Reduced Population Variance in Strontium Isotope Ratios Informs Domesticated Turkey Use at Chaco Canyon,New Mexico,USA

Traditionally, strontium isotopes (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) have been used as a sourcing tool in numerous archaeological artifact classes. The research presented here demonstrates that ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_bioapatite ratios also can be used at a population level to investigate the presence of domesticated animals and methods of management. The proposed methodology combines ecology, isotope geochemistry, and behavioral ecology to assess the presence and nature of turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) domestication. This case study utilizes ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_bioapatite ratios from teeth and bones of archaeological turkey, deer (Odocoileus sp.), lagomorph (Lepus sp. and Sylvilagus sp.), and prairie dog (Cynomys sp.) from Chaco Canyon, NM, USA (ca. A.D. 800–1250). Wild deer and turkey from the southwestern USA have much larger home ranges and dispersal behaviors (measured in kilometers) when compared to lagomorphs and prairie dogs (measured in meters). Hunted deer and wild turkey from archaeological contexts at Chaco Canyon are expected to have a higher variance in their ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_bioapatite ratios, when compared to small range taxa (lagomorphs and prairie dogs). Contrary to this expectation, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_bioapatite values of turkey bones from Chacoan assemblages have a much lower variance than deer and are similar to that of smaller mammals. The sampled turkey values show variability most similar to lagomorphs and prairie dogs, suggesting the turkeys from Chaco Canyon were consuming a uniform diet and/or were constrained within a limited home range, indicating at least proto-domestication. The population approach has wide applicability for evaluating the presence and nature of domestication when combined with paleoecology and behavioral ecology in a variety of animals and environments.     

Embodied bicycle commuters in a car world

As an initiative to increase cycling, bike to work (BTW) events emphasize a pragmatic approach in which people learn through sensory experience. Pragmatism contends that the lived experience of the commuter within fluid geographies of social and physical conditions informs commuting knowledge and behavior. I researched how bicyclists participate in the 2012 BTW event in Lake Tahoe (USA) and how these experiences facilitate the process of becoming bicycle commuters. My study included participant observations, interviews, video observations, and route mapping. I analyzed this data with thematic and narrative analyses. I find that the BTW event illuminates bicycling, a normally invisible practice in a car world, and creates temporary bicycle-friendly spaces that provide the embodied experience and knowledge of bicycle commuting within context. Through this lived experience, participants can break free from unconscious car-based patterns and become embodied bicycle commuters who engage in active renegotiations of their commuting practices.     

Probabilistic Regionalization via Evidence Accumulation with Random Spanning Trees as Weak Spatial Representations

Spatial clusters contain biases and artifacts, whether they are defined via statistical algorithms or via expert judgment. Graph-based partitioning of spatial data and associated heuristics gained popularity due to their scalability but can define suboptimal regions due to algorithmic biases such as chaining. Despite the broad literature on deterministic regionalization methods, approaches that quantify regionalization probability are sparse. In this article, we propose a local method to quantify regionalization probabilities for regions defined via graph-based cuts and expert-defined regions. We conceptualize spatial regions as consisting of two types of spatial elements: core and swing. We define three distinct types of regionalization biases that occur in graph-based methods and showcase the use of the proposed method to capture these types of biases. Additionally, we propose an efficient solution to the probabilistic graph-based regionalization problem via performing optimal tree cuts along random spanning trees within an evidence accumulation framework. We perform statistical tests on synthetic data to assess resulting probability maps for varying distinctness of underlying regions and regionalization parameters. Lastly, we showcase the application of our method to define probabilistic ecoregions using climatic and remotely sensed vegetation indicators and apply our method to assign probabilities to the expert-defined Bailey's ecoregions.     

Further aspects of fur trade life depicted in the skeleton

Osteobiographies were reconstructed from the skeletal remains of four adults from Fort Edmonton, a 19th century trading post of the Canadian fur trade. Three males were Caucasoid and probably ethnic Scots, given the usual origin of fur traders in this region. The lone adult female in the sample was Mongoloid, either Indian or Métis, and likely the ‘country wife’ of a fur trader, since she was buried in the European tradition in the fort cemetery. The cause of death is not discernible from any of the skeletal remains and none of these individuals exhibit any evidence of chronic infectious disease, malnutrition or neoplasia. Trauma, arthritis and other indicators of physical stress do appear, however, and present an opportunity to expand our understanding of the effects of fur trade life on the skeleton. Viewed in the context of historical accounts of life at the fort in the early 19th century, stress markers on the skeletons of three males have led to the conclusion that they were voyageurs who engaged in trading trips by canoe or boat. Lesions of the capsule attachment area at the proximal tibio‐fibular articulation appear unilaterally in two males and may be associated with ‘mushing’ or driving a dog sled in winter. The musculoskeletal lesions on the one preserved female skeleton are consistent with the arduous domestic activities documented at the fort, which include milking cows, churning butter, stirring lye soap, and harvesting grain and root vegetables by hand. Since specific occupations or behaviours cannot be precisely determined from muscular attachment and other stress markers, these interpretations are made cautiously and only in the culture‐historical context of the skeletal sample. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Portrayals of Non-North Koreans in North Korean Textbooks and the Formation of National Identity

This article examines the portrayal of non-North Koreans in North Korean textbooks to assess the influences on the formation of North Korean identity, and how such identity formation is important in Kim Jeong-il's retention of power. This study not only looks closely at textual representations; it also examines how political and ideological changes in North Korea had a critical influence on these texts. The study encompasses both lexico-grammatical analysis and the analysis of textual and visual images, based on an examination of six North Korean language textbooks published from 1954 to 2000. It demonstrates that North Korean identity is defined through the portrayal of non-North Koreans, particularly enemy others. The portrayal of non-North Koreans facilitates the formation of a solid North Korean identity – an identity that entails serving their political leaders, remaining vigilant against threats to their country, and liberating South Koreans from poverty and oppression by America and its puppet states.