Cultural Resource Management and American Archaeology

Cultural resource management (CRM) work accounts for most of the archaeology conducted in the United States. A diverse and somewhat fragmented field, CRM has nonetheless achieved a degree of institutional and organizational maturity. CRM archaeology has produced important contributions to archaeological methodology and has established and refined knowledge of regional cultural-historical sequences and settlement and subsistence patterns. The current florescence of historical archaeology is attributable to CRM. Yet the maintenance of high quality in CRM is a pervasive and enduring problem. Academic institutions need to reestablish alliances with the CRM community. The future viability of CRM archaeology depends on factors both internal and external to the discipline: regulatory and statutory “reform,” agency funding levels, looting and other destructive forces, and Native American and other public involvement.     

A High-Performance Quadrilateral Flat Shell Element for Seismic Collapse Simulation of Tall Buildings and Its Implementation in OpenSees

Shear walls are important lateral force-resistant components of tall buildings. Hence, a reliable numerical model that can accurately represent the mechanical characteristics and large deformations of shear walls is critical for realistic collapse simulation of tall buildings. Based on the theory of generalized conforming element, a high-performance quadrilateral flat shell element, NLDKGQ, accounting for the large deformation using the updated Lagrangian formulation, is proposed herein and implemented in OpenSees. The reliability of NLDKGQ is validated using classical benchmark problems and reinforced concrete specimens. In addition, its capability in simulating the collapse of a tall building is also demonstrated.     

The preservation of exposed mudbrick architecture in Karanis (Kom Aushim), Egypt

Excavations in the arid regions of Egypt provide insight into the many types and uses of mudbrick architecture. Upon exposure the inherently unstable building material decays rapidly, resulting in severe loss or complete destruction of once well-preserved buildings. The preservation of mudbrick structures is relatively complicated and expensive. Research has focused on the circumstances that enable preservation and the influence of climate and weather over time. Conservation treatments should address these two processes as soon as possible after exposure of the structures. Our assessment of a range of conservation methods leads to the conclusion that reburial is among the least objectionable method of preservation, despite its drawback of returning the excavated buildings to a situation where they are invisible to both researchers and the public.     

The in situ preservation of archaeological remains: using lysimeters to assess the impacts of saturation and seasonality

Recent research has studied the effects of seasonal variability on waterlogged burial environments. In a new approach to the study of archaeological contexts, the use of controlled laboratory conditions via lysimeters has enabled new insights into the nature of short term fluctuations in saturation, and the impact that these can have on burial contexts. In addition, the protocols used have facilitated interesting insights into burial environments and the way in which fluctuations in saturation and seasonality can impact on the contained organic components within them.     

An Archaeological Survey of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro,Las Cruces—El Paso

Archaeologists from New Mexico State University surveyed El Camino Real, the earliest long-distance trail established by European colonists in North America, from Las Cruces, New Mexico, to El Paso, Texas. Our goal was to determine the location and condition of this historic trail within a strip of land that has witnessed significant agricultural, suburban, and urban development in recent years. Due to this development, many scholars have assumed that all physical traces of the Camino Real have been destroyed. Results of our research, however, suggest that not all remnants of the trail and related campsites have been lost.     

The History and Composition of the Identified Human Skeletal Collection of the Certosa Cemetery (Bologna,Italy, 19th–20th Century)

The purpose of this paper is to present the identified skeletal collection (by age, sex, cause of death, occupation and preservation state) from the Certosa Cemetery of Bologna (Italy), which was reviewed and checked through a consultation of the cemetery archives. The collection consists of 425 skeletons of individuals (from newborn to 91 years old) who died in Bologna between 1898 and 1944. The personal details associated with the skeletons were cross‐checked with the data contained in the cemetery and municipal archives. For each skeleton, the biological profile was assessed using current anthropological methods in order to confirm its correct identification. Four hundred and eighteen skeletons (98.4%), mostly complete and well preserved, are identified at least for sex, and for 95% of these, the age is known. The distribution of sexes in the various age groups is fairly well balanced. The cause of death is known in 93% of the individuals. Approximately 30% of the individuals died from infectious diseases. The occupation is known for more than 92% of the individuals. Most of the women were housewives, while the men were employed in various jobs. The cross‐check between archival data with the anthropological analysis of the remains enabled a reliable identification of the skeletons. The sexes and various age groups are well represented, and the sample is substantially uniform as far as geographical origin and socio‐economic conditions (lower social classes) are concerned. Thanks to the reliability of the information collected, the Certosa collection is an excellent anthropological tool for the development and validation of osteobiographic methods. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Variability in the lithic and faunal record through 10 reoccupations of a XIX century Yamana Hut

