Modeling ground slate knife production and implications for the study of household labor contributions to salmon fishing on the Pacific Northwest Coast

Despite longstanding anthropological concerns with the origins of intensive delayed-return subsistence economies and the timing of the development of increasingly complex political systems on the Northwest Coast, the use and production of slate knives—one of the most archaeologically visible tools used to process seasonally available salmon—has received little attention in the archaeological literature. This can be attributed, in part, to the persistence of artifact typologies that have failed to generate behavioral implications for variability in slate artifact assemblages. In this article, I use data derived from ethnographic, experimental, and actualistic research to develop an approach to the classification of slate artifacts expected of knife-production activities. Emphasis is placed on framing slate knife production as a temporally emergent and situated activity, but also as an operational sequence that can be modeled due to regularity in the decisions and motions expected of tool makers producing functionally specific tools. Using slate assemblages recovered during the partial excavation of seven Late and Contact period Coast Salish houses in southern British Columbia, I then evaluate and demonstrate the utility of this approach by considering variability in household labor contributions to salmon fishing.     

Sustainability Policy Research: A Review and Synthesis

This paper reviews theoretical and empirical approaches drawn from influential journal articles and books on sustainability policy published over the last 10 years (2007 through 2017). Due to the widespread application of sustainability as a concept and space limitations, the paper more narrowly focuses on sustainability research in three critical policy areas: climate change, urban development, and agroecology and food systems. Drawing from information provided primarily by citation indexes, the study identifies and analyzes the research literature related to sustainability in these three fields. Future theoretical and empirical research approaches that can better integrate and connect the current diffuse and incongruent literature on sustainability are discussed in the paper. The findings of the literature review generate a number of possible future research directions that are discussed in the study.     

The Negative Effects of Insufficient Support Systems on Kuwaiti Mothers of Children with Disabilities

Parents raising a child with a physical or cognitive disability are often faced with the negative stigma against disabilities that exist in several Arab countries. This puts extra pressure on the parents and can lead to negative outcomes for the children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of parenting stress and varying levels of support for mothers of children with disabilities and the effects of these pressures on their relationship with their disabled child. We surveyed 85 Kuwaiti mothers of children with disabilities. The participants filled out an online survey with questions regarding parenting related stress, perceived social support, feelings of social isolation, self‐efficacy, and attachment to their child. Results indicate that mothers who feel unsupported by their families, community, and government experience more parenting stress and greater social isolation. These in turn lead them to feel less competent in their parenting abilities, and ultimately they feel less emotionally connected to their child. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Mapping the Middle East from Within: (Counter‐)Cartographies of an Imperialist Construction

Abstract: The “Middle East” is a readily accepted geographical category throughout much of the world. However, within this ambiguous geographic entity, both the term and the idea of the “Middle East” are often rejected as western‐imperialist constructs. Through a critical examination of an extensive sample of maps produced within several Arab states of the “Middle East”, I found that the regional designation “Middle East” is nearly nonexistent, while the Arab Homeland is unequivocally a more common regional category. However, the “Middle East” did occasionally appear in a few maps. This paper provides an explanatory examination of the normative cartographic discourses in this region, and more focused analysis of the atypical maps of the “Middle East”. My analyses render unique insights into how the “Middle East” is both contested and re‐created from within a western‐imperialist defined region.     

AN INSCRIBED NABATAEAN BRONZE OBJECT DEDICATED TO OBODAS THE GOD FROM WĀDĪ MŪSĀ, SOUTHERN JORDAN

Abstract

A part of a Nabataean bronze inscribed object has been found recently in Wādī Mūsā, near Petra, Jordan. The text, which is dated to the reign of the last Nabataean king, Rabbel II (ad 70–106), is of great interest since it contains words that occur for the first time in Nabataean. It mentions a dedication made by a priest and his son to ‘Obodas the God’ in Gaia. In sum, it adds significant new data to our knowledge of the Nabataean kingdom and its religion.     

Towards a Risk Management and Conservation Plan for the Djin Blocks at the World Heritage Site of Petra,Jordan: The Case of Djin Block No. 9

Cultural heritage is subjected to many pressures and risks. Over the past few years, the use of digital technologies has significantly changed the approaches to cultural heritage documentation for the purpose of condition assessment and conservation. The integration of novel approaches and techniques has permitted a detailed examination and assessment of damage, deterioration due to weathering and erosion, and their mechanisms. This study seeks to contribute to the preservation and conservation of the significant heritage of the so-called Djin Blocks at the World Heritage Site of Petra in Jordan. While these three dimensional cuboid rock-cut monuments have been subject to extensive conservation studies, this is the first time they have been subjected to 3D recording and multispectral photography, with the aim of recording damage caused by the ravages of time.

This study presents the results of the documentation of the case study Djin Block No. 9. A variety of systematic documentation techniques were used, including 3D recording with terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), close-range photogrammetry, multispectral imaging, and thermography records. In addition, pathological studies of the erosion from various causes and an analysis of the effect of weathering on Djin Block No. 9 are performed. Based on this data, the paper presents recommendations for developing risk management and conservation planning of Djin Block No. 9.     

Neuroscience and the fallacies of functionalism

Smail's "On Deep History and the Brain" is rightly critical of the functionalist fallacies that have plagued evolutionary theory, sociobiology, and evolutionary psychology. However, his attempt to improve on these efforts relies on functional explanations that themselves oversimplify the lessons of neuroscience. In addition, like explanations in evolutionary psychology, they are highly speculative and cannot be confirmed or disproved by evidence. Neuroscience research is too diverse to yield a single picture of brain functioning. Some recent developments in neuroscience research, however, do suggest that cognitive processing provides a kind of “operating system” that can support a great diversity of cultural material. These developments include evidence of “top-down” processing in motor control, in visual processing, in speech recognition, and in “emotion regulation.” The constraints that such a system may place on cultural learning and transmission are worth investigating. At the same time, historians are well advised to remain wary of the pitfalls of functionalism.     

从粮食事件看晚清徽州绅商的社会作用——以《歙地少请通浙米案呈稿》和《祁米案牍》为例

在徽学研究的论著中,对于徽州绅商在徽州当地社会生活中的活动和作用的学术关怀似乎稍嫌不足.徽州因山多田少,从外输入粮食又常遭受邻县遏籴,徽州文书《歙地少请通浙米案呈稿》和《祁米案牍》就记载了晚清时期因为"遏籴"而分别发生在歙县和淳安,以及祁门和饶州之间的粮食运输纠纷.本文以邻县遏籴为切入点,以"歙案"和"祁案"为主要资料探讨徽州士绅和商人群体在晚清徽州地方事务中的作用以及官绅商之间的关系.