Classic Lowland Maya Political Organization: A Review

This paper reviews recent archaeological research concerning Classic Maya lowland political systems (ca. A.D. 250–1000). It focuses specifically on (1) subsistence practices revealed through the analysis of prehistoric climate, available resources, agricultural technologies, and diet; (2) population distribution, density, and size revealed through the analysis of settlement practices and architectural function; (3) social differentiation and interaction revealed through the analysis of burial practices, diet and health, architecture, and production, consumption, and exchange patterns; and (4) ancient Maya political economy (how it was funded) revealed through the analysis of community organization, ritual activities, the Classic Maya collapse, and warfare. It finally ends with a brief discussion of the future of Maya archaeology. A key factor that recurs throughout this review is the noticeable amount of variability that existed—varied resources, subsistence strategies, settlement practices, and social and political systems. An understanding of this variability is the key to appreciate fully the Classic Maya.     

Osteological evidence for the draught exploitation of cattle: first applications of a new methodology

Although the aetiology of bone pathologies in cattle is poorly documented, various deformations in the skeleton have been attributed to draught exploitation in the archaeozoological literature. This paper summarizes the results of an osteological study that was undertaken on the feet of modern draught oxen. This led to the definition of a series of draught‐related anomalies. In an attempt to describe the pathologies in a more consistent and quantitative way, a scoring scale for each individual bone pathology was established. The developed method is applied to cattle remains from four Roman and one late medieval site. The distribution of the observed pathological indices (PIs) on the first phalanges is interpreted in terms of the age structure of the cattle populations, and the possible modes of cattle exploitation and meat consumption in various settlement types. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring the Frontier of Livelihoods Research

This article discusses the value of livelihoods studies and examines the obstacles which have prevented it from making a greater contribution to understanding the lives of poor people over the past decade. After examining the roots of the livelihoods approach, two major challenges are explored: the conceptualization of the problem of access, and how to achieve a better understanding of the mutual link between livelihood opportunities and decision‐making. The article concludes that access to livelihood opportunities is governed by social relations, institutions and organizations, and that power is an important (and sometimes overlooked) explanatory variable. In discussing the issue of access to livelihood opportunities, the authors note the occurrence of both strategic and unintentional behaviour and the importance of structural factors; they discuss concepts of styles and pathways, which try to cater for structural components and regularities; and they propose livelihood trajectories as an appropriate methodology for examining these issues. In this way, the article also sets the agenda for future livelihoods research.     

Using Fractal Dimensions for Characterizing Intra‐urban Diversity: The Example of Brussels

The objective of this paper is to compare fractal‐based parameters calculated by different fractal methods for urban built‐up areas and to link the observed spatial variations to variables commonly used in urban geography, urban economics, or land‐use planning. Computations are performed on Brussels, Belgium. Two fractal methods (correlation and dilation) are systematically applied for evaluating the fractal dimension of built‐up surfaces; correlation is used to evaluate the fractal dimension of the borders (lines). Analyses show that while fractal dimension is ideal for distinguishing the morphology of Brussels, each estimation technique leads to slightly different results. Interesting associations are to be found between the fractal dimensions and rent, distance, income, and planning rules. Despite its limitations, fractal analysis seems to be a promising tool for describing the morphology of the city and for simulating its genesis and planning. The model is robust: it replicates the urban spatial regularities and patterns, and could hence fruitfully be integrated into intra‐urban simulation processes.