Jackson, H. Edwin

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The University of Southern MississippiThe Aquila Digital CommunityFaculty Publications10-1-1996Ancient Peoples and LandscapesH. Edwin JacksonUniversity of Southern Mississippi, Ed.Jackson@usm.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubsPart of the Anthropology CommonsThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in FacultyPublications by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact Joshua.Cromwell@usm.edu.Recommended CitationJackson, H. E. (1996). Ancient Peoples and Landscapes. American Antiquity, 61(4), 802-803.Available at: http://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/8286 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY deals well with the topology of two-dimensional space; research on incorporating the third temporal dimen- sion is underway. Clearly, an ability to construct and manipulate a 3-D topology would be most useful to archaeologists. In addition, they generalize that North American archaeological sites, with their firm spatial and tempo- ral boundaries, can comfortably be represented in GIS data layers and perhaps be related to local environmen- tal indicators. In contrast, contemporaneous phenome- non in the complex archaeological palimpsests of Europe are best represented as sites with fuzzy and unrestricted boundaries. First, I challenge their charac- terization of North American archaeological land- scapes; archaeological landscapes everywhere are accretional phenomenon, but vary in density. Second, rather than describe the archaeological landscape in terms of sites with fuzzy boundaries, palimpsest deposits may better be described in terms of a uniform landscape element with a specified archaeological character (a raster solution), or, if sparse, in terms of constituent artifacts and features, which may then be aggregated to meet various analytic needs (a vector solution). Sites, with either definite or fuzzy bound- aries, are defective units with which to build a database, as Gaffney elsewhere notes. The volume closes with a debate between Gaffney and van Leusen on the merits of GIS analyses of archaeological data against readily mapped environ- mental data-the so-called functional or environmental determinism approach-which is prominently dis- played in many North American applications. Van Leusen argues for its utility in exploratory analysis; Gaffney contends that such studies are simplistic and much more contextual information than is presently called upon is needed. While a great deal of angst is exposed here, most of the volume chapters demonstrate the utility of playing the archaeologically manifested cultural landscape against this modeled physical land- scape in an effort to learn both about the inadequacies of the determination and also the nature of the cultural landscape. In sum, this volume offers a technically and episte- mologically sophisticated counterpoint to GIS applica- tions by North American authors. This refreshing vol- ume will find use in dusty academic classrooms, gov- ernment cubicles where management decisions are hatched and implemented, and the ozone-rich lairs of GIS computer-jockeys. I expect it will soon be as dog- eared as its predecessor.eals well with the topology of two-dimensional space;esearch on incorporating the third temporal im n-ion is underway. Clearly, an ability to construct andanipulate a 3-D topology would be m st useful torchaeologists.In ad ition, they generalize that North Americanrchaeological sites, with their firm spatial and tempo-al boundaries, can comfortably be represent d in GISata layers and perha s be related to loc l nvir nmen-al indicators. In contrast, contempora eous phenome-on in the complex archaeological palimpsests ofurope are best r presented as sites with fuzzy andnrestricted boundaries. Fi st, I challenge their charac-erization of North American archaeological land-capes; archaeological landscapes everywher  areccretional phenome n, but vary in densit . Second,ather than describe the archaeological landscape inerms of site  with fuzzy bo ndaries, palimpsesteposits may better be describe  in terms of a uniformlandscape element with a specified archaeologic lharacter (a raster solution), or, if sparse, in terms ofonsti uent ar ifac s and features, which may then beggregated to meet various analytic needs (a vectorolution). Sites, with either definite or fuzzy bound-ries, are d fectiv  units with which o build a database,s Gaffney lsewhere notes.he volume closes with a debate between Gaffneynd van Leusen on the merits of GIS analyses ofrchaeological data against readily mapped environ- Ancient Peoples and Landscapes. EILEEN JOHNSON, editor. Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock, 1995. xii + 368 pp., figures, tables, references. $34.95 (paper). Reviewed by H. Edwin Jackson, University of Southern Mississippi. This volume contains 24 papers from an international symposium marking a half century of scientific explo- ration at the Lubbock Lake Landmark in west Texas. It enco passes the diversity of Quaternary studies, with r ports of current research in archaeology, ethnohisto- ry, paleoanthropology, paleoenvironmental and paleoe- cological research, zooarchaeology, taphonomy, and paleontology, covering five continents. Not an ov rview of Quaternary studies, the book instead pre- sents an eclectic snapshot of the discipline. Papers r nge from synthetic works to progress reports. The introductory essay by Pat Shipman explores thederlying causes of persistent controversy surround- ing studies of early humans, including several aspects of taphonomic studies, which at present produce ambi-guity and open the door to alternative interpretations, s well as the controversy engendered by paleoanthro- pology's historical roots, and by what Shipman sees asa count rproductive "hypercritical" stage in the disci- pline's development. Two papers tackle more substantive taphonomic issues. Gary Haynes musters a wealth of data on mod- ern death assemblage characteristics from Africa and North America to evaluate the possible cultural source of pre-Clovis bone assemblages. Eileen Johnson offers an important reanalysis of the integrity of bone accu- mulations at Lubbock Lake, quantitatively demonstrat- ing the probable extent of postdepositional alteration of the assemblage. Sedimentological data are used to reconstruct pale- oenvironmental records and consider archaeological sequences in several areas of the world. These include contributions by Paul Goldberg and Ofer Bar-Yosef on the Levant; V N. Misra on Rajasthan (India); Marie- Agnes Courty on the Ghaggar Plain (India); and A. E. Dodonov on central Asian Tajikistan. Two papers focus on the paleoenvironment of west- ern Texas. In a benchmark work, Vance T. Holliday develops an elegant model of Late Quaternary environ- mental variation on the southern High Plains that incor- porates precipitation and ground-water patterns. The model accounts for the diverse and often seemingly contradictory stratigraphic evidence from the region's draws, dunes, and playas. C. Reid Ferring examines Late Quaternary environmental change and Paleoindian occupation from a single site perspective, using data from the Aubrey Clovis site on the Texas Gulf coastal plain.5. xii + 368 pp., figures, tables, eferences. $34.95 802  [Vol. 61, No. 4, 1996]This content downloaded from 131.95.218.41 on Tue, 29 Aug 2017 20:06:04 UTCAll use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTES Through an analysis of 30 years of radiocarbon dates, Wayne M. Wendland considers the timing of Holocene climatic events. He concludes that major shifts are basically synchronous, relatively abrupt, and may be at least partially related to volcanic activity. Invertebrate paleontological data offer additional per- spectives on paleoenvironmental change in papers by Scott A. Elias on insect exoskeleton assemblages from the west-central United States and by Raymond Neck on the extirpation of molluscan taxa from the southern High Plains during the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene interval. Two papers examine New World Pleistocene pale- ontology. The role humans may have played in the ter- minal Pleistocene faunal extinctions in Argentina is considered by Gustavo G. Politis, Jose L. Prado, and Roelf P. Beukens. Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales and Eileen Johnson reinterpret the fossil assemblage from San Josecito Cave, northeastern Mexico, based on recent excavations and a reassessment of materials collected more than 50 years earlier. Using a differently calculated mitochondrial DNA lineage survival rate and an analysis of facial geometry of premodern Homo specimens, Geoffrey Pope and Michael J. Williams cast doubt on the popular "Eve Hypothesis." They argue that certain modern features appeared first in Asia and conclude that modern human variation is most likely the product of hybridization of previously isolated, morphologically distinctive popu- lations with roots in the Early Pleistocene. The remaining nine papers focus specifically on the human cultural record. These include, from the Old World, Ralph Solecki on hearth features in the Middle Paleolithic