Archaeological Publications Research Articles

Archaeological data models and Web publication using XML

An appropriate standardized data model is necessary tofacilitate electronic publication and analysis ofarchaeological data on the World Wide Web. Ahierarchical ``item-based'' model is proposed which canbe readily implemented as an Extensible MarkupLanguage (XML) tagging scheme that can represent anykind of archaeological data and deliver it in across-platform, standardized fashion to any Webbrowser. This tagging scheme and the data model itimplements permit seamless integration and jointquerying of archaeological datasets derived from manydifferent sources.

The Archaeology of the Disenfranchised

The question of multivocality has been much explored and debated in recent archaeological publications. Clearly, the objective of such work is to assure the inclusion of the views of disadvantaged minorities and disenfranchised peoples in the presentation of their own pasts. This objective has not been achieved with much success, however, partly because mainstream archaeologists have had some difficulties in grappling with what appear to be a proliferation of “alternative” archaeological theories. Few discussions have approached alternative archaeologies as constituting a definable archaeological paradigm that might be termed “The Archaeology of the Disenfranchised.” Four different models within this paradigm are discussed and a strategy for a more widespread inclusion of alternative archaeological discussions and projects is suggested.

Archaeological Publications in Portugal

Archaeological Publications in Portugal

Archaeological Publications in Spain

Archaeological Publications in Spain

Archaeological Publications in Spain

Archaeological Publications in Spain

Brutality or Benevolence in Plantation Archaeology

Archaeologists working on plantation sites have typically ignored the role that violence played in the lives of enslaved African-Americans. By drawing together examples from archaeological publications in which violence has been mentioned, the commentary illustrates not only both the types and scale of violence endured by African-Americans, but also how archaeologists have effectively sanitized their publications on plantation life. In order to understand the African-American experience on the plantation, archaeologists must recognize that violence played a significant role in plantation society, and integrate it explicitly into all our models and interpretations of plantation life.

Archaeological Publications in Portugal

Archaeological Publications in Portugal

From Stone to Textile: The Bacchus Mosaic at Stonesfield, Oxon., and the Stonesfield Embroidery

The Oxfordshire County Museum Service, with financial assistance from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Art Collections Fund and the Stonesfield Embroidery Appeal, recently purchased the Stonesfield Embroidery, an early-18th-century needlework carpet using the design of the Roman Bacchus mosaic discovered in 1712 close to the village of Stonesfield (Oxon.). Research was subsequently undertaken to examine the many different images of the mosaic produced following its discovery in 1712, the correspondence of interested antiquaries of the day and its subsequent archaeological publication, and its wider diffusion into different aspects of 18th-century life, particularly decorative art and design.This article considers in detail the evidence for the embroidery's design and manufacture, and explores the technical aspects of it as a textile. The opportunity is also taken to reassess the original Bacchus mosaic and villa site in the context of recent research into the region and Roman Britain.

Piranesi and Francesco Bianchini: Capricci in the Service of Pre‐scientific Archaeology

Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s interest in the role of images in constructing historical knowledge underlay the artist’s choice of a mode of representation known as the capriccio, or pastiche of ancient artefacts, to illustrate his archaeological publications of the late 1750s and early 1760s. Piranesi in part derived his attitude towards the capricci from Francesco Bianchini, author and illustrator of L’istoria universale provata coi monumenti, published first in 1697 and reissued in 1747. The significance of the connection between Piranesi and Bianchini is that it demonstrates that the artist upheld that the object or image could address historians’ epistemological concerns, and that the artistic imagination was a viable tool of historical research; these were attitudes typical of archaeology of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In an addendum, the article suggests that in 1747 or 1748 Piranesi created four capricious compositions known as the Grotteschi with Bianchini’s work in mind, and possibly to earn an artistic commission related to the publication of Bianchini’s texts.

