USE-ALTERATION ANALYSIS OF FIRE-CRACKED ROCKS

2018 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 681-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernanda Neubauer
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Cooking Methods ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Upper Peninsula ◽  
Similar Materials ◽  
Standardized Terminology ◽  
Grand Island ◽  
Lithic Artifacts ◽  
Earth Oven

Although it is now commonplace for archaeologists to study use-alteration patterns on ceramics, the same cannot be said of one of the most ubiquitous classes of hunter-gatherer artifacts, fire-cracked rocks (FCR). It can be shown, however, that many of the same methods and theories applied to the study of cooking ceramics are also relevant to the investigation of rocks used as heating elements. Because use alteration analyses of FCR are so scarce, I describe a range of attributes with the goal of helping researchers identify use alterations (e.g., sooting, reddening, various fracturing patterns) on lithic artifacts from sites worldwide and evaluate their potential function in various cultural practices. These attributes are also outlined in order to create a standardized terminology for describing FCR use-alteration patterns. I discuss my analysis of FCR from three Late Archaic sites (Duck Lake, 913, and 914) on Grand Island in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, followed by an interpretation of their cooking contexts, as a case study. The results indicate great intersite variability among FCR characteristics, cooking methods, and cooking facilities (earth oven, stone boiling, and rock griddle). This use alteration analysis can be applied in archaeological contexts worldwide where similar materials are recovered.

scholarly journals Late archaic hunter-gatherer lithic technology and function (chipped stone, ground stone, and fire-cracked rock)

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 260-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernanda Neubauer
Keyword(s):  
Archaic Period ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Upper Peninsula ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Chipped Stone ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
Grand Island ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
And Function

This doctoral research highlights the complicated trajectories of hunter-gatherers by offering a case study from an understudied but rich hunter-gatherer landscape, the Late Archaic period (c. 5,000-2,000 BP) on Grand Island in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, United States. Although there is a paucity of Late Archaic period archaeological data from the mainland of the Upper Peninsula, recent excavations by the Grand Island Archaeological Program (GIAP), directed by James M. Skibo (Illinois State University) and co-directed by Eric C. Drake (Hiawatha National Forest), have yielded a sizable body of evidence of Late Archaic occupations on Grand Island. I have been a staff member and collaborator with GIAP since 2007, conducting research, laboratory work, and co-directing excavations. My analysis of 39,186 lithics from five sites on the island more than doubles the current number of c. 32,000 lithics analyzed in the entire southern shore of Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from dated Late Archaic sites. Similarly, the 495 faunal remains identified and analyzed by Terrance Martin and Elizabeth Scott for this dissertation also more than doubles the total 296 pieces of animal bones analyzed from dated Late Archaic sites of the Upper Peninsula. In addition, in contrast to those sites, where no complete and finished projectile points have been recovered in context, GIAP have identified a total of five projectile points. These points may contribute to data on diagnostic artifact types in the Upper Peninsula, which is currently almost non-existent, and to our general understanding of exchange practices and social interactions.

An Author as Literature. (Visual) Autofiction of Dorota Masłowska

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Michalak
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Conceptual Art ◽  
Visual Representations ◽  
The Creation

Using the promotional meeting of Dorota Masłowska’s book "More than you can eat" (16 April 2015 in the Bar Studio, Warsaw), as a case study, the article examines the role author plays in it and try to show how the author itself can become the literature. As a result of the transformation of cultural practices associated with the new media, the author’s figure has gained much greater visibility which consequently changed its meaning. In the article, Masłowska’s artistic strategy is compared to visual autofiction in conceptual art and interpreted through the role of the performance and visual representations in the creation of the image or author’s brand.

scholarly journals Between Pleasure and Resistance: The Role of Substance Consumption in an Italian Working-Class Subculture

Societies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Placido
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Critical Criminology ◽  
Ethnographic Case Study ◽  
Youth Cultures ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Substance Consumption ◽  
North Western

