Evidence of Stress Fracture in a Homo antecessor Metatarsal from Gran Dolina Site (Atapuerca,Spain)

We present the palaeopathological analysis of a right fourth metatarsal (ATD6‐124) recovered from the Atapuerca–Gran Dolina site (Spain). This fossil, ca. 1 Ma, belongs to Homo antecessor, the earliest known European hominin species. The metatarsal exhibits a proliferative lesion on its medial periosteal surface. Periosteal reaction can be the bone response to a wide number of injurious processes. We describe a lesion on the basis of macroscopic and microscopic analyses, including microtomography and scanning electron microscopy. Externally, the osteoblastic lesion presents a highly porotic and disorganised morphology. Internally, we observe a series of micro‐fractures on the compact bone that do not affect the medullary canal. We provide a differential diagnosis and suggest that the ATD6‐124 lesion could correspond to a pedal stress fracture, also known as fatigue or march fracture. Stress fractures have been related to a load increase and muscular fatigue. This type of fracture has been widely reported in the foot of soldiers and athletes, which are usually engaged in strenuous, excessive or prolonged locomotive activities. Despite its high frequency in these groups, stress fractures have not been reported as such in fossil collections, with the exception of a metatarsal belonging to the Sima de los Huesos site (Atapuerca). Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reconstructing subsistence at the Yingpanshan and Gaoshan sites in Sichuan province,China: Insights from isotope analysis on bone samples and charred crop remains

During the Neolithic period, the Chengdu Plain was a key region where two important crops, rice and millet, were cultivated together. Millet was probably introduced from north-western China c.3500–3300 cal. bce , and rice came from the Middle Yangtze River c.2600 cal. bce . In this study, human and faunal remains, as well as charred crop grains, were collected from the Yingpanshan (3300–2600 cal. bce ) and Gaoshan (2500–2000 cal. bce ) sites where the dominant crop was millet and rice, respectively. Carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were conducted on human bones and the ecofact samples in order to reconstruct the subsistence at the sites. The results indicate that the diets of two individuals recovered from the Yingpanshan site consisted of both C₃- and C₄-based foods, predominantly the former. By contrast, Yingpanshan pigs consumed a large quantity of C₄ fodder. This result, combined with the ecofact evidence, suggests that millet was the main crop at the Yingpanshan site. It also highlights the fact that the two Yingpanshan individuals might be non-locals and/or belonged to later periods. On the other hand, the diet of the Gaoshan community was dominated by C₃-based foods. When considering the archaeobotanical evidence at Baodun, a site contemporaneous with and near to the Gaoshan site, it can be stated that rice was an important food resource for the Gaoshan community. This study also suggests how crops were managed at the two sites. The Yingpanshan people might have used manure for growing millet. Both manuring and irrigation might have also been practised by Gaoshan's rice farmers. However, more studies are required to understand the extent of manuring and irrigation in their agricultural economies.     

Americanist Stratigraphic Excavation and the Measurement of Culture Change

Many versions of the history of Americanist archaeology suggest there was a stratigraphic revolution during the second decade of the twentieth century—the implication being that prior to about 1915 most archaeologists did not excavate stratigraphically. However, articles and reports published during the late nineteenth century and first decade of the twentieth century indicate clearly that many Americanists in fact did excavate stratigraphically. What they did not do was attempt to measure the passage of time and hence culture change. The real revolution in Americanist archaeology comprised an analytical shift from studying synchronic variation to tracking changes in frequencies of artifact types or styles—a shift pioneered by A. V. Kidder, A. L. Kroeber, Nels C. Nelson, and Leslie Spier. The temporal implications of the analytical techniques they developed—frequency seriation and percentage stratigraphy—were initially confirmed by stratigraphic excavation. Within a few decades, however, most archaeologists had begun using stratigraphic excavation as a creational strategy—that is, as a strategy aimed at recovering superposed sets of artifacts that were viewed as representing occupations and distinct cultures. The myth that there was a stratigraphic revolution was initiated in the writings of the innovators of frequency seriation and percentage stratigraphy.     