Review/Essay: Archaeology's Publication Problems

Lamentations over the condition of archaeological publication abound these days. A recent volume of essays-of distinguished provenance-rounds up the usual suspects. Yet a fundamental point is altogether missing from its discussion. What archaeologists observe and can readily document is emplacement, i.e., the cultural remains they identify in the ground. What retards publication is concentration on the depositional inferences from this record. Focusing on emplacement would both speed publication and enforce a truly essential methodological distinction.

Equity Issues for Women in Archeology

university groups, and amateurs all vied for a spot on the archaeological landscape. Turf fights were commonplace, such as the bitter feud between William S. Webb and T. M. N. Lewis. Archaeologists were forced to battle government bureaucracy, regulations, and miles of red tape. The National Research Council and the Smithsonian Institution were often involved; yet out of all this chaos came important research that is still being analyzed and interpreted. The archaeology of this era provided the basis of much of our understanding of Southeastern culture history and many new field and laboratory techniques. Lyon also reviews changes in paradigms during this period. From the impact of the University of Chicago field school on many of the region's most important archaeologists, to the attempted introduction of the McKern Midwest Taxonomic system into the region, to debates on how to properly classify ceramics, the Southeast was a battlefield of archaeological method in North America during the middle of the century. Lyon focuses on two major developments: the stratigraphic method and the direct historic approach. While neither of these methods were invented in the Southeast, they became important during the 1930s. Lyon traces the use of the direct historic approach in the Southeast to the influential work of the ethnologist John R. Swanton. In particular, Swanton worked with archaeologists to attempt to determine the route of the Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto. Lyon includes modern maps showing the locations of the major projects summarized in the text. The book also includes many historical photographs of federally-sponsored excavations, key figures, and laboratory views. The 24-page bibliography is a very useful guide to Depression Era archaeological publications. New students will find this an excellent source to key primary data. These are both excellent books, and belong on the bookshelf of anyone curious about the development of our discipline in eastern North America. Along with such recent works as Stanley South's Pioneers of Historical Archaeology (1994) and the autobiographical Accidental Archaeologist by Jesse Jennings (1994), they form an important new look at our roots.

Beycesultan 1954: some Byzantine Remains

It was a great privilege in the early stages of a connection with archaeological field work to be asked by Seton Lloyd to return to the British Institute in Ankara to take charge of the architectural recording of the excavations planned for Beycesultan in July 1954. Several years previously I had assisted Seton Lloyd as field architect at Sultan Tepe and in the interim had been concerned (inter alia) with Byzantine buildings (in Cyprus). Thus it was at the very beginning of the excavations at Beycesultan when some ornamented Byzantine blocks were seen lying around on the surface of the mound and others were recovered in the initial clearances, Seton Lloyd suggested that I occupy any available time by recording this material with a view to working it up for eventual publication. This I did to the best of my limited knowledge and abilities. However the matter proceeded no more directly to a final outcome than a great deal of other archaeological publication. After 1956 duties took me elsewhere and in subsequent seasons the pressure of work on the extensive Bronze Age site was so great that the Byzantine fragments no longer came into the reckoning. Then at several junctures after the excavations were concluded the material was discussed, but no convenient opportunities were forthcoming for its proper publication. Therefore it is now encouraging to be allowed to give some illustrated account of these interesting pieces in Anatolian Studies.

A Step Beyond Reading in Archaeological Publication

A Step Beyond Reading in Archaeological Publication

Caught in the Net: Electronic Opportunities in Archaeology

An innovative syllabus, the future of archaeological publication, and the revival of ANE.

CD-ROM and Archaeological Publications: An Enquiry

CD-ROM and Archaeological Publications: An Enquiry

Serials on Chinese Archaeology Published in the People's Republic of China: A Bibliographical Survey

