The Archaeology of War: A North American Perspective

This article reviews recent archaeological research on warfare in prestate societies of native North America. This survey comprises six regions: Arctic/Subarctic, Northwest Coast, California, Southwest/Great Basin, Great Plains, and Eastern Woodlands. Two lines of evidence, defensive settlement behavior and injuries in human skeletal remains, figure prominently in archaeological reconstructions of violence and warfare in these regions. Burning of sites and settlements also has been important for identifying the consequences of war and investigating more subtle aspects of strategy and directionality. Weaponry and iconography have to date provided important but more limited insights. Although considerable disparities exist between regions in the archaeological evidence for intra- and intergroup violence, all regions show a marked increase after A.D. 1000. These findings suggest that larger forces may have been responsible for escalating violence throughout North America at this time.     

Induced metal-ion exchange in excavated human bone

Excavated human bone was exposed to aqueous solutions containing high concentrations of a single added metal ion in order to examine the extent of introduction of contaminating materials during burial. Variables included pH, temperature, ion concentration, state of bone (whole or crushed), structure of buffer, and counterion. Calcium and sodium showed little increase, and even a decrease in some cases. Strontium, zinc, lead, and magnesium showed large increases probably through heteroionic replacement of calcium. Manganese, aluminum, and potassium showed increases, particularly under neutral conditions, probably through infiltration into voids and defects.     

Of calves and kings: The Canaanite dimension in the religion of Israel

Abstract

In this article, the author studies the question how pastoral metaphors shape or construct the argumentative development and the internal structure of the Oracle against Babylon (Jer 50–51). Methodologically, the article draws on the insights provided by the cognitive linguistic approach to metaphor stating that metaphor is not merely a literary ornament, but rather a fundamental way in which people think. On the basis of these insights, the pastoral metaphors occurring in Jer 50,6–7; 8; 11–13; 17–18; 19–20; 44–45 and 51,38–40 are subjected to close scrutiny. It is shown that these metaphors display a strong internal development, challenging the view that the Oracle is an ongoing repetition of the same ideas. Moreover, the pastoral metaphors occur at structurally important positions in the Oracle, thus contributing to its overall architecture, and they provide important thematic links to other crucial texts in the book, e.g. Jer 25. Finally, the close analysis of the pastoral metaphors in Jer 50–51 has shed a new light on a number of the text's interpretational problems, for which new solutions were consequently proposed.     

There and back again: The signicance of movement in the priestly work

Abstract

Josephus, like the rabbis, had ambivalent feelings toward the prophet Elijah. On the one hand, because of the traditions identifying him with Phinehas the biblical zealot and portraying him as the forerunner of the Messiah (and therefore the leader of a revolt to bring about an independent Jewish state), Josephus, who was so indebted to the Roman imperial family, could hardly aggrandize him. On the other hand, because of Elijah's popularity as a folk‐hero with the Jewish masses Josephus could hardly afford to downgrade him, though he tones down the miracles associated with him.