A bioarchaeological study of a Western Basin tradition cemetery on the Detroit River

Archaeological monitoring of construction in a Windsor city park on the Detroit River led to the discovery of an isolated cemetery containing the remains of eight individuals assigned to the Late Woodland Western Basin Tradition. At the request and consent of the contemporary First Nation community, tissue samples from five individuals were subjected to radiocarbon dating, mtDNA, and stable isotope analysis to confirm cultural affiliation and further understand the subsistence practices of these people. Radiocarbon dating placed the cemetery at the transition from the Younge phase (AD 900–1200) to the Springwells phase (AD 1200–1400). The stable carbon and nitrogen isotope results provide an unexpected but fuller understanding of Late Woodland Western Basin Tradition subsistence. All individuals were as enriched in carbon as those found on Iroquoian horticulturalist sites to the east, suggesting a very high reliance on maize. Nitrogen isotope values indicate that the protein component of the diet was comprised largely of high trophic level food sources, likely fish. An in situ osteological analysis identified a high number of carious lesions in the visible teeth, also suggesting a diet high in carbohydrates. The mtDNA findings support the antiquity of the Western Basin presence in Northeast North America through genetic links with the Hind Site, an Archaic site in southern Ontario. These results underscore the importance of such studies for providing novel insight into the archaeological histories and lifeways of this distinct Late Woodland tradition. This study also emphazises the need to work with descendant communities to provide them with information on the past that reflects their distinct heritage in the lower Great Lakes region.     

Archaeobotanical investigation of two Scythian-Sarmatian period pits in eastern Ukraine: Implications for floodplain cereal cultivation

Abstract

Two Scythian-Sarmatian period pits dated to the 5th–1st centuries b.c. were discovered while excavating the Chalcolithic site of Zanovskoe, located on a floodplain of the Donets River in the steppe region of eastern Ukraine, Lugansk oblast. No contemporaneous settlement sites are known in the region. Archaeobotanical analysis was conducted on charred plant macrofossils recovered from pits at the site. The crop assemblage consisted of hulled barley and broomcorn millet, from which AMS radiocarbon dates were obtained. Other identified plant species mostly constituted arable weeds and wetland plants. The archaeobotanical assemblage implies floodplain cereal cultivation strategies among the steppe inhabitants during this period.     

Woodland Pottery Function,Cooking, and Diet in the Upper Great Lakes of North America

A multidimensional approach to functional analysis was employed to examine pottery use, cooking, and subsistence in pre-European North American contexts. A variety of analytic techniques were applied to ceramic assemblages from two sites on the south shore of Lake Superior: the Middle Woodland Naomikong Point site and the Late Woodland Sand Point site. The analyses of both technical attributes and use-alteration traces suggest that a majority of pottery vessels from these sites were used for cooking throughout the Woodland period. Lipid residue analysis corroborates traditional subsistence information but specifies which foods were cooked in pottery vessels. Vessel size varies according to context rather than by time or by function, with larger vessels associated with ritual areas and smaller vessels originating from domestic spheres, a trend potentially related to feasting behavior. Interior carbonization patterns change in frequency between the Middle and Late Woodland periods, suggesting a shift in cooking and possibly subsistence practices.     

论湖泊的自然衰亡与可持续开发利用——以杭州西湖古今开发为例

从地理学角度看,湖泊都有自然沼泽化的趋势。人类活动可以加剧或者减缓这种趋势。杭州西湖就是由于人们古往今来的长期良性开发,才得以保存至今而且成为著名风景胜地的。在阐明这一原理的基础上,本文分析评价了近20余年来人们对此湖的开发行为,结论是:良性和非良性开发都在持续。这一结论对国内许多同类湖泊而言具有一定普遍性或代表性。     

Stable isotopes in human skeletons of Southern Ontario: reconstructing Palaeodiet

Most native plants of Ontario use the C₃ photosynthetic mechanism and therefore have relatively low ${}^{13}\text{C}{}^{12}\text{C}$ ratios; maize is a C₄ plant and is relatively enriched in ¹³C. The proportion of maize in the diet of a human can therefore be estimated from the ¹³C-content of collagen of fossil bone. We have used this method to follow the increase in consumption of maize in ancient native populations over the interval from AD 400 to 1650, and to quantify the amount of maize consumed. Maize consumption rose gradually to a maximum of 50% of the diet by AD 1400. These data agree with archaeologically derived data for this region, and with previous isotope studies in the northeastern U.S.A. In some of the latter, however, the maximum percentage of maize consumed has been overestimated because maize was assumed to have a δ¹³C value of ?12·5‰; our studies of archaeological specimens show the correct value to be closer to ?9‰. The introduction of beans into the native diet about AD 1100, should have caused a decrease in the ¹⁵N content of human bone collagen because legumes are deficient in this isotope, with respect to meat and fish. However, we observe no significant change in the ${}^{15}\text{N}{}^{14}$N ratio of human bone collagen over the period from 2300 BC to AD 1640. We conclude that meat and fish remained the main sources of protein even after the advent of agriculture into this region.     