Book reviews

CHINA

TANG KWOK‐LEUNG. Colonial State and Social Policy: social Welfare Development in Hong Kong 1842–1997. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1998. 192 pp. US$36.00, hardcover.

ZHENG YONGNIAN. Discovering Chinese Nationalism in China: modernity, Identity, and International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 208 pp. US$54.95, hardcover; US$19.95, paper.

STEVAN HARRELL, BAMO QUBUMO and MA ERZI (photographs by Zhong Dakun). Mountain Patterns, The Survival of Nuosu Culture in China. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 2000. Colour and black‐and‐white illustrations. No price given, paper.

PENG XIZHE with ZHIGANG GUO (eds). The Changing Population of China. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2000. 312 pp. Figures, tables, index. £50.00, US$68.95, hardcover; £15.99, US$31.95, paper.

ROBERT S. ROSS (ed). After the Cold War: domestic Factors and U.S.‐China Relations. Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, 1998. xiv, 208 pp. Charts, figures, index. US$59.95, hardcover; US$22.95, paper.

PING CHEN. Modern Chinese: history and Sociolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 229 pp. Introduction, tables, notes, references, index. US$59.95, hardcover; US$21.95, paper.

JAPAN, KOREA

MARK R. MULLINS. Christianity Made in Japan: a Study of Indigenous Movements. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1998. 288 pp. Illustrations, preface, notes, bibliography, index. US$24.95, paper.

HIROSUKE KAWANISHI (ed). The Human Face of Industrial Conflict in Post‐war Japan. London: Kegan Paul International, 1999. 287 pp. Introduction, chronology of events, translation of Japanese organisational and statutory names, index. US$93.50, hardcover.

YUKIKO KOSHIRO. Trans‐Pacific Racisms and the US Occupation of Japan. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. xi, 295 pp. US$21.50, paper.

PHYLLIS BIRNBAUM. Modern Girls, Shining Stars, the Skies of Tokyo: five Japanese Women. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. 255 pp. US$29.00; UK£19.95, hardcover.

ROBIN M. LEBLANC. Bicycle Citizens: the Political World of the Japanese Housewife. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999. 246 pp. US$14.95, paper.

SOUTH, WEST & CENTRAL ASIA

ROWENA ROBINSON. Conversion, Continuity and Change: lived Christianity in Southern Goa. New Delhi, Thousand Oaks, London: Sage Publications, 1998. 236 pp. £27.50, hardcover.

RAJAT GANGULY. Kin State Intervention in Ethnic Conflicts: lessons from South Asia. New Delhi: Sage Publications, 1998.266 pp. Map, notes, bibliography, index. Rs. 350, hardcover.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

DANNY UNGER. Building Social Capital in Thailand: fibers, Finance, and Infrastructure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. 227 pp. A$90.00, hardcover; A$29.95, paper.

JEFFREY R. VINCENT, ROZALI MOHAMED ALI and ASSOCIATES. Environment and Development in a Resource‐Rich Economy: Malaysia Under the New Economic Policy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997. 364 pp. Foreword, preface, bibliography, index. US$46.95, hardcover; US$22.95, paper.

GENERAL ASIA

ANITA CHAN, B. J. TRIA KERKVLIET and J. UNGER (eds). Transforming Asian Socialism: China and Vietnam Compared. St. Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 1999. 240 pp. A$24.95, paper.

KURT W. RADTKE and J. A. STAM et al. (eds). Dynamics in Pacific Asia: conflict, Competition and Cooperation. London and New York: Kegan Paul International, 1998. 287 pp. US$110, hardcover.

YUE‐MAN YEUNG (ed). Urban Development in Asia: retrospect and Prospect. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Asia‐Pacific Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998. 453 pp. Plates, introduction, notes, index. No price given, hardcover.