Residue analysis has become the go-to analysis for archaeologists in recent years. This review, f... more Residue analysis has become the go-to analysis for archaeologists in recent years. This review, focusing on the plant remains as residues from knapped lithic tools, has been carried out to understand the role of plant residues analyses in archaeological as well as associated experimental research, the advancements made in the field and the state of the art. Thirty-nine research papers starting from 1976 till 2020 have been analyzed critically in this review. In spite of numerous exemplary researches, it was observed that there are still many challenges to be overcome. The paper also makes a humble attempt at providing some suggestions for future research.
Journal of Hunter Gatherer Research, 3(3), 401-428, 2019
A well-known challenge in archaeological research is the exploration of the social mechanisms tha... more A well-known challenge in archaeological research is the exploration of the social mechanisms that hunter-gatherers may have implemented throughout history to deal with changes in resource availability. the agent-based model (ABM) 'cooperation under resource pressure' (CURP) was conceived to explore food stress episodes in societies lacking a food preservation technology. It was particularly aimed at understanding how cooperative behaviours in the form of food sharing practices emerge, increase and may become the prevailing strategy in relation to changes in resource availability and expectancy of reciprocity. CURP's main outcome is the identification of three regimes of behaviour depending on the stress level. In this work, the model's robustness to the original selection mechanism (random tournament) is assessed, as different dynamics can lead to different persistent regimes. For that purpose, three other selection mechanisms are implemented and evaluated, to identify the prevailing states of the system. Results show that the three regimes are robust irrespective of the analysed dynamics. We consequently examine in more detail the long-term archaeological implications that these results may have.
Few studies have dealt with the occupation of caves during the Andalusi period in Southern Ibe-ri... more Few studies have dealt with the occupation of caves during the Andalusi period in Southern Ibe-ria. This may be explained by the attention placed traditionally on the trinomial mudun (cities), ḥusūn (fortresses) and qurà (villages), in which other forms of rural occupation have been generally overlooked. In this paper we explore the sequence at La Dehesilla Cave-based on the analysis of animal skeleton remains, pollen, seeds and fruits, and phytoliths-with the aim to define the economic systems of its Andalusi inhabitants. Because the sequence displays two different occupation phases, the first during the Taifa Period in the second half of the 11th century and the second during the Almohad Period in the second half of the 12th century, this study characterises the ecological and economic systems of the two periods and highlights the differences between them. The data suggest that the economy of both periods was mainly based on livestock, and especially on sheep herds. However, their comparison enables us to observe a few significant differences that indicate dissimilar behavioural and economic patterns. Plant macro-remains show a larger amount of cereals and leguminous seeds, as well as of domestic fruits, in the Taifa Period than in the Almohad Period. The zoological record displays clear differences between the two periods. The Taifa Period shows a greater proportion of herds while the input from hunting increased in the Almohad Period. Also, there are proportionally opposite patterns in the age of sacrifice of sheep. The earlier period may have seen a more sedentary herding and partly farming population, while the second period may correspond to a mainly herding, perhaps mobile, population. These results are discussed within the political dynamics of the historical framework of the surrounding territory and contribute to the knowledge of the rural economic dynamics of the Andalusi period.
We study the influence that resource availability has on cooperation in the context of hunter-gat... more We study the influence that resource availability has on cooperation in the context of hunter-gatherer societies. This paper proposes a model based on archaeological and ethnographic research on resource stress episodes, which exposes three different cooperative regimes according to the relationship between resource availability in the environment and population size. The most interesting regime represents moderate survival stress in which individuals coordinate in an evolutionary way to increase the probabilities of survival and reduce the risk of failing to meet the minimum needs for survival. Populations self-organise in an indirect reciprocity system in which the norm that emerges is to share the part of the resource that is not strictly necessary for survival, thereby collectively lowering the chances of starving. Our findings shed further light on the emergence and evolution of cooperation in hunter-gatherer societies. Cooperation is critical for understanding how human societies organise and develop different kinds of relationships and social interactions 1-3. From a temporal perspective, the evolution of cooperation is inseparably linked to the socio-ecological context in which resource availability played an important role. In fact, several studies show that the availability and access to resources had a substantial impact on the anatomical and functional development of our species 4,5 and also shaped our strategic behaviour that explains social dynamics 6,7. In most studies about humankind's evolution and its historical dynamics, the exploitation of resources recurrently appears as a factor of study, such as human demographic expansions 8,9 , the depletion of resources 10-12 , social organisation and social networks 13,14 , changes or innovations in social and economic relationships 15-17 , the development of hierarchical and complex societies 18-21 and even competition and conflict for resources 22,23. However, an explanatory analysis of how cooperative behaviours (e.g. the sharing of the product of exploitation and access to resources) evolve when dealing with changes in resource availability remains largely unexplored. In order to provide new insights about the relationship between cooperation and resources, we have developed an agent-based model (ABM) 24 and used computer simulations to study the conditions that promote cooperation in hunter-gatherer (HG) societies under different resource-stress episodes. The model is a stylised abstraction of the basic mechanisms that explain the emergence of cooperation. It does not consider food storage facilities or techniques that may condition cooperation (see the review in Angourakis et al.) 25-29 , nor does it introduce other complex assumptions such as social networks or norms. We can claim that the model explores essential questions of classical anthropology regarding the importance of cooperation in human history 30-33 .
