Quantifying Ship Shape in Archaeology: Evaluating 3D Geometric Morphometrics

The analysis of the archaeological remains of ships and boats, in particular hull shapes, have been central to wider analysis of performance, function, and significance within past societies. This article reviews established methods of quantifying shape in ship and boat archaeology—linear measurement ratios and form coefficients—and evaluates the utility of 3D geometric morphometrics (GM). The 3D shape of 30 vessels from north‐west Europe dating between 325 BC and AD 1915 are quantified to study how hull shape relates to a vessel's function and intended operating environment. A comparison of the three methods highlights the importance of analysing the complexity of a hull in a holistic manner and demonstrates that 3D GM outperforms the traditional methods.     

Ceramic Technology and Social Boundaries: Cultural Practices in Kalinga Clay Selection and Use

This study examines cultural sources of variation in ceramic compositional patterning in two pottery-making villages of the highland Philippines. In Dalupa, many potters are part-time specialists whereas in Dangtalan, women make pottery less frequently. Previous studies show that both pottery form and decoration correspond well with Kalinga social boundaries, but how do morphological and decorative patterning relate to compositional variability? Although researchers have made substantial advances in our understanding of natural and postdepositional sources of compositional variability, little is known about behavioral factors that affect chemical and mineralogical compositional patterning. This study examines cultural practices of clay selection and use in an ethnographic setting, and undertakes technical analyses to assess the relationship between behavior and material culture patterning. Our study identified paste differences between the clays and fired ceramics from Dangtalan and those from Dalupa. Findings from our compositional research thus parallel earlier morphological and stylistic studies, and illustrate multivariate differences in ceramics from these two Kalinga communities. This ethnoarchaeological and analytical project contributes, therefore, to understanding objective parameters within a behavioral context. It also provides an example of how a combined characterization approach, using chemical and petrographic techniques, can yield insights on intraregional variation at a finer scale of resolution than is often attempted.     

Backyard Protest: Emergence, Expansion, and Persistence of a Local Hazardous Waste Controversy

The toxic waste dispute that is the subject of this article points out one of the troubling ironies of the modem environmental movement. Many groups and individual activists who promoted a national response to the discovery of thousands of toxic waste sites over a decade ago are now leading the struggle to prevent government-sponsored cleanups. This case study examines the evolution and dynamics of one community's pollution controversy, and then attempts to explain the way in which marginalized environmentalists were able to redefine the toxics debate. Finally, it shows how heal resistence to waste cleanups may shape the next round of environmental policymaking.     

The pure effect of social preferences on regional location choices: The evolving dynamics of convergence to a steady state population distribution

This paper tracks the consequences of individuals’ desire to align their location with their social preferences. The social preference studied in the paper is distaste for relative deprivation, measured in a cardinal manner. Location is conceived as social space, with individuals choosing to relocate if, as a result, their relative deprivation will be reduced, holding their incomes constant. Conditions are provided under which the associated dynamics reaches a spatial steady state, the number of periods it takes to reach a steady state is specified, and light is shed on the robustness of the steady state outcome. By way of simulation it is shown that for large populations, a steady state of the relocation dynamics is almost always reached, typically in one period, and that cycles are more likely to occur when the populations’ income distributions are more equal.     

Urbanism and Residential Patterning in Angkor

The Khmer Empire (9th–15th centuries a.d.), centered on the Greater Angkor region, was the most extensive political entity in the history of mainland Southeast Asia. Stone temples constructed by Angkorian kings and elites were widely assumed to have been loci of ritual as well as habitation, though the latter has been poorly documented archaeologically. In this paper, we present the results of two field seasons of excavation at the temple site of Ta Prohm. Using LiDAR data to focus our excavations, we offer evidence for residential occupation within the temple enclosure from before the 11th century a.d. until the 14th century. A comparison with previous work exploring habitation areas within the Angkor Wat temple enclosure highlights similarities and differences between the two temples. We argue that temple habitation was a key component of the Angkorian urban system and that investigating this unique form of urbanism expands current comparative research on the diversity of ancient cities.     

An Anthropological Archaeologist: The Contributions of William A. Longacre to Archaeological Theory,Method, and Practice

Of the “new archaeologists” who developed social models for prehistoric organization, William A. Longacre was a pioneer. Here, we review his contributions and the role he played in expanding archaeological method, theory, and practice. His innovative work in the American Southwest involving ceramic sociology was emulated, critiqued, and extended by several generations of archaeologists. Recognizing the concerns raised by this early work, Longacre developed one of the most successful ethnoarchaeological projects in the world among the Kalinga of northern Luzon in the Philippines. His work and that of his students and colleagues examined multiple, inter-connected aspects of ceramic variability linked to a variety of social, technological, functional, and economic processes. Kalinga data and analyses continue to inform archaeological practices and conclusions. Throughout his career, Longacre mentored archaeologists in both the USA and the Philippines, extending his influence geographically and establishing himself as one of the most important practitioners of processual archaeology.