"Grounding the Past" addresses archaeological field praxis and its role in the political present of Santiago Tilantongo and Santiago Apoala, two communities in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca,... Show more"Grounding the Past" addresses archaeological field praxis and its role in the political present of Santiago Tilantongo and Santiago Apoala, two communities in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Efforts to involve local stakeholder communities in archaeology have become an important issue worldwide. In this study, Alexander Geurds argues that projects of participatory archaeology, many of which go under the heading of ‘community archaeology’, cannot dispense with reflexive analysis of field praxis, if they are to avoid idealized and thus untenable narratives of harmonious local collaboration. Past and present archaeological praxis often carries negative connotations in the Mixteca Alta, because archaeological projects have failed to recognize conflicting interests and issues of representation of local and non-local parties. Geurds reviews the constitutive elements of their partnerships, such as official meetings, public presentations and conferences, where the involved local and non-local parties produce conflicting agendas by creating and transforming power relations. He identifies and analyzes the attendant influences on participatory elements through the application of qualitative techniques derived from ethnography and social geography. The first part of the book follows an approach consistent with consistent with the regional archaeological tradition focused on materialist analysis of surface artefacts. Information derived from surface surveying and mapping receives special emphasis. The second part explores alternative means for embedding the production of historical knowledge into local perceptions of landscape and monuments. For this purpose, oral history and in particular knowledge of local placenames is focused on. Show less
Verhagen, Jacobus Wilhelmus Hermanus Philippus 2007
Dutch archaeology has experienced profound changes in recent years. This has led to an increasing use of archaeological predictive modelling, a technique that uses information about the location of... Show moreDutch archaeology has experienced profound changes in recent years. This has led to an increasing use of archaeological predictive modelling, a technique that uses information about the location of known early human settlements to predict where additional settlements may have been located. Case Studies in Archaeological Predictive Modelling is the product of a decade of work by Philip Verhagen as a specialist in geographical information systems at RAAP Archeologisch Adviesbureau BV, one of the leading organizations in the field; the case studies presented here provide an overview of the field and point to potential future areas of research. Show less
The author of this meticulously researched work surveys the possibilities of functional analysis of shell implements. Her study of shell tools, as well as flint and stone tools, from the pre... Show moreThe author of this meticulously researched work surveys the possibilities of functional analysis of shell implements. Her study of shell tools, as well as flint and stone tools, from the pre-Columbian sites of Anse à la Gourde and Morel, Guadeloupe draws on archaeological, ethnographical,ethnohistorical and experimental data.The results of the functional analysis of all artifact categories are presented, as well as a reconstruction of the technological system in the pre-Columbian period. She demonstrates the value of this integral approach in shedding light on the choices made in the past on tool use and the utilisation of different raw materials Show less
This study is aimed at the molecular characterisation of solid organic (food) residues preserved in an assemblage of vessels recovered from an indigenous settlement dating back to the Iron Age and... Show moreThis study is aimed at the molecular characterisation of solid organic (food) residues preserved in an assemblage of vessels recovered from an indigenous settlement dating back to the Iron Age and Roman period at Uitgeest – Groot Dorregeest (The Netherlands). Analytical thermal-fragmentation techniques such as Curie-point pyrolysis Mass Spectrometry and Direct Temperature-resolved Mass Spectrometry gave information about a wide range of compound classes as diverse as lipids, waxes, polynuclear aromatic compounds, oligosaccharides, small peptides and protein fragments, and a variety of thermally stable (more or less condensed) polymeric char structures. Multivariate analysis identified different chemotypes: groups of residues with comparable chemical characteristics. The biomolecular origin of these chemotypes was identified by comparison with experimentally charred reference materials and the application of complementary analytical techniques such as FTIR and 13C CP/MAS NMR. The chemotypes A1 and A2 consist of charred residues identified as starch-rich foods (mixed with either animal or plant products), chemotype C consists of protein-rich charred animal products without starch, chemotype B contains smoke condensates from wood fires, and chemotype D consists of special protein-rich and lipid-free foods or non-food products. Although many molecular characteristics of the original foods have been lost as a result of extensive thermal degradation and interpretation remains limited to general food groups, the results give valuable direct evidence of ancient diet and vessel-use. Show less
This work discusses the exchange of stone materials and artefacts among the northern Lesser Antilles during the Ceramic Age (500 BC - AD 1492). Through the systematic analysis of source materials... Show moreThis work discusses the exchange of stone materials and artefacts among the northern Lesser Antilles during the Ceramic Age (500 BC - AD 1492). Through the systematic analysis of source materials and a comparison of these with lithic artefacts, the provenance of a significant portion of stone material found at a number of prehistoric Amerindian habitation sites located on different islands from Puerto Rico to Martinique was determined. Following this the distribution of three specific materials, including a variety of flint from Long Island, Antigua, a grey-green mudstone and a multi-coloured conglomerate, both form St. Martin, were specified. These distribution patterns along with data on the production of the artefacts were used to determine the mode of exchange that was responsible for their spread. From these data it appeared that inter-island exchange was a recurrent feature among Amerindian society in the Caribbean throughout the entire Ceramic Age. Furthermore the differences in distributions through time could be related to changes in socio-political organisation within the region and supported the notion of increasing competition within society. Show less
The Wenzi is a Chinese philosophical text that is traditionally ascribed to a disciple of Laozi, the alleged founder of Daoism. The text was read, discussed, quoted and admired by the lettered... Show moreThe Wenzi is a Chinese philosophical text that is traditionally ascribed to a disciple of Laozi, the alleged founder of Daoism. The text was read, discussed, quoted and admired by the lettered class in imperial China for centuries, until the Northern Song dynasty. From the Southern Song dynasty, however, the Wenzi was branded a forgery and consigned to near oblivion. The recent discovery of an age-old Wenzi manuscript, inked on bamboo strips, refueled interest in the text. In this combined study of the bamboo manuscript and received text, Van Els argues that the Wenzi was written in the early Former Han dynasty and thoroughly revised after the Latter Han dynasty. He also maintains that, given the drastic revision, the two Wenzi’s should be seen as distinct texts, not as different versions of one text, and he subsequently studies the date, authorship and philosophy of each Wenzi. The study is concluded with an analysis of the reception history of the revised text, with an emphasis on the dramatic change in its evaluation: from an admired authentic work to a worthless forgery. This analysis sheds light on changing views on authorship, originality, authenticity and forgery in Chinese history, both past and present. Show less