G. Alcalde, M. Saña (Eds.) Procés d'ocupació de la Bauma del serrat del Pont entre el 7400 i el 5480 cal AC, pp. 50-53. Olot, Museu Comarcal de la Garrotxa., 2008
2016. Resilience of small-scale societies' livelihoods: a framework for studying the transition f... more 2016. Resilience of small-scale societies' livelihoods: a framework for studying the transition from food gathering to food production. Ecology and Society 21(4):8. http://dx. ABSTRACT. The origins of agriculture and the shift from hunting and gathering to committed agriculture is regarded as one of the major transitions in human history. Archeologists and anthropologists have invested significant efforts in explaining the origins of agriculture. A period of gathering intensification and experimentation and pursuing a mixed economic strategy seems the most plausible explanation for the transition to agriculture and provides an approach to study a process in which several nonlinear processes may have played a role. However, the mechanisms underlying the transition to full agriculture are not completely clear. This is partly due to the nature of the archeological record, which registers a practice only once it has become clearly established. Thus, points of transitions have limited visibility and the mechanisms involved in the process are difficult to untangle. The complexity of such transitions also implies that shifts can be distinctively different in particular environments and under varying historical and social conditions. In this paper we discuss some of the elements involved in the transition to food production within the framework of resilience theory. We propose a theoretical conceptual model in which the resilience of livelihood strategies lies at the intersection of three spheres: the environmental, economical, and social domains. Transitions occur when the rate of change, in one or more of these domains, is so elevated or its magnitude so large that the livelihood system is unable to bounce back to its original state. In this situation, the system moves to an alternative stable state, from one livelihood strategy to another.
The number of phytolith studies has increased steadily in the last decades in palaeoecological as... more The number of phytolith studies has increased steadily in the last decades in palaeoecological as well as archaeological research, and phytolith analysis is currently recognised as a proper area of expertise within archaeobotany. This has led towards a strengthening in the standardisation of the different steps involved in analysis; e.g. sampling strategies , laboratory extraction or processing of plant material/soils for the creation of reference collections. In spite of this, counting procedures remain one of the areas that could be further developed. The aim of this paper is to assess representativeness of phytolith count size in archaeological samples and specifically to assess whether an increase in total number of individuals counted influences the number or distribution of morphotypes observed. Two statistical tests are performed to evaluate the representativeness of count size: phytolith sum variability analysis (PSVA) and morphotype accumulation curve (MAC). The analyses show the relationship among the number of counted phytoliths, the variability (that is, the number of different morphotypes identified) and the stabilisations of the MACs. Results allow us to support the standard count size in phytolith studies, which ranges from 250 to 300 particles. Together with a quick scan, this strategy should produce a precise and clear phytolith assemblage for archaeological studies.
This editorial introduces the special feature of Ecology and Society entitled Small-Scale Societi... more This editorial introduces the special feature of Ecology and Society entitled Small-Scale Societies and Environmental Transformations: Coevolutionary Dynamics. The contributions to this feature explore coevolutionary dynamics developed between small-scale societies and environmental features and the larger-scale effects of these interactions in spatial and chronological terms. Acknowledging the importance of small-scale societies in our evolutionary past and nowadays, contributions to this issue use insights from both archaeological and anthropological case studies, concepts, and methods. This editorial introduces the contributions in three different ways. We start by reviewing the use of the term "small-scale society" in the literature. Then, we briefly examine the concept of "co-evolutionary dynamics" by providing examples of how the process operates between past and present small-scale societies and their surrounding environments. In the last section, we introduce each of the papers.
Phytoliths are silica casts of plant cells, created within and between living tissues across almo... more Phytoliths are silica casts of plant cells, created within and between living tissues across almost all plant clades. Because they are abundant, durable and distinctive, phytoliths are used to deduce historic vegetation patterns and human uses across the fields of archeology, paleoethnobotany, paleoecology, and historical ecology, particularly at sites where preservation of larger plant-derived samples is poor. Nonetheless, phytolith research has recently contributed to advances in biogeochemical cycling and carbon sequestration. Although much progress has been made over the past few decades, some basic methodological concerns in phytolith systematics and Si cycling still hamper the overall development of this emerging field of science. Here, we first review basic scenarios of phytolith studies across different disciplines of science and then advocate interdisciplinary phytolith research to overcome the challenges of phytolith systematics, inform the representation of Si and C cycling in biogeochemical models, and improve the utility of phytoliths as proxies in archeology and paleontology.
This article presents a cross-cultural study of the relationship among the subsistence strategies... more This article presents a cross-cultural study of the relationship among the subsistence strategies , the environmental setting and the food sharing practices of 22 modern small-scale societies located in America (n = 18) and Siberia (n = 4). Ecological, geographical and economic variables of these societies were extracted from specialized literature and the publicly available D-PLACE database. The approach proposed comprises a variety of quantitative methods, ranging from exploratory techniques aimed at capturing relationships of any type between variables, to network theory and supervised-learning predictive modelling. Results provided by all techniques consistently show that the differences observed in food sharing practices across the sampled populations cannot be explained just by the differential distribution of ecological, geographical and economic variables. Food sharing has to be interpreted as a more complex cultural phenomenon, whose variation over time and space cannot be ascribed only to local adaptation.
