William Nathaniel Irving (1927-1987)

William Nathaniel Irving died on November 25, 1987. He was an arctic archaeologist and professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto, internationally recognized as a leading scholar in arctic prehistory. His contributions were significant and appreciated during his lifetime. His initial research interests were in the Inuit cultures of northern Alaska and their antecedents, which led him to study both their ethnoarchaeology and the systematics and technology of stone implements, e.g., those of the arctic small tool tradition. His major research focus in the last two decades of his career was in searching in the northern Yukon for answers to a problem that puzzled anthropologists for over a century - when did humans enter the New World? Irving spent a good deal of time studying this topic while continuing to fulfill his university responsibilities as teacher, administrator and director of numerous graduate students. ..

Archaeological Theme Parks, Public Archaeology, and Living Museums: Prospects for the Upper Great Lakes Region

The development and management of heritage sites, including prehistorical and historical archaeological sites, trading posts and aboriginal traditional-use sites, is of interest to governments for their potential in the fields of tourism, youth employment and economic development. In Canada, the issues of rights, ownership and management decisions for such sites are still in contention as multiple cultures (Aboriginal, French, English) may have occupied and used these sites either successively or concurrently. The First Nations often have some claim to these sites as they are of the original culture, but the government ministries at national and provincial levels maintain some control via heritage legislation. Increasingly, the First Nations are exercising their claim to a voice in the development of such heritage resources, and co-management agreements appear to be the most successful arrangements. Examples of successfully co-managed projects will be evaluated with respect to future development in the cultural heritage sector and the prospects for a World Heritage site designation in the Great Lakes region will be examined

Task-oriented quantitative testing for synthesized 3-D auditory displays

Presented at 2nd International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD), Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 7-9, 1994.Current human machine interfaces in Navy systems which incorporate headphone listening fail to take full advantage of human binaural sensory processing capabilities. These interfaces can be improved by providing the capability to present multiple spatialized audio channels over headphones using technology which is available today. Before these changes are considered, quantitative testing must take place which addresses the task to be performed, and the impact the spatialization will have on the task. This poster will describe a testing system for quantifying the effects of 3-D audio spatialization on a detection and classification problem similar in important ways to a sonar operator's task

The Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Transition in the Levant and New Thermoluminescence Dates for a Late Mousterian Assemblage from Jerf-al Ajla Cave (Syria)

Thermoluminescence dating of eight heated flint artefacts from the Late Mousterian (Moustérien tardif) layer С at Jerf al- Ajla, cave in the Syrian steppe desert near Palmyra gave an average age of 33.3 ±2.3 ka. The assemblage shows strong similarities to the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic stratigraphically intermediate layers from the nearby site of Umm el Tlel, which are dated by the same method on the same kind of material to a statistically identical age. This dating result extends the age range of the Middle Palaeolithic in the Levant and indicates a considerable overlap in time with not only the Upper Palaeolithic, but with the transitional industries as well. The Levantine technocomplexes assigned, to the times before, during and after the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic shift/transition are briefly discussed here, with a focus on the chronometric data available. The presented new dating results emphasize the complexity in the development lithic and the difficulties a single model to times of change.Des datations de huit silex chauffés par thermoluminescence de la couche С du Moustérien tardif de la grotte de Jerf al-Ajla site du désert, steppique syrien, situé près de Palmyre, ont donné un âge moyen de 33,3 ±2,3 ka. L 'assemblage montre des similitudes fortes avec les couches stratigraphiquement intermédiaires entre le Paléolithique Moyen et le Paléolithique Supérieur du site voisin, Umm el Tlel, dont les datations obtenues selon les mêmes méthode et matériel, donnent un âge pratiquement identique. Les datations obtenues élargissent la longue durée du Paléolithique Moyen au Levant et indiquent un chevauchement très important avec et le Paléolithique Supérieur, mais aussi les industries de transition. Les technocomplexes du Levant attribués aux périodes précédentes, contemporaines de et postérieures à la transition du Paléolithique Moven au Paléolithique Supérieur sont brièvement discutés, avec l 'appui des données économétriques disponibles. Les nouvelles datations présentées soulignent la complexité du développement de la. technologie lithique. Ils soulignent aussi les difficultés qu 'il a à appliquer un seul modèle aux périodes de changement.Richter Daniel, Schroeder H. Bruce, Rink W. J., Julig Patrick J., Schwarcz Henry P. The Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Transition in the Levant and New Thermoluminescence Dates for a Late Mousterian Assemblage from Jerf-al Ajla Cave (Syria). In: Paléorient, 2001, vol. 27, n°2. pp. 29-46