In this article I discuss how illegal substance consumption can act as a tool of resistance and as an identity signifier for young people through a covert ethnographic case study of a working-class subculture in Genoa, North-Western Italy. I develop my argument through a coupled reading of the work of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) and more recent post-structural developments in the fields of youth studies and cultural critical criminology. I discuss how these apparently contrasting lines of inquiry, when jointly used, shed light on different aspects of the cultural practices of specific subcultures contributing to reflect on the study of youth cultures and subcultures in today’s society and overcoming some of the ‘dead ends’ of the opposition between the scholarly categories of subculture and post-subculture. In fact, through an analysis of the sites, socialization processes, and hedonistic ethos of the subculture, I show how within a single subculture there could be a coexistence of: resistance practices and subversive styles of expression as the CCCS research program posits; and signs of fragmentary and partial aesthetic engagements devoid of political contents and instead primarily oriented towards the affirmation of the individual, as argued by the adherents of the post-subcultural position.

scholarly journals Dimensions of Urban Blight in Emerging Southern Cities: A Case Study of Accra-Ghana

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8399
Author(s):  
Sally Adofowaa Mireku ◽  
Zaid Abubakari ◽  
Javier Martinez
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Global South ◽  
Economic Decline ◽  
City Development ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Population Loss ◽  
Land Transfer ◽  
Urban Blight ◽  
Global North

Urban blight functions inversely to city development and often leads to cities’ deterioration in terms of physical beauty and functionality. While the underlying causes of urban blight in the context of the global north are mainly known in the literature to be population loss, economic decline, deindustrialisation and suburbanisation, there is a research gap regarding the root causes of urban blight in the global south, specifically in prime areas. Given the differences in the property rights regimes and economic growth trajectories between the global north and south, the underlying reasons for urban blight cannot be assumed to be the same. This study, thus, employed a qualitative method and case study approach to ascertain in-depth contextual reasons and effects for urban blight in a prime area, East Legon, Accra-Ghana. Beyond economic reasons, the study found that socio-cultural practices of landholding and land transfer in Ghana play an essential role in how blighted properties emerge. In the quest to preserve cultural heritage/identity, successors of old family houses (the ancestral roots) do their best to stay in them without selling or redeveloping them. The findings highlight the less obvious but relevant functions that blighted properties play in the city core at the micro level of individual families in fostering social cohesion and alleviating the need to pay higher rents. Thus, in the global south, we conclude that there is a need to pay attention to the less obvious roles that so-called blighted properties perform and to move beyond the default negative perception that blighted properties are entirely problematic.

The Manifestation of New Public Service Principles in Small-town Government: A Case Study of Grand Island, New York

2021 ◽  
pp. 0160323X2110031
Author(s):  
Jason D. Rivera ◽  
Andrew Uttaro
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Engagement Strategies ◽  
New Public ◽  
Governance Practices ◽  
Grand Island ◽  
Inclusive Governance

Although New Public Service (NPS) principles are well known, their practice in local government settings has only been limitedly explored. As a means of better understanding governance practices that adhere to NPS principles in local contexts, this study engaged in a case study of Grand Island, New York. Through the analysis of interviews with elected officials and civic servant department heads, it is observed that public servants practice various public engagement strategies for gauging public sentiment and interests in public policy. However, these same public servants point out the challenges of public hearings and social media to understanding their citizens. Information on public servants’ notions of accountability is observed, which relates to how they view the public’s involvement in policy processes. Recommendations for future research are provided as a means of enhancing our understanding and development of more inclusive governance practices.

