Changes In Settlement Patterns Research Articles

A Study to Illustrate the Trend of Settlement Pattern and Changes of Housing Condition of Bhetupara, Mohanpur, Rajshahi

Traditionally, rural settlements were associated with agriculture. In modern times other types of rural communities have been developed. And the Settlement pattern is also changed with time. The study is based on rural housing pattern, because housing is a basic need for mankind. The study area is a village named Bhetupara which is located at Mohanpur upazila in Rajshahi district. The objective of the study is to know about their housing condition and show the trends of changes in settlement pattern. Housing condition represents basically the condition of basic facilities in the village such as sanitation, drinking water facilities and electricity connection. In this paper, he condition is shown trend line analysis and by chart. In the analysis three years data is used to illustrate the trend and compare the present condition in terms of previous condition. The 2001 and 2011 data is collected from Community Series of Rajshahi, and 2017’s data is collected from questionnaire survey and field survey. The sample size of household survey was 50 among 171 households and the method used for data sample selection is random sampling method. The study is based on both quantitative and qualitative data. Finally, some recommendation is given to improve the condition of rural settlement.

The Increasing Reliance on Ritual Handbooks in Pre–Print Era Ashkenaz

Handbooks devoted to a single area of ritual practice figure prominently among the works produced by German Jews from the thirteenth century to the fifteenth. These handbooks include minhagim books intended primarily as liturgical guides for cantors and manuals for other types of communal functionaries, such as scribes and ritual slaughterers. Historians typically associate minhagim books with the post–Black Death period and the desire to provide guidance during a time of decline for German Jewry. Similarly, the flourishing of halakhic manuals is considered a fourteenth-century phenomenon, a result of the rabbinate’s professionalization. However, these explanations are insufficient since both genres emerged earlier. This article links the production of ritual handbooks to two trends: geographic mobility and a more text-oriented culture. Between the thirteenth century and the fifteenth, major changes in German Jewish settlement patterns disrupted the transmission of ritual practice and led to a need for practical guides. The proliferation of ritual handbooks was also related to the increase in Ashkenazic society—as in medieval Europe generally—in the production of written texts. These texts included liturgical genres and practical halakhic works, some of which served as sources for the handbooks. However, the handbooks tend to be more accessible than their predecessors and to include more practical details. The proliferation of late medieval ritual handbooks demonstrates that changes typically associated with the advent of print, including a growing reliance on written sources for practical information and a move toward the standardization of ritual practice, began to emerge in earlier centuries.

Long-term socio-environmental dynamics and adaptive cycles in Cappadocia, Turkey during the Holocene

Taking the archaeological settlement record for Cappadocia in Central Anatolia and comparing this to palaeoclimatic records from the same region, an Adaptive Cycles and Resilience Theory framework is used to explore socio-cultural evolution during phases of changing past climatic and environmental conditions. Adaptive Cycles are understood on a broad chrono-cultural scale, and are based primarily on changing settlement patterns, recognised from regional archaeological site survey data. Four major settlement cycles can be identified during the last ten millennia, broadly matching the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age-Classical, and Medieval-Modern periods. They are separated by periods of ‘rupture’ corresponding to the release phase of the Adaptive Cycle model, during the Mid-Chalcolithic, end of the Late Bronze Age, and Late Antiquity; at which times ‘normal’ cultural traditions and life ways buckled. Some, but not all of these phases of ‘release’ and societal reorganisation were marked by episodes of climatic/environmental instability. Thus, climatic threats may have been contributing, although not sufficient factors for long-term social transformation in Cappadocia.

