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Forensic archaeology and anthropology have developed significantly over past decades and now provide considerable assistance to the investigation process of disaster victim recovery and identification. In what are often chaotic death and crime scenes, the formal process of utilizing archaeological methods can bring control, order, and ensure systematic search. Procedures assist in defining scene extent, locating victims and evidence, rule out areas for consideration, and provide standardized recording and quality assurance through dedicated use of standardized forms (pro formas). Combined archaeological and anthropological search methods maximize opportunities to recovery the missing through identifying remains, mapping distributions, and providing accounting of victims at the scene. Anthropological assistance in examinations contributes to individual assessment, resolving commingling and fragmentation issues, and utilizing DNA sampling methods and matching data to reassociate and account for the missing. Utilization of archaeology, anthropology, and DNA matching data provides scope to review crime scene recovery and determine requirements and potential for further survey and retrieval. Adopting the most suitable methods for a particular context can maximize recovery, efficiency, and resource use. Case studies demonstrate the utility of archaeological methods in a range of scenarios. They exemplify the success of multidisciplinary analysis in providing evidence of the sequence of events, the timing of events, the impact of taphonomic processes, the location and accounting of victims, and the demonstration of systematic scene search. The considerations provided in this article, utilizing archaeology and anthropology processes, may assist investigators in planning and implementing responses to mass fatalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological bird remains from the Oregon coast provide important insight into local environments and the interactions between birds and people on the North American Pacific Coast. We contribute to this discussion with an analysis of bird remains from the Late Holocene Par‐Tee site (35CLT20) in Seaside, Oregon. We sampled the Par‐Tee avifaunal assemblage to near‐redundancy, generating the largest sample from a single site on the Oregon Coast to date (N = 7204). The Par‐Tee assemblage is dominated by nearshore or estuarine birds including scoters (Melanitta spp.) and Common Murres (Uria aalge), as well as pelagic Sooty Shearwaters (Ardenna grisea). Because of the large size of the sample, we identified unique species such as the California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus), which are currently endangered and face conservation challenges. Although the Par‐Tee avifaunal assemblage is diverse, site residents appear to have focused on acquiring the most accessible species in the nearshore habitat complemented by opportunistic pelagic hunting and/or scavenging of beached birds. Most birds appear to have been processed for dietary consumption, with possible preferential use of larger‐winged birds for tool manufacture. These findings underscore the value and challenges of using legacy collections for evaluating past human–environmental interactions in coastal and other aquatic regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While work has been done to uncover the roles of female archaeologists who supported their husband's careers with little acknowledgment or support, less work has been done to explore the diversity of hidden women's labor that helped support American archaeology during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (Browman 2013; White et al. 1999). Institutions such as Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology benefitted early on from countless female staff, including clerks, secretaries, and librarians. This paper seeks to make connections between women's labor in archaeology in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and adjunct labor in the late twentieth and early twenty‐first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Practices of collecting have been integral to archaeology as well as to anthropology more generally since the inception of the disciplines. From the history of collecting in the later nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it is clear that although the degree of coercion varied, the practices of collecting inevitably took place in contexts of starkly unequal power relations and associated forms of violence. More than just the act of collecting, it is also the ways collections are handled, made available (or not), curated, and discarded that are imbued with different kinds of violence. This article draws on the case of human and other remains recovered in excavations on the campus of the Free University of Berlin (Germany) and examines the ways in which the amassing, use, and discard of collections are entwined with violent practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a list of contributors to the Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association. The editors of the journal are Madeleine McLeester and Jesse Casana, both professors at Dartmouth College. The list includes various individuals with PhDs from different universities who specialize in different areas of archaeology and anthropology. The contributors come from diverse backgrounds and have expertise in topics such as anthropogenic landscapes, remote sensing, settlement histories, and indigenous communities. [Extracted from the article]