This study presents the results of the archaeological investigation in Benzú Cave, located on the... more This study presents the results of the archaeological investigation in Benzú Cave, located on the North African shore of the Strait of Gibraltar. The archaeological deposits, approximately 1 m deep, belong to two occupational levels dated to the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. A wide range of artifacts was found, and this led to an interdisciplinary study that led us to reach new conclusions concerning the material life, subsistence economy, and environment of the Neolithic and Bronze Age societies in northern Africa and the southern Iberian Peninsula. Résumé Cette étude présente les résultats des recherches archéologiques menées dans la grotte de Benzú, située sur la rive nord-africaine du détroit de Gibraltar. Les gisements archéologiques, d'environ un mètre de profondeur, appartiennent à deux niveaux d'oc-cupation datant du néolithique et de l'âge du bronze. Une large gamme d'artefacts ont été trouvés, ce qui a conduit à une étude interdisciplinaire qui nous a amenés à tirer de nouvelles conclusions concernant la vie matérielle, l'économie de subsistance et l'environnement des sociétés du Néolithique et de l'Age du Bronze en Afrique du Nord et au sud de la Péninsule Ibérique.
Residue analysis has become the go-to analysis for archaeologists in recent years. This review, f... more Residue analysis has become the go-to analysis for archaeologists in recent years. This review, focusing on the plant remains as residues from knapped lithic tools, has been carried out to understand the role of plant residues analyses in archaeological as well as associated experimental research, the advancements made in the field and the state of the art. Thirty-nine research papers starting from 1976 till 2020 have been analyzed critically in this review. In spite of numerous exemplary researches, it was observed that there are still many challenges to be overcome. The paper also makes a humble attempt at providing some suggestions for future research.
Journal of Hunter Gatherer Research, 3(3), 401-428, 2019
A well-known challenge in archaeological research is the exploration of the social mechanisms tha... more A well-known challenge in archaeological research is the exploration of the social mechanisms that hunter-gatherers may have implemented throughout history to deal with changes in resource availability. the agent-based model (ABM) 'cooperation under resource pressure' (CURP) was conceived to explore food stress episodes in societies lacking a food preservation technology. It was particularly aimed at understanding how cooperative behaviours in the form of food sharing practices emerge, increase and may become the prevailing strategy in relation to changes in resource availability and expectancy of reciprocity. CURP's main outcome is the identification of three regimes of behaviour depending on the stress level. In this work, the model's robustness to the original selection mechanism (random tournament) is assessed, as different dynamics can lead to different persistent regimes. For that purpose, three other selection mechanisms are implemented and evaluated, to identify the prevailing states of the system. Results show that the three regimes are robust irrespective of the analysed dynamics. We consequently examine in more detail the long-term archaeological implications that these results may have.
Few studies have dealt with the occupation of caves during the Andalusi period in Southern Ibe-ri... more Few studies have dealt with the occupation of caves during the Andalusi period in Southern Ibe-ria. This may be explained by the attention placed traditionally on the trinomial mudun (cities), ḥusūn (fortresses) and qurà (villages), in which other forms of rural occupation have been generally overlooked. In this paper we explore the sequence at La Dehesilla Cave-based on the analysis of animal skeleton remains, pollen, seeds and fruits, and phytoliths-with the aim to define the economic systems of its Andalusi inhabitants. Because the sequence displays two different occupation phases, the first during the Taifa Period in the second half of the 11th century and the second during the Almohad Period in the second half of the 12th century, this study characterises the ecological and economic systems of the two periods and highlights the differences between them. The data suggest that the economy of both periods was mainly based on livestock, and especially on sheep herds. However, their comparison enables us to observe a few significant differences that indicate dissimilar behavioural and economic patterns. Plant macro-remains show a larger amount of cereals and leguminous seeds, as well as of domestic fruits, in the Taifa Period than in the Almohad Period. The zoological record displays clear differences between the two periods. The Taifa Period shows a greater proportion of herds while the input from hunting increased in the Almohad Period. Also, there are proportionally opposite patterns in the age of sacrifice of sheep. The earlier period may have seen a more sedentary herding and partly farming population, while the second period may correspond to a mainly herding, perhaps mobile, population. These results are discussed within the political dynamics of the historical framework of the surrounding territory and contribute to the knowledge of the rural economic dynamics of the Andalusi period.
We study the influence that resource availability has on cooperation in the context of hunter-gat... more We study the influence that resource availability has on cooperation in the context of hunter-gatherer societies. This paper proposes a model based on archaeological and ethnographic research on resource stress episodes, which exposes three different cooperative regimes according to the relationship between resource availability in the environment and population size. The most interesting regime represents moderate survival stress in which individuals coordinate in an evolutionary way to increase the probabilities of survival and reduce the risk of failing to meet the minimum needs for survival. Populations self-organise in an indirect reciprocity system in which the norm that emerges is to share the part of the resource that is not strictly necessary for survival, thereby collectively lowering the chances of starving. Our findings shed further light on the emergence and evolution of cooperation in hunter-gatherer societies. Cooperation is critical for understanding how human societies organise and develop different kinds of relationships and social interactions 1-3. From a temporal perspective, the evolution of cooperation is inseparably linked to the socio-ecological context in which resource availability played an important role. In fact, several studies show that the availability and access to resources had a substantial impact on the anatomical and functional development of our species 4,5 and also shaped our strategic behaviour that explains social dynamics 6,7. In most studies about humankind's evolution and its historical dynamics, the exploitation of resources recurrently appears as a factor of study, such as human demographic expansions 8,9 , the depletion of resources 10-12 , social organisation and social networks 13,14 , changes or innovations in social and economic relationships 15-17 , the development of hierarchical and complex societies 18-21 and even competition and conflict for resources 22,23. However, an explanatory analysis of how cooperative behaviours (e.g. the sharing of the product of exploitation and access to resources) evolve when dealing with changes in resource availability remains largely unexplored. In order to provide new insights about the relationship between cooperation and resources, we have developed an agent-based model (ABM) 24 and used computer simulations to study the conditions that promote cooperation in hunter-gatherer (HG) societies under different resource-stress episodes. The model is a stylised abstraction of the basic mechanisms that explain the emergence of cooperation. It does not consider food storage facilities or techniques that may condition cooperation (see the review in Angourakis et al.) 25-29 , nor does it introduce other complex assumptions such as social networks or norms. We can claim that the model explores essential questions of classical anthropology regarding the importance of cooperation in human history 30-33 .
