DOCSLIB.ORG

Toward a New Outline of the Soviet Central Asian Paleolithic V

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Toward a New Outline of the Soviet Central Asian Paleolithic V Bryn Mawr College Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College Anthropology Faculty Research and Scholarship Anthropology 1979 Toward a New Outline of the Soviet Central Asian Paleolithic V. A. Ranov Richard S. Davis Bryn Mawr College, [email protected] Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy . Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.brynmawr.edu/anth_pubs Part of the Anthropology Commons Citation Ranov, Vadim A. and Richard S. Davis. "Toward a New Outline of the Soviet Central Asian Paleolithic." Current Anthropology 20, no. 2 (1979): 249-270. This paper is posted at Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College. http://repository.brynmawr.edu/anth_pubs/3 For more information, please contact [email protected]. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY Vol. 20, No. 2, June 1979 ? 1979by The Wenner-GrenFoundation for Anthropological Research 0011-3204/79/2002-0004$02.25 Towarda New Outline of the Soviet CentralAsian Paleolithic' by V. A. Ranov and R. S. Davis SOVIET CENTRAL ASIA is a vast, extremelycontinental terri- (1953a) pioneeringeffort some 25 years ago. Movius's work tory,some 2,400,000km2 in all, consistingof the arid Turan was of great significancefor Old World prehistorians,par- depressionand a portionof the CentralAsiatic highlandsin- ticularlyfor the Middle Paleolithic. Good summarieshave cludingthe Pamir-Alai and Tien Shan ranges.It includesTurk- more recentlybeen publishedin Russian by Okladnikovand menistan,Uzbekistan, Tadzhikistan, Kirgiziya, and southern Ranov (1963), Okladnikov(1966a), and Ranov (1968). In Kazahstan; the northernportions of Afghanistanalso fall nat- the last 10-15 years,there has been an intensificationof Soviet urallyinto this area. The eastern,mountainous part has been CentralAsian Paleolithic studies. Since 1970,three monographs studiedmuch more thoroughlythan the westerndeserts. and morethan a hundredarticles have appearedin print. We wish to presenthere a brief summaryof the major The prevailingnotions in the West concerningthe Soviet resultsof the last 25 years of Paleolithicresearch in Soviet Central Asian Paleolithicseem to be that thereare no real Central Asia, with special attentionto the most important Lower Paleolithicsites (Klein 1966), that Middle Paleolithic problemsarchaeologists are facingthere. This is by no means sites reflectdiffusionary movements from southwestern Asia a comprehensivereview of the literatureor a lengthyanalysis (Chard 1974), as do Mesolithic sites, and that the Upper of data.2 Rather,it is an attemptto communicatesome of Paleolithic is barely represented(Movius 1953a). Indeed, themost significant features of the Soviet CentralAsian Paleo- similarviews have been held by some scholarsin the Soviet lithic, somethingwhich has not been done since Movius's Union. In contrast,we wish to establishthe followingmajor points: 1 This paper is the result of extendedcollaboration between the 1. Thereare unmistakableremains of Lower Paleolithiccul- authorsfrom May throughNovember 1977 in Tadzhikistan.Davis's turesin CentralAsia. Recent workat the sites of Karatau 1 visit to the Soviet Union was part of a programof exchangesbe- and Lakhuti 1 by Ranov and his geological co-workershas tween the National Academy of Science, U.S.A., and the Academv of Sciences,U.S.S.R. We wish to thank both institutionsfor mak- revealedpebble-tool and flakeindustries in situ in Middle and ing our cooperativework possible. UpperPleistocene paleosols which have been reliablydated by various means between130,000 and 200,000 B.P. 2 We are preparing a joint monograph which will include a years considerableamount of new data, a criticalreview of the literature, 2. Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) sites are numerousin and many illustrations. Soviet CentralAsia, and theyexhibit great variability in terms of geographicallocation, stone tool typologyand technology, and preservationof features.Present are industrieswith and V. A. RANOVis Head of the Section of Archaeologyand Numis- withoutLevallois technique,pebble choppers and chopping matics, Institute of History, Tadzhik Academy of Sciences, tools, and Upper Paleolithicblade elements.Although some Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. (33 Lenin Prospekt,Du- industriesshare some featureswith the southwesternAsian shanbe 734025,U.S.S.R.). He is also Deputy Chiefof the South- Middle Paleolithic,it is not at all correctto conclude that ern Tadzhikistan ArchaeologicalExpedition. Born in 1924, he theydeveloped as the resultof simplediffusion. received the degree of Kandidat of Historical Sciences from the Tadzhik Academy of Sciences in 1963 and has been active 3. Upper Paleolithic sites are present,although in small in the archaeologyof Central Asia for 25 years. He is the au- numbers,and they are nowherefound in cave deposits.The thor of four monographsand more than 150 articles; a recent Upper Paleolithicassemblages contain many Mousterianele- work, with S. A. Nesmeyanov (in Russian), is The Paleolithic ments,and thereis no reasonto believe on the basis of stone and Stratigraphyof the Anthropogeneof Central Asia (Dus- hanbe: Donish, 1973). tool technologyand typologythat therewas a sharp or dis- R. S. DAVIS is Lecturerin the Departmentof Anthropologyat tinctbreak between the Middle and Upper Paleolithic. Bryn Mawr College (Bryn Mawr, Pa. 19010, U.S.A.). Born in 4. During the early Holocene, the Pamir uplands,4,000 m 1944, he was educated at Columbia University (B.A., 1966; and more in elevation,were inhabitedfor the firsttime by Ph.D., 1974). He has taught at the State Universityof New hunter-gathererpopulations. Also, it appears, there was an York at Cortland (1971-72), Ohio University(1972-74), and Case WesternReserve University(1974-78). His researchinter- expansionof populationsinto the arid Turan depression.The ests are the Old World Paleolithic, especially that of South- Holocene industriesmay be roughlydivided into two groups: westernand Central Asia, paleoecology,and stone tool technol- nongeometric(Epi-Paleolithic) and geometric(Mesolithic). ogy. His publicationsinclude "The Paleolithic," in The Archae- The latterhas analogieswith industries in southwesternAsia. ology of Afghanistan,edited by N. Hammond and R. Allchin (London: Academic Press, 1978). 5. CentralAsia should by no means be consideredan iso- The presentpaper was submittedin finalform 7 VII 78. lated area of Paleolithicdevelopment. It combineselements Vol. 20 * No. 2 * June 1979 249 of the Asian chopper-chopping-tooltradition with Western to extendback in time to the late Pliocene (Dodonov and flakeand blade industries.This is truefor all periodsfrom the Pen'kov 1977, Dodonov, Melamed, and Nikiforova 1977). Lower Paleolithicthrough the Mesolithic.In general,this situ- Buried in these loess depositsis a series of paleosols.At the ation can be explainedby its geographicallocation, which is Chashmanigarlocality in southernTadzhikistan, 37 ancientsoil indeed centralto two if not threegeographic regions of Asia. horizonshave been identified.Above the Matuyama-Brunhes For the most part, researchon the Paleolithic in Soviet boundary,9-10 paleosols have been countedat fiveloess sec- CentralAsia may be characterizedas culture-historicalrecon- tions. Some geologistsjudge that soil formationtook place struction,the main goals being to locate and excavate sites in comparativelywarm, dry periods while loess was depos- fromthe full range of Paleolithictime, to order the sites ited underrelatively cool conditions(Grichuk and Lazarenko chronologically,and to comparelithic industries in an attempt 1970).3 This record of climatic oscillation,combined with to discovertraces of culturalcontact and patternsof change thermoluminescenceand paleomagneticdating, has provided of formthrough time. In part,this approach has been strongly forthe firsttime a real basis in Soviet CentralAsia forcorre- influencedby thenature of the available data. More than 90% lation with sequences in the rest of the world. As a result, of thePaleolithic sites are surfacefinds or foundin redeposited some geologistshave begunto use Alpineterminology (Wiirm, context.With one or two possible exceptions,there are no Riss, etc.), but forthe mostpart this systemof nomenclature knownliving floors in the open-airsites. Paleoclimaticrecon- has not gained generalacceptance. It is, however,difficult to structionis still in its infancy,and even the basic Quaternary overemphasizethe significanceof the recentwork in the loess, stratigraphyin manyareas is not well known.Systematic sur- and it seems certainthat it will radicallychange the picture vey forsites by randomsampling techniques is unknown,and of the Soviet Central Asian Pleistoceneas more analysis