Methodological bias can directly affect the interpretation of research data. Studies reporting on excavated skeletons represent a valuable source of information in medicine, dentistry, archaeology and anthropology, and forensic sciences. However, these studies represent a specific setting with their own methodology, for which no quality assessment tool is available. The aim was to develop a critical appraisal tool to assess the methodological quality of studies reporting on archaeologically excavated human skeletons. An international Delphi study was therefore conducted to support item generation and ensure content validity for a new tool. Experts from the following domains were consulted: dentistry, forensic sciences, archaeology and anthropology, general medicine, epidemiology, and statistics. Participants judged the relevance and comprehensiveness of items retrieved from the literature. Consensus was predefined as 75% agreement between experts, and achieved within two Delphi rounds. As a result, 44 and 32 participants completed the first and second Delphi rounds, respectively, achieving consensus on 17 items. This research provides the first evidence‐based tool for the methodological assessment of studies reporting on archaeologically excavated skeletons. Clinicians and researchers can use this tool for critical appraisal of studies or when performing systematic reviews. Future research will focus on psychometric testing of the newly developed tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With respect to the relationship between the state and democracy, the scholarly research thus far has mainly oscillated between two perspectives: 'no state, no democracy' versus 'no democracy, no state'. Using the example of former Yugoslav republics and based on Mill's method of difference that is complemented with process tracing, we offer an alternative approach. We posit that a democracy can emerge within the context of unresolved matters of state and nation but it is unlikely that it will flourish. Furthermore, we argue that stateness problem creates conditions that facilitate democratic backsliding even if a country achieves a considerable level of democratic development: a fertile ground for ethno‐political entrepreneurship and national identity‐based political divisions that promote polarization. Accordingly, besides facilitating democratization, a resolved stateness problem should be regarded as a condition that fosters democratic resilience as well. The article contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between the state and democracy and reveals the mechanisms that are behind a successful subversion of democracy in the name of the nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although we are aware that nation branding features across the media, discussion and debate continue over its perceived influence in peoples' everyday understandings and lives. This paper, by way of a response, examines peoples' reactions to specific government campaign messages of patriotism and unity designed to combat internal ethnic conflict in Malaysia. Malaysia, at this time, provides a unique subject of analysis as it includes an instance where a domestically focused nation branding campaign is being employed to instigate unity among ethnic groups residing within a country with a history of ethnic conflict and social engineering policies. The project introduces several TV campaign story examples, identified for their prevalence in the 1Malaysia nation branding campaign, to representatives from three prominent ethnic groups in Malaysia to map their responses. The paper finds that group representatives interpret the stories using their shared insider views of the nation or 'ethno‐national imaginaries'. Their acceptance of, and critical challenges to, the images and narratives of the TV campaign stories are seen therefore to reflect group representatives' wider positions, interests and participation in an ongoing political conflict shaped within the logics of the Malaysian nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fieldwork is crucial to advancing knowledge in archaeology and anthropology, but previous works suggests that between 64 and 68 percent of respondents experience sexual misconduct during fieldwork. Going forward, fieldwork must be made safe and inclusive. To achieve this, we must understand why sexual misconduct takes place during fieldwork. We surveyed an international sample of archaeologists and anthropologists (n=300) about their most recent fieldwork experience. We examine evidence for risk factors predicting sexual misconduct in fieldsites, and our findings suggest that length of fieldwork, presence and communication of policies and protocols, and the gender and sexuality of the individual are all significant. In particular, we find evidence for increased risk to nonmale and nonheterosexual individuals. We also gathered qualitative evidence from our respondents, who reported that in some cases they were discouraged from reporting and faced retaliation, they were dissatisfied with the handling of complaints, and fieldsite policies and protocols were not consistently or effectively implemented. Fieldwork can be a high‐risk environment for marginalized individuals to experience sexual misconduct, and when clear policies and procedures are lacking, it can also be a low‐risk environment for perpetrators in terms of consequences. To make fieldwork a safe environment for all, policies and protocols that mitigate the risk of sexual misconduct must be consistently implemented and properly communicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Most anthropological researchers will engage with the public at some stage of their career. Some develop strong skills in public‐facing work, building bridges between local and global communities and the scientific enterprise. Anthropology and archaeology are unsustainable without such community support. Yet engagement work often goes unrecognized and unrewarded within academic institutions. Aims: We focus on ways to translate the value of public‐facing work within academic career trajectories. We consider some of the challenges and benefits of such work for early career researchers and for senior researchers, and we provide guidance that will be helpful across a broad range of career objectives. Materials and Methods: This study employs narratives of both early career and senior anthropologists. Results: Both early career and senior