G. Alcalde, M. Saña (Eds.) Procés d'ocupació de la Bauma del serrat del Pont entre el 7400 i el 5480 cal AC, pp. 50-53. Olot, Museu Comarcal de la Garrotxa., 2008
2016. Resilience of small-scale societies' livelihoods: a framework for studying the transition f... more 2016. Resilience of small-scale societies' livelihoods: a framework for studying the transition from food gathering to food production. Ecology and Society 21(4):8. http://dx. ABSTRACT. The origins of agriculture and the shift from hunting and gathering to committed agriculture is regarded as one of the major transitions in human history. Archeologists and anthropologists have invested significant efforts in explaining the origins of agriculture. A period of gathering intensification and experimentation and pursuing a mixed economic strategy seems the most plausible explanation for the transition to agriculture and provides an approach to study a process in which several nonlinear processes may have played a role. However, the mechanisms underlying the transition to full agriculture are not completely clear. This is partly due to the nature of the archeological record, which registers a practice only once it has become clearly established. Thus, points of transitions have limited visibility and the mechanisms involved in the process are difficult to untangle. The complexity of such transitions also implies that shifts can be distinctively different in particular environments and under varying historical and social conditions. In this paper we discuss some of the elements involved in the transition to food production within the framework of resilience theory. We propose a theoretical conceptual model in which the resilience of livelihood strategies lies at the intersection of three spheres: the environmental, economical, and social domains. Transitions occur when the rate of change, in one or more of these domains, is so elevated or its magnitude so large that the livelihood system is unable to bounce back to its original state. In this situation, the system moves to an alternative stable state, from one livelihood strategy to another.
The number of phytolith studies has increased steadily in the last decades in palaeoecological as... more The number of phytolith studies has increased steadily in the last decades in palaeoecological as well as archaeological research, and phytolith analysis is currently recognised as a proper area of expertise within archaeobotany. This has led towards a strengthening in the standardisation of the different steps involved in analysis; e.g. sampling strategies , laboratory extraction or processing of plant material/soils for the creation of reference collections. In spite of this, counting procedures remain one of the areas that could be further developed. The aim of this paper is to assess representativeness of phytolith count size in archaeological samples and specifically to assess whether an increase in total number of individuals counted influences the number or distribution of morphotypes observed. Two statistical tests are performed to evaluate the representativeness of count size: phytolith sum variability analysis (PSVA) and morphotype accumulation curve (MAC). The analyses show the relationship among the number of counted phytoliths, the variability (that is, the number of different morphotypes identified) and the stabilisations of the MACs. Results allow us to support the standard count size in phytolith studies, which ranges from 250 to 300 particles. Together with a quick scan, this strategy should produce a precise and clear phytolith assemblage for archaeological studies.
This editorial introduces the special feature of Ecology and Society entitled Small-Scale Societi... more This editorial introduces the special feature of Ecology and Society entitled Small-Scale Societies and Environmental Transformations: Coevolutionary Dynamics. The contributions to this feature explore coevolutionary dynamics developed between small-scale societies and environmental features and the larger-scale effects of these interactions in spatial and chronological terms. Acknowledging the importance of small-scale societies in our evolutionary past and nowadays, contributions to this issue use insights from both archaeological and anthropological case studies, concepts, and methods. This editorial introduces the contributions in three different ways. We start by reviewing the use of the term "small-scale society" in the literature. Then, we briefly examine the concept of "co-evolutionary dynamics" by providing examples of how the process operates between past and present small-scale societies and their surrounding environments. In the last section, we introduce each of the papers.
Phytoliths are silica casts of plant cells, created within and between living tissues across almo... more Phytoliths are silica casts of plant cells, created within and between living tissues across almost all plant clades. Because they are abundant, durable and distinctive, phytoliths are used to deduce historic vegetation patterns and human uses across the fields of archeology, paleoethnobotany, paleoecology, and historical ecology, particularly at sites where preservation of larger plant-derived samples is poor. Nonetheless, phytolith research has recently contributed to advances in biogeochemical cycling and carbon sequestration. Although much progress has been made over the past few decades, some basic methodological concerns in phytolith systematics and Si cycling still hamper the overall development of this emerging field of science. Here, we first review basic scenarios of phytolith studies across different disciplines of science and then advocate interdisciplinary phytolith research to overcome the challenges of phytolith systematics, inform the representation of Si and C cycling in biogeochemical models, and improve the utility of phytoliths as proxies in archeology and paleontology.
This article presents a cross-cultural study of the relationship among the subsistence strategies... more This article presents a cross-cultural study of the relationship among the subsistence strategies , the environmental setting and the food sharing practices of 22 modern small-scale societies located in America (n = 18) and Siberia (n = 4). Ecological, geographical and economic variables of these societies were extracted from specialized literature and the publicly available D-PLACE database. The approach proposed comprises a variety of quantitative methods, ranging from exploratory techniques aimed at capturing relationships of any type between variables, to network theory and supervised-learning predictive modelling. Results provided by all techniques consistently show that the differences observed in food sharing practices across the sampled populations cannot be explained just by the differential distribution of ecological, geographical and economic variables. Food sharing has to be interpreted as a more complex cultural phenomenon, whose variation over time and space cannot be ascribed only to local adaptation.