Trajectories of exposure and vulnerability of small islands to climate change

This article advocates for a dynamic and comprehensive understanding of vulnerability to climate‐related environmental changes in order to feed the design of adaptation future pathways. It uses the trajectory of exposure and vulnerability (TEV) approach that it defines as ‘storylines of driving factors and processes that have influenced past and present territorial system exposure and vulnerability to impacts associated with climate variability and change.’ The study is based on the analysis of six peer‐reviewed Pacific island case studies covering various geographical settings (high islands vs low‐lying reef islands, urban vs rural) and hazards associated with climate variability and change; that addressed the interactions between natural and anthropogenic driving factors; and adopted multidecadal past‐to‐present approaches. The findings emphasize that most urban and rural reef and high islands have undergone increasing exposure and vulnerability as a result of major changes in settlement and demographic patterns, lifestyles and economies, natural resources availability, and environmental conditions. The article highlights three generic and successive periods of change in the studied islands’ TEV: from geopolitical and political over the colonization‐to‐political independence period; to demographic, socio‐economic, and cultural from the 1960s to the 1980s; culminating in the dominance of demographic, socio‐economic, cultural, and environmental drivers since the 1980s. Based on these empirical insights, the article emphasizes the existence of anthropogenic‐driven path‐dependency effects in TEV, thus arguing for the analysis of the temporal dimensions of exposure and vulnerability to be a prerequisite for science to be able to inform policy‐ and decision‐making processes toward robust adaptation pathways. WIREs Clim Change 2017, 8:e478. doi: 10.1002/wcc.478This article is categorized under: Climate and Development > Social Justice and the Politics of Development

Roman and early-medieval habitation patterns in a delta landscape: The link between settlement elevation and landscape dynamics

Settlement locations in delta landscapes change through time because of cultural and natural dynamics. We assessed the impact of natural-landscape dynamics on settlement-location shifts for the Rhine-Meuse delta in the Netherlands during the Roman and early-medieval periods (12 BCE–450 CE and 450–1050 CE respectively). During this time interval major landscape and cultural changes occurred in this area, with river avulsions and changes in flooding frequency coinciding with changing settlement patterns. In the delta plain, the relatively high and dry alluvial ridges of abandoned or active rivers were most favourable for habitation. Settlement location and elevation patterns were reconstructed in these landscape units using a high-resolution elevation map of the alluvial ridges. By integrating high-resolution palaeo-environmental and archaeological datasets for this period, we were able to spatially analyse the trends and to assess the effect of environmental changes on habitation. Results show that settlements progressively shifted towards higher areas between 250 and 750 CE, on average by 20 cm over this period deltawide, which was coeval with an increased frequency of severe Rhine floods. The observed spatial differences demonstrate that this trend is most notable in the least-elevated segments of the study area. In areas where new large river branches developed, settlements show a strong shift towards higher-elevated parts of the landscape or even became completely abandoned. The river probably caused floods to be more frequent and more severe in these areas. Despite the clear link between changing settlement positions and floods during the studied time interval, floods do not seem to have caused long-term abandonment of major parts of the study area.

Palaeoclimate and human occupation in southeastern arid Australia

This review focuses on the relationships between palaeoenvironmental change and prehistoric occupation in the driest part of the Australian arid zone. Palaeoclimatic evidence from the last ∼60 ka identified fluctuating periods of wet and dry conditions during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. For most of this period conditions were arid, including during the Holocene, and maximum aridity occurred at the LGM which peaked at ∼21 ka. Maximum wetness occurred before ∼45 ka, at ∼33–31 ka and episodically during the deglaciation between ∼18 and 11 ka. The pre-LGM archaeological record is extremely sparse but records from the LGM through to the mid Holocene show people occupied the dunefields and stony plains during prolonged wet periods in the deglaciation and largely abandoned them during drier phases, retreating to better-watered refuges. Human occupation in dunefields from the LGM through to the mid Holocene can be used as a proxy for past climates. From the late Holocene changes in settlement patterns were made possible by the social, economic and technological adaptations which allowed people to occupy what became an increasingly harsh environment. These reconstructions were facilitated by discoveries in the Roxby dunefield of buried stratified layers of stone artefacts in dune sands, dated by single–grain luminescence analyses. These discoveries indicate the possibility that hitherto unreported cultural sequences, potentially dating back to >50 ka, may be present in many Australian dunefields.