is no projects that could be describedas multistageproblem- completed. orientedresearch have been carriedout. Interdisciplinarystud- An importanttask for the futurewill be to correlatethe ies, particularlyinvolving geologists, palynologists, and archae- loess paleosols with the river-terracesystem so as to enable ologists,are increasinglyfrequent, and theircontinued develop- geologiststo tie in the Q1-Q4 systemwith the worldwidecli- mentwill be essentialfor furtheradvances in Soviet Central matic sequence. Much effortis currentlybeing expendedin Asian Paleolithicresearch. an attemptto understandthe originsof the loess that covers a vast area of southernSoviet Central Asia. In the West, loess is usuallydefined as an eolian deposit,but Soviet geol- QUATERNARY RESEARCH AND CHRONOLOGY ogistsare currentlydebating the meritsof eolian,alluvial, and
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Lakes: the Mirrors of the Earth BALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY and HUMAN WELLBEING
    Lakes: the mirrors of the earth BALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING Proceedings of 15th world lake conference Lakes: The Mirrors of the Earth BALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING Proceedings of 15TH WORLD LAKE CONFERENCE Copyright © 2014 by Umbria Scientific Meeting Association (USMA2007) All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-88-96504-04-8 (print) ISBN: 978-88-96504-07-9 (online) Lakes: The Mirrors of the Earth BALANCING ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND HUMAN WELLBEING Volume 2: Proceedings of the 15th World Lake Conference Edited by Chiara BISCARINI, Arnaldo PIERLEONI, Luigi NASELLI-FLORES Editorial office: Valentina ABETE (coordinator), Dordaneh AMIN, Yasue HAGIHARA ,Antonello LAMANNA , Adriano ROSSI Published by Science4Press Consorzio S.C.I.R.E. E (Scientific Consortium for the Industrial Research and Engineering) www.consorzioscire.it Printed in Italy Science4Press International Scientific Committee Chair Masahisa NAKAMURA (Shiga University) Vice Chair Walter RAST (Texas State University) Members Nikolai ALADIN (Russian Academy of Science) Sandra AZEVEDO (Brazil Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) Riccardo DE BERNARDI (EvK2-CNR) Salif DIOP (Cheikh Anta Diop University) Fausto GUZZETTI (IRPI-CNR Perugia) Zhengyu HU (Chinese Academy of Sciences) Piero GUILIZZONI (ISE-CNR) Luigi NASELLI-FLORES (University of Palermo) Daniel OLAGO (University of Nairobi) Ajit PATTNAIK (Chilika Development Authority) Richard ROBARTS (World Water and Climate Foundation) Adelina SANTOS-BORJA (Laguna Lake Development Authority) Juan SKINNER (Lake
    [Show full text]
  • Rock Art (Part-1)
    Rock Art (Part-1) drishtiias.com/printpdf/rock-art-part-1 About Rock Arts are ancient, human-made markings/paintings/sculptures made on natural stone. Rock art consists of paintings, drawings, engravings, stencils, prints, bas-relief carvings and figures in rock shelters and caves, on boulders and platforms. India houses one of the largest, richest and most diverse repositories of rock art. Prehistoric rock paintings, rock-cut architectures of caves & temples and sculptures carved out of rock are some examples of rock art in India. It is often divided into three forms: Petroglyphs: These are carved into the rock surface Pictographs: These are painted onto the surface Earth figures: These are formed on the ground Significance of Rock Art Spiritual and cultural heritage: Rock art reflects humankind’s rich spiritual and cultural heritage and has great significance to its creators and their descendants. It also has great significance to humanity generally. Its beauty, its symbolism, and its rich narrative means that it is widely appreciated and treasured internationally, regionally, and locally. Diverse cultural traditions: Its continued existence is important to help global communities recognize and learn about the diverse cultural traditions, their ancient origins and relationships to the landscapes they have inhabited. Tribal communities rely on the rock arts for deriving their cultural connections by following the customs engraved in the rock art. Source of history: The rock arts serve, as a “historical record”, detailing the hunting habits and ways of life of the local communities. 1/5 Prehistoric Rock Paintings Prehistoric: It can be defined as events that occurred before the existence of written records in a given culture or society.