This study presents the results of the archaeological investigation in Benzú Cave, located on the... more This study presents the results of the archaeological investigation in Benzú Cave, located on the North African shore of the Strait of Gibraltar. The archaeological deposits, approximately 1 m deep, belong to two occupational levels dated to the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. A wide range of artifacts was found, and this led to an interdisciplinary study that led us to reach new conclusions concerning the material life, subsistence economy, and environment of the Neolithic and Bronze Age societies in northern Africa and the southern Iberian Peninsula. Résumé Cette étude présente les résultats des recherches archéologiques menées dans la grotte de Benzú, située sur la rive nord-africaine du détroit de Gibraltar. Les gisements archéologiques, d'environ un mètre de profondeur, appartiennent à deux niveaux d'oc-cupation datant du néolithique et de l'âge du bronze. Une large gamme d'artefacts ont été trouvés, ce qui a conduit à une étude interdisciplinaire qui nous a amenés à tirer de nouvelles conclusions concernant la vie matérielle, l'économie de subsistance et l'environnement des sociétés du Néolithique et de l'Age du Bronze en Afrique du Nord et au sud de la Péninsule Ibérique.
F.J. Miguel, F. Amblard, J.A. Barceló, M. Madella (Eds.) Advances in computational social science and social simulation Autonomous University of Barcelona, DDD repository <http://ddd.uab.cat/record/125597>, 2014
New foundations for a sustainable global society, 2021
This challenge is formulated in terms of “humanities in transition,” that is, their approach and ... more This challenge is formulated in terms of “humanities in transition,” that is, their approach and articulation in the face of the changes they must undergo to achieve the social weight that, due to their intrinsic relevance, should correspond to them. Faced with these situations that would demand a reinforcement in research and dissemination in diverse aspects of the humanities, from multiple perspectives, paradoxically an adverse panorama is drawn for the development and dissemination of humanistic knowledge, which concerns different factors. Some are related to the consideration of the area of knowledge itself, its organization within the scientific system, the questioning of its own limits, and the interaction with another knowledge. Considering current transition scenarios does not mean having to abandon old objectives, but it adds to the work conducted new objects of study closely related to current reality, such as: the informational revolution; the relations with the ecosystem and the environmental crisis; globalization; the intensification of human mobility and migration flows; the growing economic and social inequality; the frictions derived from the articulation of collective identities; the decolonization of discourses; demographic dynamics; integration of technological advances; and viability and support for alternative models of society.
British Archaeological Reports 51162, pp. 333-335. Archaeopress. Oxford., 2003
P.V. Castro-Martínez, T. Escoriza, MªE. Sanahuja-YII (Eds.) Mujeres y hombres en espacios domésti... more P.V. Castro-Martínez, T. Escoriza, MªE. Sanahuja-YII (Eds.) Mujeres y hombres en espacios domésticos: trabajo y vida social en la Prehistoria de Mallorca (c. 700-500 cal ANE). El edificio Alta del Puig Morter de Son Ferragut (Sineu, Mallorca).
M. Roksandic, S. Ferraz Mendonça de Souza, S. Eggers, M. Burchell, D. Klokler (Eds.) The cultural dynamics of shell-matrix sites, pp. 267-278. University of New Mexico Press. USA., 2014
Briz i Godino I., Zurro D., Álvarez M., Madella M.
J. Ramos, D. Bernal, E. Vijande, J.J. Cantillo (Eds.) El abrigo y la cueva de Benzú. Memoria de los trabajos arqueológicos de una década en Ceuta (2002-2012), pp. 555-559. Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Cádiz, Cádiz., 2013
J. Ramos, D. Bernal (Eds.) El proyecto Benzú 250.000 años de Historia en la orilla africana del Círculo del Estrecho de Gibraltar, pp. 120-124. Consejería de Educación y Cultura de Ceuta y Universidad de Cádiz., 2006
S. Gaudzinski-Windheuser, O. Jöris, M. Sensburg, M. Street, E. Turner (Eds.) Site-internal spatial organization of hunter-gatherer societies: case studies from the European Palaeolithic and Mesolithic, pp. 31-51. Mainz: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum., 2011
D. Mazzanti, M. Berón, F. Oliva (Eds.) Del mar a los salitrales. Diez mil años de historia pampeana en el umbral del tercer milenio 1, pp. 343-363. , 2002
Ref: T. Escoriza, M.J. López, A.D. Navarro (Coords.) II Encuentro de Mujeres y Arqueología. Materialismo histórico y arqueología, nuevas aportaciones, pp. 61-105. Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Cultura., 2008
E. Crubezy, E. Cunha, S. Mendonca de Souza, B. Ludes (Eds.) Humans: evolution and environment. Proceedings of the XV UISPP World Congress, Sessions C06, C08, C14, C62 and WS32. British Archaeological Reports S2026, pp. 109-118. Archaeopress. Oxford., 2009
J. Svoboda (Ed.) Dolní Vestonice II. Chronoestratigraphy, paleoethnology, paleoanthropology. The Dolní Vestonice Studies, volume 21, pp. 84-94. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic., 2016
Històries de tocador. Cosmètica i bellesa a l’antiguitat., 2013
T. Carreras Rossell (Coord.) Històries de tocador. Cosmètica i bellesa a l’antiguitat, pp. 53-61.... more T. Carreras Rossell (Coord.) Històries de tocador. Cosmètica i bellesa a l’antiguitat, pp. 53-61. Ed. Museu d’Arqueologia de Catalunya. Barcelona.
