Mastering the Arctic marine environment: organizational practices of Pomor hunting expeditions to Svalbard (Spitsbergen) in the eighteenth century

We consider the foundations of the widely recognized reputation of the Pomors as experts in dealing with the severe and unpredictable marine environment of the White and Barents Seas. Our research focuses on the history of Russian exploitation of Spitsbergen. Though these kinds of activities occupied only 1% of maritime shipping in the Russian North, the history of exploitation of this Arctic archipelago is contextualized within the history of the Russian North and the lives of its people. Thus, it provides an informative model for general understanding of the methods and structures Pomors used to control the marine environment. The paper is based on newly discovered documents that allowed us to analyse the social and property status of organizers and participants in Spitsbergen hunting. We also consider practices linked to trip organization and supply. We argue that an understanding of Spitsbergen hunting management reveals the general principals of Pomor mastery of the Arctic environment. Flexibility and decentralization of economic activities permitted peasants of the Russian North to demonstrate stable and positive economic results under severe conditions. This could easily have been perceived as a special ability to live in the Arctic.     

Archaeology and English as an Imperial lingua franca

My brief comment argues that English as a lingua franca of archaeological discourse produces sharp inequalities not only between those who are linguistically unable versus those who are able to participate, even participants are forced into a pattern of valuations in which the Anglo-American preference for theory over other archaeological concerns reigns supreme. The result is a forced co-optation into the ideologically dominant system for any non-western archaeologist who wants her voice to be heard.     

Imperial Inspections: Archaeology,War and Violence

The political-ethical complexities of archaeological work have led to this publication of a theme issue that attempts to critically consider our privileged positions as scholars, but also the limitations of our work in the context of violent conflicts. At the same time these papers show how practical remedial initiatives sought for distressing situations in which archaeologists may find themselves can often only intensify the problems.     

Geobasisdaten für die Planung?

Die Nutzer von Geobasisdaten der Vermessungs- und Katasterverwaltungen finden heute vor allem in ATKIS (Amtliches Topographisch-Kartographisches Informationssystem) und in der ALK (automatisiert geführte Liegenschaftskarte; hier noch eingeschr?nkt) fl?chendeckende und für eine Fachdatenintegration geeignete Geodatenbest?nde vor. Gleichwohl wird von Nutzerseite h?ufig ein differenziertes und in Teilen kritisches Bild gezeichnet. Die Kritik richtet sich v.a. auf die Probleme, die ATKIS-Anwender mit dem Nutzerkomfort, dem komplexen Datenmodell, unrichtigen Fl?chennutzungsangaben, inkompatiblen Objektdefinitionen, den Preisen sowie mangelnder Aktualit?t und Vollst?ndigkeit haben. Dennoch gibt es für viele Zwecke auch in der Planung langfristig keine echte Alternative zu den Geobasisdaten.     

From shell to glass: how beads reflect the changing cultural landscape of the seventeenth-century lower Potomac River valley

ABSTRACT

This article examines over 7,500 beads from eight Native archaeological sites located in the lower Potomac River valley in order to understand how changes in bead assemblages between AD 1300 and 1712 expressed an ever-evolving Chesapeake cultural landscape. This analysis demonstrates clear differences in the types and distributions of beads from mortuary and domestic/nonmortuary contexts. Ossuary contexts contained the highest frequency of beads with the number of beads increasing over time. Following the arrival of English settlers in the 1620s, glass beads begin to appear in ossuary contexts. Beads from domestic or nonmortuary contexts are fewer in number, and those present were manufactured using local materials, including bone and clay, as well as shell. However, after 1680, there is a shift from shell beads being predominate on Native sites, to sites containing exclusively glass beads, red and black glass beads in particular. Post-1680 sites appear to reflect Piscataway displacement and the disruption of indigenous trade routes, leading Natives to obtain beads from colonial vendors. The distribution of bead color, an important attribute for communicating Native states of being, also shifts after 1680, with assemblages once dominated by white shell beads now dominated by black and red glass beads.