Archaic Origins of the Lowland Maya

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 312-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon C. Lohse
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Radiocarbon Data ◽  
Cultural Origins ◽  
Lines Of Evidence ◽  
Lowland Maya

The earliest Lowland Maya are commonly recognized by permanent architecture and the appearance of pottery. However, when other lines of evidence are considered, strong continuities with late Archaic populations can be seen. Reconciling these views relies on more than simply gathering more data. It is also necessary to consider the effect of decades of scholarship that defines the precolumbian Maya as “civilization” rather than considering the historical contexts of important transitions, such as the one that culminated with sedentism, the adoption of new technologies, and participation in long-distance exchange. The Archaic-to-Preclassic transition was relatively brief and largely obscured by the practices of establishing permanent dwellings. Nevertheless, this period must have been extremely dynamic and marked by significant cultural change, making it important to researchers interested in early Mesoamerica. Using three lines of evidence—subsistence, economy and technology, and stratigraphically controlled radiocarbon data—this article argues that the Lowland Maya had their cultural origins at least in the late Archaic and that the case for pottery before ca. 1000 B.C. remains uncertain. Future research is needed to determine precisely how far back in time certain cultural practices that characterize Preclassic and Classic Maya society can be documented.

Conferring Kinship: Examining Fictive Kinship Status in a Black Adolescent’s Natural Mentoring Relationship

2021 ◽  
pp. 009579842110026
Author(s):  
Edward D. Scott ◽  
Nancy L. Deutsch
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Mentoring Relationships ◽  
Relational Context ◽  
Mentoring Relationship ◽  
Fictive Kinship ◽  
Natural Mentoring ◽  
Narrative Methodology ◽  
Positive Feature ◽  
Nonparental Adults

This case study examines the way an adolescent Black boy extends his kinship network as a part of navigating and demonstrating agency in mentoring relationships with nonparental adults. We purposively selected one participant, Bodos, from the sample of a larger mixed-method study involving youth, aged 12 to 18 years, in the southeastern United States. Drawing on narrative methodology, we used a holistic-content approach to analyze Bodos’ responses to semistructured interviews. Bodos used several narratives to describe his experiences. We offer three findings: (a) Fictive kinship is a positive feature of Black adaptive culture that can be leveraged by Black youth as a tool for creating a distinct relational dynamic with their mentors, (b) adolescent Black boys possess skills and knowledge that both preexist and emerge within positive mentoring relationships, and (c) youth agency and expectations manifest in mentoring relationships to inform and influence those adults’ significance. This case study furthers the field’s understanding of how cultural practices can positively influence relational development and create a unique relational context and experience.

Postclassic Tool Production at Santa Rita Corozal

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc D. Marino ◽  
Lucas R. Martindale Johnson ◽  
Nathan J. Meissner
Keyword(s):  
Craft Production ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Lithic Artifacts ◽  
Exchange Network ◽  
Source Materials ◽  
Debitage Analysis

This chapter presents a case study of a previously excavated lithic sample from Santa Rita Corozal, considering stone tool production at two structures, 216 and 218. Both exhibit a higher number of Postclassic chert and chalcedony lithic artifacts than other contemporary structures excavated at the site. The authors use debitage analysis to reveal how two households crafted formal tools locally and visual sourcing analysis to better understand how these tools articulated with broader traditions of lithic craft production in a regional exchange network. In contrast to the commercial level of production exhibited at Colha, Belize, these households used a variety of source materials and produced a less standardized tool kit on a much smaller scale.

Personal Interaction and Informal Learning

2015 ◽  
pp. 140-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kin Wai Michael Siu ◽  
Giovanni J. Contreras
Keyword(s):  
Informal Learning ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Personal Interaction ◽  
Personal Relations ◽  
World Regions ◽  
The World ◽  
Systematic Reflection

Although the importance of casual and spontaneous personal interaction in informal learning is generally well acknowledged, less is known about which world regions or countries have cultures of personal interaction that foster these characteristics. This information is important because without it policymakers struggle to select appropriate actions to improve learning and education. In this case study of China, the authors investigate the characteristics of personal interaction there and consider their effects on informal learning. They present a systematic reflection on the literature about the culture of personal interaction in China and how these interaction practices facilitate informal learning. China is strongly influenced by Confucianism, which with other cultural practices such as guanxi (??), shapes personal relations in unique ways that have important implications for informal learning. The authors hope that this analysis sets a precedent for future studies about China and other parts of the world.

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