Mutual Community Research Articles

Aggregation and Abandonment at Grasshopper Pueblo, Arizona

AbstractShortly after 1300 A.C. small dispersed pueblos in the Grasshopper region of east-central Arizona were abandoned and succeeded over a short period of time by a settlement system characterized by large nucleated pueblos. This transition followed expansion of agricultural productivity and development of an extensive exchange network. This subsistence-settlement system, at first successful, was ultimately abandoned as groups failed to intensify agricultural production through technological improvements or changes in sociopolitical organization in order to counter short-term resource variation. These findings support the hypothesis that as population size and density of interdependent communities increase without adaptive socio-cultural changes, the likelihood of regional system collapse is enhanced by environmental fluctuation.

Toward an integrated, contextual approach in archaeology: a personal view

Systematic analysis of “natural” and “cultural” materials is not a novel concept in archaeology. Many early archaeologists were natural scientists by training. Between the 1920s and 1950s a new generation of archaeologists, with a more narrow background, frequently utilized the expertise of outside scientists to obtain types of empirical information not otherwise available. Since the 1960s there have been several calls for a new, “scientific” archaeology that aims to achieve high levels of interpretative success based on systematic study stimulated by improved research design. Problem articulation and ad hoc methodologies have become central to North American grant applications and the costs of research have increased exponentially. How scientific is this new archaeology and have the results warranted the noise and expense? The best examples of contemporary archaeological research clearly are more complex and more informative than they were a decade ago. But the overall improvement in quality is disappointing. I personally feel that 3 contributitig factors can be isolated: (i) Most of the recent “calls to arms” were written by individuals with little or no training in the natural sciences and with a narrow, if not inadequate, concept of ecology. Anthropologists have been widely exposed to the sociological view that ecology is a matter of interrelationships between individuals, groups, or sets of groups within a population of the same species. There is seldom an appreciation that ecology focuses on systems that comprise interdependent ecological communities of different species within a habitat that further includes a multi-component non-living environment. I do not mean to imply that anthropologists should ascribe to a biological definition of ecology, and I am aware that modern, functional ecosystems are essentially beyond empirical study. For many biologists the ecosystem is basically a paradigm within which to organize and interpret data. This suggests that anthropologists in general, and archaeologists in particular, could formulate a broader paradigm more suitable to their particular problem orientation and empirical data. (ii) The most obvious product of recent, explicitly scientific research is statistical manipulation of remarkably simple empirical data, most of which are traditional and artifactual in nature. Proper statistical processing is an essential component of scientific research, but only as a means to an end. When the intellectual framework is too narrow, the results, no matter how elaborately programmed, cannot hope to allow high level interpretations. (iii) University curricula have not generated many students capable of attacking

Genetics of food crop improvement.

Man’s food-procuring habits underwent a change about ten thousand years ago when he began to select plants for food. He thus initiated the engineering of his food supply and laid the foundation for crop cultivation. His dependence on wild plants and hunted animals decreased as cultivated plants became a more dependable source of food. Through the cultivation of crops more people could live together in mutual support. The interdependent community was formed. Man had invented civilization.KeywordsFood CropLysine ContentStaple Food CropHigh LysineWorld CollectionThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

U.S. International Public Relations: The Challenge of the Seventies

Abstract The United States operates four dozen overseas agencies directly affecting its worldwide image. To these must be added state agencies and the private sector, including the communication media, the business community, tourists, entertainers. professionals. and academia — all of whom make independent contacts on a continuing basis. Finally there ere the contacts of Americans at home with our international visitors. We are failing to coordinate these signals, to reach agreement on common aims, or certainly to evaluate their effectiveness through meaningful research. And this despite the fact that our future and the future of the world may depend in significant measure upon the achievement of mutual understanding in an increasingly interdependent world community.