Status and Role of Formation Theory in Contemporary Archaeological Practice

Since Binford appropriated the term “middle-range theory,” it has signified the process of reasoning from the extant material record to the cultural past. Merton's sociological concept of middle-range theory is relevant to archaeology, but does not mean what Binford denoted by it. More accurately, Binford's domain should be called “formation theory.” By whatever name used, archaeologists differ greatly in our views of its role and status. Somehow, formation theory has come to be viewed as method but not theory, and as intrinsic to materialism, but irrelevant if not antithetical to other ontologies. Yet it is as critical to the contextual understanding of the past sought by many archaeologists today—a role that, among others, belies formation theory's marginal status in academic practice.     

Root Canals of Buried Teeth: Radiographic Changes due to Crystal Growth

The radiographs of 43 skulls recovered from a 4000-year-old site in Central Thailand were examined for changes in the pulp chamber and root canals of teeth. Eleven specimens aged between 8 and 40 years featured marked root canal radiopacities not consistent with the appearance of dentine. Scanning electron microscopy and electron microprobe analysis revealed the presence of crystals of almost pure calcium. The crystals had developed post-mortem, with the likely source of the mineral being sea shells which were abundant at the place of burial. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

1995-2005年越南堤岸华族状况的演变

在以前研究结果的基础上,通过实地调查的方法,本文分析了受访家庭于1995—2005年间在经济和认同方面的演变情况。结果显示,华人族群规模正在逐渐缩小;族群间通婚的数量增加;来自台湾、香港、新加坡和柬埔寨的华人在经济活动中十分活跃;华族聚居区的总体情况与国家经济改善的大趋势一致,但财富增长的分布不平均;华人在经济、文化、教育等方面作出了积极提高社会地位的努力。由此得出结论,华人社区在越南经济活动中发挥了重要作用,华族在经济和认同方面的集中化进程正在加速。     

Recent Advances in Maya Archaeology

This paper focuses on the discoveries of the last decade in Maya archaeology, and assesses their impact on previous models and synthetic frameworks. Although the bibliography includes 700 items published during the last 10 years, it is not exhaustive; on the contrary, a frustratingly large number of discoveries had to be omitted. Two areas exploding with new research are (1) the elicitation of a greater variety of data from hieroglyphic texts, and (2) a series of chemical and biological breakthroughs in the analysis of human burials. The former make it easier to assess the role of elite actors or agents in processes of sociopolitical change. The latter hold out the hope of documenting warfare (through skeletal trauma), migration (by tracing tooth enamel isotopes to ground water), status or gender differences in diet (through bone chemistry), and biological connections of individuals to each other and to earlier populations (through DNA). By combining these new data, we are on our way to integrating humanism and science, and to treating Maya polities as case studies in primary or secondary state formation.     

The Early Later Stone Age in East Africa: Excavations and Lithic Assemblages from Lukenya Hill

The site of Lukenya Hill, Kenya, is one of the richest Later Stone Age (LSA) sites in East Africa. Its sequence documents the increasing manufacture of microlithic tools, one of the hallmarks of hunter–gatherer behavioral modernity (Bar-Yosef and Kuhn, 1999). This paper presents results of excavations at the LSA site of GvJm62, Lukenya Hill, and analysis of site formation processes on this inselberg rock shelter. It examines lithic assemblages from GvJm62 and four other Pleistocene-dated LSA sites at Lukenya Hill. Differences in raw material use, typology, and chronology indicate that there are three different kinds of LSA industries in the sampled sites at Lukenya Hill. Changes in technology, activities, and land use patterns can explain the differences among these three industries. The Lukenya Hill sequence is compared with other East African LSA industries.Le gisement de Lukenya Hill en Kenya est un des gisements les plus riches du type Paleolithique Superieure en Afrique de l'Est. La sequence demonstre l'éxistence et ensuite le fréquence des outils microlithiques. Cet article présent les résultats des fouilles du gisement de GvJm62 à Lukenya Hill et présent un étude des methodes de formation du gisement. On examine les outils lithiques de GvJm62 et quatre autres gisements à Lukenya Hill. Les differences des types des matières premiers, de la chronologie, et des types d'outils suggèrent qu'il y a trois types d'industrie à Lukenya Hill. On peut expliquer ces differences par changements en la technologie, les activités et les modèles de l'utilisation de la terre. La séquence à Lukenya Hill est comparée avec les autres industries Est Africain.     