历史时期大清河南系的变迁研究——兼谈与白洋淀湖群的演变关系

海河水系以"清"为名的大清河其实只是相对于位居其南、其北著名浊流滹沱河与永定河而言的"清"河。历史时期,随着上游水土流失的日益加剧,大清河南系各河含沙量不断增高,干流段决徙逐渐频繁。本文利用历史文献,对先秦以来在自然与人类活动共同影响下的大清河南系的变迁进行了探讨,揭示和总结了两千余年来水系格局变动的基本过程及主要特点。大清河南系又是白洋淀湖群地表径流补给最大的水源,上述研究结论还将是理解和分析这一著名湖群演变不可忽视的重要基础。     

J.T. Jutson and the Work of the Wind in Shaping the Landscape

For a brief period about a century ago, reputable scientists gave credence to the idea that wind was capable of regional planation. Among them was J.T. Jutson, whose publications exerted considerable influence both in Australia and overseas. He differentiated between deflation and corrasion (sand‐blasting) and in 1914 attributed major as well as minor landscape features to their activity. He ascribed the westward migration of salinas and the shaping of associated rock platforms to the wind as well as to the extension of valleys that were incised into the lateritised Old Plateau and that coalesced to form the New Plateau of Western Australia. But local and overseas colleagues drew his attention to the primacy of rivers in shaping even desert landscapes, and by 1934 Jutson had realised that running water was almost solely responsible for the New Plateau.     

明清时期太平及池州地区的渔业

本文从明清时期安徽太平及池州地区的渔税征收机构河泊所的设置分布及裁革情况,渔课的数量、比重及变化,渔业从业人口的数量及变化等分析和探讨了该时期这一区域的渔业经济状况及其变迁.由于拥有较为丰富的河湖水域,太平和池州地区的渔业在区域经济结构中占有一定地位.太平地区的渔业主要分布于沿江的当涂、繁昌和芜湖三县,其中又以境内湖泊水域较广的当涂县最为兴盛.池州地区的渔业主要分布在沿江的贵池、东流和铜陵县,其中又以附郭贵池县之渔业最为兴盛.     

Lake Nuga Nuga: a Levee‐dammed Lake in Central Queensland,Australia

Lake Nuga Nuga is a levee‐dammed lake in the dry sub‐humid tropics of the Fitzroy Basin in Central Queensland, Australia, that has expanded significantly since it was first mapped in 1866. ²¹⁰Pb dating of a sediment core from the lake indicates that the rate of sedimentation has been constant for the past 67 years at 3 mm yr^?1 despite widespread clearing and land use intensification in the catchment during that time. Pollen analysis confirms this and shows that there was little change in vegetation during the early settlement period (1863–1962), but the intensification of land use that started in the early 1960s brought about a dramatic change in the vegetation communities. This study demonstrates that while sediment production may be significantly impacted by land‐use activities, sediment delivery is primarily controlled by topography.     

Tourism in a nature-based destination: the human versus the ecological perspectives

In the tourism studies literature, wilderness has been addressed from two perspectives. From the first, human, perspective wilderness is a social, subjective construction that exists only in the mind of its users. From the second, ecological, perspective it is a material, objective reality. Here, we compare these two perspectives based on data collected in one of Poland's most popular nature-based destinations, The Great Masurian Lakes region, and develop a methodological framework which would operationalise this comparison and make it measurable. The research approach combined a survey of tourists and mapping of natural features. The data was analysed, first, to verify whether stated preferences regarding nature and the natural features surrounding tourist accommodation were coherent; this resulted in the construction of a Coherence Index (CI). Second, we analysed how stated preferences with respect to nature were linked to outdoor recreational activities; this was measured by a Nature Cruciality Index (NCI). Finally, both indexes were mapped and their spatial distributions were analysed. The findings showed that the subjective, social construction of wilderness does not always correspond to objective reality. Although tourists declared natural environment to be very important to them, in some cases the analysis found a lack of consistency between expressed preferences and the natural features found around accommodation. The phenomenon was mainly found in towns, where tourists were most nature-indifferent. Moreover, they were not interested in activities with high NCI. In some cases, however, the two perspectives were coherent, especially among nature-oriented tourists who stayed near lakes and those who stayed in villages (who were most conscious of their choices). Tourists who stayed near lakes undertook the most nature-crucial activities. These findings can be used to enhance local planning, management and marketing strategies for nature tourism.