Markov Models of Inertia and Dynamism on Two Contiguous Ohio Landscapes

This study examined landcover change during 1940–1988 in two contiguous landscapes of approximately 12,400 hectares in central Ohio, USA: an inertial till plain area and a more dynamic moraine area. Agriculture dominated both landscapes throughout, however, the cover of natural vegetation and urban-suburban development increased over time on the moraine while natural vegetation decreased and agriculture increased on the till plain. Markov process models for landcover change were constructed for three 14–17-year time intervals and for the entire forty-eight-year study period. Probabilities of self-replacement for agricultural lands (0.91–0.97) were higher and those for forests (0.54–0.65) lower than those reported for other landscapes. Predictions of landcover percentages for fifty years in the future were made using Markov process models derived from actual cover changes in 1940–1957, 1971–1988, and 1940–1988. All three models produced similar predictions for the inertial till plain area. In contrast, the three models' predictions differed considerably for the moraine area. Only the 1971–1988 transition matrix was sensitive to increases in urbanization and reforestation which began on the moraine in the 1970s. These results indicate that reliance on lengthy study intervals and net rates of change can obscure spatial and temporal patterns of landcover change that are caused by natural and socioeconomic factors operating on shorter time scales.     

The Qhapaq Ñan Project: A Critical View

The Qhapaq-Ñan Project promotes the integration of shared cultural values among six countries: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. These countries are collaborating to nominate the Main Andean Road or “Qhapaq-Ñan” for inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Although the participants envision local and Indian communities as the true beneficiaries of the project, and the archaeological effort is already under way, communities associated with the road have not been involved. (At the very moment we are editing this article (March 2007) Argentina is holding the first meeting about a project that is already five years old, with some of the Indian communities of the territories where the project will be carried out. The participation, however, was far below what we expected.). Following the guidelines of the World Archaeological Congress and the current emphasis of many heritage professionals on community participation, we strongly advise that these dynamics must be changed and that the program must be developed jointly with affected communities from the beginning of the project and not in subsequent steps, or (even worse) once the project already taken shape.     

Subsistence and mobility strategies in the Epipalaeolithic: a stable isotope analysis of human and faunal remains at 'Uyun al-Hammam,northern Jordan

This paper investigates evidence for subsistence and settlement activities in the Levantine Middle Epipalaeolithic through the application of stable isotope analysis to human and non-human remains from the site of 'Uyun al-Hammam, northern Jordan. In general, bone from the site suffers a high degree of diagenesis and collagen could not be extracted for analysis here. Carbon and oxygen isotopic values from human tooth enamel samples were variable, but within expected values for the Middle Epipalaeolithic, whereas animal carbon and oxygen isotopic values varied widely, most likely due to hydrological and climatological factors. Carbon and isotopic values for the human samples indicated a predominantly C₃ plant dietary input, while animal samples appeared to have varying amounts of C₄ inputs into their diet. This is the first isotopic analysis conducted on material from the Middle Epipalaeolithic of the southern Levant and, as such, even results constrained by temporal and climatological variants within the region contribute to the overall knowledge of settlement and subsistence strategies during this cultural period.     

Genetic sexing to determine the optimal discriminant functions for the analysis of archaeological remains from El Hierro (Canary Islands)

A correct sex assignment of a given bone or bone fragment is of paramount importance for the archaeologist, anthropologist and in forensic medicine. Discriminant functions, combining several anthropometric measurements obtained from individuals with known sex are useful tools for this purpose, but it is essential to know exactly the sex from which the measures are obtained. This is an easy task in modern populations, but it is problematic in ancient ones, since even when the entire skeleton is available, diagnosis of sex is not 100% accurate. Sexing by genetic methods by amplifying the first intron of the amelogenin gene constitutes a much more accurate method for sexing bones and may be the gold standard for further elaboration of discriminant functions which may serve for sexing new bones dug up in future excavations. With this aim we have genetically sexed 52 (out of 59) tibiae belonging to the prehispanic population of El Hierro, in the Canary Islands, identifying 18 women and 34 men, and then, performed discriminant functions combining several anthropometric variables. These functions show a high accuracy in sex diagnosis (94.2%; area under ROC curve = 0.954 with the best of the functions), so that they allow correct sexing of tibiae or tibiae fragments (only proximal third, distal third or midshaft). Thus, genetic sexing obviates the problem of finding an accurate gold standard for the elaboration of discriminant functions for ancient bones. This method could be applied to other populations of different antiquity and different ethnicity.     

Late Palaeozoic South American pectinids revised: biostratigraphical and palaeogeographical implications

Neves, J.P., Anelli, L.E., Pagani, M.A. & Simões, M.G., 2014. Late Palaeozoic South American pectinids revised: biostratigraphical and palaeogeographical implications. Alcheringa 38 ISSN 0311-5518.