Calculating connectivity patterns in delta landscapes: Modelling Roman and early-medieval route networks and their stability in dynamic lowlands

River landscapes can be regarded as amongst the most densely populated regions in the world. Despite their dynamic nature and their susceptibility to natural hazards, pull factors such as fertile soils and trade connections always have attracted people to these regions. During the Roman (12 BCE – 450 CE) and early-medieval periods (450 CE–1050) the Rhine-Meuse delta in the Netherlands underwent significant simultaneous cultural and environmental changes such as changing settlement patterns, the collapse of the Roman limes, changing flooding regimes and river avulsions. Past route networks are influenced by both cultural and natural dynamics and are therefore a useful tool to better understand the complex interaction between these dynamics. By applying and enhancing recently-developed methods of modelling route networks in dynamic lowlands, this study reconstructs connectivity patterns in the Rhine-Meuse delta. Based on newly-available high-resolution geoscientific and archaeological data, network-friction maps and route networks were calculated for three time slices: 100 CE, 500 and 900. These modelled networks were validated using archaeologically-excavated infrastructural and isolated finds. Additionally the amount of network stability between these networks was calculated. Results show that for each of the route zones a clear correlation exist between the modelled network and the occurrence of infrastructural and isolated finds. Although clear periodic differences between these correlations percentages are visible. Despite the dynamic nature of the research area the routes show clear signs of network stability, with 80% of the 500 CE network being persistent with their 100 CE counterparts. Between 500 CE and 900 CE the persistence percentage slightly rises to 81% indicating a similar level of network stability. This shows that large parts of the Rhine-Meuse delta were persistently used during the Roman period and Early Middle Ages despite local settlement dynamics and changing natural settings.

Geo-statistical methods to analyse changes in pre-Hispanic settlement patterns in the Río Ica catchment, Peru

Within arid regions allochthonous rivers as a main source of fresh water play a significant role in the spatial organisation of human occupation.This study aims at a comprehensive view on changes in the prehistoric occupation patterns within the Río Ica catchment on the southern coast of Peru. Results of different research projects are integrated. The heterogeneous character of the catchment allows us to define three sub-sections which differ greatly in terms of vegetation, relief and water regime.Based on quantitative geo-statistical methods we analyse spatio-temporal changes in human occupation from the Early Horizon (c. 1000–200 BC) through to the Inca Late Horizon (AD 1450–1532) in the context of environmental conditions, as well as socio-economic processes. Examining known archaeological sites we are able to assess the significance of environmental location factors for pre-Hispanic settlements. In addition, areas of high human interaction are identified on the basis of a classification of archaeological sites according to their function (craft/industry, cult, cooperation and trade). We thereby transfer the concept of central place theory to the spatial distribution of archaeological remains, introducing a novel approach to identifying central functions in a spatially explicit way.Our results crystallise the changing character of occupation in the study area over more than two millennia. They contribute to the ongoing debate on the decline of the Nasca culture, endorsing a complex combination of natural and socio-economic reasons. Furthermore, the results support the concept of a more widespread exchange and cooperation during ‘Horizon’ periods in the study area and likewise indicate that the disappearance of a supra-regional administrative polity during ‘Intermediate’ periods might have led to higher human activity in smaller scale societies, as reflected in a more diverse spatial organisation in terms of geomorphometric units and central areas.