    [Show full text]
  • Paleolithic Archaeology in Iran
    Intl. J. Humianities (2011) Vol. 18 (2): (63-87) Paleolithic Archaeology in Iran Hamed Vahdati Nasab 1 Received:21/9/2010 Accepted:27/2/2011 Abstract Although the Iranian plateau has witnessed Paleolithic researches since the early twenty century, still little is known about the Paleolithic of Iran. There are several reasons for this situation and lack of scholarly enthusiasm on the part of Iranian archaeologists seems to be the most imperative one. Concerning the history of Paleolithic surveys and excavations conducted in Iran, three distinct phases are recognizable. First, from the beginning of the twenty century to the 1980 when numerous field missions were executed in this region all by western institutes, second phase observes a twenty years gap in the Paleolithic studies hence; only few surveys could be performed in this period, and the third phase starts with the reopening of the Iranian fields to the non-Iranian researchers, which led to the survey and excavation of handful of new Paleolithic sites. This article reviews Paleolithic researches conducted in Iran since the beginning of twenty century to the present time. Keywords: Paleolithic, Iran, Zagros, Alborz Downloaded from eijh.modares.ac.ir at 4:34 IRST on Monday September 27th 2021 1. Assistant Professor of Archaeology, Faculty of Humianities, Tarbiat Modares University. [email protected] Paleolithic Archaeology in Iran Intl. J. Humianities (2010) Vol. 18 (1) Introduction The most peculiar point about the Iranian Iran is surrounded by some of the most Paleolithic is the absence of any hominid significant Paleolithic sites in the world. To its remains with just few exceptions (e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • Almaty–Issyk-Kul Alternative Road Economic Impact Assessment
    Almaty–Issyk-Kul Alternative Road Economic Impact Assessment Almaty, a vibrant metropolis in Kazakhstan, is only kilometers away from lake Issyk-Kul in the Kyrgyz Republic, renowned for its mountains and moderate summers. However, the two destinations are separated by two magnificent mountain ranges. To bypass these mountains, the existing road stretches over ­ kilometers, leading to long travel times. This economic impact assessment analyzes what impact a more direct road between the two destinations would have for tourism and economic development in both Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic. The report provides economically viable solutions that, within a supportive policy environment, would lead to strong economic development within the region. About Almaty–Bishkek Economic Corridor The Almaty–Bishkek Economic Corridor (ABEC) is the pilot economic corridor under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program. The motivation for ABEC is that Almaty and Bishkek can achieve far more together than either can achieve alone. The two cities are only ­ kilometers apart with relatively high economic density concentrated in services in the cities and agriculture in their hinterlands. Both Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic have acceded to the Eurasian Economic Union and the World Trade Organization. CAREC corridors and Belt and Road Initiative routes cross ABEC. The historic Silk Route, mountain ranges, and Lake lssyk-Kul underline the potential for tourism. But trade, especially in agricultural goods and services, between the two countries is below potential, and the region does not yet benefit from being one economic space. About the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program is a partnership of member countries and development partners working together to promote development through cooperation, leading to accelerated economic growth and poverty reduction.
