Application of X-ray fluorescence imaging to ceramics from the American Southwest

We have used synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence imaging (XRFI) to examine sherds of painted ceramics from prehistoric cultures of the American Southwest. These sherds are very well suited to XRFI analysis. Paints can generally be detected and distinguished by the fluorescence intensities of their constituent elements. Spatial maps of element distributions yield the spatial distribution of pigments. Pigments can be distinguished that are (or have become) visually similar; layers that have been obscured by overpainting can be examined; and pigment residues can be distinguished from surface contaminants deposited after painting and firing. As a result, XRFI allows the painted motifs to be clarified and hidden features to be revealed. Furthermore, the very rapid scanning and high sensitivity elemental detection possible with synchrotron-based XRFI facilitate measurements on large collections of sherds, allowing an integrative rather than anecdotal analysis.     

Spatial network analysis of a terminal prehispanic and early colonial settlement in highland Peru

This study uses GIS-based spatial network analysis (SNA) to simulate patterns of foot traffic and analyze the manipulation of the built environment of a small Inka imperial outpost that became an early Franciscan doctrina (doctrinal settlement) in the Andean highlands of southern Peru. Excavations show evidence for growth and remodeling of the site's public and domestic spaces over its short use life as a doctrina, pointing to an increasingly orthodox regime of indoctrination. The results of SNA-based walking simulations show specifically how movement through the site was rerouted to isolate the old Inka ceremonial core, producing new rhythms of interaction and directing public processionals to the colonial plaza and chapel of the doctrina. The complementarity of SNA with other established forms of access analysis and its broader utility for archaeological research design, sampling strategies, hypothesis testing, and interpretation are discussed.     

Directional analysis of surface artefact distributions: a case study from the Murghab Delta, Turkmenistan

This paper investigates directional influences in the distribution of Bronze Age surface pottery in the northern Murghab Delta, Turkmenistan. Drawing upon a continuous dataset of pottery sherd counts obtained by intensive field survey, it examines the degree to which we can make sense of the archaeological processes at work in a heavily obstructed and dynamic landscape. In so doing, it makes use of two analytical methods that have rarely been used in archaeology: a) geostatistical analysis using variograms to investigate directional spatial autocorrelation in recorded sherd counts; and b) angular wavelet analysis in evaluating directional influences in the sherd distributions for particular chronological periods. While some kinds of directional influence can be identified visually, a quantitative approach is particularly useful in deconstructing such patterns. In this particular dataset, distinct but related directional processes can be identified and measured: a) the impact of the complex system of watercourses in the delta on both settlement and post-depositional processes; and b) recovery bias in the observations made during survey.     

INTRODUCTION: WHITHER SPATIAL ECONOMETRICS?

ABSTRACT Spatial econometrics has become a mainstay for regional scientists aiming to estimate geographic spillovers in regional outcomes. Yet, many remain skeptical, especially urban economists who prefer natural experimental approaches. Their concerns revolve around identification and a general lack of a theoretical foundation in the estimation of spatial econometric models. This theme issue includes three papers from leading regional scientists to appraise the status of spatial econometrics. The outcome is sweeping proposals from (1) abandoning standard spatial econometrics because it cannot identify causality, (2) using nonparametric approaches, and (3) implementing more nuanced changes revolving around better theoretical and empirical modeling.     

Invisible cities: Geography and the disappearance of 'race' from mortgage-lending data in the USA