Phytoliths are now used in archaeological research around the world. Europe was somewhat slow to ... more Phytoliths are now used in archaeological research around the world. Europe was somewhat slow to take this up, but now phytoliths feature in many archaeological investigations. Ryan (2014) provides a good overall introduction to the topic of phytoliths, but here we will expand onherwork and look specifically at Europe, where phytoliths are employed in a broad range of archaeological contexts.
Ramos, J., Bernal, D., Vijande, E. y Cantillo, J.J. (Eds.): El abrigo y la cueva de Benzú: memoria de los trabajos arqueológicos de una decáda en Ceuta (2002-2012): 691-701. Servicio de Publicaciones Universidad de Cádiz y Ciudad Autónoma de Ceuta, 2013
We would like to draw your attention to the session Anthropic activity markers: Archaeology and E... more We would like to draw your attention to the session Anthropic activity markers: Archaeology and Ethnoarchaeology that we are organising at the next SAA conference, the 82nd SAA Annual Meeting to be held in Vancouver, Canada (March 29-April 2, 2017; http://saa.org/AbouttheSociety/AnnualMeeting/tabid/138/Default.aspx). This will be the third consecutive year that we will be discussing this topic at SAA. The previous two sessions have been very successful and we feel this is a theme worth going on discussing from different points of view and we are looking forward to see the latest updates. We invite people interested in presenting their work in this session to send us an email with a proposed title and a brief abstract. We would also ask you, if possible, to circulate this information to all colleagues who are not on the list and you think might be interested in participating. The deadline for expressing your interest to us is August 30th, whereas the deadline for submitting the final abstract (and pay the conference registration fee) is September 11th. While we might be able to accept proposals after August 30th, the deadline to register for the conference is very strict as no abstract will be considered whose authors have not properly registered by that date. Looking forward to receiving your proposals, we wish you a good August! Anthropic activity markers: archaeology and ethnoarchaeology People tend to recurrently use specific areas of their living space, producing an accumulation of evidences (chemical and/or physical) that represent the result of the activity performed. The possibility to identify and connect these evidences to the activity that generated the record is pivotal to our understanding of past human behaviour. Ethnoarchaeology and experimental archaeology drive the inferential reasoning that creates the models connecting the distribution/concentration of proxies with specific activities. We define these models as 'anthropic activity markers' and propose a transdisciplinary approach to reduce problems of equifinality whereby the same pattern might be caused by several activities. In particular, the analysis of the spatial distribution of the fingerprints under study is considered fundamental for the definition of anthropic activity markers. This session aims to gather contributions from scholars in different fields, willing to challenge this issue from different points of view and at different scales (landscape and domestic or productive structures), going from a macro to a micro scale, from " space " , to " place ". We invite contributions that include different approaches, such as remote sensing, archaeological prospection, botanic analyses, chemical analyses, archaeozoology, microdebitage, and micromorphology. Archaeological and ethnoarchaeological contexts will be welcome to show the potentiality of the approach.
Human activities produce different evidences that can be identified by the naked eye or through t... more Human activities produce different evidences that can be identified by the naked eye or through the application of techniques. The concept of anthropic marker (AM)-models of accumulation and distribution of proxies and materials from a particular activity-can be used as an interpretative tool. Ethnoarchaeology and experimental archaeology, drive the creation of these models. In this session, we focus on AMs of plant-related activities. Ethnographic knowledge and archaeological preservation constraints induce us to think that past societies used plants more than we acknowledge. The application of quantitative, transdisciplinary and multi-scalar techniques might be pivotal to their holistic understanding. We invite presentations mostly centred on: • the study of artefacts or structures related to plant-related activities (e.g. grinding tools or storage structures) • the extensive array of techniques directed to the study of plant remains (from charcoal or seeds to phytoliths or starches) · plant by-products (i.e. organic residues), • the development of sampling strategies and data elaboration We aim at having presentations from different academic and archaeological contexts that combine several lines of evidence and methodologies and that aim at using ethnoarchaeology and experimental archaeology as the ground for archaeological theory building and hypotheses testing.
For many years the identification of activity areas has been carried out through the spatial dist... more For many years the identification of activity areas has been carried out through the spatial distribution of lithics, zooarchaeological remains and specific features such as fireplaces. However, these data are rarely combined and integrated with results from specific analytical techniques such as phytoliths, organic matter, carbonates and multielemental analysis. This research presents the first results of an intrasite spatial analysis on a layer from the site Lanashuaia II, a shell-midden located on the Beagle Channel coast (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina). Ethnoarchaeology is used as a methodological tool to give content to the concept of anthropic markers by means of formulating archaeological hypothesis on the basis of ethnological information. This paper presents the application of specific anthropic markers, which have been designed and applied to identify ashy remains and waste areas through different combinations of proxies. The results show how an approach that integrates different techniques enhances data interpretation and allows to give visibility to activities that may not leave visible evidences.
People tend to recurrently use specific areas of their landscape or living space, as well as part... more People tend to recurrently use specific areas of their landscape or living space, as well as particular artefacts, for specific activities. This enduring use of spaces and materials produces an accumulation of evidences (chemical and/or physical), which represent the result of the activity that produced them. Ethnoarchaeology and experimental archaeology drive the inferential reasoning that creates the model(s) connecting the concentration of particular proxies with a specific activity. We define this/these model(s) as ‘anthropic activity marker’ (AAM). The possibility to identify, analyse and connect these markers to the original activity is pivotal to our understanding of past human behaviour. An interdisciplinary approach is fundamental for the identification of anthropic markers. In particular, the spatial distribution and variability of the fingerprints taken into account is considered a fundamental part of the definition of AAM. For this session, we seek contributions that challenge the problem of identifying and interpreting AAM from different points of view and at different scales. Contributions can be related, but not limited to: remote sensing, archaeological prospection, botanic analyses (i.e. phytholits, starch and pollen), chemical analyses of soils and floors, archaeozoology, microdebitage, micromorphology but also residue analyses from artefacts. Ethnoarchaeological testing and archaeological applications of these methods will be equally considered. We particularly welcome multi-proxy and multi-disciplinary studies that illustrate both case-studies as well as methodological approaches.
