Single and Multiscale Models of Process Spatial Heterogeneity

Recent work in local spatial modeling has affirmed and broadened interest in multivariate local spatial analysis. Two broad approaches have emerged: Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) which follows a frequentist perspective and Bayesian Spatially Varying Coefficients models. Although several comparisons between the two approaches exist, recent developments, particularly in GWR, mean that these are incomplete and missing some important axes of comparison. Consequently, there is a need for a more thorough comparison of the two families of local estimators, including recent developments in multiscale variants and their relative performance under controlled conditions. We find that while both types of local models generally perform similarly on a series of criteria, some interesting and important differences exist.     

Humans in the Environment: Plants,Animals and Landscapes in Mesolithic Britain and Ireland

Environmental archaeology has historically been central to Mesolithic studies in Britain and Ireland. Whilst processual archaeology was concerned with the economic significance of the environment, post-processual archaeology later rejected economically driven narratives, resulting in a turn away from plant and animal remains. Post-processual narratives focused instead on enigmatic ‘ritual’ items that economic accounts struggled to suitably explain. Processual accounts of landscapes, grounded in economic determinism, were also rejected in favour of explorations of their sociocultural aspects. However, in moving away from plant and animal remains, such accounts lacked the ability to rigorously explore the specificities of particular landscapes and humans actions within them. This paper will bridge this gap by considering how palaeoecological and zooarchaeological analyses can be used to explore human interactions with plants and animals, which were key in developing understandings and relationships that ultimately structured landscapes, influenced past human actions and shaped archaeological assemblages.     

Book reviews

Persian Poetry in Kashmir, 1339–1846: An Introduction. .By G. L. Tikku. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1971. x + 321 pp.

Iran unter Karim Han (1752–1779). By Parwis Radjabi Tabrizi. Göttingen (doctoral dissertation submitted to Georg‐August University), 1970. 205 pp.

Die Zand‐Dynastie. By Mehdi Roschanzamir. Hamburg: Hart‐mut Lüdke Verlag, 1970 (Geistes‐ und Sozialwissenschaft‐liche Dissertationen 8). x + 229 pp., map.

The Successors of Genghis Khan. By Rashid al‐Din Tabib. Translated by John Andrew Boyle. New York: Columbia University Press, 1971. xi + 372 pp., map.