Systems theory,systems art and the computer: Ernest Edmonds interviewed by Francesca Franco

ABSTRACT

This interview with Edmonds, conducted by Franco in 2016, explores how Systems art, Systems Theory, and his personal relationships with artists such as Malcolm Hughes, Kenneth Martin and Edward Ihnatowicz influenced his art practice.     

Uranium-series age estimates for rock art in southwest China

We report the first uranium-series age estimates for rock art in China. Calcite bracketing a paint layer was used to constrain the age of a naturalistic outline hunter-gatherer painting in the Jinsha River area of northwest Yunnan Province (southwest China). The rock paintings in this region are unique in style and content compared with other bodies of rock art in China, which are dominated by Neolithic subject matter. The minimum and maximum ages were determined using isochron techniques on multiple samples of calcite from above and beneath the paint layer. A large painted deer head was dated to between 5738 and 2050 years. This painting and underlying flowstone are superimposed on older paintings that suggest the older paintings are at least 3400 years old, if not older than 5738 years. The results indicate for the first time that Jinsha River rock art is older than other forms of rock art in the region and show that rock art likely extends back to at least the transition from the Palaeolithic to Neolithic in this part of China.     

Assessing the applicability of portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry for obsidian provenance research in the Maya lowlands

Recent innovations in portable energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) spectrometry have increased its utility for the geochemical characterization of obsidian artifacts for archaeological provenance research. However, concerns over the utility of PXRF instrumental analyses have been raised, focused on the validity and reliability of the geochemical data produced. Here we adopt the framework of Richard Hughes (On Reliability, Validity, and Scale in Obsidian Sourcing Research, 1998), whereby reliability addresses instrument stability and issues of measurement while validity pertains to an instrument’s ability to discern geochemical source provenance. This is done in order to test the utility of PXRF instruments for archaeological provenance research. k-Means cluster analysis was used to test the accuracy of PXRF through statistical comparison of data acquired via laboratory and portable energy-dispersive XRF instruments. Multivariate analysis was employed to demonstrate obsidian source representation at two Classic Maya archaeological sites in southern Belize – Uxbenká and Ek Xux – and to test the validity of data obtained from a PXRF instrument in answering archaeological research questions pertaining to regional interactions between lowland Maya polities. Results suggest that portable XRF instruments produce internally consistent results. However, data acquired from a PXRF instrument are not statistically equivalent to other XRF instruments. This is to say that while PXRF is not a reliable technique, it is valid for questions pertaining to geochemical source representation.     

ELECTIVE AFFINITIES AND THEIR PHILOSOPHY

Elective Affinities: Musical Essays on the History of Aesthetic Theory collects a selection of Lydia Goehr's recent essays. In them she traces "a history of attraction and reaction … of music to philosophy, drama, birdsong, crime, film, and nationhood" (ix). Goehr examines the ways that philosophers, the ideas that they present, and works of art display "elective affinities". Her procedure is like that of an art historian who presents parallel slides to reveal visual affinities, even between artists who themselves were unaware of each other. Her analyses are erudite, lucid, and always suggestive, but what I found most admirable in Elective Affinities is Goehr's extraordinarily brave experimentation with a novel form of philosophy-writing, the adumbration of which is the focus of this review. Her book is strange enough to be genuinely magnificent and lastingly influential.     

pXRF: a study of inter-instrument performance

Integrating portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) instrumentation into archaeological investigations has generated as much interest as skepticism because several characteristics of the technique limit analytical accuracy and precision. This paper seeks to explore inter-instrument performance in order to assess the potential pXRF instrumentation has in examining the elemental composition of lithic raw materials. Two pXRF instruments, Delta and Omega models both manufactured by Olympus Innov-X Systems, were utilized to obtain the trace element signatures of five fine-grained volcanic sources and four obsidian sources in the Great Basin. We compared the two portable instruments to a wavelength-dispersive instrument extensively calibrated with geologic standards and to a commercial benchtop energy-dispersive system. Our results suggest that the relationships between the data produced by these different instruments are complex, and as we look to the future of pXRF use in archaeological analysis we argue that that the same strict protocols applied in laboratory-based XRF analyses, involving instrument calibration, evaluation of inter-instrument performance, and comparison to accepted geologic standards, need to be applied in pXRF analysis.     

Acoustics and Levantine rock art: auditory perceptions in La Valltorta Gorge (Spain)

This article explores the relevance of acoustics as a factor for in the production and active use of Levantine rock art in Spain. The renowned rock art area of La Valltorta Gorge serves as a case study. Two experiments are described; the first assessed whether the sites with the most painted motifs had better acoustics than those with fewer motifs. The second tested which areas in La Valltorta Gorge had better acoustics and whether there was a difference between the acoustics of the decorated area and the contiguous sectors of the Gorge where no paintings have been found. In both experiments different sounds and pitches were used. The results suggest a strong relationship between the painted areas and the sonority of the place, with the major sites generally having provided the best results, with the exception of the sonority when facing the rock art panels. It is suggested that La Valltorta Gorge was chosen to be decorated with a view to increasing the perceptual impact of the rituals that may have been held at rock art sites due to the amplification caused by the echoing and resonance.     

The Past in the Present. Landscape Perception,Archaeological Heritage and Marginal Farmland in Jæren,South‐western Norway

This paper examines the background of conflicts in the resource management of a specific type of ‘utmark’ in the agrarian landscape. The historical relationship between empirically experienced ‘utmark’ and the resource management of archaeological heritage and environment surrounding it is analysed. The landscape perceptions of two professional management regimes are used as platforms to gain a wider understanding of worldviews in relation to the ‘utmark’ environment. The landscape orders are based on a landscape cosmology of prehistoric origin, but which modern versions are scaled differently, mirroring changes of worldviews. One management on the other superimposes an extreme dissonance of inferiority between contradictive landscapes aesthetics.