Transdisciplinary Archaeology and the Future of Archaeological Practice: Citizen Science,Portable Science,Ethical Science

This paper presents a vision and a pathway for the future of archaeological practice, in which several fields that are currently considered distinct, including community-based collaborative archaeology, indigenous archaeology, and applied archaeology, could become the norm. Inspired by personal encounters with some exceptionally open and collaborative archaeology projects, as well as by recent advances in archaeological science, which are starting to make it more portable, this paper sets out an agenda for a more open approach to archaeological practice. It advocates a method of producing knowledge about the past that does not privilege one investigator over another, but gives everyone who is interested and wants to participate an opportunity to do. Specific methodological challenges that are discussed include the need to ‘flip’ the public outreach element of research designs, to embed open participation from the outset by nurturing relationships of mutual respect and trust, and to take advantage of, and improve, the portability of archaeological science, so that it can be done in and by local communities. It is argued here that the opening of archaeological research, including the archaeological sciences, to a wider range of participants, is the most ethical approach to archaeological practice in a pan-disciplinary research environment.     

PRICING POLICY REACTIONS TO AGGLOMERATION IN A MARKET WITH SPATIAL SEARCH*

ABSTRACT. Price dispersion (variation) and agglomeration are common characteristics of spatial markets, in particular, markets with imperfect consumer information and search. However, pricing and location strategies in these markets are not well analyzed since spatial search is difficult to model without restricting the spatial dimension of the problem. This paper analyzes pricing and location strategies in a market with spatid search using a probabilistic modeling strategy that does not restrict search patterns in the plane. Specifically, the analysis considers the pricing strategy of an isolated firm in response to the agglomeration of competing firms. Results indicate that spatial and temporal price dispersion are effective responses to competitors'agglomeration. However, the relative effectiveness of these strategies varies with market conditions. In addition, agglomeration can have some counterintuitive effects. This paper also provides insights into existing theories of spatial search and spatial competition in spatially-restricted (linear and circular) markets.     

The Effects of Data Aggregation in Statistical Analysis

The problem of ecological correlation is now widely recognized but detailed analyses of the effects of aggregation on correlation and regression coefficients are rare. A short review of the aggregation problem is followed by an analysis of the specific effect of proximity aggregation on the slope coefficient of a bivariate linear model using data drawn from the Los Angeles Metropolitan region. The evidence suggests that changes in the slope coefficient are best related to the manner in which the covariation between the independent and dependent variables changes with increased aggregation.