Recent scholarship on race and ethnicity has unpacked taken-for-granted categories of difference and the processes of social construction of racialized identities. In the USA, however, legal and policy frameworks established during the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960s and 1970s are based on problematic, reified categories of race and ethnicity. Yet these frameworks have opened limited opportunities for activist challenges, and among the most successful is the community reinvestment movement, a broad alliance of local groups using simple quantitative analysis of public data and strategic essentialist tactics to win major victories against racial discriminatory mortgage lenders. In this paper, we analyse recent trends that have undermined procedures used to collect the racial data used by reinvestment activists, regulators and housing researchers. The second-largest racial/ethnic group among US home loan applicants is now officially known as 'information not provided,' and non-reporting varies widely across different cities. We analyse the causes of this disappearance and its metropolitan contingency, using multivariate models to evaluate theories of consumer choice and lending industry segmentation. The disappearance of race stems primarily from structural changes in housing finance, including the emergence of a new breed of aggressive, high-risk subprime and predatory lenders; but distinctive contextual factors persist in the emergence of a complex urban system of racially 'invisible' homeowners and homebuyers. The erosion of racial data creates an accidental epistemology, threatening the progressive potential of strategic essentialism for activists and scholars while offering none of the emancipatory possibilities of social constructionist theories of race. Les récentes recherches académiques portant sur la race et l'ethnicité ont exploré les différentes facettes de la différence et les processus sociaux de formation d'identités raciales. Toutefois, aux Etats-Unis, les cadres politiques et légaux établis durant les luttes pour les Droits Civils des années 1960 et 1970 se fondent sur des concepts de race et ethnicité réifiés; ce sont pourtant ces cadres qui ont ouvert la voie à la critique des activistes. Parmi ces critiques, le mouvement de réinvestissement communautaire est celui qui a connu le plus grand succès. Ce mouvement était composé d'une large alliance entre divers groupes locaux utilisant une analyse simple de données publiques quantitatives ainsi que des stratégies d'essentialisme tactique. Ces moyens ont servi à remporter d'importantes victoires contre le racisme des prêteurs hypothécaires. Dans cet article, nous analysons certaines tendences récentes qui ont menacé les procédures de collecte des données raciales par les activistes du réinvestissement, régulateurs, et chercheurs. Le deuxième plus grand groupe racial/ ethnique chez les demandeurs de prêts hypothécaires aux E.U. est maintenant connu officiellement sous la rubrique 'information non-fournie' et le fait de ne pas indiquer sa race ou ethnicité varie énormément d'une ville à l'autre. Nous analysons les causes de ce manque d'information ainsi que son contexte métropolitain à l'aide de différents modèles d'évaluation du choix des consommateurs et de la segmentation de l'industrie du prêt. La disparition d'information ayant trait à la race est principalement issue de changements structuraux dans le financement immobilier, incluant l'émergence d'un nouveau groupe de prêteurs agressifs, prédateurs et à haut risque. Par contre, certains facteurs contextuels distincts persistent dans l'émergence d'un système urbain complexe de propriétaires et acheteurs dont la race demeure 'invisible'. L'érosion de données raciales crée une épistémologie accidentelle et menace le potentiel progressiste de l'essentialisme stratégique utilisé par les activistes et les chercheurs sans toutefois offrir les possibilités émancipatoires des théories raciales constructivistes. Reciente erudición sobre raza e identidad étnica ha deshecho las aceptadas categorías de diferencia y también los procesos de la construcción social de identidades basadas en raza. Sin embargo, en los Estados Unidos, los marcos legales y políticos que fueron establecidos durante la lucha por Derechos Civiles en los años 60 y 70 se fundan en categorías de raza e identidad étnica que son problemáticas y sustancializadas. Y, no obstante, estos marcos han abierto limitadas oportunidades por los desafíos de activistas, y entre los más exitosos es el movimiento de reinversión comunitaria, una extensa alianza de grupos locales que utilizan un sencillo análisis cuantitativo de datos públicos y tácticos estratégicos esencialitas para ganar victorias importantes contra los prestamistas de hipotecas que discriminan por motivos racistas. En este papel, analizamos recientes tendencias que han arruinado los procedimientos implementados para recoger datos raciales utilizados por los activistas reinversionistas, reguladores, e investigadores de viviendas. Hoy en día, el segundo grupo racial/étnica más grande de solicitantes de hipotecas en los Estados Unidos es oficialmente conocido como 'información no proporcionada' y este no revelación de información varia bastante en las varias ciudades. Analizamos las causas de esta desaparición y su contingencia metropolitana por el empleo de modelos multivarios para evaluar teorías de opciones para consumidores y la segmentación de la industria de préstamos. La desaparición de raza viene principalmente de los cambios estructurales en la financiación de viviendas, incluso la emergencia de nuevos prestamistas agresivos y predadores; pero factores contextuales distintivos persisten en la emergencia de un complejo sistema urbano de propietarios y compradores de viviendas racialmente 'invisibles'. La erosión de datos sobre raza crea una epistemología accidental que amenaza el potencial progresivo de esencialismo estratégico para activistas y eruditos y que no ofrece ninguna de las posibilidades emancipadoras de las teorías de construccionismo social sobre raza.