A revision of the late Palaeozoic South American pectinid Heteropecten multiscalptus (Thomas) and the establishment of Heteropecten paranaensis sp. nov. have important implications for the relationship between faunal realms within South America. Late Palaeozoic bivalve faunas occur in three distinct realms in South America: a Central Gondwanic Realm with endemic taxa showing affinities to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Namibia, a cold Perigondwanic Realm, and a warm Extragondwanic Realm with tethyan-like affinities similar to faunas of the American Midcontinent. In South America, faunas east of the southern Andes belong to the first two realms and previous interpretations of bivalve faunas suggested biocorrelations with those of the Extragondwanic Realm because they shared the taxon Heteropecten multiscalptus (Thomas). A revision of the Peruvian and Brazilian material does not confirm this. Instead, a re-analysis suggests that two species are present, rather than one: Heteropecten multiscalptus in the Cerro Prieto Formation, Amotape Mountains (Peru; Extragondwanic Realm), and Heteropecten paranaensis sp. nov. in the upper part of the Itararé Group, Paraná Basin (Brazil; Central Gondwanic Realm). Thus, the correlation between the late Palaeozoic faunas of the Central Gondwanic and Extragondwanic Realms in South America can no longer be supported. Heteropecten paranaensis sp. nov. lived in a siliciclastic-dominated, cold, epeiric sea of Brazil and Argentina, and is morphologically similar to some Australian species, whereas the Peruvian H. multiscalptus thrived in the warm seas of the Extragondwanic Realm.

Jacqueline P. Neves [nevesjp.unesp@gmail.com], Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro campus, SP, Brazil, 13506-900; Luiz E. Anelli [anelli@usp.br], Instituto de Geociências, Universidade de São Paulo, 05508–080, Brazil; M. Alejandra Pagani, [apagani@mef.org.ar], CONICET-Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio (MEF), U9100GYO, Chubut, Argentina; Marcello, G. Simões [profmgsimoes@gmail.com], Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu campus, SP, 18618-970, Brazil. Received 19.7.2013; revised 12.11.2013; accepted 19.11.2013     

Indo-Hispanic Dynamics: From Contact to Colonial Interaction in the Greater Antilles

Indo-Hispanic interaction is an essential issue in the colonial period in the Caribbean, but its study is currently marginalized as an offshoot of pre-Columbian archaeology. This state of affairs denies the indigenous contribution to the past and present ethnocultural composition of the region and privileges a colonial approach in scholarship. This paper reviews important aspects of the history of archaeological research on contact and colonial interaction in the Greater Antilles and its theoretical underpinnings. It also presents two recent archaeological case studies that show different facets of the interaction processes using new methodological approaches: El Cabo, Dominican Republic, with evidence of early contact, and El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba, a context of interethnic interaction under colonial conditions.     

White croaker (Micropogonias furnieri) paleodistribution in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean. An archaeological perspective

This paper presents strong and well dated evidence of the presence of Micropogonias furnieri in areas that are currently out of distribution. This evidence comes from hunter–gatherer archaeological sites along the north Patagonian coast (Argentina). Our results allow us to determine a change in the spatial distribution of M. furnieri during the Holocene, which are possibly linked to biogeographic changes in a set of species at regional level. Finally we discuss the potential for archaeological evidence in the service of spatial and biogeographic studies of different species.     

Computed tomography study of snuff trays from San Pedro de Atacama (Northern Chile)

Wooden snuff trays from San Pedro de Atacama (SPA) in northern Chile are objects of particular museological value. Computed tomography (CT), a non-destructive analytical technique useful in the analysis of archaeological objects in which physical tampering is not desirable, was used to study provenience of wood, quality of craftmanship, taphonomic processes and nature of gemstone inlays in a group of snuff trays. While wood used in the manufacture of trays was mostly exogenous to SPA, gemstones used in inlays were likely of local origin. These findings support the active exchange of goods proposed for the south-central Andes region. Several features revealed in the trays support the view that craftsmen producing them were skillful artisans.     

Exploring the vertical: science and sociality in the field among cavers in Venezuela

Recent scholarship on vertical geographies has lead to a critical reexamination of the relationship between space and power. In this paper, I develop a vertical geographies approach in an unexplored context and with a less tested method: that of cave explorers and scientists in the field in Venezuela, from an ethnographic perspective. Ethnographic analysis of exploration in practice, viewed in relation to a multi-dimensional environment and the social dynamics, bodies, and technologies involved in traversing it, illustrates the ways vertical geographies are constructed and experienced. For the Venezuelan Speleological Society, a group dedicated to cave exploration and science since 1967, examining these geographies highlights culturally specific ways the tension between sports and science in speleology play out and how new members are socialized in the field. Specifically, attention to verticality highlights the role that age, masculinist heroics, and other embodied dimensions play in the construction of speleological geographies. More broadly, an ethnographic focus on exploration, with humans probing the earth's sinuous contours, guards against thinking of verticality abstractly—doing so risks simplifying and even misrepresenting multi-dimensional and processual engagements among humans, their technologies, and the environment.     

A shipwreck cargo of Sevillian pottery from the Studland Bay wreck, Dorset, UK

This article is an account of the pottery found at the Studland Bay wreck, Poole. The assemblage includes an important group of Spanish pottery made at Seville at the beginning of the 16th century, including the largest group of lustreware and blue-and-purple wares ever found in an archaeological context. These wares were probably carried as cargo and collected at a stopping-off point along the itinerary of the ship, probably to be sold in northern Europe.