Iktomi in the Land of the Maymaygwayshi: Understanding Lived Experience in the Practice of Archaeology Among American Indians/First Nations

In discussions concerning American Indians/First Nations and the practice of archaeology in North America, the issues are typically presented in a polarized fashion with American Indians/First Nations on one side and archaeologists on the other. Frequently the literature discusses how archaeologists should modify their practice in response to the needs of American Indian communities. Very little of the literature looks at the roles and challenges faced by American Indians who choose to pursue archaeology. This paper addresses this latter issue by examining my own work among First Nations communities in Ontario, Canada. Through the lens of ‘lived experience’, I will examine the interplay of identity, personal and communal histories, and the contemporary situation of my self and the First Nations communities I worked with, looking at how having ‘insider’ knowledge can be both useful and a handicap in fieldwork.     

Doing Archaeology as a Feminist: Introduction

Gender research archaeology has made significant contributions, but its dissociation from the resources of feminist scholarship and feminist activism is a significantly limiting factor in its development. The essays that make up this special issue illustrate what is to be gained by making systematic use of these resources. Their distinctively feminist contributions are characterized in terms of the recommendations for “doing science as a feminist” that have taken shape in the context of the long running “feminist method debate” in the social sciences.     

Conversation with Ernestina Mamaní

This paper records a conversation that took place on Thursday 23rd November 2006 at the Museo del Hombre de Antofagasta de la Sierra (Museum of Man of Antofagasta de la Sierra), Catamarca, Argentina. The conversation involved different research groups co-investigating, each formed by a student of archaeology and a member of the personnel of the museum and/or other areas of the culture of the municipality of Antofagasta de la Sierra. Each presented the state of his/her enquiry into a particular object in the museum collection. The task was to tie stories to objects: stories by the elders of the town, the people who had discovered the item, the personnel of the museum and the texts written by archaeologists. This paper focuses on the conversation with Ernestina Mamaní, about a stone slab by Antofagasta elder, Don Anacleto Cháves, which she and Laura Roda had chosen to research.

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Résumé Cet article rapporte une conversation qui a eu lieu le jeudi 23 novembre 2006 au Museo del Hombre de Antofagasta de la Sierra (Musée de l'homme d'Antofagasta de la Sierra), Catamarca, Argentine. La conversation mettait en scène différents groupes de recherche travaillant conjointement, chacun constitué d’un étudiant en archéologie, d’un membre du personnel du musée et/ou d'autres secteurs du service de la Culture de la municipalité d'Antofagasta de la Sierra. Chacun a présenté l'état de ses recherches autour d’un objet particulier des collections de musée. Il s’agissait d’accoler des récits aux objets: histoires rapportées par les anciens du village, les personnes ayant découvert l'objet, le personnel du musée et les rapports écrits par les archéologues. Cet article relate particulièrement la conversation avec Ernestina Mamaní, au sujet d'une dalle de pierre faite par un ancien d'Antofagasta, Don Anacleto Cháves, qu’elle même et Laura Roda avaient choisie pour leur recherche.

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Resumen Esta ponencia registra una conversación que sucedió el jueves 23 de noviembre de 2006 en el Museo del Hombre de Antofagasta de la Sierra, Catamarca, Argentina. La conversación involucraba diferentes grupos de co-investigación, integrado por una estudiante de arqueología y un miembro del personal del museo y/o otras areas de cultura de la municipalidad de Antofagasta de la Sierra. Cada una presentaba el estado de su indagación acerca de un objeto particular de la colección del museo. La consigna era anudar historias a cada objeto, historias ofrecidas por los ancianos del pueblo, los descubridores de la pieza, el personal del museo y los textos escritos por arqueólogos. Esta ponencia se focaliza en la conversación con Ernestina Mamaní, sobre una laja encontrada por un vecino de Antofagasta, Don Anacleto Cháves, que ella y Laura Roda habían elegido para investigar.

     

Bone Degradation and Environment: Understanding,Assessing and Conducting Archaeological Experiments Using Modern Animal Bones