Organic geochemical and palynological evidence for Holocene natural and anthropogenic environmental change at Lake Dojran (Macedonia/Greece)

In this study, we present lipid biomarker and palynological data for a sediment core from Lake Dojran (Macedonia/Greece), which covers the entire Holocene period. We analyzed vascular plant-derived n-alkanes, combustion-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), fecal steroids, and bacterial and archaeal glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) lipids in concert with microcharcoal and pollen assemblages to reconstruct climatic, environmental, and human impact in the Dojran catchment and the greater Dojran area. Overall, our results suggest a relationship between anthropogenic activity and environmental/climatic change since increased human impact corresponds to phases of higher humidity and high lake levels at Lake Dojran. During the early Holocene, the record reveals increasing temperatures and humidity and concurrent increasing vegetation cover and runoff/soil erosion, respectively. Following a thermal maximum during the middle early Holocene, temperatures decrease gradually until present. The middle-Holocene at Lake Dojran is characterized by relatively stable environmental conditions followed by greater climatic instability and strong anthropogenic overprint during the late-Holocene. The fecal stanol record reveals phases of increased human impact during the early Bronze Age, the late Bonze/early Iron Age, and the Middle Ages. A phase of low stanol and PAH concentrations from the late Iron Age until the early Middle Ages is either related to ecosystem changes and/or changes in settlement pattern since concurrent pollen data indicate intensified land use. Human impact re-intensified during the Middle Ages with some variability probably related to climatic variations of the ‘Medieval Warm Period’ and the ‘Little Ice Age’.

Pottery and Politics: Contextualizing the Classic to Postclassic Transition in Champotón, Campeche

The past decades have witnessed major advancements in our understanding of Classic Maya political history, particularly geopolitical dynamics centered on hegemonic states. Yet there has been only halting progress toward historically based archaeological research focusing on the political, social, and economic impacts of political domination and subordination. To address this deficiency, I examine changes in settlement patterns and ceramic sphere affiliation in the Río Champotón drainage within broader historical and geopolitical developments. In this region, the end of the Classic period is characterized by dramatic changes in ceramic links, with a shift from inland-focused traditions to the incorporation within a coastal ceramic sphere—the Canbalam sphere—that linked maritime trade centers between northwest Yucatán and coastal Tabasco. These transitions were embedded within major reorientations in regional settlement patterns and broader geopolitical dynamics centering on the expansion and dissolution of the Kanu’l state, or Snake Dynasty. Following the decline of the Snake Dynasty of Calakmul, communities in central Campeche forged new political and economic ties with emergent centers along the Gulf Coast and the northern Maya Lowlands. The results of this study demonstrate the transformative nature of hegemonic interpolity relationships and highlight the potential for new avenues of conjunctive research combining historical and archaeological data sources.

Ground stone tool assemblages at the end of the Chalcolithic period: A preliminary analysis of the Late Chalcolithic sites in the Fazael Valley

The very Late Chalcolithic sites of the Fazael Valley exhibit changes in settlement patterns and material culture. This paper presents the analysis of the ground stone tool assemblages of these sites, and includes the combination of attribute analysis, functional typology, and spatial and contextual analyses, allowing comparisons both between the different sites and between different phases within the sites. The assemblages of the late sites of Fazael 2 and Fazael 7 show similar use of raw materials and tool design, which is clearly different from the assemblage of the earlier typical Ghassulian Chalcolithic site of Fazael 1. In Fazael 2, two phases revealed a shift from the use of large grinding tools to mortars and small grinding tools. In both the earlier and the later phases, the separation of activity areas within the site is clear. Grinding activity in both phases is restricted to the western side of the site, while mortars and spindle whorls were found only in the south-eastern part. Finally, a comparison with Fazael 1, as well as with other Late Chalcolithic sites, such as Gilat, 'Ein Hilu and 'En Esur, show that the large number of mortars found in Fazael 2 and Fazael 7 is unique, and may hint at a shift to different subsistence strategies appearing in this region in the latest phases of the Chalcolithic period.

Pottery technology, settlement and landscape in Antofagasta de la Sierra (Catamarca, Argentina)

Abstract

Agricultural change in Copper Age Croatia (ca. 4500\u20132500\xa0cal B.C)?

