Fueling the hearths in India : the role of dung in paleoethnobotanical interpretation

In assigning meaning to agricultural crop remains from archaeological sites, paleoethnobotanists are often hindered by issues related to defining the original source of carbonized seeds recovered from contexts where fuel material could have been a contributor. This article presents the results of recent ethnoarchaeological research conducted in India specifically designed to investigate the source of seed assemblages in archaeological contexts through studies of dung production and utilization by traditional farming communities. Particular attention is given to distinguishing the activities involved in and around domestic hearths, variation between different types of hearths and their fueling, and the nature of dung in India. Combining these results with previous studies on dung fueled hearths will provide paleoethnobotanists with a broader range of possible human behavior to test in archaeobotanical investigations.Lors de l'analyse des restes de moissons provenant de sites archéologiques, les paléobotanistes se heurtent souvent au problème d'identification des graines trouvées dans des contextes qui ont pu contenir du combustible. Cet article présente les résultats de recherches ethnoarchéologiques - production et utilisation du fumier par les sociétés agricoles traditionnelles - conduites en Inde afin d'aider à l'identification de l'origine de graines recueillies dans les contextes archéologiques. L'effort a porté en particulier sur la distinction qu'il convient d'établir en Inde entre des activités effectuées dans les foyers et à leur proximité, sur les différences entre les divers types de foyers et de combustibles, et sur la nature du fumier. Ces nouveaux résultats s 'ajoutant à des études plus anciennes ayant porté sur les foyers alimentés avec du fumier vont permettre aux paléoethnobotanistes d'élargir la gamme des possibilités qu'il leur faudra tester.Reddy Seetha N. Fueling the hearths in India : the role of dung in paleoethnobotanical interpretation. In: Paléorient, 1998, vol. 24, n°2. pp. 61-69

Changing Palates and Resources: Regional and Diachronic Trends in Plant Use in Prehistoric California

Despite considerable differences in plant communities across western California, the region’s hunter-gatherers often have been viewed as having a broadly similar plant resource orientation. The paper re-assesses this perspective by explicitly examining spatial and temporal variation in plant use west of the Sierra Nevada. In doing so, the study capitalizes on a growing body of paleoethnobotanical data to explore similarities and differences in plant food resource emphasis across six main regions in western California. Discussion emphasizes trends in the relative reliance on exploited resources, focusing on three main plant food groups—seeds, nuts, and geophytes—the ‘Sister Trilogy of California.’ The results provide an archaeological baseline to explore to what degree observed spatio-temporal patterns in plant use are primarily a function of resource distribution and density, and in what contexts social factors (such as investment in labor, risk assessment, population density, settlement organization, and cultural preference) play a more prominent role

Introduction: Plant Use by Complex Hunter-Gatherers: Paleoethnobotanical Studies in California

Food is one of the most tangible, persistent, and engrained elements of cultural behavior in any given society, past or present. Subsistence systems in California have been greatly elucidated in the past two decades through the study of the continually expanding archaeobotanical record. This special section of the Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology (Volume 36, Nos. 1 and 2) situates paleoethnobotany in California by highlighting the research currently being conducted by scholars working in various coastal, island, and inland settings in the state. The California archaeobotanical record offers signi cant insights into the evolution of intensive plant exploitation by sedentary hunter-gatherers who maximized their use of a well-endowed but highly diverse environment. The breadth of papers presented here demonstrates the range of research issues that have been addressed using California archaeobotanical data, and suggests what that record might contribute to the resolution of archaeological problems in similar contexts elsewhere

Fish Tales from the Ballona: The Role of Fish Along the Mainland Coast of Southern California

Using a robust data set from a series of Native American sites in the Los Angeles Basin, we explore whether these coastal settlements are best characterized as representing maritime or littoral adaptations. In doing so, we examine the range of food exploited, while focusing attention on the relative role of fish, marine mammals, and terrestrial mammals in these subsistence economies. We conclude that the uniformly low exploitation of marine mammals and fish—and deep sea fish in particular—in this coastal southern California setting and many others south of Malibu is due in large part to the rich terrestrial and littoral resources of the area. As such, these more readily available foods were consistently favored over the higher risk and labor investment strategy that typifies exploitation of offshore resources. We conclude with a broader consideration of differences and similarities between Los Angeles Basin adaptations and those in other settings within southern California

<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language: HI" lang="EN-GB">Methane reforming with carbon dioxide over La-Ni_x-Ce_1-x mixed oxide catalysts</span>

478-483La-Nix-Ce1-x mixed oxide (0≤x≤1) catalysts have been hydrothermally prepared, characterized by physico-chemical techniques and evaluated for CO2 reforming of methane. High conversions are achieved <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">for both methane and carbon dioxide over the LaNi0.6Ce0.4O3 catalyst tested under the conditions of CO2/CH4/N2 ratio of 80/80/80 (total flow rate = 240 mL/min), space velocity of 28,800 h-1 and at a temperature of 800 °C. The H2/CO ratio in the syngas is stable at 0.93±0.02. Exchanging Ni with Ce, rather than with La as reported in the literature, appears to be a better option for the improved performance of the catalysts. </span