Commitment,Objectivity and Accountability to Communities: Priorities for 21st-Century Archaeology

Abstract

It is no longer possible to ignore the unprecedented levels of destruction resulting from development projects imposed by multinational corporations and governments. In this context, it is important to address the role archaeology and related professions, such as heritage management, play from the perspective both of the threat to physical heritage and our relationship with affected communities. This paper explores ways in which professionals can learn to work in a mutually accountable way with communities opposing destructive development, and together seek alternatives to development which threatens lives, livelihoods, culture, and environment. Case studies from the Boyne Valley and Tara in Ireland, Il?su dam in Turkey and the Oaxaca valley in Mexico, illustrate some of the issues. The implications of the growing privatization of professions, particularly for communities in the Third World whose poverty undermines their power to refuse even the most globally devastating developments, making it imperative that professionals look again at what we aim to accomplish and how much we are actually accomplishing it. As professionals we cannot afford to be ignorant of what communities want, need and are entitled to in order to develop and flourish. Archaeology and people's cultural roots are not separable from these questions.     

GREENSTONE AXES FROM EASTERN CENTRAL SWEDEN: A TECHNOLOGICAL-PETROLOGICAL APPROACH*

Thin-section study of Mesolithic-Neolithic axes from five sites in eastern central Sweden and of dolerites occurring in the vicinity showed that the axes were almost definitely produced from local material. Knapping experiments were carried out on blanks from two of these local dolerite varieties and on control material from Delaware, New Jersey, to produce thin-butted axes. These showed that the unconventional shape of the Swedish preforms is mainly, if not completely, determined by the intrinsic properties of the rock and not by local or regional cultural differences or bad craftsmanship. A number of features were observed in thin-section, such as a relatively coarse grain size, veining and small cracks, which may lead to the inferior knapping qualities of the Swedish dolerites.     

STATISTICAL ASPECTS OF POTTERY QUANTIFICATION FOR THE DATING OF SOME ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS*

This paper describes some statistical analyses of a particular archaeological material (pottery) originating at some sites in the city of Tours. An important part of the archaeological study of pottery is the comparison of ceramic assemblages to establish the absolute dates of contexts. In this paper, a statistical model is built to assess this comparison. The statistical procedure uses classical tools (correspondence analysis, linear regression and resampling methods) in an iterative scheme. Archaeologists may find in the paper a useful set of known statistical methods, while statisticians can learn a method of ‘arranging’ well‐known techniques. No method is new, but their combination is characteristic of this application.     

AN EXPLORATION OF PREHISTORIC SPINNING TECHNOLOGY: SPINNING EFFICIENCY AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSITION*

Thigh‐spinning and spindle‐spinning, methods for making yarn and string, have been used through the millennia to produce substantial quantities of yarn for textiles. Productivity data were gathered in a replication study of thigh‐spun and spindle‐spun yarns and were recompiled from the literature. Calculated production rates allow comparison of the spinning methods. Factors influencing production rate include intrinsic fibre properties, fibre preparation and particular details of spinning technique, as well as the experience and motivation of the spinner. The role of efficiency in technology transition between thigh‐spinning and spindle‐spinning is discussed.     

CAN NOODLES BE MADE FROM MILLET? AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF NOODLE MANUFACTURE TOGETHER WITH STARCH GRAIN ANALYSES

The earliest noodles have been dated to 4000 years ago, based on the discovery of remains at Lajia in north western China. The Lajia noodles were described as having been made by repeatedly stretching dough composed of millet flour with husks. In order to try to understand this manufacturing technique we carried out simulation experiments in noodle‐making and documented morphological changes in noodle starches caused by cooking. Our research demonstrates that it is impossible to stretch pure millet dough into noodles. We conclude that the husk phytoliths and starch‐like granules said to be from the Lajia noodle remains may actually not have been part of the noodles themselves.     

THE HISTORY OF THE BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY PROJECT IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY,AND APPLYING NUCLEAR METHODS TO THE FINE ARTS

This paper traces the events leading up to the formation of a project in 1954, in the Chemistry Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory, dedicated to the application of those new developments that were rapidly transforming postwar nuclear science to the parallel humanistic disciplines of archaeology and the fine arts. The further evolution of this effort involved the enlightened support of the Department of Energy (then AEC and ERDA) coupled with the lively interests of the archaeological, fine‐arts and art‐historical communities, their professional academics and the many graduate and undergraduate students who participated in the Brookhaven project. But more than new scientific methodologies, concepts and instrumentation were deployed. What developed was a large‐scale, truly interdisciplinary effort, where scholars of the humanities and sciences worked side by side in a remarkable way, each led by the other, to the mutual benefit and increase of their knowledge and understanding. A paradigm of co‐operation between arts and sciences was initiated: this paper presents a record of the process and its outcome, a novel blending of science and humanism that is very much taken for granted by research workers today.     

Trude Dothan (1922–2016): In Memoriam

Abstract

This paper sheds new light on the most common type of pottery associated with advanced phases of Early Bronze I (EB I) in the southern Jordan valley: the distinctive family or group known as Um Hammad Ware, or Proto-Urban D (PUD) Ware. To date, this kind of pottery was thought to be concentrated mostly around the site of Tell Um Hammad. This study presents new evidence suggesting that this ware was dispersed over a region considerably wider than previously understood, and that the centre of its manufacture was probably in the region of western Wadi Far'ah. This paper also explores the possibility that the origins of this family are to be found in the pottery traditions of the Golan region during the Chalcolithic period.     

Digital Support for Archaeology

Abstract

We describe an interdisciplinary approach in which computer scientists develop techniques to support archaeology. In the Reading Images for the Cultural Heritage (RICH) project, a variety of methods have been developed to support archaeologists in the visualization, categorization, and characterization of archaeological objects, such as medieval glass, coins, ceramics, and seeds. The methods are based on image processing and machine learning algorithms that are tailored to the task at hand. We describe the algorithms and illustrate their application on archaeological datasets. The virtues and pitfalls of the interdisciplinary approach to archaeology are discussed.     

Corondó: palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and palaeoethnobotanical considerations in a probable locus of early plant cultivation (south-eastern Brazil)

Abstract

The site of Corondó, situated in Campos Novos, in the São Pedro D'Aldeia municipe (Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil), was dated between c. 4000 and 3000 years BP. The high prevalence of dental caries in its population suggests that it might have been a locus of plant cultivation, a hypothesis supported by the presence of diverse plant remains and by the high frequency of grinding artefacts at this site. Anthracological analysis aimed to identify the environment of the site. The charcoal spectrum suggests that it was situated in a restinga forest, near to the Atlantic forest and with the presence of mangrove and open restinga in the environment. Firewood supply was probably obtained by the random gathering of dead wood. The combination of anthracological results with data provided by archaeological and bioanthropological research indicated that the population which constructed this site (1) had a relatively stable sociocultural system; (2) carried out a range of individual activities that remained constant throughout the occupation period; (3) lived in a relatively stable environment.     

Community Archaeology from Below: a Response to Tully

Abstract

The Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project, set up in 1996 as an experiment in 'democratic archaeology', was shaken by a major internal crisis between November 2007 and July 2008. An attempt by a small group of local people to establish top-down control over the project was defeated by a political mobilisation of the project's mass base of volunteer archaeologists and community activists. This article, by a leading protagonist, analyses the crisis and comes to some radical conclusions about the nature of community archaeology, democratic organisation, and the way in which political power is sometimes contested.