deposits of Shanidar Cave in northeastern Iraq; Sandra L. Olsen's critique of the interpretation of the site of Solutre (east-central France) as an Upper Paleolithic horse jump; Huang Wanpo on Lower Paleolithic bone artifacts from Longtan Cave in the Anhjui Province of China; Yuan Xiaofeng on Upper Paleolithic sites and Late Pleistocene paleoecology in northeast China; Kim Ackerman on Australian archae- ological and ethnohistoric evidence for nonlithic arti- facts; and Johan Kamminga on late Holocene occupa- tion of the Snowy Mountains of southeastern Australia, with predictions about the possible nature of an earlier Pleistocene archaeological record. From the Western hemisphere, Luis Borrero pro- vides an overview of the prehistory of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, and Lee Lyman compares artiodactyl butchering patterns exhibited by assemblages from coastal and inland sites in Washington State, as a point of departure for considering the present methodological and ethnoarchaeological limitations on accounting for the considerable variability in butchering evidence. Inrough an analysis of 30 years of radiocarbontes, Wayne M. Wendland considers the timing oflocene climatic events. He concludes that majorifts are basically synchronous, relatively abrupt, anday be at least partially relat d o volcanic activity.ertebrate paleontological d ta offer additional per-ectives on paleo nvironmental ch nge i  papers byott A. Elias on insect exoskeleton assemblages frome west-central United States and by Raymond Neck the extirpation of molluscan t xa from the southern the volume's final paper, David Meltzer considers the elusive Middle Holocene altithermal archaeological record of the southern High Plains and, using ethno- graphic evi ence of arid climate forager adaptations, offers four alternative models of altithermal adaptive s rategies. The foregoing gives some appreciation of the vol- ume's cove age. Even with a well-defined theme, topic, or geographic focus, a volume that reports the activities comprising modern Quaternary research risks being quite broad. The eclectic content of Ancient Peoples and Landscapes unfortunately lacks even minimal bounds, a problem common to Festschrift volumes, which is essentially what this book is. There will be fewscientists interested in Quaterary paleoenvironments or related human responses who will not find informa- tive papers. At the same time, it is likely that few pos- sess scholarly interests and expertise to take advantage of the entire volume. With notable exceptions (e.g., Meltzer, Olsen, Kamminga, Wendland), the papers are written for a specialist audience. Together, they do not comprise, as Johnson suggests in the preface, a "primer on the global status of Quaternary studies" (p. xi), if by primer is meant an introduction. Treatment is uneven. Certain papers are synthetic (e.g., Goldberg and Bar-Yosef, Wendland, Holliday) or make important general theoretical or methodological contributions (e.g., Haynes, Pope and Williams, Meltzer, Lyman, E. Williams), and these will be of broad interest. Others are too brief or too parochial in scop . The volume also exhibits detracting production problems, including numerous typographic errors, miss- ing text, and some apparent problems in translation. These criticisms aside, it is fair to say that this book encapsulates the interdisciplinary communication essential for progress in the field. This effort must be commended. Readers interested in Quaternary pale- oenvironments, earth scientists in particular, will find much of this volume to be of interest. Others may have to pick and choose. Cahokia's Countryside: Household Archaeology, Settlement Patterns, and Social Power. MARK W MEHRER. Northern Illinois University Press, DeKalb, 1995. xvii + 213 pp., figures, tables, references cited, index. $29.00 (paper). Reviewed by Timothy R. Pauketat, State University of New York-Buffalo. The deployment of heavy machinery in "American Bottom" archaeology has meant that entire household- cluster and community plans have been recovered froml e's final paper, David Meltzer considers thei  iddle Holocene alti hermal archaeological of the southern High Plains and, using ethno-ic evidence of arid climate forager ad ptations,s four alternative models of alti hermal d ptive 803This content downloaded from 131.95.218.41 on Tue, 29 Aug 2017 20:06:04 UTCAll use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Ancient Peoples and Landscapes

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Ancient Peoples and Landscapes

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