天津城市体育休闲区形成及驱动力研究

城市体育休闲区是一种新的城市功能区,其形成发展直接关系到城市整体景观形象的提升和人民生活质量的提高,并影响到城市的空间布局。本文对已初步成形的天津城市体育休闲区进行实证研究,界定功能区空间界限,阐述其形成过程,最后分析总结其形成机制和主要驱动力,以期为城市生境和人民生活质量的改善提供参考,并为我国其他城市体育休闲区的规划建设提供借鉴。     

旅游目的地形象概念体系辨析

针对我国旅游目的地形象研究中存在的基础理论薄弱,概念应用混乱的现实,本文系统梳理了30年来国内外目的地形象相关概念,并得出规律性结论。在文献回顾基础上,独创地提出"旅游目的地形象蒲公英模型"和"基于形象构成及生成过程的旅游目的地形象概念体系",分别用于揭示目的地形象内在结构和归纳对比以往文献中提出的相关概念。     

Extinction is the Dream of Modern Powers: Bearing Witness to the Return to Life of the Sinixt Peoples?

The Arrow Lakes Band was the only form of legal recognition ever made available to the Sinixt nation by Canada before they were declared extinct. The Oatscott reserve and the state were cartographies that both summoned and willed away the Sinixt. I attempt a “politics of witnessing” of recent Sinixt activities as they push back against these colonial enframings and displacements. I then contextualize biopower within settler society to chart the production of the state through a cultural economy of racialization and erasure, and through a clearing of the land based on more explicit imaginative geographies. The declaration of the extinction of the Sinixt illustrates Indian reserves less as a disciplinary and more a sovereign technology. And yet it is quintessentially modern owing to the absence of instrumental violence. Finally, the limitations of witnessing and the space Indigenous peoples make for alliances are examined.     

Origins of formation waters in the Llanos foreland basin of Colombia: geochemical variation and fluid flow history

Wells located in the Colombian Andean foreland often produce biodegraded hydrocarbons and relatively fresh water (total dissolved solids concentrations of 2000 mg l^?1 dominate across most of the basin). The ratio of water to hydrocarbon in the produced fluids is high and has often been interpreted by explorationists and simulation engineers as being due to massive meteoric water invasion. To challenge this hypothesis, previously published and existing data are compiled here, along with 68 new water samples collected from both the surface (rivers) and subsurface (production wells), which are analyzed for major elements, salinity, and stable isotope compositions. The data indicate a mixed origin for the water, which involves formation water, meteoric water, and a third source that we interpret as being related to diagenetic processes (such as clay dehydration). Analyses of the variation of the parameters from north to south and west to east allow us to define the mixtures as coming from waters of different origins and make it possible to determine the relative contribution of each source.     

Degradation of mud brick houses in an arid environment: a geoarchaeological model

A common assumption in Near Eastern tell archaeology is that the majority of sediments originate from degraded mud bricks. Little is known about the mechanism of mud brick wall degradation. Here we present a detailed macro- and microscopic ethnoarchaeological study of the degradation of a mud brick house and propose a comprehensive mechanism for tell formation processes in arid environments. The study took place in southern Israel by trenching a ca. 60 year old abandoned mud brick house, followed by extensive sediment sampling. Macroscopic observations showed that mud brick walls degrade by collapse of single bricks and/or collapse of intact wall parts, either inwards or outwards. In addition, infill sediments within the house and outside it, in close proximity to its walls, form alternating sedimentary layers of various colors and textures. The degraded mud brick material lost its distinctive macroscopic structure, which makes it impossible to accurately identify this material by field observations alone. Mineralogical and elemental analyses established the sources of the house infill sediments, namely mud bricks and wind blown sediments. Alternating layers mostly originate from mixing between degraded mud brick material and wind blown sediments. Micromorphological observations revealed microscopic mechanisms of mud brick degradation and include processes of mud slurry gravity flows, sediment coatings and infillings, wind abrasion of walls, small-scale puddling, and bioturbation. This study provides a working scheme for site formation of abandoned mud brick structures in arid environments. It provides a set of criteria by which it is possible to differentiate floors from post-abandonment sedimentary features and thus improves the reliability of activity area research.