Mapping Sxwóxwiymelh: A Pre-contact Settlement in the Upper Fraser Valley,Southwestern British Columbia

Abstract

Maps and mapping are fundamental to archaeology. Archaeologists sometimes fail to recognize that the maps we use and create are fraught, like material culture, with interpretive complexities. These complexities arise from the fact that maps are created with social meaning dependent on the context in which the map was created and used. Here, we relate our experience with maps and mapmaking at the pithouse settlement of Sxwóxwiymelh, in southwestern British Columbia. We review the mapping history of the site, highlighting the contexts in which the maps were constructed and how they influenced subsequent interpretations of the site. We describe our deconstruction of these earlier maps and how we combined them to create a more accurate and detailed map that presented a rendition of the site as it was prior to significant modern development. This process of map deconstruction and construction allowed us to see several previously unknown details about the ancient settlement (e.g., house form, relative house size, and feature spacing) of Sxwóxwiymelh. In general, this process provides conceptual and practical lessons for incorporating previously collected map data into archaeological research.     

Geography by Rail®: a new twist on a romantic concept

Based on William Morris Davis’ great Transcontinental Excursion of 1912, this article assesses and reviews the Geography by Rail® program (GbR) – a unique, short-term, field-based study abroad experience that takes an uncommon-in-the-US approach to international exploration and fieldwork, incorporating on-the-ground, regional geography-based learning experiences. Though it could be used as such, this is not intended as a “how-to” article, but instead, an examination of how the program’s alternative approach to short-term, field-based learning increases student engagement, enlivens the discipline of geography by championing the regional geography approach, and bridges the physical-human divide in geography. Examples are given of assessment techniques, relevant skills gained by student participants, student feedback received, and potential limitations of such a program. Our main goal rests in demonstrating that by being in the landscape, practicing in it, students often gain a perspective not achievable in the traditional classroom setting. In the regional and romantic geography sense, favoring breadth of learning over depth, we further argue that GbR represents a novel way to accomplish this important-yet-not-often-fostered and, oddly and unfortunately, difficult-to-find-in-geography concept.     

New books received for review

Abstract

Geological information was first printed in colour on a map in 1820 but serious efforts to print geological maps in multiple colours began in Europe only in the 1840s. Increased geological mapping activity created the need to print more maps by cheaper methods, while general advances in lithographic colour printing provided the means. Better colour registration, transparency, range, permanence and distinctiveness were attained in the 1840s and 1850s by technical innovations and also by new design strategies. Consequently, as printed colour replaced hand colour as the norm, it also influenced the look of the geological map.     

战国时期铅钡硅酸盐制品相互关系的新思考

铅钡硅酸盐是中国古代费昂斯和玻璃制品的典型成分类型。本文首先明确了铅钡硅酸盐制品包含铅钡釉陶、铅钡釉砂、铅钡玻璃以及硅酸铜钡颜料四大类,并重点讨论前三者,强调不宜用“铅钡玻璃”指代铅钡硅酸盐制品。其后,文章整体梳理了战国时期铅钡硅酸盐制品的出土范围和存续时间。在此基础上,重新讨论了铅钡釉陶、铅钡釉砂、铅钡玻璃的关系问题,提出铅钡釉陶和铅钡釉砂都不是铅钡玻璃的先驱,三者在战国早期的出现更像是铅钡这种全新助熔剂在不同材质上的应用。