    [Show full text]
  • The Aurignacian Viewed from Africa
    Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University THE AURIGNACIAN VIEWED FROM AFRICA Christian A. TRYON Introduction 20 The African archeological record of 43-28 ka as a comparison 21 A - The Aurignacian has no direct equivalent in Africa 21 B - Archaic hominins persist in Africa through much of the Late Pleistocene 24 C - High modification symbolic artifacts in Africa and Eurasia 24 Conclusions 26 Acknowledgements 26 References cited 27 To cite this article Tryon C. A. , 2015 - The Aurignacian Viewed from Africa, in White R., Bourrillon R. (eds.) with the collaboration of Bon F., Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe, Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University, P@lethnology, 7, 19-33. http://www.palethnologie.org 19 P@lethnology | 2015 | 19-33 Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University THE AURIGNACIAN VIEWED FROM AFRICA Christian A. TRYON Abstract The Aurignacian technocomplex in Eurasia, dated to ~43-28 ka, has no direct archeological taxonomic equivalent in Africa during the same time interval, which may reflect differences in inter-group communication or differences in archeological definitions currently in use. Extinct hominin taxa are present in both Eurasia and Africa during this interval, but the African archeological record has played little role in discussions of the demographic expansion of Homo sapiens, unlike the Aurignacian. Sites in Eurasia and Africa by 42 ka show the earliest examples of personal ornaments that result from extensive modification of raw materials, a greater investment of time that may reflect increased their use in increasingly diverse and complex social networks.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of Pre-Historic Stone Age Period of India
    Journal of Arts and Culture ISSN: 0976-9862 & E-ISSN: 0976-9870, Volume 3, Issue 3, 2012, pp.-126-128. Available online at http://www.bioinfo.in/contents.php?id=53. A STUDY OF PRE-HISTORIC STONE AGE PERIOD OF INDIA DARADE S.S. Mula Education Society's Arts, Commerce & Science College, Sonai, Newasa- 414105, MS, India *Corresponding Author: Email- [email protected] Received: November 01, 2012; Accepted: December 06, 2012 Abstract- Tools crafted by proto-humans that have been dated back two million years have been discovered in the northwestern part of the subcontinent. The ancient history of the region includes some of South Asia's oldest settlements and some of its major civilizations. The earli- est archaeological site in the subcontinent is the palaeolithic hominid site in the Soan River valley. Soanian sites are found in the Sivalik region across what are now India, Pakistan, and Nepal. The Mesolithic period in the Indian subcontinent was followed by the Neolithic period, when more extensive settlement of the subcontinent occurred after the end of the last Ice Age approximately 12,000 years ago. The first confirmed semipermanent settlements appeared 9,000 years ago in the Bhimbetka rock shelters in modern Madhya Pradesh, India. Keywords- history, Mesolithic, Paleolithic, Indian Citation: Darade S.S. (2012) A Study of Pre-Historic Stone Age Period of India. Journal of Arts and Culture, ISSN: 0976-9862 & E-ISSN: 0976 -9870, Volume 3, Issue 3, pp.-126-128. Copyright: Copyright©2012 Darade S.S. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Li- cense, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Nature of Transitions: the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic and the Neolithic Revolution
    On the Nature of Transitions: the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic and the Neolithic Revolution The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Bar-Yosef, Ofer. 1998. “On the Nature of Transitions: The Middle to Upper Palaeolithic and the Neolithic Revolution.” Cam. Arch. Jnl 8 (02) (October): 141. Published Version doi:10.1017/S0959774300000986 Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12211496 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Cambridge Archaeological Journal 8:2 (1998), 141-63 On the Nature of Transitions: the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic and the Neolithic Revolution Ofer Bar-Yosef This article discusses two major revolutions in the history of humankind, namely, the Neolithic and the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic revolutions. The course of the first one is used as a general analogy to study the second, and the older one. This approach puts aside the issue of biological differences among the human fossils, and concentrates solely on the cultural and technological innovations. It also demonstrates that issues that are common- place to the study of the trajisition from foraging to cultivation and animal husbandry can be employed as an overarching model for the study of the transition from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic. The advantage of this approach is that it focuses on the core areas where each of these revolutions began, the ensuing dispersals and their geographic contexts.
