An Isotopic Perspective on Animal Husbandry at the Xinzhai Site During the Initial Stage of the Legendary Xia Dynasty (2070–1600 BC)

Located in the Central Plains of China, the early Xia Dynasty site of Xinzhai (2050 BC–1750 BC) with large archaeological features and exquisite artifacts of jade and copper is pivotal for probing the origin and formation of Chinese civilisation. Here, stable isotope ratios analysis, supplemented by zooarchaeological results, was used to investigate the exploitation and management of animals utilised by humans. It was demonstrated that a diverse pattern of animal raising and exploitation was present at the Xinzhai site. The domestic pigs were fed with substantial amounts of millets or their byproducts to guarantee a food source for the dietary demands of the humans. Dogs were also found to have consumed large amounts of C₄ protein sources, likely in the form of human food scraps or leftovers. The domestic herbivores, sheep and cattle, showed different dietary characteristics in that the former mainly grazed in the natural environment, while the latter species were fed with large amounts of C₄ products. This intra‐species variation was somewhat related to their physiological characteristics but seems to have been more determined by their different status in social and ritual activities. Thus, this research at Xinzhai provides a glimpse of the organisation of animal resources during the initial formation of Chinese civilisation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Marine electrical resistivity tomography for shipwreck detection in very shallow water: a case study from Agropoli (Salerno,southern Italy)

A marine electric resistivity survey was carried out over a submerged beach along the Agropoli shore (Salerno, Italy) to detect buried objects of archaeological interest below the sandy seabed. We found a shipwreck, a military vessel that probably sunk during the Salerno landing operations of the allied forces in the Second World War. Resistivity data provide information on the vertical and horizontal extension of the shipwreck, which is characterized by very low calculated resistivity values (about 2–5 ohm m). Such values differ significantly from the sand and the bedrock values (5–40 ohm m). Although the presence of the shipwreck is clearly visible from geoelectric data, the joint application of electric, magnetic and multibeam bathymetric techniques reduces the ambiguities inherent in each method. As shown in the Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and confirmed by the Digital Elevation Model (obtained from the processing of bathymetric data), the shipwreck extends more than 30 m in NE–SW direction and it is about 13 m wide. The global extension of the relic is consistent with the magnetic data, that are characterized by a magnetic anomaly with an amplitude of about 1800 nT and similar dimension, as inferred from the estimation of source boundaries obtained from the computation of the analytic signal. The results of our survey encourage the use of marine geoelectrical methods for the detection of buried archaeological targets, particularly in locations where the use of seismic prospecting is not effective (e.g. very shallow water with sandy sea-bottoms). The integration of different geophysical methods allows to better define the extension, depth and thickness of buried objects, suggesting that such an approach is the most effective for underwater archaeological investigations.     

Late Preceramic Peru

This paper presents a synthesis of current knowledge of Late Preceramic Peru (ca. 4450–3800 B.P.), a field of study that is less than 50 years old. A brief history of investigations and discussion of chronological systems are presented. A review of Late Preceramic achievements concentrating on subsistence economies and technology is followed by discussion of the social world of Late Preceramic Peru and current consensus and disputes regarding culture processes. Extensive long-distance exchange, farming, and social complexity are first clearly seen in the archaeological record during this time period. Nevertheless, the significance of this evidence with regard to the nature and intensity of the culture practices and processes that they represent is currently under investigation and in contention.     

Contesting captive cetaceans: (il)legal spaces and the nature of dolphins in urban Singapore

Drawing on the debate over dolphin captivity in Singapore, we examine the ways in which human–animal relationships are contested. Departing from most animal geography studies which often focused on the conflictual spatial transgressions of animals into human spaces, we use the idea of ‘captivity’ as a heuristic to posit that human–animal relationships are necessarily moral, spatially enmeshed in contestations over what is (un)natural and increasingly entwined in legal geographies. While such an argument mirrors other sites of animal captivity (for example, zoos), dolphin captivity sits in a more ambiguous legal terrain than most other captive animals in zoos. Moreover, the very ‘nature’ of dolphins makes debates over their ‘authenticity’ ever more complex. The moralities of cetaceans are simultaneously underpinned by questions of the spatial (‘captive sites’ and ‘open seas’), the socio-cultural (‘charismatic animals’) and the legal (‘regulatory frameworks governing their welfare and whether they are endangered or not’). Hitherto, cetaceans are less researched (compared to terrestrial creatures) in animal geographies with even fewer studies focusing on cetacean captivity. We call for an expanded notion of ‘captivity’ that is relative, relational and non-absolute and underpinned by the notions of ‘nature’. In so doing, we align ourselves more with the anti-captivity camp.     

