A study of dimensional differences of tooth marks (pits and scores) on bones modified by small and large carnivores

The use of tooth mark sizes to infer carnivore types when analyzing the modification of faunal assemblages has been criticized on the base of intense overlap in tooth mark size among differently sized carnivores. The present study analyzes this overlap and presents some critical explanations for it. This work is based on the largest collection of tooth pit dimensional data collected to date for some of the most relevant carnivore types. The study empirically shows that small and large carnivores can be clearly differentiated when using tooth pit size, with a higher discrimination when using tooth marks on dense shafts than on cancellous ends. It is argued that most previous studies of tooth mark sizes have reproduced a higher overlap probably because sample sizes were small, and experiments were carried out using small carcasses (which require a smaller bite force) or for a combination of factors.     

The Role of Universities in Urban Regeneration: Reframing the Analytical Approach

Universities have resources for urban dynamics that are difficult to provide by other means. For this reason, these organizations are crucial actors in urban regeneration. This article sets out a conceptual framework for the analysis of the role played by higher education institutions in urban renewal initiatives. It is based on an integrated analysis of the uses of the university both as promoters of business innovation and in terms of their civic and social outcomes. Urban regeneration of cities in decline is used as a “strategic research site” to understand universities’ potential. The discussion is organized around four types of contributions: physical infrastructure, human resources, economic development and civic engagement. The debate enlightens the options for integrating universities' capabilities as an asset for urban regeneration and sets out implications for the institutionalization of practices and decision-making in this field.     

British Merchants in New Markets: The Case of Wylie and Hancock in Brazil and the River Plate,c. 1808–19

In 1808, after the Portuguese royal family was forced to leave Portugal and move to Brazil, Brazilian ports were opened to British merchant houses, which were quick to open offices in the likes of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. By 1810 there were probably over 200 British merchant houses operating in Brazil, but we know very little about them because most of their historical records have not survived. In addition, scholars have assumed that, on account of the dominant British economic power, the establishment of new mercantile houses in South America c. 1808–19 was an easy task. This assumption is challenged in this paper, which sheds new light on the activities of one of these British merchant houses, making use of a recently discovered business collection concerned with the activities of Wylie & Hancock, a Scottish house which operated in Brazil and the River Plate from 1808 to 1819. These papers also provide a unique insight into neglected topics such as: the nature of managerial mercantile organisations; what the economic actors at the time actually did and thought; and how strategic and tactical choices were reached.     

Petrographic thin sections and exotic rocks provenience among hunter–gatherer societies in the eastern Pampa–Patagonia Transition (lower basin of the Colorado River,Argentina)*

Lithic assemblages recovered from sites located in the eastern Pampa–Patagonia transition include a great diversity of raw materials, some from neighbouring regions, such as the Humid and Dry Pampa subregions and Northpatagonia. Lithic raw material assignments to specific procurement areas were preliminarily proposed based on macroscopic characterizations. The aim of the paper is to present the results obtained from the petrographic thin sections of archaeological artefacts from Middle and Late Holocene sites recorded at the study area. The analyses corroborate most of the macroscopic determinations, and more detailed knowledge of the acquisition areas of these raw materials was obtained.     

Were Olduvai Hominins making butchering tools or battering tools? Analysis of a recently excavated lithic assemblage from BK (Bed II,Olduvai Gorge,Tanzania)

A new interpretation of early stone-tool use by hominins at Olduvai depicts them as involved in battering activities (using pounding tools) rather than making cutting butchering tools as is commonly inferred in most other Plio-Pleistocene sites where lithics appear associated to faunal remains. The bulk of this interpretation is based on the recognition of the stigma of percussion activities in anvils and detached by-products. Renewed excavations at BK after more than half a century of the beginning of the digging at the site by M. Leakey have produced a new and unbiased lithic assemblage. The taphonomic study of the faunal assemblage has shown that BK is an anthropogenic site where carcass butchery practices were repeatedly performed over a vast amount of time. The present analysis of the lithic artefacts supports this interpretation by showing that the obtainment of flakes was the principal aim in stone knapping. We argue that a number of technical traits observed in the lithic collection of BK can be best interpreted as the result of bipolar loading rather than the by-products of battering activities. Since BK has provided the second largest collection of hominid-modified bones from Olduvai, it is concluded that detached pieces produced in the course of bipolar reduction might have played an active role in bone modification and that active rather than passive percussion behaviors might have been responsible for the formation of the lithic assemblage. The functionality of the Oldowan stone tools are discussed under the light of the new study.     