The excavation of Tunel VII, a Yamana site dating to the indigenous/European contact period was part of a long term research project based on the north coast of the Beagle channel (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina). The aim was to evaluate the theory and methodologies and devise an archaeological method that would enable a complete picture of subsistence strategies to be constructed. At Tunel VII (a site with shell middens), we were able to analyse these strategies through 10 successive occupation events on a single location. Archaeozoological analysis of the faunal remains and use-wear analysis of lithic material were used to examine the management of resources. Production and consumption are two very useful concepts, and together they have been used to create a methodology, which, together with spatial analysis using significant variables, has enabled identification of recurrent or significant tendencies in relation to alteration or continuity in subsistence strategies. In the case of Tunel VII, we know that the people who continually occupied the hut were all from the same group.     

20世纪90年代以前美国环境史研究的特点

在20世纪90年代以前,美国环境史研究具有以下三个特点:就研究范围而言,研究的主要问题都属于自然保护和资源保护的范畴,荒野研究成为美国环境史研究最鲜明的特色,而城市及人工环境则未受到应有的重视。其次,从价值取向上说,环境史研究具有显著的环境保护主义的道德和政治诉求。环境保护主义既使环境史受益,使环境史具有鲜明的文化批判意识,同时,它也限制了环境史的未来发展。最后,环境史研究具有比较明显的时空特点:就时间而言,它研究的主要是近现代;就空间而言,美国环境史优先研究的地域首先是西部,其次是东北部,最后是南部。     

Limited yet informative: pathological alterations observed on human skeletal remains from third and second millennia bc collective burials in the United Arab Emirates

While syntheses of palaeopathological studies have been undertaken in many parts of the world, until recently little was known about human health in the past in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Focusing on skeletal pathologies, this paper documents the results of the first synthetic palaeopathologlcal study for this country. The collections of archaeological human skeletal remains come from three sites dating to the third and two sites dating to the second millennia bc and consist predominantly of disarticulated, partially fragmented and often cremated remains. The paper initially discusses potential explanations for the neglected study of human skeletal remains from the UAE. This discussion is followed by an outline of the types of burial practices employed in the past in this region and their effects on preservation. The nature of the collections and the methodology employed in their study are described. Using specific headings, the pathological findings are then documented, followed by a discussion of the results of the skeletal analysis in light of the available archaeological evidence. Finally, it is shown that although limited by preservation, analyses of human skeletal remains provide valuable details about the types of diseases that affected people in the past in the UAE. While less detailed than some palaeopathological syntheses, the results presented in this paper lay the foundations for further work on humans in the past in eastern Arabia. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

We Finished the Plan,So Now What? Impacts of Collaborative Stakeholder Participation on Land Use Policy

There is a growing movement toward collaborative stakeholder participation in environmental policy. Rather than calling for a reliance on government officials to solve environmental problems, this approach calls for empowering a community of stakeholders to contribute meaningfully. Scholars examining citizen participation have investigated the performance of such efforts. This study examines one important aspect of performance, the impact of stakeholder participation on policymaking at the local level. A multiple‐case analysis of county‐level, community‐based task forces working on farmland preservation planning in Ohio, U.S., reveals patterns of policymaking processes and the near‐term impacts of collaborative planning. These patterns are linked to scholarship using prior empirical studies as well as the Institutional Analysis and Development framework, which integrates physical, social, and institutional variables to examine collective decision‐making related to natural resources. Results indicate that the degree of policy change is associated closely with local contextual factors, rather than internal group factors often emphasized in studies of citizen advisory committees and collaborative groups.