Humans and marine resource interaction reappraised: Archaeofauna remains during the late Pleistocene and Holocene in Cantabrian Spain

The exploitation of marine resources in Prehistory has traditionally been regarded as insignificant, at least until the late Upper Pleistocene. However, in recent years the systematic study of archaeofaunal remains with a marine origin has widened our knowledge of the role they played among groups of hunter–gatherers in Europe. This paper analyses the available data about the evidence for the exploitation of the different marine resources (molluscs, birds, mammals, crustaceans, echinoderms and fish) that have been recorded at archaeological sites in Cantabrian Spain in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene.With the information currently available, it is clear that although it is in the Mesolithic when archaeozoological remains with a marine origin are found most often, the exploitation of these resources in the region began in the Early Upper Palaeolithic.     

10,000 years of human predation and size changes in the owl limpet (Lottia gigantea) on San Miguel Island,California

To investigate potential human impacts on California Channel Island shellfish stocks over the past 10,000 years, we measured 1718 owl limpet shells from 19 archaeological components on San Miguel Island. Inhabiting the middle intertidal zone of Pacific Coast rocky shores, owl limpets are slow-growing mollusks that can live for 30 years and reach lengths of over 100 mm. Recent ecological studies indicate that owl limpets are highly susceptible to heavy human predation, which results in reduced mean shell sizes among Lottia populations along the coasts of Alta and Baja California. On San Miguel Island, we identified a significant trans-Holocene reduction in mean owl limpet size, beginning more than 6500 years ago and accelerating at least 4400 years ago. Fluctuations in limpet size show no clear correlation with changes in sea surface temperature and marine productivity, suggesting that increased predation by growing human populations was primarily responsible for the reduction in Lottia size over time. Our results provide further evidence that prehistoric peoples significantly influenced nearshore fisheries long before the development of the commercial and industrialized fisheries of historic times.     

试析“冥”字本义

本文通过列举分析甲骨文字形、文义等方面,试图说明“冥”字在甲骨卜辞中不能解释为分娩的“娩”,更结合前人的研究成果提出了对于“冥”字本义的新观点。     

Geography and Economic Preferences as Cultural Markers in a Border Town: The Faunal Remains from Tel Beth‐Shemesh,Israel

We present a zooarchaeological analysis of the faunal remains at Tel Beth‐Shemesh, a site located in the Shephelah region of Israel, which has been dated to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age I. The site, identified as the biblical city of Beth‐Shemesh, was a Canaanite border town between Philistine and Israelite settlements and of great importance in our attempts to understand the social and cultural transformations that occurred in the southern Levant during those periods. This study contributes to a more accurate understanding of the cultural identity of the site's inhabitants by exploring the cultural differences between populations as reflected in their different dietary preferences. We analysed the subsistence economy at the site, the general exploitation patterns, herd management strategies and consumption practices, all of which are based mostly on domestic livestock. We determined the cultural identity at the site mainly by comparing the representation of pig remains with that found at other sites in the region, and offer various explanations for the differences. The comparisons revealed clear differences between Tel Beth‐Shemesh and other known nearby Philistine sites. This site appears to have possessed a self‐contained production and consumption economy with similarities in the general pattern of animal exploitation between the two periods. These similarities constitute evidence for the continuation of the local population and of its culture at the site during the period of turmoil that swept the region during the transition to the Iron Age. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Les corridors maritimes stratégiques dans l'Arctique canadien : un programme adapté au tourisme marin ?

The melting of summer sea ice in the Canadian Arctic allows for better accessibility and therefore increased development of marine tourism. This paper highlights a significant increase in cruise ships and pleasure craft in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago since the 1990s, especially in the strategic areas of the Lancaster Sound and southeast of Baffin Island. Based on spatial analysis, cruise ships and pleasure craft were mostly sailing inside the primary corridors and outside the secondary corridors; this is particularly obvious for the fourth secondary corridor of the western Arctic. Moreover, marine tourism activity related to cruise ships or pleasure craft occurred within a distance of 15 nautical miles and beyond the outer limit of a corridor, whether primary or secondary. The Northern Marine Transportation Corridors Initiative is an important tool to manage marine traffic in the Canadian Arctic and we need to continue to encourage its development through a multipartite approach and taking traditional Inuit knowledge into account.     

Red Foxes in the Filing Cabinet: Günter Tembrock's Image Collection and Media Use in Mid-Century Ethology**

This paper considers the epistemic career of visual media in ethology in the mid-20th century. Above all, ethologists claimed close contact with research animals and drew scientific evidence from these human-animal communities, particularly in public relations. However, if we look into the toolboxes of comparative behavioral biologists, it becomes evident that scientifically valid research results were primarily obtained by experimenting with model images. These visual specimens tell a technical story of the methodological requirements in behavioral science necessary to bridge everyday observations between the laboratory and the field. By neutralizing individual traces of animal bodies as well as their observers, they prompted the abstraction of ethological hypotheses. The case study of East-German biologist Günter Tembrock (1918–2011), who maintained his own collection of newspaper clippings, drawings, photographs, and films, offers a new perspective on the methodological development of this field. Furthermore, this article contributes to a scholarly discussion geared toward expanding the spaces of ethological research. My analysis of the image collections of the Forschungsstätte für Tierpsychologie presents the archive as a relevant site of study in the history of ethology.