The Copper Age in the Carpathian Basin is marked by a distinct change in settlement patterns, material culture, social traditions and subsistence practices; however, few studies address the nature of crop cultivation in the region. This paper examines new archaeobotanical data from 13 Copper Age (ca. 4500–2500 cal BC) sites located in continental Croatia, in order to assess the extent to which crop agriculture may have changed and contributed to overall subsistence economies in the Copper Age. From the archaeobotanical results, a dominance in einkorn and emmer is seen followed by barley. Less frequently millet, naked wheat and spelt/new glume wheat are also recovered, but due to their limited numbers, it is less clear whether they were grown as crops or represent weeds. Pulses (e.g. lentil, pea and grass pea), fruit remains (e.g. cornelian cherry and chinese lantern) and wild plant and weed species are also recovered, although more commonly from the late Copper Age sites. The archaeobotanical results show a clear reduction in the quantity and range of plant species recovered during the early/middle Copper Age; however, this is likely the result of taphonomic bias rather than a reduction in crop cultivation. The results therefore highlight problems of recovery bias in the region, which makes comparisons between sites as well as the reconstruction of crop husbandry regimes difficult. Overall, the results from continental Croatia suggest that the type of crops cultivated continued relatively unchanged from the late Neolithic, although it is clear that more research is desperately needed to explore the relationship between crop agriculture and the changing socio-economic environment of the Copper Age in the region.

Settlement patterns as indicators of water level rising? Case study on the wetlands of the Great Hungarian Plain

The paper focuses on changes in settlement patterns on the frontier zones of wetlands and areas suitable for settling in the Great Hungarian Plain, Central Europe. Based on the statistical analysis of archaeological site elevations in a 4.128 km² lowland landscape, it is demonstrated that archaeological sites of the Árpád Period (AD 970–1300) were situated significantly (p = 0.01; n = 427) lower than those of the late medieval period (AD 1300–1540). Statistical results suggest that rising water levels are likely to have influenced the migration and transformation in settlement patterns from the Medieval Warm Epoch (mid-10th – mid-13th century) to the first part of the Little Ice Age (mid-13th century – mid-16th century). Zonal analysis also revealed close connections between flood-prone geomorphological features and spatiotemporal variations of settlement patterns during the medieval climate change. With regard to the lowland character of the extensive study area, its relatively high flood vulnerability and the numerous analogies from Europe and the Carpathian Basin, only one out of the multitude of factors influencing site selection, water level changes can be interpreted as a rational explanation for the vertical displacement of the settlement pattern.

The pattern of Neolithization in Dakhleh Oasis in the Eastern Sahara

The Neolithic, characterized by V.G. Childe as a critical turning point in the human chronicle, entailed a major economic change, the domestication of plants and animals, plus accompanying changes in settlement patterns, technologies and ideology. Once fully developed in the Near East, it was spread to Europe and a few spots on the North African coast by colonists carrying the full ‘Neolithic package’. But for most of North Africa, Neolithization consisted of indigenous groups choosing elements of the Neolithic package most appropriate to the local environment. In northeastern Africa, colonies with the full package may have been established at Merimde in the Nile Delta, and perhaps in the Fayum, but beyond that, the spread seems to have been by cultural diffusion. For the Egyptian Western Desert, the evidence from Dakhleh Oasis suggests that livestock, which arrived independently of the rest of the package, was the only element of the Near Eastern Neolithic to be accepted. Otherwise, the post-Pleistocene adaptation seems to have been an indigenous development, rooted in the local natural environment. This environment was basically a desert, better-watered in the early to mid-Holocene, but even then subject to short arid episodes. Subsistence consisted of hunting and intensively exploiting rich stands of wild African cereals such as sorghum, plus legumes and fruits. ‘Neolithic’ technologies were developed locally, independently of the Near East, to exploit these resources. Pottery with impressed decoration, for instance, appeared in the southern part of the desert at the beginning of the Holocene, and gradually moved northward into the Egyptian desert where it may have inspired a new undecorated pottery tradition. Bifacially-knapped implements like arrowheads and knives are different enough from their Near Eastern equivalents in form, dimensions and production sequences that they arguably were developed locally, starting in the early-Holocene. Dakhleh witnessed two episodes of increased sedentism, one in the early Holocene in response to an arid episode, the second in the mid-Holocene, under quite favourable rainfall conditions. These episodes transformed the original hunter–gatherer groups socially and ideologically to the point where they could readily accept livestock when it arrived, and started them on the road to increased social complexity. The onset of aridification ca. 7250 cal BP forced the oasis-dwellers out of their settled sites. The flocks and herds of the now-mobile groups remained, in the African pattern, a relatively minor element within a multi-resource pastoralism.

