Agriculture and community in Chaco Canyon: Revisiting Pueblo Alto

The Bonito Phase (ca. AD 860–1140) in Chaco Canyon is widely recognized as one of the primary sources of information about emergent social complexity in prehispanic North America. Large masonry buildings called “great houses,” such as Pueblo Bonito, are iconic symbols of the rapid rise of a powerful society based on the ability to harness labor to prolonged construction projects. It is clear that the political forces at work during the Bonito Phase had an agricultural foundation, presumably in the financing of construction through food surpluses, but the actual nature of farming in Chaco is surprisingly opaque to archaeologists. Indeed, many researchers have concluded that farming in Chaco Canyon was too constrained by poor soils to have supported the dynamic developments associated with the massive stone structures and extensive trade systems of the Bonito Phase. The popular perspective that Chaco was mysterious or enigmatic is largely a response to this view of the canyon as agriculturally marginal. In this study we argue that a predictive model of potential agricultural productivity that includes other portions of the canyon besides the floodplain indicates that Chaco was not marginal for farming. The results of this analysis suggest that great house communities may have been sited to control local production zones and that some great houses may have been linked to others in order to manage multiple agricultural areas.     

Proving Fishers Right. Effects of the Integration of Experience-Based Knowledge in Ecosystem-Based Management

Abstract

This article discusses effects of and drivers behind the current integration of experience-based knowledge in management. The case in point is production and integration of fishers' ecological knowledge (FEK) in coastal zone management in Norway. The article discusses how the principles of social justice and protection of biodiversity drive FEK integration, through analysing a case of conflict between small-scale fishers and cod farming in Storfjord, northern Norway. The case became known for the appearance of deformed “monster cod” which supported the fishers' claims that fish farming was harmful to the environment and thus also to the indigenous Sami culture. Assessing how FEK was judged in terms of its credibility, legitimacy and saliency, the article argues that the criteria by which FEK is judged are different from how other types of policy-relevant knowledge is judged. In addition to being scientifically credible, its quality as age-old knowledge derived from interaction with the environment increases its influence on management decisions in biodiversity conservation controversies where fishers' and managers' interests coincide. The article concludes that integration of FEK in management both fulfils goals of protection of biodiversity and social justice, which makes it harder to ignore in socially and environmentally controversial contexts in the future.     

1978年以来我国农地产权制度变迁及启示

改革开放以来,我国农地产权制度改革大致上经历了四个阶段。从改革过程看,经过了从强制性变迁到诱致性变迁的过程,遵循了生产关系一定要适应生产力发展的规律,增强了农民对土地的稳定感和权属感,尊重了广大农民的自由选择,进一步协调了效率与公平的关系。展望未来,农地产权制度改革的方向应是完善农地承包权流转制度。     

Between Land and Water: Being a Settler at Ile-aux-Oies in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

This paper first describes the particular environment represented by the middle estuary where Ile-aux-Oies lies. Secondly, it reconstructs an early French farming settlement on the basis of archaeological remains and demonstrates the place it occupies in this special environment. And thirdly, it places the process of adaptation and appropriation in a more global perspective through a discussion of our research in the light of Ian Hodder’s thesis on the domestication of space during the Neolithic Revolution in Europe.     

Patterns of plant δN values on a Greenland Norse farm

In a further empirical study of the impact of past human activities on modern plant δ¹⁵N values, plants were collected in each of two growing seasons from several defined contexts of an inland Norse farm in southwest Greenland. The δ¹⁵N measures of the plants show a clear distinction between areas with definite evidence of past human activity and those without. The data for the plants on this farm's infield indicates that it was purposely fertilized. The intriguing intra- and inter-variations in the ¹⁵N values of plants from several structures are not easily explained, but the differences appear to reflect the different functions of the various farm structures. The findings of this study suggest practical applications for future use of plant δ¹⁵N values in archaeology.     