researchers report challenges and successes in building public‐facing work. Discussion: Pursuing public‐facing work in ways that are recognized in academic settings can be challenging both in early career and senior settings. The advice in this paper can help individuals build strategies that will lead to sustainable engagement and career progress. Conclusion: Attaining a balance between research and public engagement benefits both the fields of anthropology and human biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some argue that national identity is constructed from the shared myths and 'collective memories' of a nation, where heroes from a 'golden age' and legendary figures embody national identity. However, when a national sample of British adults were asked to name the most important Britons, living or dead, they did not hark back to legendary figures, military leaders or sporting heroes, but identified their monarch, political leaders, and to a lesser extent, 'household heroes' within their own family. 'Banal', quotidian political leaders and Queen Elizabeth II symbolise national identity in Britain, although they sit alongside 'hot' signifiers of nationalism personified, such as football hero David Beckham. This research suggests that studies of national identity should not be limited to examining essentialist claims of ethnonationalism, or civic attachments to laws and institutions, but also explore those whom the citizens of a given country identify as embodying their national identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following article outlines a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to remote sensing in Southwest Alaska's Yukon‐Kuskokwim (Y‐K) Delta that combines ethnographic inquiry and remote sensing to monitor, detect and preserve cultural resources for Alaskan Native communities. Because distinctive vegetation differences are readily visible on cultural sites during the summer months, the analysis of multispectral imagery obtained from remote sensing is particularly useful. In turn, we demonstrate the efficacy of this protocol on pre‐contact settlement sites along the Ayakulik River system on Kodiak Island using a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) raster of the study area. Here, support vector machine (SVM) supervised classification was highly effective at identifying spectral patterns associated with anthropogenic activity while ethnographic data helped rule out false‐positive cases. In addition, we provide the results of a 2019 archaeological prospection survey carried out in conjunction with the ongoing Nunalleq Project in Quinhagak, Alaska, to further highlight the value of ethnographic data collection, ethnobotanical surveys and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)‐based spectroscopy alongside SVM supervised classification. Finally, we propose three suggestions for future research on Yup'ik landscapes in the Y‐K Delta regarding citizen science, language preservation and the use of collaborative online maps for community‐based decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the articulation—in different forms, at different periods, and by different actors—of 'national self‐determination' in Somalia and across the Somali‐speaking regions of the Horn of Africa. It explores how this concept can be understood in the context of protracted political fragmentation in Somalia—considering unresolved debates over the ideological foundations of state reconstruction, disagreements about the suitability of federalism, aspirations for the recognition of an independent Republic of Somaliland, and the distinctive trajectory of the Somali Regional State in Ethiopia. Taking a comparative, cross‐border and wide‐angled historical approach, the article argues that ideas of an ethno‐linguistically, culturally and religiously defined Somali 'nation' continue to coexist (and be reproduced, updated and used) within an environment of extreme political fragmentation and across multiple 'state' boundaries. This argument is made through comparative analysis of contemporary examples of the performance of Somali state and nationalist identities within and beyond the region and the distinctive transnational Somali‐language media environment within which these ideas circulate and compete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why and how does national identity reopen for contestation? Existing theories argue that institutional design, social ties or elite manipulation alter the saliency and nature of national identity. These theories view the ethno‐nation as homogenous and shaped vis‐à‐vis other groups. However, I argue that we should examine the re‐emergence of nationalism as an intra‐national struggle between groups with different saliency and understandings of national identity: new issues can raise the importance of national identity for some members of the group but not others. Moreover, members develop diverging understandings of fundamentals of national identity such as citizenship, borders and the role of religion. To support the theory, the paper utilises original not yet studied archival materials to show that struggle over Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories led to contestation of the saliency and meaning of Jewish Israeli national identity. Specifically, I analyse letters individuals sent to leading government officials in the early days of the settlements and show that settlement supporters tied the issue to Zionist ethos, injecting new content into Zionist identity. Meanwhile, national identity did not rise in importance or alter in meaning for settlement opposition. The method reveals individual understandings of national identity and points at broader societal divisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All the World Is Here: Harvard's Peabody Museum and the Invention of American Anthropology. Exhibit at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology At its heart, this exhibition is very much about reflexivity, considering the disciplinary identity of museum anthropology, and the role of the Peabody Museum in the institutionalization of American anthropology, in both academia and popular culture. I All the World Is Here i is an important exhibit that should appeal to all who care deeply about the place of anthropology museums in today's world. [Extracted from the article]