The Final Formative Period in the North Coast of Peru: cooperation during violent times

During violent times, the defence of the community can be a powerful motivation for cooperation. This goal can outweigh other needs, and depending on the frequency and scale of the threat, people may even modify their daily habitus. Changes in settlement patterns and infrastructure are manifestations of these behavioural shifts as well as evidence of the modification of the networks of cooperation and the formation of new collectivities. Using the case of the transition between the Late and Final Formative in the Nepeña Middle Valley, North Coast of Peru, I explore and analyse the relationship between escalated conflict and the formation of new social identities and political coalitions. During this time, multiple interests, including different sources of threat, were shaping various nested systems of cooperation in the same region.

Metropolitan Transition in East-Central Europe

The article examines and evaluates the recent course of metropolitan development in East-Central Europe by identifying its signs that appear at various levels of spatial scale. It looks into on-going transformation of selected large urban centres into metropolitan cities, the development of metropolitan areas as well as the evolving city-region and inter-urban relations. Changes in settlement patterns and urban hierarchy, which are observed at a national level, are discussed in somewhat greater detail with a focus put on the growing role performed by the capital cities. These trends are presented against a conceptual background and are also confronted with some earlier forecasts concerning the path of metropolitan transition. Finally, selected, in particular demographic factors that are likely to bear on future urban development in the region are briefly referred to.

Landscape Evolution and Human Settlement Patterns on Ofu Island, Manu’a Group, American Samoa

This study summarizes the impacts of geomorphological processes on human settlement strategies on the island of Ofu in the Samoan Archipelago from island colonization to permanent settlement in the interior uplands (c. 2700–900 b.p. ). Previous archaeological research on Ofu has documented a dynamic coastal landscape at one location, To’aga, on the southern coast. Using a new geoarchaeological data set, our study extends this assessment to a site on the western coast of the island. We conclude that although the sequence of coastal evolution is broadly consistent between the two areas there are also differences indicating that island-wide coastal evolution did not progress everywhere at the same rate. Using this data set, we record changes in human settlement patterns temporally correlated with coastal progradation—perhaps related to continued drawdown from the mid-Holocene sea-level highstand—and sediment aggradation. We suggest that coastal landscape change on Ofu may have been one factor in the expansion of the terrestrial component of the human subsistence base and the more intensive use of the interior uplands of the island. The timing of this settlement change was slightly earlier than elsewhere in the region, demonstrating the variability of human response to regional-scale environmental changes.