    [Show full text]
  • Water Resources Lifeblood of the Region
    Water Resources Lifeblood of the Region 68 Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources ater has long been the fundamental helped the region flourish; on the other, water, concern of Central Asia’s air, land, and biodiversity have been degraded. peoples. Few parts of the region are naturally water endowed, In this chapter, major river basins, inland seas, Wand it is unevenly distributed geographically. lakes, and reservoirs of Central Asia are presented. This scarcity has caused people to adapt in both The substantial economic and ecological benefits positive and negative ways. Vast power projects they provide are described, along with the threats and irrigation schemes have diverted most of facing them—and consequently the threats the water flow, transforming terrain, ecology, facing the economies and ecology of the country and even climate. On the one hand, powerful themselves—as a result of human activities. electrical grids and rich agricultural areas have The Amu Darya River in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan, with a canal (left) taking water to irrigate cotton fields.Upper right: Irrigation lifeline, Dostyk main canal in Makktaaral Rayon in South Kasakhstan Oblast, Kazakhstan. Lower right: The Charyn River in the Balkhash Lake basin, Kazakhstan. Water Resources 69 55°0'E 75°0'E 70 1:10 000 000 Central AsiaAtlas ofNaturalResources Major River Basins in Central Asia 200100 0 200 N Kilometers RUSSIAN FEDERATION 50°0'N Irty sh im 50°0'N Ish ASTANA N ura a b m Lake Zaisan E U r a KAZAKHSTAN l u s y r a S Lake Balkhash PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC Ili OF CHINA Chui Aral Sea National capital 1 International boundary S y r D a r Rivers and canals y a River basins Lake Caspian Sea BISHKEK Issyk-Kul Amu Darya UZBEKISTAN Balkhash-Alakol 40°0'N ryn KYRGYZ Na Ob-Irtysh TASHKENT REPUBLIC Syr Darya 40°0'N Ural 1 Chui-Talas AZERBAIJAN 2 Zarafshan TURKMENISTAN 2 Boundaries are not necessarily authoritative.
    [Show full text]
  • Quantifying Clovis Dynamics: Confronting Theory with Models and Data Across Scales
    QUANTIFYING CLOVIS DYNAMICS: CONFRONTING THEORY WITH MODELS AND DATA ACROSS SCALES by MARCUS JOHN HAMILTON B.Sc., Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 1998 M.S., Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, 2002 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ANTHROPOLOGY The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico August, 2008 Marcus J. Hamilton: Quantifying Clovis Dynamics ©2008, Marcus John Hamilton ii Marcus J. Hamilton: Quantifying Clovis Dynamics DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my wife, Ana Desiree Davidson, and the two halves of my family, the UK Hamilton side and the US Davidson side, for all their love and support. I would also like to dedicate this dissertation to two old friends who were instrumental in getting me interested in archaeology, Briggs Buchanan, and Wayne Warren Kinney, Jr. iii Marcus J. Hamilton: Quantifying Clovis Dynamics ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee for their advice and guidance over the years. They are co-chairs, Bruce Huckell and Jim Boone, 3rd department member Ozzie Pearson, and outside member Vance Holliday. Much of this dissertation would not have been possible without access to the Rio Grande Valley Clovis collections, granted by Dr. Robert H. Weber, of Socorro, New Mexico. Bob sadly died in February, 2008 after leading a long and productive life, very much in the tradition of classic Southwest scientists. Over his 80+ years Bob amassed an encyclopedic knowledge of the geology, geography, archaeology and history of the region, much of it on foot with a canteen and map.
    [Show full text]
  • Echo's Newton Takes a Spin!