GPR and inductive electromagnetic surveys applied in three coastal sambaqui (shell mounds) archaeological sites in Santa Catarina state, South Brazil

In this article, GPR – Ground Penetrating Radar and inductive electromagnetic (EM38 equipment) results are presented for three archaeological sites of shell mounds located between Laguna and Jaguaruna cities, mid-southern coast of Santa Catarina state, Brazil. The Jabuticabeira II, Santa Marta IV, and Encantada III sites were studied. These sites consist of carbonate shell mounds built by societies that inhabited this region during the pre-colonial period (7.5–1.3 ky BP). Geophysical responses obtained in these archaeological sites had allowed the identification of anomalous regions related to archaeological point targets as well as continuous targets, correlated to the shell mound's structure and buried geologic features. GPR numerical modelling studies were done in order to evaluate the performance of the GPR method in relation to materials found in that environment, besides helping interpretations of real results. The synthetic GPR model was a good match with real data obtained in the field. So, the real and synthetic results serve as a reference guide to direct excavation activities in these archaeological and geological structures. In the Jabuticabeira II shell mound, lithic materials and burials were found amidst archaeological layers characterized by sediment rich in organic material, ferruginous concretions, and loose shells. In the Santa Marta IV archaeological site, a concentration of ceramic materials, burials and fireplaces were found. In the Encantada III site, a strong anomaly characterized by a hyperbolic reflection was related to the presence of a silicified tree root; a great example of ambiguity in shallow geophysics interpretation in archaeological applications. Results functioned as a guide to archaeological excavations, allowing cost and time reduction as well as contributing to improve the knowledge of these archaeological sites situated in southern Brazil.     

Reduction of topography effect in inductive electromagnetic profiles: application on coastal sambaqui (shell mound) archaeological site in Santa Catarina state, Brazil

We present results of electrical conductivity profiles obtained with inductive electromagnetic geophysical method in Santa Marta archaeological site, Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil. This site is a sambaqui (shell mound), in which several human occupation remains are found during pre-colonial period such as buried lithic and bone artifacts, fire-place, etc. Most of these mounds include as well many human burials, which, in many cases, point to funerary ritual as a main agency for mound building. A set of profiles of apparent electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility was acquired in two sites aiming the identification of geophysical anomalies with potential interest for excavation. To enhance conductivity data, we applied an effective procedure to remove topographical effects in the apparent conductivity measurements, which are rather conditioned by the presence of a variable water table depth or conductive sediment layer. A linear dependence among conductivity values and the site elevation provided a simple linear model to remove the influence of topography. Corrected electric conductivity maps substantially improved the definition of anomalies, many of them rather subtle in raw data images. Corrected maps also show a better adherence with magnetic susceptibility maps, both of them identifying archaeological structures of interest: a well-structured fire-place and a concentration of ceramic fragments.     

Pratiques culturelles et circulation en Europe

In the present study the author examines the migratory practices of movement between France and Portugal of young French of Portuguese ancestry, as well as of young Portuguese living in France. The study of these practices from an ethnological point of view sheds light on the interaction of material resources and the multifaceted symbolic resources associated with them. Besides the economic and political dimension in which these practices are grounded, the identity — forming process of which they are a part raises a number of questions — especially in the context of the European Union. The author shows how, by using elements drawn from the family migratory history, natural history and Portuguese culture, the descendents of Europeans who migrated for economic reasons are now trying to go beyond the dilemma of an identity posed by their «double culture», as well as the social and cultural constraints imposed on them by their elders.     

Last Glacial Human Settlement in Eastern Cantabria (Northern Spain)

While the excavation of individual sites remains fundamental to the creation of the Palaeolithic archeological record, increasingly the focus of prehistoric research is on human adaptations to and within natural regions. Such a reorientation implies viewing sites and occupations as samples of different suites of activities in various habitats across space and time; it is dependent on the use of radiocarbon to date and relate occupation residues among sites; and it necessitates the application of methods to uncover patterns of human mobility as an integral aspect of subsistence economy, demographic arrangements and social relations. This paper contributes to the regional study of Last Glacial foragers by presenting preliminary aspects of a case study from the Asón River basin in eastern Cantabria. Assembled here are data from several recent and a few older excavations in sites distributed between the present shore of the Bay of Biscay and the uplands of the Cantabrian Cordillera. The main sites are El Otero, La Chora, La Fragua and El Perro near or at the present mouth of the river, the classic cave of El Valle in the mid-valley, and El Mirón and El Horno near the cave art loci of Covalanas, La Haza and Cullalvera in the upper valley. While the highest density of known sites in the whole drainage area occurs during the Magdalenian and Azilian periods (17–10 kya), there is evidence for substantial abandonment of the montane interior during the Mesolithic, when human settlement was concentrated around the estuary of the Asón, after which time the whole valley was repopulated in the Neolithic.