It has been a number of years since the last attempt at a compre hensive overview of Chinese archaeological publications appeared in the pages of Early China.1 In the meantime, the published scholarship in this field has become ever more diverse and complex. Due to the enor mous volume of recent material, the present attempt at a new survey is limited to the archaeological serials that have appeared in China since the founding of the People's Republic.2 Particular attention is paid to journals published at the provincial and local levels as these have so far been, for the most part, little used by Western scholars. The administrative decentralization brought about by the economic reforms of the nineteen-eighties has affected Chinese archaeology in a variety of ways. One consequence has been the reorganization of archaeological work in the country. In the time before the Cultural Revolution, most archaeological fieldwork was run through Beijing based institutions. While some of this centralism persists to this day, a significant amount of important research is now being conducted under the auspices of the provinces, autonomous regions, and special munici palities (henceforth collectively referred to as provinces), whose authority in the administration of archaeological sites and cultural relics has been greatly strengthened. A key factor in this regional florescence

Pottery production in chiefdoms: The longshan period in northern China

Abstract This paper discusses methods in which mode of ceramic production in chiefdoms may be investigated on the basis of ceramic variability (diversity and standardization), direct evidence for production, and ceramic technology. It proposes that the Longshan Period of northern China was characterized by a ‘complex household industry’ mode of ceramic production. The available data from Chinese archaeological publications suggest that mode of production did not change over time during the Longshan Period.

Raiders of the lost axe: on macropods, phalangers, where and why - comments on Sutton's comment on Morwood and Trezise (and Pleistocene Axes)

Although I agree with Sutton that we should take care to avoid presenting our data as 'fact' until suitably rigid procedures have been employed in the collection of data and in the testing of ideas, I think that Morwood and Tresize (1989) should be congratulated for presenting information on a poorly executed excavation undertaken over 20 years ago, the results of which may never have seen light of day were it not for their recent paper. Morwood and Tresize make it clear to the reader that uncertainties remain concerning the provenance of the lost axe and their broader discussion of the axe's implications should surely be read in the context of 'if' the axe indeed is of Pleistocene origin. It is only by discerned reading and testing of ideas that the line can be drawn between ' fact' and 'false fact' (although I think the line between them is finer than Sutton implies). The establishment of a 'fact' has to be argued at every level of information presentation from the statement that the axe once lay in situ in the gravelly deposits near bedrock at Sandy Creek 1, to the view that the item was in 'fact' an axe, to the dating of that level to over 30,000 years BP, and so on. For many of these levels of data presentation, it is often assumed that the reader is able to assess for him/herself whether or not the purported 'fact' contains enough information to withstand discerned testing (e.g. I accept that the item is indeed an axe/hatchet as defined by convention). In other cases, lack of sufficient data (other 'facts') precludes us from accepting other presented information (e.g. lack of adequate stratigraphic control in the original excavations have created a significant amount of doubt over the authenticity of a Pleistocene context for the axe). Morwood and Tresize's paper, it is felt, is no different from many other archaeological papers in that data is presented and theories are formulated. It is up to the reader to determine whether or not the data is of sufficient rigidity to warrant acceptance of ensuing theories (as is the case with other archaeological publications).

In-house production of archaeological publications on the Macintosh

Advances in graphics-oriented personal computers, software, and printers now make it possible for nearly anyone with a little practice to produce camera-ready, type-set quality materials for journals and books, permitting publication at greatly reduced cost. Many types of archaeological graphics, including maps, plans, and profiles, can easily be composed and integrated with text directly on the computer. While it is still most practical to prepare the mechanicals for certain fine drawings and photographic half-tones at least partially by hand, the process is greatly eased by modern page-layout software. The amount of paste-up necessary, even for a complex, profusely illustrated archaeological monograph, is minimal. Finally, inexpensive, dedicated software can reduce the time needed to prepare an index for a major monograph from about three weeks to three days, which should make this valuable feature a mandatory addition.

Reconstructions: Tracing Archaeology's Past . The Historiography of Archaeology. Andrew L. Christenson, Ed. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, 1989, xii, 252 pp., illus. $29.95. Publications in Archaeology. Based on a Conference, Carbondale, IL, May 1987.

Reconstructions: <i>Tracing Archaeology's Past</i> . The Historiography of Archaeology. Andrew L. Christenson, Ed. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, 1989, xii, 252 pp., illus. $29.95. Publications in Archaeology. Based on a Conference, Carbondale, IL, May 1987.