The spatial structure of lithic landscapes : the late holocene record of east-central Argentina as a case study

Fil: Barrientos, Gustavo. División Antropología. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Catella, Luciana. División Arqueología. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Oliva, Fernando. Centro Estudios Arqueológicos Regionales. Facultad de Humanidades y Artes. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentin

After the harvest: investigating the role of food processing in past human societies

Plant processing provides an essential framework for archaeobotanical interpretation since practices of processing lie between the ancient acquisition of plants and the preserved remains of archaeology. Crop-processing stages have received much attention as they contribute towards the interpretation of plants recovered from archaeological sites, linking them to routine human activities that generated these plant remains. Yet, there are many other important aspects of the human past that can be explored through food processing studies that are much less often investigated, e.g. how culinary practices may have influenced resource selection, plant domestication and human diet, health, evolution and cultural identity. Therefore, this special issue of AAS on “Food Processing Studies in Archaeobotany and Ethnobotany” brings together recent pioneering methodological and interpretive archaeobotanical approaches to the study of ancient food processing. This new research, which involves archaeobotany, ethnoarchaeology, ethnobotany and experimental methods, encompasses investigations into dietary choice, cultural traditions and cultural change as well as studies of the functional properties (i.e. performance characteristics) of edible plants, and the visibility as well as dietary benefits and consequences of different food processing methods.Fil: Capparelli, Aylen. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Arqueología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Valamoti, Soultana Maria. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; GreciaFil: Wollstonecroft, Michèle M.. No especifíca

Ancient Maya Settlement Patterns at the Site of Sayil, Puuc Region, Yucatan, Mexico: Initial Reconnaissance (1983)

The ancient Maya site of Sayil is located in the Puuc region of northern Yucatan approximately halfway between the sites of Kabah and Labna (Figure 1). It is a very large site both in terms of extensive public architecture and areal extent, although it is not nearly as well known as Uxmal nor are many of its structures visited by tourists. Our current knowledge of the site\u27s overall layout is based on the 1934 map prepared by Edwin Shook under the direction of Harry Pollock during the latter\u27s survey of Puuc architecture for the Carnegie Institution of Washington (Pollock 1980). A brief initial reconnaissance of Sayil was undertaken in May-June in 1983 with the intention of laying the groundwork for a full-scale multiyear exploration of the settlement and community patterns of the site. This initial research has given us a much clearer picture of the nature of Sayil\u27s settlement than was heretofore available and has allowed us to carefully plan for future research