    Sighteseeing at Jinga Shire gate in Lake Biwa, Japan. I A AS Lake Biwa J A P A N Hiking around Lake Titicaca and “Hi from Lake Biwa in Japan! Creepy... a legend says a giant carp eats people who a Peruvian girl at the market. drown in this lake! Do people tell any weird stories about Lake Champlain?” RI AME CA H Swimming at Pictured Rocks T National Lakeshore. U P a E O Lake R S U Titicac & “Whew! I had to climb to 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) TH A B M A R O I E V L I O R N I above sea level to see Lake Titicaca! How many times Lake C A Superior higher is that than Lake Champlain’s elevation?” A S C U A N & A D Running along the shore A of Lake Issyk-kul. “Hmm… If Lake Champlain ON is 120 miles long and Lake WT TAK Superior is 2.9 times longer E ES than Lake Champlain, how N S A long is Lake Superior?” ’ S O math P H I Temple festival near Lake Baikal. science N C E ! SIA “It’s so cool that the A R U social studies E L word for lake here s Lake kul a is “kul!” What are K k e Issyk- R Y G some other words k Y e S N T A a for Lake? ” C language arts L “It was so great to see Lake Baikal’s h freshwater seals! Can you name some a ’s m ld mammals that live in Lake Champlain? pl or Are any endangered?” ain to the W SIA A R U Meeting the Lake Issyk-kul game E R warden and his family.
    [Show full text]
  • Working with the Public: How an Unusual Museum Enquiry Turned Into Travels Through Time and Space
    Freedman, J and Evans, J 2015 Working with the Public: How an Unusual Museum Enquiry Turned into Travels Through Time and Space. Open Quaternary, 1: 8, pp. 1–14, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/oq.ah ENGAGEMENT PAPER Working with the Public: How an Unusual Museum Enquiry Turned into Travels Through Time and Space Jan Freedman* and Jane Evans† This article has been corrected here: Museum enquiries offer a unique opportunity to engage on a one-to-one level with members of the pub- lic. This paper covers an unusual enquiry from 2013 of an unknown tooth that was brought into Plym- outh City Museum and Art Gallery for identification. We highlight how museum enquiries can engage with members of the public by involving them directly with original scientific research. The tooth was found in a garden in Plymouth with no associated data of about where it originated. We identified the tooth, and the enquirer researched the history of the house. The tooth gave the appearance of a sub-fossil so with the large number of Quaternary sites in Plymouth, together with the identifica- tion of the previous owner on the site, there were valid reasons to undertake testing of the tooth to determine its origin. Strontium (Sr) isotope analysis of the tooth was carried out to determine if the tooth was British and radiocarbon dating was undertaken to work out the age of the tooth. The 87Sr /86Sr of the leopard tooth gave a value of 0.716131, with Sr concentrations at 568ppm. This is a high concentration of Sr ppm relative to other British data, suggesting a non-British origin.
    [Show full text]
  • “Politics” and “Religion” in the Upper Paleolithic: a Voegelinian Analysis of Some Selected Problems
    “Politics” and “Religion” in the Upper Paleolithic: A Voegelinian Analysis of Some Selected Problems DRAFT ONLY Barry Cooper University of Calgary Paper prepared for APSA Annual Meeting Seattle WA September, 201 2 Outline 1. Introduction 2. Philosophy of consciousness 3. “Politics” 4. “Religion 5. Conclusions 3 “Politics” and “Religion” in the Upper Paleolithic 1. Introduction The Voegelinian analysis referred to in the title refers primarily to two elements of the political science of Eric Voegelin. The first is his philosophy of consciousness, systematically developed first in Anamnesis.1 The second is his concept of compactness and differentiation of experience and symbolization. It will be necessary to touch upon a few other Voegelinian concepts, notably his understanding of “equivalence,” but for reasons of space only a summary presentation is possible. A second preliminary remark: the terms “Religion” and “Politics” are in quotation marks because their usage in the context of the Upper Paleolithic is anachronistic, though not entirely misleading. The meaning of these terms is commonsensical, not technical, and is meant to indicate what Clifford Geertz once called “oblique family-resemblance connections” among phenomena.2 Third, as a matter of chronology the Upper Paleolithic conventionally refers to the period between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago (50KYBP- 1 Voegelin refined his analysis of consciousness in the last two volumes of Order and History. These changes are ignored on this occasion. 2 Geertz, Life Among the Anthros, ed. Fred Inglis (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010), 224. 4 10KYBP). It corresponds in Eurasian periodization approximately to the Later Stone Age in Africa.
    [Show full text]