Red rural,blue rural? Presidential voting patterns in a changing rural America

This paper examines individual and aggregate data to document the growing political diversity in rural America. This political diversity is evident in the various economies within rural America. The new rural economy is reflected in recreational counties, where natural and built amenities combined with the provision of services to residents and visitors are the basis for the local economy. Residents of recreational counties tend to be more liberal than their rural peers on a variety of political issues, and supported Barack Obama at significantly higher levels in 2008 and 2012. In contrast, in regions dominated by the old rural economy of farming, political views are more conservative and there is far less support for Democrats in general and President Obama in particular. An analysis of survey data combined with multivariate spatial regression analysis demonstrates that these differences between the old and new rural economy persist even when a variety of demographic, economic, social and geographic variables are controlled.     

大同南郊北魏墓群人骨的稳定同位素分析

探索中原地区农耕文明对游牧民族的影响,对于揭示游牧民族的汉化过程、了解民族间的相互交流和融合具有非常重要的意义。本文对山西大同南郊北魏(拓跋鲜卑)墓群出土的人骨进行了C、N稳定同位素分析,旨在揭示其食物结构的基础上探讨农耕文化对其生活方式的影响。一至四期出土人骨的δ13C值为-9.12±0.85‰,表明其主要以C4类食物为主,而其δ15N值(9.56±0.76‰)甚高,显示先民曾摄取大量肉食,即拓跋鲜卑进入中原地区之后,似乎仍以畜牧业为主,而受中原地区农耕文明的影响甚小。至于δ13C和15N异常的四个样品,可能来自其他地区。结合考古资料和相关文献,不难发现,与慕容鲜卑相比,拓跋鲜卑的汉化之路更为艰难。     

Climate deterioration and land-use change in the first millennium BC: perspectives from the British palynological record

Climate deterioration at around the time of the Bronze Age/Iron Age transition has for long been argued to have resulted in upland abandonment in northern and western Britain, and recent research has provided evidence that a major climate downturn from 850 cal BC caused settlement abandonment in western Europe and potentially worldwide. It is, however, unclear to what extent only ‘marginal’ sites were affected, due to the lack of any systematic attempt to view the evidence for settlement and land-use change across a range of landscape types with differing sensitivities to environmental change. This paper addresses this issue by an evaluation of 75 pollen sequences spanning the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age in Britain to assess whether climatic deterioration was sufficient to cause widespread land abandonment. The results provide no evidence for wholesale land-use change at this time; the overall picture is one of continuity of land use or even increased agricultural activity. There are, however, hints of regional variability, with a greater tendency to abandonment of upland areas in Wales, and signs of woodland regeneration in agriculturally productive areas of lowland central southern England. The latter pattern may reflect a combination of rising ground-water levels affecting local land-use in the immediate vicinity of the mires which provide the source of the pollen data, against a backdrop of regional-scale social and economic changes at the Bronze Age-Iron Age transition.     

关于推进青海新农村建设的对策思考

新农村建设的实施需基于新旧政策措施相衔接并有重点、分步骤地推进,需要依靠金融部门和社会力量的大力支持,尤其需要农牧区群众的积极参与。本文在分析青海省新农村建设现状及其面临的主要问题基础上,就进一步加快青海新农村建设的步伐进行了思考。     

Australia's Indigenous Carbon Economy: A National Snapshot

Many Indigenous communities in Australia are well situated to provide greenhouse gas abatement and carbon sequestration benefits, but little is known about the factors affecting the capability of Australia's Indigenous organisations to participate in climate change mitigation strategies. This paper provides a ‘snapshot’ summary of certain aspects of Australia's Indigenous organisations' participation in carbon offset schemes. The snapshot provides insight into the degree to which Indigenous organisations are aware of carbon market opportunities in Australia, the level that these Indigenous organisations participate in or engage with carbon‐based economic enterprises, and the key pathways through which Indigenous carbon market opportunities are pursued. Analysis of data collected from a national survey conducted between 2011 and 2012 show that most obstacles to Indigenous participation in carbon offset schemes relate to land tenure arrangements; geographic and biophysical factors; low levels of requisite technical, human and financial resources; and appropriate recognition of Indigenous knowledge and cultural responsibilities. The snapshot also highlights the value of supporting regionally specific capacity‐building strategies to enable Indigenous people to participate in emerging carbon offset activities and the generation of associated ecosystem services. Cultural, socio‐economic or demographic factors that are also likely to influence the ability of many Indigenous communities to participate in carbon market opportunities are identified as important areas for further research.