Every academic discipline is concerned in some way or other with the human being, but among the g... more Every academic discipline is concerned in some way or other with the human being, but among the great variety of branches of knowledge there are some that focus more closely on the human condition and its capacity for cultural creation: as a whole these are referred to as the humanities.
Today reference is made, with some justification, to a ‘crisis in the humanities’, a problematic situation increasingly confronted by intellectuals and one that may have major consequences well beyond the cultural field as such. Are the humanities necessary? We believe they are; indeed, we are absolutely convinced they are. It would be difficult to learn to live together, not only amongst each other as human beings but also with the environment which we inhabit, if we do not do so on the basis of knowledge and values inherent to and offered by the humanities.
One of the characteristic traits of humanities studies is critical thinking, not only as regards what is necessary in order to deepen knowledge, but also as regards academic practice in the disciplines. This means that continual re-thinking is required since not to do so would imply lack of awareness of the profound changes—and so needs—experienced by society, changes that without a doubt are already taking place in a process of constant acceleration.
What direction, then, should the humanities follow given the changes and social challenges that confront us today? What should their role be in the highly critical anthropocene moment in which we are living? To what extent do the humanities need reformulation, reconsideration or even overturning of the very humanist mode of thinking from which they derive?
These are some of the questions to be tackled by specialists in the field throughout the international conference ‘Humanities in Transition’ organized by the Institución Milá y Fontanals of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 23-26 October 2018.
Every academic discipline is concerned in some way or other with the human being, but among the g... more Every academic discipline is concerned in some way or other with the human being, but among the great variety of branches of knowledge there are some that focus more closely on the human condition and its capacity for cultural creation: as a whole these are referred to as the humanities. Today reference is made, with some justification, to a ‘crisis in the humanities’, a problematic situation increasingly confronted by intellectuals and one that may have major consequences well beyond the cultural field as such. Are the humanities necessary? We believe they are; indeed, we are absolutely convinced they are. It would be difficult to learn to live together, not only amongst each other as human beings but also with the environment which we inhabit, if we do not do so on the basis of knowledge and values inherent to and offered by the humanities. One of the characteristic traits of humanities studies is critical thinking, not only as regards what is necessary in order to deepen knowledge, but also as regards academic practice in the disciplines. This means that continual re-thinking is required since not to do so would imply lack of awareness of the profound changes—and so needs—experienced by society, changes that without a doubt are already taking place in a process of constant acceleration. What direction, then, should the humanities follow given the changes and social challenges that confront us today? What should their role be in the highly critical anthropocene moment in which we are living? To what extent do the humanities need reformulation, reconsideration or even overturning of the very humanist mode of thinking from which they derive? These are some of the questions to be tackled by specialists in the field throughout the international conference ‘Humanities in Transition’ organized by the Institution Milà i Fontanals of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 23-26 October 2018, to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the Institute’s foundation.
Scientific Committee: Ivan Armenteros Martínez Oliver Hochadel Tess Knighton Josep Martí Débora Zurro Hernández
Organizational Committee: Secretary: Carmen Losada Fernández, Marta Manso Rubio Administration: Pilar Sánchez, Ana Jiménez, José Fructuoso Publicity: Maria Gil, Álvaro Rodríguez de la Fuente General organization: Ivan Armenteros Martínez
Terra Incognita se ha configurado como un Libro Blanco que pretende identificar tendencias y refl... more Terra Incognita se ha configurado como un Libro Blanco que pretende identificar tendencias y reflexionar sobre las diferentes concepciones y prácticas de la investigación no disciplinar en nuestro entorno académico (el Sistema Español de Ciencia y Tecnología). Esta es una transición que implica un cierto cambio de paradigma, muy alineado con la investigación dirigida a retos sociales.
Terra Incognita es resultado de la Red de Excelencia SimPastNet – Simular el pasado para entender el comportamiento humano (Redes de Excelencia 2017 I, HAR2017-90883-REDC). Esta red, coordinada por el Grupo de Ingeniería de Organización de la Universidad de Burgos (UBU), está formada por 10 grupos de investigación y 40 investigadores.
Los integrantes de la red pertenecen tanto a grupos de investigación en Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades (Arqueología, Antropología y Sociología), como a grupos de investigación en Ciencias Formales (Matemáticas, Ingeniería e Informática). Todos ellos se caracterizan por su perspectiva transdisciplinar y presentan una larga experiencia de colaboración con especialistas de diferentes dominios.
La Red SimPastNet surgió del proyecto de Investigación Consolider Ingenio SimulPast. Simulating the Past to Understand Human Behavior (MINECO – CSD2010-00034) un proyecto de Humanidades (fundamentalmente arqueológico), dirigido a promover el modelado y la simulación en la investigación histórica y, por tanto, con un marcado carácter innovador y transdisciplinar.
A pesar de que Terra Incognita trate aspectos generales y ofrezca visiones de conjunto, esta genealogía explica el porqué de su perspectiva fundamentalmente anclada en las Ciencias Humanas y Sociales. Además, nos centraremos especialmente en el papel de las Humanidades y las Ciencias Sociales, porque constituyen una parte importante de esos ámbitos desde los que se están generando grandes aportaciones a esa transición que implica posicionarse en nuevos territorios, ajenos a las trayectorias históricas de nuestras disciplinas.
