47 research outputs found
Hunterâgatherer mobility and technological landscapes in southernmost South America: a statistical learning approach
The present work aims to quantitatively explore and understand the relationship between mobility types (nautical versus pedestrian), specific technological traits and shared technological knowledge in pedestrian hunterâgatherer and nautical hunterâfisherâgatherer societies from the southernmost portion of South America. To that end, advanced statistical learning techniques are used: state-of-the-art classification algorithms and variable importance analyses. Results show a strong relationship between technological knowledge, traits and mobility types. Occupations can be accurately classified into nautical and pedestrian due to the existence of a non-trivial pattern between mobility and a relatively small fraction of variables from some specific technological categories. Cases where the best-fitted classification algorithm fails to generalize are found significantly interesting. These instances can unveil lack of information, not enough entries in the training set, singular features or ambiguity, the latter case being a possible indicator of the interaction between nautical and pedestrian societies.HAR-2009-06996, CSD2010-00034, HAR2017-
90883-REDC, CULM-HAR2016-77672-P (Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovacioÂŽn de EspanË a); PIP-0706, PIP-0348
(Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientıŽficas y TecnoloŽgicas-Argentina) and PICT 2012-2148 (Ministerio de
Ciencia, TecnologıŽa e InnovacioŽn Productiva de la RepuŽ blica Argentina); PROC/12-120610-A (SESAR WPE Long
Term and Innovative Research-European Commission); and Project GR-7846 (Wenner-Gren Foundation for
Anthropological Research
Back to the Grindstone? The Archaeological Potential of Grinding-Stone Studies in Africa with Reference to Contemporary Grinding Practices in Marakwet, Northwest Kenya
This article presents observations on grinding-stone implements and their uses in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, northwest Kenya. Tool use in Marakwet is contextualized with a select overview of literature on grinding-stones in Africa. Grinding-stones in Marakwet are incorporated not only into quotidian but also into more performative and ritual aspects of life. These tools have distinct local traditions laden with social as well as functional importance. It is argued that regionally and temporally specific studies of grinding-stone tool assemblages can be informative on the processing of various substances. Despite being common occurrences, grinding-stone tools are an under-discussed component of many African archaeological assemblages. Yet the significance of grinding-stones must be reevaluated, as they hold the potential to inform on landscapes of past food and material processing
The site within West African political and craft history
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe
Pourquoi le décorer ?Quelques observations sur le décor céramique en Afrique
Depuis le fameux âWhy pots are decoratedâ (David et al. 1988), le dĂ©cor cĂ©ramique est passĂ© Ă lâarriĂšre plan des prĂ©occupations des archĂ©ologues africanistes, au profit dâautres aspects comme les techniques de fabrication ou les modes de consommation. A lâĂ©poque, lâarticle sonnait le glas dâun interminable dĂ©bat sur le style dominĂ© par la question du marquage des frontiĂšres sociales. En illustrant la dimension religieuse des pratiques ornementales, David et al. (1988) nâouvraient pas seulement de nouvelles pistes dâinterprĂ©tation: ils ramenaient Ă©galement le dĂ©cor parmi les autres Ă©lĂ©ments de la chaĂźne opĂ©ratoire, dont les dimensions symboliques commençaient alors Ă ĂȘtre mises en avant par un nombre croissant dâanthropologues. Cette thĂ©orie semble aujourdâhui aussi problĂ©matique que celle quâelle visait Ă remplacer. Le temps est venu de remettre le dĂ©cor sur la sellette, mais dans une perspective plus large que par le passĂ©. Câest ce que vise cet article, basĂ© sur des observations ethnographiques effectuĂ©es Ă travers le continent. Dans un premier temps, quelques aspects classiques de lâanalyse des dĂ©cors sont Ă©voquĂ©s, afin dâillustrer la complexitĂ© des pratiques ornementales et les dangers dâinterprĂ©tations trop univoques. Dans un second temps, de nouvelles perspectives dâinterprĂ©tation sont illustrĂ©es, liĂ©es Ă la spatialisation et aux dynamiques de constitution des mondes sociaux.SCOPUS: cp.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedArchaeological Research in Afric