Folsom arroyo-trap bison kill site in northwest Oklahoma is composed of three large-scale kill episodes. The bison bones have been examined for butchering evidence and exploring the butchering pattern. Damage categories to cortical bone are indentation, cut mark, helical fracture, and impact blow. The 99 elements damaged are from 36 carcasses across all three kills, and damage morphology indicates both lithic and bone expediency tools were used in the butchering. Animals are being butchered in an upright position on their stomachs, with transverse and abdominal muscles the focal point. Experimental butchering of a bison replicates the reconstructed sequence and underscores a gourmet butchering style for the Cooper kills.