Determining the Provenance of native copper artifacts from Northeastern North America: evidence from instrumental neutron activation analysis

The emergence of archaeological interest in native copper in the mid-1800s developed in concert with explanations that privileged the Lake Superior area over other potential sources of copper. Most scholars have thus assumed that when copper artifacts first appeared in Northeastern North America, they arrived as finished implements or were locally made from Lake Superior raw materials. Procurement models that point to Lake Superior as the sole source of native copper have been widely accepted in the absence of systematic large-scale testing. This article evaluates the dominant model for native copper procurement and presents trace element data derived from instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) to determine whether hunter-gatherers in the Northeast utilized one dominant source of copper or in fact exploited a number of geological deposits. I specifically report on the chemical characterization of copper from 13 discrete geological deposits and 18 archaeological sites dating to the Late Archaic (ca. 5000–3000 B.P.) and Early Woodland (ca. 3000–2000 B.P.) periods to suggest that the dominant model for native copper procurement is oversimplified.     

Introduction: stretching the boundaries of care

Over the past few decades, geographies of care have flourished, and have offered important insights into the importance of care in our worlds. This introduction provides a broad review of the literature on care ethics and introduces the key themes evident in this special issue that stretch the empirical and theoretical boundaries of care. In particular, the four papers in this special issue de-emphasize the role of the conventional dyadic care-giving relationships in the home and focus on wider structural power relations within which individual care relations are often formed. Such analysis reveals the workings of hegemonic white masculinity in perpetuating unequal caring and uncaring relations and reminds us that care is not always good or positive; rather care can cause harm and exacerbate violence. While ‘care’ is often seen as the antidote to resolve the vastly uncaring practices and politics evident across time and scale, this special issue acknowledges that more critical engagement with care ethics and the politics of care are necessary to achieve such a goal.     

Beware the Springbok in Sheep’s Clothing: How Secure Are the Faunal Identifications upon Which We Build Our Models?

Lively debate surrounds the introduction of non-indigenous domestic livestock to southern Africa. Despite disagreements regarding process, the archaeological community agrees, with unusual unanimity, on the broad chronology. Indeed, the certainty with which the timing is known (admittedly within the limits of radiocarbon dating) has been celebrated, because with these underpinning data in hand, issues of process can be explored in a serious and empirically grounded manner. Recently published ancient DNA (aDNA) research in southern Africa now calls into question the reliability of many faunal identifications upon which this debate rests. These data build on earlier ecological data, suggesting that some faunal identifications at sites crucial to the debate may be unreliable. A number of morphologically identified domesticate bones were chosen for aDNA sequencing to explore the relationships among southern Africa’s early domestic stock. Unfortunately, a large proportion yielded DNA sequences indicating a wild origin. This led us to consider the potential scale of the problem and the implications for existing models regarding the introduction of herding to the subcontinent. The issue may originate largely from the optimistic identification of specimens retaining too few key morphological markers. We acknowledge that reconstructions of the past are likely to be biased by discarding potential zooarchaeological data through overly conservative identification. We argue, however, that the potential ramifications of building models on unreliable data are far greater than those of being forced to acknowledge gaps in our data and are calling for further research.     

Caoineadh os Cionn Coirp: The Lament for the Dead in Ireland

As poetry performed at crucial turning points in life, lamentation has been a central element of the culture of women in most societies. In Ireland the custom of public improvised poetic lamentation over deceased persons by women is attested from ancient times and persisted into the twentieth century in some parts. This paper gives a brief survey of the lament tradition in Ireland, taking into account evidence from diverse periods and sources, both literary and oral, as well as lament “texts” collected in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A backdrop to attitudes to the lament in different sections of society expressed in the sources is provided by consideration of the linguistic, political and, especially, the socio-religious history of Ireland in late-medieval and modern times. In attempting to understand the significance of lamentation to the bereaved individual and community, the structure and content of the traditional lament over the dead, its situation in the scheme of the funeral ritual, its performance, and its effect on the audience are all considered. The pivotal role of the keening woman in this context is also taken into account.     

Hospitality at wakes and funerals in Ireland from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century: Some evidence from the written record

Several aspects of mortuary customs in Ireland have already been studied in detail. This paper focuses on the role of hospitality on the occasion of death from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. Based on a variety of written records, it discusses the attitudes of both lay and clerical commentators—officials, travellers and writers on the one hand, and the clergy on the other—to the provision of hospitality, particularly before the interment of the corpse. The meaning of hospitality for the bereaved family, the community, and the deceased is also explored.     

More substance on subsistence

Bernard Nietschmann. Between Land and Water. New York: Seminar Press, 1973. xiv + 279 pp. Illustrations, tables, appendixes, glossary, references, and index. $14.00.

James Ward, producer‐editor, and Brian Weiss, anthropologist‐photographer. The Turtle People. Los Angeles: B & C Films. Twenty‐six minutes. Color and sound. $310.00 (purchase price), $25.00 (rental fee).