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An interdisciplinary approach is fundamental for the identification of anthropic markers. In particular, the spatial distribution and variability of the fingerprints taken into account is considered a fundamental part of the definition of AAM.
For this session, we seek contributions that challenge the problem of identifying and interpreting AAM from different points of view and at different scales. Contributions can be related, but not limited to: remote sensing, archaeological prospection, botanic analyses (i.e. phytholits, starch and pollen), chemical analyses of soils and floors, archaeozoology, microdebitage, micromorphology but also residue analyses from artefacts. Ethnoarchaeological testing and archaeological applications of these methods will be equally considered. We particularly welcome multi-proxy and multi-disciplinary studies that illustrate both case-studies as well as methodological approaches.
Today reference is made, with some justification, to a ‘crisis in the humanities’, a problematic situation increasingly confronted by intellectuals and one that may have major consequences well beyond the cultural field as such. Are the humanities necessary? We believe they are; indeed, we are absolutely convinced they are. It would be difficult to learn to live together, not only amongst each other as human beings but also with the environment which we inhabit, if we do not do so on the basis of knowledge and values inherent to and offered by the humanities.
One of the characteristic traits of humanities studies is critical thinking, not only as regards what is necessary in order to deepen knowledge, but also as regards academic practice in the disciplines. This means that continual re-thinking is required since not to do so would imply lack of awareness of the profound changes—and so needs—experienced by society, changes that without a doubt are already taking place in a process of constant acceleration.
What direction, then, should the humanities follow given the changes and social challenges that confront us today? What should their role be in the highly critical anthropocene moment in which we are living? To what extent do the humanities need reformulation, reconsideration or even overturning of the very humanist mode of thinking from which they derive?
These are some of the questions to be tackled by specialists in the field throughout the international conference ‘Humanities in Transition’ organized by the Institución Milá y Fontanals of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 23-26 October 2018.
Call for papers:
15/05/2018, 23:59 (UTC/GTM +1)
Notification of acceptance of proposals:
31/05/2018
Registration deadline:
01/10/2018, 23:59 (UTC/GTM +1)
Today reference is made, with some justification, to a ‘crisis in the humanities’, a problematic situation increasingly confronted by intellectuals and one that may have major consequences well beyond the cultural field as such. Are the humanities necessary? We believe they are; indeed, we are absolutely convinced they are. It would be difficult to learn to live together, not only amongst each other as human beings but also with the environment which we inhabit, if we do not do so on the basis of knowledge and values inherent to and offered by the humanities.
One of the characteristic traits of humanities studies is critical thinking, not only as regards what is necessary in order to deepen knowledge, but also as regards academic practice in the disciplines. This means that continual re-thinking is required since not to do so would imply lack of awareness of the profound changes—and so needs—experienced by society, changes that without a doubt are already taking place in a process of constant acceleration.
What direction, then, should the humanities follow given the changes and social challenges that confront us today? What should their role be in the highly critical anthropocene moment in which we are living? To what extent do the humanities need reformulation, reconsideration or even overturning of the very humanist mode of thinking from which they derive?
These are some of the questions to be tackled by specialists in the field throughout the international conference ‘Humanities in Transition’ organized by the Institution Milà i Fontanals of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 23-26 October 2018, to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the Institute’s foundation.
Information: http://humanitiesconference.imf.csic.es/
Scientific Committee:
Ivan Armenteros Martínez
Oliver Hochadel
Tess Knighton
Josep Martí
Débora Zurro Hernández
Organizational Committee:
Secretary: Carmen Losada Fernández, Marta Manso Rubio
Administration: Pilar Sánchez, Ana Jiménez, José Fructuoso
Publicity: Maria Gil, Álvaro Rodríguez de la Fuente
General organization: Ivan Armenteros Martínez
Coordination: Josep Martí
Terra Incognita es resultado de la Red de Excelencia SimPastNet – Simular el pasado para entender el comportamiento humano (Redes de Excelencia 2017 I, HAR2017-90883-REDC). Esta red, coordinada por el Grupo de Ingeniería de Organización de la Universidad de Burgos (UBU), está formada por 10 grupos de investigación y 40 investigadores.
Los integrantes de la red pertenecen tanto a grupos de investigación en Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades (Arqueología, Antropología y Sociología), como a grupos de investigación en Ciencias Formales (Matemáticas, Ingeniería e Informática). Todos ellos se caracterizan por su perspectiva transdisciplinar y presentan una larga experiencia de colaboración con especialistas de diferentes dominios.
La Red SimPastNet surgió del proyecto de Investigación Consolider Ingenio SimulPast. Simulating the Past to Understand Human Behavior (MINECO – CSD2010-00034) un proyecto de Humanidades (fundamentalmente arqueológico), dirigido a promover el modelado y la simulación en la investigación histórica y, por tanto, con un marcado carácter innovador y transdisciplinar.
A pesar de que Terra Incognita trate aspectos generales y ofrezca visiones de conjunto, esta genealogía explica el porqué de su perspectiva fundamentalmente anclada en las Ciencias Humanas y Sociales. Además, nos centraremos especialmente en el papel de las Humanidades y las Ciencias Sociales, porque constituyen una parte importante de esos ámbitos desde los que se están generando grandes aportaciones a esa transición que implica posicionarse en nuevos territorios, ajenos a las trayectorias históricas de nuestras disciplinas.