Book Review: The Archaeology of Antislavery Resistance, by Terrance M. Weik

Review of The Archaeology of Antislavery Resistance, by Terrance M. Weik, 2012, University Press of Florida, Gainesville, 204 pp., 16 black and white figures, 3 maps, references, index, $69.95 (cloth),$19.95 (paper)

How to Make a Meal: Late Woodland Gathering at the Feltus Mounds Site, AD 700-1100

This dissertation analyzes botanical and faunal evidence from Feltus, a Late Woodland period mound site used between AD 700 to 1100, in order to understand what plants and animals were gathered, harvested, and hunted for community gatherings. This interpretation is based on data from unrestricted contexts around the plaza and a restricted context on a mound summit. Data from unrestricted contexts reveal three groupings of taxa brought to Feltus: amassed foods that were stored, those that were brought fresh, and special components. Amassed and stored foods, which involved a large degree of planning, include nuts, starchy grain seeds, and fruits. Amassed and fresh foods, which were prone to spoilage and compiled shortly before or during an event, included deer, rabbits, squirrel, and fish. Plants and animals that did not fit into either category are special components. Special plants were those associated with ritual and medicinal activities, while special animals included dangerous mammals, raptors and owls, and crawfish.In contrast, the restricted midden deposit on Mound B included specific dishes, labor-intensive ingredients, and conspicuous consumption. Mound-top meals not only incorporated a smaller range of taxa, indicating a focus on more specific dishes, but also highlighted labor-intensive ingredients, including nut oils, possible fish oil, and small grain seeds. Conspicuous consumption was demonstrated through younger cuts of deer focusing on roasted vertebrae and ribs, roasted squirrel, and bear paws.Combining data from unrestricted and restricted contexts reveals support for three interrelated activities: feasting featuring amassed stored and fresh taxa, rituals utilizing special plants and animals, and medicinal activities using plants associated with illness and purification. These activities also reveal discontinuities in the current Southeastern framework for delineating communal feasting and other activities; in particular, higher species richness and special taxa are not limited to elite private meals. This reversal of faunal patterns suggests the need for a more flexible set of subsistence expectations for pre-Mississippian communities. In turn, this flexibility may be better suited for identifying subsistence shifts among transforming Late Woodland societies.Doctor of Philosoph

Archaeological Investigations at the Vance Site on the University of North Carolina Campus, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Research Report No. 34, Research Laboratories of Archaeology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Reports in this series discuss the findings of archaeological excavations and research projects undertaken by the RLA between 1984 and present

Investigating the Heart of a Community: Archaeological Excavations at the African Meeting House, Boston, Massachusetts

In collaboration with the Museum of African American History, an archaeological research team from the University of Massachusetts Boston carried out a data recovery excavation at the African Meeting House on Beacon Hill. The African Meeting House was a powerful social institution for 19thcentury Boston’s free black community. The site played an important role in the abolition movement, the creation of educational opportunity, and other community action for social and political equality. The Meeting House was originally built in 1806, and renovations in preparation for the 2006 bi-centennial celebration prompted an investigation of areas of the property to be impacted by the proposed construction. Archaeological fieldwork, conducted under Massachusetts Historical Commission Permit Number 2750, was spread over seven weeks in May through July 2005. The field team opened and explored about 19 m2 of the site in the backlot south of the Meeting House and alley to the west. These excavations recorded information about a series of significant features and deposits, and collected over 38,000 artifacts and a series of soil samples for a detailed archaeobiological research program. These excavations met the requirements of the data recovery program as outlined in 950 CMR 70.00 and in the Memorandum of Agreement for the project, and the proposed renovation work proceeded with a finding of no adverse effect (36 CFR 800.5(b)). The depositional history and the nature of the archaeological record allow us to separate the overall excavation into three sub-areas: 1) the west alley between the AMH and 2 Smith Court; 2) the historic Meeting House backlot; and 3) the south yard, which originally belonged to the 44 Joy Street property. In terms of significant features and deposits, the west alley was almost entirely a series of builders’ trenches reflecting the historic sequence of construction and remodeling of the Meeting House and adjacent buildings to the west. In the backlot, the units against the south wall of the Meeting House contained similar builders’ trenches. The backlot also contained a series of stone and brick drains and a trash-rich midden layer. The vast majority of artifacts in the Meeting House backlot date from about 1806–1840. The ceramics assemblage is particularly large, and reflects both community meals at the Meeting House and business of Domingo Williams, a caterer who rented a basement apartment. Finally, only one feature was studied in the south yard, a privy (outhouse) that was for the 44 Joy Street property. The bottommost layer of the privy was an artifact rich nightsoil layer, dating to about 1811–1838, and containing the trash of African American tenants living at 44 Joy Street. Together, the archaeological deposits in the backlot provide a variety of insights into living conditions, economic opportunity, foodways, health, and daily life for 19th-century Boston’s free black community. These results thus provide information to help further the research, interpretation, and public education goals of the Museum of African American History