Introduction

Introduction Joseph Garcea and Robert Vineberg, Special Guest Editors Immigration, settlement and integration are multifaceted and complex phenomena. These issues have been studied and debated since large-scale immigration to Canada began in the early nineteenth century. Various facets of the phenomena become the focus of academic and applied publications at different points in time as a result of patterns of continuity and/or change either in immigration flows, settlement patterns, settlement services, and integration dynamics, or in any policies and programs related thereto. We have chosen, for this special issue of Canadian Ethnic Studies, an eclectic group of articles on settlement and integration services and needs of newcomers. Some of the articles are general and wide-ranging in nature, particularly Wilkinson et al. and Ashton et al., while others delve into specific situations and specific settlement issues. However, it is our hope that, taken together, the reader will find the whole to offer a reasonably comprehensive look at some contemporary settlement and integration issues. Within this issue, some of the subjects covered have received extensive attention in the extant literature while others have received very little, if any, attention. These articles address the following topics: economic integration challenges faced by newcomers; the devolution of responsibility for housing for refugees from the state to the community; the increased role of municipalities and neighbourhood organizations in the settlement of newcomers; the capacities of service provider organizations to operate and provide services in medium- and small-sized communities in the Prairie provinces; reforms to modernize the federal settlement services provision program; power relationships and their effects on racialized professionals in the social work profession; the challenges of providing services designed to eliminate and to mitigate the adverse effects of honour-based violence among the members of certain newcomer groups; and the resettlement of refugees. Lori Wilkinson et al. (Understanding Job Status Decline Among Newcomers to Canada) examine the problem of the extent of skill devaluation for newcomers in the Canadian labour market. The analysis of data collected from more than three [End Page 1] thousand respondents in Western Canada with a focus on their pre-arrival and post-arrival job statuses reveals a significant decline in the job status for newcomers. The analysis also reveals variance among them based on where they were educated, their province of residence, and the length of time in Canada. Ray Silvius (Neo-liberalization, Devolution, and Refugee Well-Being: A Case Study in Winnipeg, Manitoba) focuses on the role of the state and society in meeting the housing needs of refugees. More specifically, his article examines the impact of neo-liberal ideology in shifting the extent of support for housing from the state to various societal entities, including ethnocultural agencies, religious agencies, and familial or kinship networks of the refugees. In addition to drawing attention to the different sources of housing supports for refugees, this article provides interesting and important insights into what the author refers to as the “possibilities and limitations” of community-based approaches to providing various types of supports and services to refugees. Shibao Guo and Yan Guo (Immigration, Integration and Welcoming Communities: Neighbourhood-based Initiative to Facilitate the Integration of Newcomers in Calgary) provide compelling evidence of the importance of municipal governments for the successful settlement of newcomers. A central theme in their article is that special efforts should be made to involve municipalities, even more than has been the case to date, as key partners in the multi-level governance context in which all governmental and non-governmental stakeholders are involved. The article sheds light on some important roles assumed by the City of Calgary in partnership with various community partners at the neighbourhood level in developing what they refer to as “a hub model of community-based initiatives” in the settlement and integration of newcomers. Bill Ashton et al. (Assessment of Settlement Services Systems in Western and Northern Canada: Perceptions of Settlement Provider Organizations) provide an overview of the perceptions of officials from SPOs in almost three dozen medium-and small-sized rural and remote communities regarding their capacities to provide settlement services, communicate and coordinate with stakeholders, meet reporting requirements established by governments, and invest in governance and strategic planning...

Do Hiccups Echo?: Late Holocene Interaction and Ceramic Production in Southern Papua New Guinea

The last five decades of research into Papua New Guinean archaeology have revealed a variety of rapid late Holocene cultural changes. The Ceramic Hiccup (c. 1200 – 800 years b.p.) is a little understood period of change along the south Papuan coast. It presents itself at the terminus of the Early Papuan Pottery (EPP) tradition as a rapid change in ceramic styles, lithic exchange, and settlement patterns. Previous interpretations have invoked causal factors such as migration, environment, and conflict. This article investigates this period of change by examining exchange and mobility patterns during EPP, through the Ceramic Hiccup, and into the ensuing traditions. Physico-chemical analysis (scanning electron microscopy, SEM) of 39 potsherds was conducted to understand changes in ceramic production during this period at two key sites, Taurama (AGN and AJA) and Eriama 1 (ACV), in the Port Moresby region of the south coast of Papua New Guinea. Although our interpretations are provisional due to a small sample size, it is argued here that, following the highly interactive period of EPP, a migration of ceramic manufacturing groups from the west supplants the local tradition (EPP) during the Ceramic Hiccup. There is a decline in interaction between ceramic communities toward the latter stages of EPP, with increased isolation and standardization of ceramics. This decline of interaction in the region is associated with a decline in chemical variability in ceramic components. The Ceramic Hiccup is representative of introduced ceramics, increased interaction and mobility.