Archaeological experiments that use modern bones to replicate past animal bone assemblages have often failed to consider the effects of environment, storage and preparation on modern bones. Often, these experiments make little mention of the conditions to which bones were subject during their storage and preparation for use in experiments. In other instances, these variables are reported but not considered as factors that contribute to the nature of the results obtained. This study considers previously reported data concerning the degradation of frozen bones (−20°C), and bones exposed to hot, dry conditions (40°C), and presents new data for bones exposed to room temperature environments (22°C) and refrigerated environments (2°C), and bones that are frozen (−20°C) and then thawed (22°C). These conditions are all relevant to understanding the nature of bone degradation and the use of bones in modern archaeological experimentation. This article also surveys a range of previously reported experiments that utilise modern bones to create analogies to the past and considers different methodological approaches and their relationship to the condition of bones at the time of their fracture and fragmentation. The longitudinal data presented in this study demonstrate differential rates of bone degradation over time in various environmental conditions. This degradation results in dramatic changes in bone fracture morphology, bone strength and utility for bone tool production. These observations have significant implications for experiments that utilise modern bones, especially when experimental data are used to create analogies to the archaeological past. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Origins of Procellariidae Hunting in the Southwest Pacific

Small procellariids, mainly petrels, prions and shearwaters, were hunted at their rookeries in various parts of the southwest Pacific during the early historical era. The industries, some of which continue, arose from both traditional, indigenous, practices of prehistoric origin and subsistence necessity in early European settlements. The history and main features of the Tasmanian and southern New Zealand ‘muttonbird’ industries are described, together with brief summaries of those on Chatham, Raoul and Norfolk islands. Procellariid hunting occurred in two different situations, on isolated tropical islands, where its impact was often devastating, and on temperate islands associated with the East Australian Current, a western boundary current like the Gulf Stream. In the latter case, procellariid populations were very large and resilient to predation. In Tasmania, muttonbirds were taken for immediate consumption, but in New Zealand and other Polynesian islands there was preservation for storage. However, a common feature seems to have been the late development of systematic procellariid hunting, possibly because of the relative costs of access to the resource, although other explanations cannot be ruled out.     

Alveolar bone status of some pre-seventeenth century inhabitants of Taumako,Solomon Islands

The alveolar bone condition of 34 pre-seventeenth century Solomon Island Polynesians aged 20–35 years was investigated from dental remains. The distance between the cementoenamel junction and the alveolar crest (CEJ-AC distance) was measured for six index teeth. The mean CEJ-AC measurements for each tooth, which ranged from 3.9 to 7.9 mm, greatly exceeded the distance of 2 mm frequently cited as representative of teeth supported by healthy bone. Many pathological bony defects were seen, suggestive of episodes of acute periodontitis with remissions to a quiescent phase.     

从三峡地区的考古发现看楚文化的西进

三峡考古发现表明,楚文化在西周中晚期就已经对巫山地区有一定的影响;到了春秋中晚期和战国早期,楚文化已经完全控制了瞿塘峡以东的巫山地区,并进而对奉节、云阳、万州等地区产生了一定的影响;战国中期晚段至战国晚期早段,楚文化深入到峡江腹地的忠县一带,控制了长江干流沿线的地区。楚文化的几次西进有其不同的历史背景,基本可以与一些重大的历史事件相契合。从楚文化在峡江地区的分布情况看,他主要起着控制交通、扼守战略要地,以及掠夺资源的作用。     

就石片台面研究问题答李炎贤

石片包括了各种类型台面的石片,石片台面的分类可以视为石片分类的一种。旧石器时代考古术语需要斟酌和规范。科学研究必须实事求是。     

Toiling in the Vale of Tears: Everyday Life and Resistance in South Uist, Outer Hebrides, 1760-1860

Following the 1745 rebellion, agrarian capitalism rapidly transformed subsistence practices in the Outer Hebrides. Landowners increased rents, enclosed common lands, and replaced crofters and cattle with sheep-ranges. Population growth, the demise of the kelp industry, and crop failures compounded the problems of the peasantry. Widespread emigration commenced in the 1770s and peaked in the 1850s, when entire communities were exiled to British North America—the so-called Highland Clearances. This article traces the development of agrarian capitalism on the Isle of South Uist, explores the agricultural improvements undertaken by successive landlords, and considers modes of resistance adopted by the island's population.     

The Hohokam of Southwest North America

The Hohokam reached an apex of sociopolitical development between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries in the Sonoran Desert of North America. Hallmarks of the Hohokam tradition included red-on-buff pottery, large-scale canal irrigation agriculture, and monumental buildings, including ball courts, platform mounds, towers, and Great Houses. The development and elaboration of Hohokam society from their ceramic-producing predecessors during more than two millennia (ca. 1000 B.C. to A.D. 1450, or later) is a remarkable example of an arid land adaptation in the New World. The enigmatic collapse of Hohokam society took place shortly before European colonialists entered the North American Southwest in the mid–sixteenth century. Various agents (e.g., floods, disease, warfare) of this event are poorly understood and require additional study. So, too, does the degree of historical continuity between contemporary indigenous peoples and precontact archaeological cultures (e.g., Hohokam) in what is now Arizona and northern Mexico.