Site maintenance practices and settlement social organization in Iron Age Karnataka, India: Inferring settlement places and landscape from surface distributions of ceramic assemblage attributes

This paper investigates the spatial organization of social relations in settlement contexts through a quantitative and distributional analysis of surface ceramic attributes from Iron Age Period (1200–300 BC) archaeological sites in Southern India. The results discern variation in depositional contexts across each site, from which I infer a variety of basic settlement activity structures (e.g., site maintenance, trash disposal, residence, animal husbandry, metallurgy, ritual). I use these results, together with further analyses of artifact and feature distributions, to infer a basic suite of places, place-making practices and some of the social relations and organizational structures that produced these historically unique Iron Age settlement landscapes.     

Archaeological material and ethnic identification. A study of Lappish material from Varanger,Norway

The term Lappish Iron Age has been established in Scandinavian archaeology but the ethnic affiliation of the body of archaeological material labelled so has never been discussed in detail. In this article two questions arc discussed: Is it possible from archaeological material to verify a hypothesis about a specific ethnic affiliation? And is it appropriate to refer to this archaeological material as iron age finds? A general discussion about problems involved in identifying ethnic groups is given, after a brief presentation of the empirical material. Attention is drawn to Barth's analysis, where he shows that the cultural content seems to be of two orders: (i) overt signs and signals, and (ii) basic value orientations. The discussion is carried out in accordance with these two orders. It is argued that this analysis cannot provide us with information about a specific ethnic affiliation; although it cannot tell us which group, it can verify that the material in question does represent one specific ethnic group. If we want to identify one specific ethnic group we have to use other sources besides the archaeological record. The use of sources like written documents, linguistics, place names and physical anthropology is discussed. The conclusion is drawn that by the use of various sources we can trace the identity of one specific ethnic group.     

Prehistoric sites in the lærdal basin. A theoretical and practical approach to the archaeological analysis of a non‐tool lithic material

A major Norwegian archaeological work will be presented in each number of NAR. The author's summary will be followed by comments from invited specialists who have studied similar problems to those treated in the publication in question. Arne Johansen's study of a Stone Age material from the Norwegian mountains (H?yf jellsfunn ved Lærdalsvassdraget I. Den teoretiskc bakgrunn og det f?rste analysefors?k) was chosen as the subject of discussion in this issue of NAR. Comments are written by Carl Cullberg, Svein Indrelid, Knut Odner, Povl Simonsen and Stig Welinder. Arne Johansen's reply closes the discussion.     

Review

Anders Hagen, Bergkunst. Jegerfolkets helleristninger og malninger i norsk steinalder. (Rock Art. The rock carvings and paintings of hunters in the Norwegian Stone Age.) J. W. Cappelens Forlag A.s. Oslo 1976.     

Contemporary rural imitation: a Tardean analysis of five Danish rural parishes

The objective of the article was to update Tarde's approach by directing attention to the rural space and the concept of rural imitation. It analyses an empirical study of people settling in five Danish rural areas using Tarde's key concepts of imitation and monads. Mixed methods were employed, including surveys, participant observation and photo-ethnographic interviews. The data analysis applied the grounded theory approach to add a structural dimension to Tarde's approach. The analysis revealed that Tarde's approach and his key concepts of imitation and monads can be used to develop contemporary perspectives on rural experiences. The pivotal point in the rural–urban relationship is the ability to be in contact with an identity constructed from decisions about specific emotional states and a sense of the present. Within a broader perspective, this view of identity building based on rural settlement in nature calls for attention to health studies regarding how nature is associated with coping and how it can help relieve stress, one of contemporary society's most common ailments. The analysis suggests the existence of a triangle of monads in contemporary rural imitation. This triangle of monads is what stabilises, reproduces and supports the creation of rural identities.