Summary: This paper focuses on a stylistic analysis of depictions of elk in Siberian rock art in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. The aim of this paper is to go beyond the cultural and chronological attributions of rock art and to try to understand why and through what processes changes in rock‐art style occurred. In order to answer these questions, the phenomena of ethnicity and ethno‐cultural identity are explored. Rock art is not considered as a passive reflection of past ethno‐cultural groups but rather as an active agent in structuring social identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to contribute to the interpretation of ephemeral sites by exploring the efficacy of geochemistry and phytolith analysis to identify activity areas in seasonally occupied ethnographic sites. The application of a portable X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) instrument and phytolith analysis to soil samples from six Bedouin campsites at Wadi Faynan, Jordan, provided insights about anthropogenic enrichment patterns and the effects of short periods of abandonment on these. The compatibility of the two analysis techniques and means to combine the results of both are addressed. The results of this study suggest that soil signatures can be found in ephemeral sites following abandonment, even in dynamic and harsh environments. The efficacy of the geochemical analysis to indicate variance within the data was found to be greater than that of the phytolith analysis in these case studies, while certain trends within the phytolith results were more useful in identifying specific activities. Due to the compatibility of the geochemical and phytolith data, it is proposed that a serial or parallel approach should be taken for their statistical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While a student, Fred conducted survey and excavation on San Nicholas Island as part of a UCLA research program that included most of the Channel Islands. While at CSULA Fred returned to San Nicholas Island with his students and conducted further survey, resulting in the recording and mapping of several hundred sites (e.g., Reinman & Lauter [3]). Fred M. Reinman passed away on January 9, 2023 at his home on Fox Island, Washington, USA at the age of 95. [Extracted from the article]

Ceramic ethnoarchaeology has been used to explore fully the chaîne opératoire and to understand all of the stages and factors involved in pottery production, such as raw material selection or paste recipes used by the potters. This work presents the results of the application of compositional analysis undertaken in the village of Pabillonis (western Sardinia, Italy), the main cooking ware production centre of the island. Pottery and local clays have been characterized using a combination of analytical techniques. By integrating the ethnographic information and the archaeometric approach, it was possible to reconstruct the operational sequence, exploring the relationship between the processing of raw materials and the functionality of the final products, and the intra-production compositional variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interview with American anthropology professor Margaret W. Conkey is presented. When asked how she got involved with feminist anthropology she explains that she became involved with the Committee on the Status of Women in Anthropology (COSWA) as part of the American Anthropological Association. She discusses gender archaeology, explores how biological anthropology relates to feminism, and reflects on her studies at Mount Holyoke College as a history major.

In the study of the Arabian Middle Holocene, some of the least widely understood topics are those of nomadism, subsistence strategy and mobility. Until now, various scholars operating in the area have proposed different models, particularly on the basis of faunal analysis and territory evaluations. The focus of this paper will be to reconsider this debate in light of studies carried out in the Ja'lān region in the Sultanate of Oman, where until 1985 the Joint Hadd Project has been conducting archaeological research. Excavated deposits and survey results provide the archaeological basis and are compared with studies on climate, territory, nature and culture. Four different hypotheses for the fourth-millennium Ja'lān communities are proposed and, comparing the different scales of movement with both the territory and resources, the more suitable is concluded to be a micro-regional nomadism model. According to this model, which is well supported by the ethnographical evidence, human groups were moving seasonally from the coast to the mountains, scouring the widyān route. A dearth of archaeological data from the internal area, due to a more widespread and less intense occupation, relatively poor preservation and a lack of proper archaeological survey, emphasise the limits and provide the stimulus for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A lively debate was witnessed in 2011 about the role of deductive and interpretive approaches in the production of anthropological knowledge, especially as it relates to archaeology. Scholarly output in archaeology this year reflects this concern. First, there is a trend toward furthering our archaeological imagination-finding new ways of asking questions that link the most empirical of research projects with innovative social theory. Second, there is an embracement of the messiness of archaeological data and the conclusions we can reach from it. By looking at the messiness of archaeological data and the limits of knowledge, archaeology asserts itself as an open frontier for anthropological inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This chapter discusses the territorial tactics and settlement strategies devised by pastoral-nomadic societies in two areas of the Central Sudan. The Eghazer basin (Niger) case study is entirely archaeological and considers processes that took place between 3000 and 800 B.C.E. The Houlouf region case study is ethnoarchaeological and looks at the site-location strategies, patterns of settlements, and structures of Shuwa-Arab villages and camps in the Sahelian margins of Northern Cameroon. I explore how these two pastoral-nomadic societies colonized new territories and carved out new and original cultural landscapes, and then compare the two cases. With the ethnic mix of the Eghazer basin being unknown, bounded territories controlled by larger 'tribal' units are a possibility. In the Houlouf region, Shuwa-Arab pastoralists were initially constrained to a tributary relationship, a situation that changed radically during the past two decades with Shuwa-Arab access to regional chieftainship. [territories, pastoralists, Central Sudan, Eghazer basin, Houlouf region] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnoarchaeological examination of the contemporary practice of erecting stone tombs within residential compounds in West Sumba, Indonesia provides important insights into active social processes that can be associated with residential burials. Residential tombs in West Sumba reach megalithic proportions and convey not only links to past ancestors but also social dynamics associated with power negotiation, achievement, and the continuity of living groups. This study of residential burial and tomb-building in West Sumba reveals actively changing and multifaceted social meanings linked to tombs as well as commonalities shared by both residential and monumental burials with intriguing implications for prehistoric mortuary practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tests the hypothesis that the colonial economy of the Lambayeque region of northern coastal Peru was associated with a mechanically strenuous lifestyle among the indigenous Mochica population. To test the hypothesis, we documented the changes in the prevalence of degenerative joint disease (or DJD) in human remains from the late pre-Hispanic and colonial Lambayeque Valley Complex. Comparisons were made using multivariate odds ratios calculated across four age classes and 11 principle joint systems corresponding to 113 late pre-Hispanic and 139 postcontact adult Mochica individuals. Statistically significant patterns of elevated postcontact DJD prevalence are observed in the joint systems of the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and knee. More finely grained comparison between temporal phases indicates that increases in prevalence were focused immediately following contact in the Early/Middle Colonial period. Analysis of DJD by sex indicates postcontact males experienced greater DJD prevalence than females. Also, trends between pre- and postcontact females indicate nearly universally elevated DJD prevalence among native colonial women. Inferred altered behavioral uses of the upper body and knee are contextualized within ecological, ethnohistoric, and ethnoarchaeological frameworks and appear highly consistent with descriptions of the local postcontact economy. These patterns of DJD appear to stem from a synergism of broad, hemispheric level sociopolitical alterations, specific changes to Mochica activity and behavior, regional economic intensification, and local microenvironmental characteristics, which were all focused into these biological outcomes by the operation of a colonial Spanish political economy on the north coast of Peru from AD. 1536 to 1751. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology holds a large collection of wooden facemasks from the Dan and Mano peoples of Northeast Liberia. Made for ritual use, most of these masks were sold in the 1930s to George W. Harley, a medical missionary who worked in the region. This article explores Harley's training, methods, and motives, and the socio‐political conditions under which he collected. Beginning with the notes that Harley provided on the reasons that owners gave for selling their masks, I examine the collection itself for clues to the choices made on the other side of the collecting encounter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using observations from recent participation in post-Katrina recovery efforts in New Orleans, I make the case in this article that taphonomic processes such as trash removal, deposition, earthmoving, and demolition are a primary medium through which individuals and communities reconstitute themselves following a disaster. Taphonomy, or the formation of the archaeological record, does not simply reflect social processes, it is a social process. The taphonomic processes currently underway through the clean-up and rebuilding efforts in New Orleans dramatically illustrate this point. I recommend that both ethnographers and archaeologists undertake a fine-grained ethnoarchaeology of disaster. I engage with the literature of disaster to illustrate the potentials I see for this type of study, particularly as it pertains to the culture-nature nexus, perceptions of vulnerability, and the revelatory power of disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discovery of the zahrah carving tool on a trip to the Ru'us al-Jibal/Musandam Peninsula provided the impetus for the following ethnoarchaeological examination. Ethnographic information recovered from numerous interviews is outlined in detail. The connection between the various carving tools used by the Shihuh tribes in this region and the dot-in-circle motif is investigated. Similar artefacts recovered from archaeological sites are also reviewed and implications discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of what is currently known or believed about how humans procured and produced food in the past stems from ethnographic and historical evidence of the subsistence