Production and Consumption on a 19th-Century Spanish New Mexican Homestead: Exploring Daily Life Through Faunal and Floral Analyses

The Parker Borrego household, situated in northern New Mexico along the Rio Grande, produced and consumed animals and plants in a historical period that spanned control by three different colonial regimes: Spain, Mexico, and the United States. Occupied between 1830 and 1880, Parker Borrego residents would have sustained local knowledge of flora, maintained culinary aesthetics, and utilized crop and animal production to participate in local and regional economies. This thesis attempts to elucidate the ways that faunal and floral remains intersected with each other to structure daily life. Faunal and floral remains collected form the site are considered as whole in order to provide a larger data set for analysis. This information is combined with 20th-century WPA documents, local cookbooks, and oral histories in order to provide a more detailed and nuanced picture of daily life in a rural area. As such, this thesis presents a model for analyzing 19th-century New Mexico which future researchers can apply and refine to specific sites. Themes explored through the integration of this information include garden production, wild plants, culinary connections, and economic production. Because Spanish New Mexican households involved Native peoples as trading partners, laborers, and marriage partners, the kitchen became one site where matters of gender, culture, and identity were constantly negotiated. Use of crop and animal surpluses for trading purposes provided residents with opportunities to participate in economies of scale, providing opportunities to purchase both food and material goods which were not available to families on a daily basis. This availability or non-availability of plants and animals structured the ability of women to both maintain culinary traditions and supplant those traditions with new and novel ingredients or cooking methods

Serum angiogenic profile of patients with glioblastoma identifies distinct tumor subtypes and shows that TIMP-1 is a prognostic factor

Angiogenesis plays a key role in glioblastoma biology and antiangiogenic agents are under clinical investigation with promising results. However, the angiogenic profiles of patients with glioblastoma and their clinical significance are not well understood. Here we characterize the serum angiogenic profile of patients with glioblastoma, and examine the prognostic significance of individual angiogenic factors. Serum samples from 36 patients with glioblastoma were collected on admission and simultaneously assayed for 48 angiogenic factors using protein microarrays. The data were analyzed using hierarchical cluster analysis. Vessel morphology was assessed histologically after immunostaining for the pan-endothelial marker CD31. Tumor samples were also immunostained for tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1). Cluster analysis of the serum angiogenic profiles revealed 2 distinct subtypes of glioblastoma. The 2 subtypes had markedly different tumor microvessel densities. A low serum level of TIMP-1 was associated with significantly longer survival independent of patient age, performance status, or treatment. The serum angiogenic profile in patients with glioblastoma mirrors tumor biology and has prognostic value. Our data suggest the serum TIMP-1 level as an independent predictor of survival

Messung von Werbewirkungen auf Makroebene

Der vorliegende Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit Indikatoren zur Messung gesamtwirtschaftlicher Entwicklung und aggregierter Werbeaktivitäten sowie mit Messmodellen zur Werbewirkung auf Branchen- und Volkswirtschaftsebene. Aus theoretischer Perspektive bestehen im Wesentlichen drei Zusammenhangsmöglichkeiten zwischen Werbung und Branchenumsatz, Konsum oder gesamtwirtschaftlichem Wachstum: vorauslaufend (Werbung führt zu Effekten auf Branchen- oder Volkswirtschaftsebene), nachlaufend (die Entwicklung von Branchen oder der Gesamtwirtschaft beeinflusst das Werbeverhalten), oder es wird kein Zusammenhang nachgewiesen, da Werbung nur Bedürfnisse innerhalb von Produktkategorien verschiebt, und ihre Wirkung somit auf Makroebene » unsichtbar « bleibt. Vor diesem Hintergrund werden passende Messmodelle und Inferenztechniken aus einer marketing- oder volkswirtschaftlich orientierten Forschungstradition sowie aus kommunikationswissenschaftlicher Perspektive vorgestellt und diskutiert, welche Auswirkungen Umfang und Frequenz der verwendeten aggregierten Daten zu Werbeaktivitäten sowie aus der Volkswirtschaftlichen Gesamtrechnung, der Beobachtungszeitraum und der Einfluss struktureller Änderungen auf die Messergebnisse haben. Zukünftige Forschung sollte dazu beitragen, die teilweise widersprüchlichen theoretisch postulierten Zusammenhänge systematisch mit effizienten Messmodellen zu prüfen