Standardisation in 3D Geometric Morphometrics: Ethics,Ownership, and Methods

The collection and analysis of 3D digital data is a rapidly growing field in archaeology, anthropology, and forensics. Even though the 3D scanning of human remains in archaeology has been conducted for over 10 years, it is still frequently considered as a new field. Despite this, the availability of 3D scanning equipment and the number of studies employing these methods are increasing rapidly, and it is arguably damaging to the validity of this field to continue to consider these methods new and therefore not subject to the same standardisations as other researches. This paper considers the current issues regarding the lack of standardisation in the methods, ethics, and ownership of 3D digital data with a focus on human remains research. The aim of this paper is to stimulate further research and discussion, allowing this field to develop, improving the quality and value of future research.     

Baseline data for Andean paleomobility research: a radiogenic strontium isotope study of modern Peruvian agricultural soils

While the use of radiogenic strontium isotope values to examine paleomobility is increasingly common in the Andes, and beyond, many questions about baseline variability remain. To better understand baseline radiogenic strontium isotope compositions in the Andes, we present new ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values from Peruvian soil samples. Modern soil samples were collected from agricultural fields from the following areas in central and southern Peru: Arequipa, Atico, Camaná, Chala, Cusco, Ica, Ilo, Lima, Mejía, Moquegua, Nazca, Ocoña, Palpa, Pisco, Puno, Tacna, and Yauca. Samples were partially dissolved to better approximate the bioavailable strontium. Radiogenic strontium isotope values from the partially dissolved soil samples range from ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr?=?0.70202 to 0.71894 and, for all soil samples, have a mean of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr?=?0.70773?±?0.00166 (1σ, n?=?114). In general, the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values measured for soil samples collected from modern agricultural fields reflect the expected ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values based on bedrock geology. Comparing our new soil data with published radiogenic strontium isotope data for bedrock, soil, water, and faunal samples provides constraints on the regions in the Andes that can, and cannot, be distinguished through radiogenic strontium isotope analysis.     

Demography and ethnic continuity in the Tlailotlacan enclave of Teotihuacan: the evidence from stable oxygen isotopes

Mechanisms for the maintenance of Zapotec ethnicity in Tlailotlacan, an enclave of Teotihuacan, Mexico, are reconstructed using oxygen-isotope analyses of bone and enamel phosphate. The data indicate continual interaction among the enclave inhabitants, their Oaxacan homeland, and other diaspora colonies, with no dominant post-marital residence pattern. There is no apparent association between social status and place of origin, and individual agency is indicated by variable acceptance of Teotihuacan traditions. Striking patterns of movement include the sojourning of children in other regions and the relocation of breastfeeding women. These segments of the population would have played major roles in the social and political articulation of diaspora colonies. Foreign signatures in primary burials indicate that some immigrants died shortly after their arrival in Tlailotlacan. Data from secondary burials indicate the transportation of dead relatives or ancestors to Teotihuacan for burial. We conclude that the behaviour of immigrants in ancient and modern cities is analogous in many ways.     

Geographies of asylum, legal knowledge and legal practices

Law and legal discourses are an integral part of social life, a central means of producing social identities and exercising social power in day to day life. Critically informed geographical perspectives on law have illustrated in a number of ways how the legal and social (and therefore the spatial) are mutually constitutive. This paper argues that perspectives from critical legal geography can offer insights into the operation of asylum and immigration law in the UK in the late 1990s. This paper argues that legal practices and relations are organised in hegemonic and counter-hegemonic ways in different places and institutional contexts in London. In addition law and legal practices comprise a particularly important way in which ‘community’ can be constructed simultaneously across a variety of different scales in ways that can marginalise and exclude relatively powerless groups like asylum seekers. Thus refugee identities offer a particularly clear example of how social realities are constituted by law and legal practice.     

The Potential Implications of the European Union Water Framework Directive on Domestic Planning Systems: A UK Case Study

The transformation of planning across Europe in recent years has been characterized by new processes at different spatial scales that reach across traditional boundaries. This Europeanization of planning processes is reflected in the emergence of cross-border initiatives, new spatial relationships and the enhancement of regional policy-making. In using the case of the UK this article analyses the possible ramifications of adopting the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). It is demonstrated that the WFD, despite its apparent focus on water regulation, is symptomatic of wider European Spatial Planning processes that are seeing a reshaping of attitudes, witnessing the emergence of new networks and challenging traditional sovereignties of planning.