practices of foragers and farmers. It is often difficult or impossible to relate archaeological evidence directly to the ethnohistorical record, although these two very different sources of data potentially complement each other. The potential of such complementarity is now being enhanced by the use of novel techniques, such as parenchyma, phytolith, and starch-grain analysis, for identifying fragmentary and amorphous organic remains retrieved from archaeological deposits, and by the use of the AMS (accelerator mass spectrometric) radiocarbon method to date very small samples, such as single seeds. More conventional ethnoarchaeological methods, by which field evidence of subsistence-related structures is compared with information derived from ethnographic and historical accounts, also continue to yield valuable insights into past food procurement and production. In this essay, the reciprocal relationship between archaeobotanical and ethnohistorical data is exemplified by examining (a) recent applications of novel analytical techniques in investigations of the antiquity of root and tuber cultivation in the American, African, and Southeast Asian tropics, and (b) the use of more conventional methods in the study of past forager subsistence in tropical northeastern Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of an ethnoarchaeological study of Basimane ward in Serowe, Botswana. It is argued that African archaeology is currently at the forefront of the debate on theory-building in ethnoarchaeology and that this debate is exemplified in the argument about the use of the Central Cattle Pattern (CCP) model as a direct historical analogy to Iron Age settlement in southern Africa. My case study demonstrates that the continuities of settlement architecture that are evident for the past century in Basimane ward should not be interpreted as the persistence of the cultural forms that are described in the CCP. Rather, the persistence of elements of the physical form of the CCP to post-colonial settlement is a testimony to the interplay between structure and human agency, to the capacity of people constantly to re-negotiate the rules – past and present, social and architectural – in order to make sense of the lives they live. The value of ethnoarchaeology to post-processual archaeology is not to provide a contemporary ‘pattern’ of material culture that may be compared to an ancient one in the form of a uniformitarian analogy, but rather to demonstrate that, according to the discursive nature of Giddens's duality of structure, archaeologists would be wrong to disengage structure and agency in order to ‘find’ them as separate archaeologically identifiable components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnoarchaeology is a field of study that aims to provide the information needed to draw reliable behavioral inferences from archaeological data. In this study, data from four settlement types (permanent villages, forest hamlets, seasonal hamlets, and foraging camps) of a forager-farmer population in southwestern Madagascar are examined from an archaeological perspective. Doing so shows that house size, house post diameter variability, outdoor workspace, trash disposal, and feature diversity jointly sort out settlements of different lengths of occupation. However, the relationship between mobility and material culture is not simply a product of the length of stay; it is also affected by differences in the social environments of settlements of different occupational lengths. Using the behavioral ecology of food sharing, we show that certain architectural changes that ensure privacy are expected to occur as settlements become larger and more permanent. These observations from Madagascar should be applicable to other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ethnoarchaeological study of highland Ethiopian griddle technology is compared to bread-baking technologies in Africa and the Near East. There is a functional relationship between the use of ovens and griddles and the presence or absence of gluten in bread ingredients. Ovens are most appropriate for cereals containing gluten and may be implicated in the selection of higher quality gluten in domesticated wheats. We conclude, based on evidence for griddle use and the performance characteristics of African cereals, that indigenous species were exploited in highland Ethiopia before Near Eastern cereals were introduced. Griddle-cooking practices that bias the preservation of Near Eastern cereals over African ones may explain the absence of African cereals in the early archaeobotanical record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the evolution of nesting behavior within the human–chimpanzee clade is problematic because evidence is sparse and difficult to interpret. Lacking a fossil or archaeological record for proto-chimpanzees, reconstructions of the antecedents of modern chimp nesting patterns can be reconstructed only from careful studies of variation in current chimpanzee and bonobo nesting patterns within the context of spatial and temporal landscape parameters. The ethology of nesting also provides an important frame of reference for reconstructions of early hominid nesting behavior. If the contemporary contrast between human and chimpanzee nesting patterns is seen as an evolutionary dichotomy, then African prehistoric landmarks that mark the origin of this split might include bipedalism and the origins of the hominidae, the first stone tools and the origins of Homo, the developmental and behavioral adaptations of Homo ergaster, shifts in Late Acheulian settlement patterns, and the origins of anatomically modern humans and the Middle Stone Age. The issue of whether Early Stone Age archaeological sites were used for nesting is unresolved because potential markers of such behavior, such as hearths, structures, or bedding, are not unambiguously recognizable in the archaeological record until the Middle Stone Age. Am. J. Primatol. 46:85–101, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]