Anthropology at the End of the World

At this critical juncture in human history, when technological, political, demographic, and climatological forces promise to reshape the world in fundamental ways, anthropology stands in a uniquely privileged position to understand and perhaps cope with these forces and the resulting changes. By virtue of three key features—holism, scalability, and a tradition of political engagement—anthropology has an important role to play in the 21st century.     

The Hogeye Clovis cache,Texas: quantifying lithic reduction signatures

The Hogeye Clovis cache is comprised of 52 late-stage bifaces, finished points, and knife/cores cached in central Texas. Because these artifacts were all likely made and cached approximately 13,000 years ago by one or a handful of knappers belonging to a single band with a shared Clovis cultural template, Hogeye provides a rare opportunity to investigate Clovis lithic reduction signatures. This paper builds on previous analyses and presents new methods for quantifying Clovis biface production signatures, including serial flaking and the timing of last overshot flaking. The results show that the Hogeye cache bifaces technologically and morphologically differ from other regional Clovis biface reduction signatures. Additional data is needed to determine whether these differences reflect individual knapping preferences or regional cultural signatures. The methods used and developed here are not Clovis-specific and could be modified and combined with other analytical techniques to identify reduction signatures in biface assemblages from other times and places.     

Digital imaging technology and experimental archeology: a methodological framework for the identification and interpretation of fire modified rock (FMR)

This paper presents the results of a series of experiments for the identification and analysis of fire modified rock (FMR). FMR is a common but frequently overlooked artifact type. Experiments were conducted simulating the effects of different hypothetical burning scenarios on rocks similar to those found in a South African Middle Stone Age site. A digital imaging method was then used to quantify FMR color values, designed to limit intra-analyst bias. Statistical tests and a blind test suggest that unburned rocks and experimental FMR can be separated statistically based on physical appearance. Two burning scenario models, based on measured experimental data were applied to archaeological FMR from a South African Middle Stone Age site named Pinnacle Point 5-6 (PP5-6) and show that the archaeological samples are not statistically different from a simulated campfire and possibly a lithic raw material heat-treatment fire.     

ANALOGUE SWITCH‐OFF

The paper addresses the switch‐off of analogue television in the UK and explores key issues about technology, audiences and communications policy. The main argument is that the characteristics of the “second 50%” are very different from the first half of households that have chosen to adopt digital, and that concerns are as much about content as cost. The paper reports a small, largely qualitative, study of households where analogue television has been switched off – the only place in the UK where this has happened, as a Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) trial. Qualitative data on the transformation of audience behaviour with the arrival of digital is contextualised by an analysis of British government policy on analogue switch‐off. The paper compares and contrasts the discourse of digital TV with viewing expectations and experiences. It reflects on choice, viewing behaviour and the shaping of technology and raises critical questions about government policies on analogue switch‐off.     

Eros and Dionysus

Abstract

Liberty was once praiseworthy because it enabled a free choice for the good. Technology recasts the classical link between liberty and virtue by making human well-being depend on technological advance. Till recently, technology signified human mastery over nature. But now virtual reality offers itself as a substitute for nature. Unlike machines which hold us at a distance, it draws us in with images. It no longer shapes the soul indirectly through the effects of using machines, but involves the soul directly. The modern attempt to bracket the soul has brought it back virtually. The argument between fight and flight is at a standstill. Instead, the irony which many lament as a feature of postmodernity can provide a distance from the technologies which have made themselves necessary.     

The Picture of Artificial Intelligence and the Secularization of Thought

ABSTRACT

This article offers a critical interpretation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a philosophical notion which exemplifies a secular conception of thinking. One way in which AI notably differs from the conventional understanding of “thinking” is that, according to AI, “intelligence” or “thinking” does not necessarily require “life” as a precondition: that it is possible to have “thinking without life.” Building on Charles Taylor’s critical account of secularity as well as Hubert Dreyfus’ influential critique of AI, this article offers a theological analysis of AI’s “lifeless” picture of thinking in relation to the Augustinian conception of God as “Life itself.” Following this critical theological analysis, this article argues that AI’s notion of thinking promotes a societal privilege of certain rationalistic or calculative ways of thought over more existential or spiritual ways of thinking, and thereby fosters a secularization or de-spiritualization of thinking as an ethical human practice.     

Extending the ‘White Way’: municipal streetlighting and race, 1900–1930

While the illumination of streets by electric streetlights in Western cities is a given today, in the early part of the twentieth century it was a technology whose conspicuous consumption was a status symbol for both individuals and towns. Not long after its introduction, however, electric lighting in cities also became noticeable in its absence. This paper draws on municipal records to consider how ideologies of white supremacy and progress came together to produce the uneven deployment of streetlighting in the small town of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, thus contributing to the city's segregation in the early part of the twentieth century. By tracing the development of hierarchical streetlighting systems, such as General Electric's White Way, I also show how the racialized deployment of streetlighting was aided by large electrical equipment manufacturers. In conclusion, I argue that these insights are crucial to understanding how technologies racialize space, but also how technologies such as streetlighting are central to the production of the spaces in which race is produced and racism takes place.     

China's Special Economic Zones at 30

Three Hong Kong-based geographers assess retrospectively the performance of special economic zones (SEZs) in China on the eve of the 30^th anniversary of their founding. After exploring the general rationale and historical context for the launching of the SEZ concept, they devote considerable attention to the divergent development paths and outcomes of the five SEZs established in China during the 1980s. Of particular importance has been the differing specific roles assigned to the SEZs based on their internal characteristics as well as location relative to (and interactions with) areas of intense commercial activity (Hong Kong and Macao) subsequently coming under Chinese sovereignty. The paper concludes by viewing the past performance of the SEZs within the context of the gathering momentum of globalization that afforded entry for their export-oriented manufacturing activities into world markets, and explores some implications of the current worldwide financial crisis for their future. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O180, O200, P200, R120. 1 figure, 3 tables, 56 references.     

Evaluating morphological variability in lithic assemblages using 3D models of stone artifacts

Technological and morphological variability in lithic artifacts is commonly used to identify taxonomic entities in Paleolithic research contexts. Assemblages are mainly studied using either linear distance measurements or qualitative assessments of morphologies. Here, we present a method to quantify morphological variability in lithic artifacts using 3D models of stone artifacts. Our study on the sequence of the Upper Paleolithic layers V–I from the site Yabroud II in western Syria, demonstrates that utilizing 3D models provides a new insight into the variability of lithic technologies. We use quantitative data on convexities, twist and scar patterns on cores and blades, attributes previously not readily quantifiable, to trace technological change through the archaeological sequence. We are able to identify differences and translate these findings into a grouping of the layers. While layers VI–II are characterized by technological continuity and were grouped together, layers V and I can be separated from this group and represent technologically different groups chronologically before and after. Our results demonstrate the potential of 3D models for studying morphological variability in lithic assemblages.     

Enhancing fieldwork learning with technology: practitioner's perspectives

This research paper reports the findings from an international survey of fieldwork practitioners on their use of technology to enhance fieldwork teaching and learning. It was found that there was high information technology usage before and after time in the field, but some were also using portable devices such as smartphones and global positioning system whilst out in the field. The main pedagogic reasons cited for the use of technology were the need for efficient data processing and to develop students' technological skills. The influencing factors and barriers to the use of technology as well as the importance of emerging technologies are discussed.