Land and man in highland Ethiopia

Allan Hoben. Land Tenure among the Amhara of Ethiopia: The Dynamics of Cognatic Descent. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973. xiv + 273 pp. Maps, figures, appendix, glossary, bibliography, and index. $9.50.     

Children's language and maternal control

Jenny Cook‐Gumperz. Social Control and Socialization: A Study of Class Differences in the Language of Maternal Control. Primary Socialization, Language and Education Series. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973. xii + 290 pp. Figures, appendix, bibliography, and index. $16.95.     

SOME HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE “DOWN EAST” ROUTE

For over three centuries, explorers and privateers, fishermen and planters, job seekers and tourists have plied the “Down East” route–bearing witness to the close connection between New England and Atlantic Canada. Today the traditional “good neighborliness” is threatened by a series of complex issues: American ownership of recreational land, environmental problems and jurisdictional disputes. This article seeks to place these present controversies in perspective by a historical overview of some key factors which have contributed to the interdependence of the two regions.     

Stone-boiling maize with limestone: experimental results and implications for nutrition among SE Utah preceramic groups

Groups living on Cedar Mesa, SE Utah in the late Basketmaker II period (Grand Gulch phase, AD 200–400) were heavily maize-dependent, but lacked beans as a supplemental plant protein, and pottery vessels for cooking. Common occurrence of limestone fragments in their household middens suggests 1) limestone may have been used as the heating element for stone-boiling maize and 2) this practice might have made some maize proteins more available for human nutrition. Experiments examined these possibilities; results indicate that stone-boiling with Cedar Mesa limestone creates an alkaline cooking environment suitable for nixtamalization of maize kernels, and that maize cooked in this fashion shows significant increases in availability of lysine, tryptophan, and methionine. Archaeological limestone fragments from a Grand Gulch phase site show amounts of fragmentation and changes in density consistent with repeated heating. While not conclusive, these data indicate that further research (e.g., examination of archaeological limestone fragments for maize starch grains or phytoliths) is warranted. It is suggested that greater attention be paid to archaeological indications of stone-boiling with limestone among maize-dependent but pre-pottery societies.     

Cacao consumption during the 8th century at Alkali Ridge,southeastern Utah

Theobroma cacao was detected in the ceramic assemblage at the 8th century Site 13, Alkali Ridge, southeastern Utah. The presence of this Mesoamerican beverage during the Pueblo I period is the earliest reported use of cacao in the northern American Southwest, coming centuries earlier than the recently documented Pueblo II consumption of cacao in cylinder jars, sharp-shouldered pitchers and shallow bowls at Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon. Analogous to the situation at Chaco, cacao was found at Site 13 in a new vessel form decorated with a distinctive design system that contrasted markedly with designs and vessel forms in the local black-on-white ceramic assemblage. We postulate that Abajo R/O at Site 13 represents a ceramic tradition brought by one of the many groups moving into the northern Southwest. The detection of cacao in their ceramic vessels represents new evidence for the migration model that for centuries brought people with Mesoamerican beliefs, ritual practices and a new subsistence lifeway into the American Southwest.     

Lessons Learned Along the Way: The Florida Public Archaeology Network after Ten Years

Created by the Florida Legislature in 2004, the Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) has grown into a positive force for preservation, public engagement, and community collaboration in archaeology. This article discusses the genesis of FPAN and how the organization has changed in scope, evolved in mission, and addressed challenges, ideally providing ideas and direction for similar programmes in other locations.     

The diary of William MacEwan: Part II

This instalment of the Diary describes the first stage of the journey from Quilimane to the interior, then the most convenient and practicable way to the British territory of Nyasaland, and the way by which both people and goods entered and left that country. This is all changed ; the route has been abandoned by the African Lakes Corporation, and Maruru, the first place where the Diarist saw African village life, probably no longer exists. When the Diary is completed, it is hoped to publish an article describing the country MacEwan saw as it is at the present day. Much has been done to improve the condition of the natives under British rule since then, but it is more difficult to ascertain their condition under the Portuguese ; much more, however, remains to be done. Transport, of course, has been improved out of all comparison, and it will be interesting to compare it with the means by which MacEwan entered the then Darkest Africa—improvement which has taken place well within a single lifetime.