Before Farming: the archaeology and anthropology of hunter-gatherers

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Conference Announcement

World Archaeological Congress 5: Washington, DC 21 – 26 June 2003

Empowerment and Exploitation: North-South & South-South Archaeological Encounters

Theme Convenors

Gustavo Martinez, Sven Ouzman and Robin Torrence

http://www.american.edu/Wac5

Exchanging information on what works and what does not work in terms of Archaeological practice especially in practical terms will be a focus of the ‘Empowerment and Exploitation’ theme, which will attempt a blend of co-operative Archaeological projects with experiences of trans-national knowledge encounters and the practical applications these encounters have. In July 2000 the French Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, drew up a draft declaration for a code of research ethics between researchers in industrialised and developing countries (Nature, 26th July 2000, Vol. 406:337). This initiative has its genesis in the notion of a politically and economically powerful North and a dependant and disorganised South. Fortunately, when it comes to Archaeology and related disciplines this notion does not always hold and it is more accurate to speak of an ‘equivalency’ based on approaches followed by Archaeologists, Indigenous People and laypeople in different countries. Often the most creative approaches come from unexpected sources.

Theme Aims:

To examine the dynamics of how Archaeological knowledge is exchanged. For example, must Africanists communicate with each other on Africa via Cambridge University Press?
To exchange information on the nature of knowledge on southern hemisphere Archaeology.
To blend Archaeological and Indigenous Voice concerns in post-colonial contexts.

Theme Format

A rolling panel, lecture and round table series spread over a few days. Round table sessions with well-formulated questions put to the floor for short answers/engagements. Panel discussions in which established and emergent researchers, Indigenous people prepare short position papers to be discussed by interested groups and finding summarised by a discussant.

For further information contact: http://www.american.edu/Wac5

Conference Announcement

Hunter-Gatherer Societies and Space: the archaeological record and its interpretation

Co-ordinators: Fernando Oliva and Caroline Wickham-Jones

http://www.uchile.cl/vaa/americanista/

Hunter-gatherer-fisher societies are interpreted through a number of different dynamics including the type and apparent function of the remains as well as the features and possible symbolism of the natural terrain. In this way we look at the meaning of space, both within and between sites. The formation and interpretation of the archaeological record is reflected in a complexity of processes which vary according to many factors including the scales of space and time, the organisational properties of the societies involved, mobility strategies, activity patterns, and the geographical and environmental characteristics of the land and sea-scape. Processes of taphonomy have also to be taken into account.

To complicate matters, these processes, while perhaps well understood at an individual level, do not operate evenly. There is a bias in the way that the landscape is, and was, perceived, and even this has changed through space and time. Certain sectors of the landscape have exerted undue influence on past populations at difference times, and post-depositional processes have also varied. The use of any spot within the landscape is the result of a complex process of decision making which seeks the optimal solutions appropriate to the moment. Various resources all come into play, as do symbolic factors.

One important factor for the modern archaeologist is to establish the structural patterning visible within the distribution of sites in a landscape. Individual sites have responded not only to their own set of conditions, but they also operated together as part of a wider system. The incompleteness of the archaeological record means that this can be difficult to establish, but it has to remain an important goal.

In this symposium we aim to compare work on hunter-gatherer-fisher societies within different latitudes. There is much interesting work going on between Europe and the northern hemisphere, and South America, but we rarely have the opportunity to share our experiences. It is our intention to open up the dialogue. Thus the relationship between topographic work and the H-G-F record in different regions has especial value, including both open air sites and caves and rockshelters. We wish to include both a general inter-change of information and a discussion of theoretical and practical approaches.

This discussion should not only broaden the tools that we can bring to our interpretations of past societies but it should also add to our practical knowledge, such as of economic and other decision making. The role of mobility, for example, is one aspect of H-G-F life that is approached very differently, both within Europe as well as further afield, and we feel that the time is ripe to consider this. Another aspect might be to consider just how we define the H-G-F way of life. The societies in which we are interested existed from the Mesolithic in Europe into the beginning of the twentieth century in parts of S America. They operated under many different conditions and they are approached in many different ways.

We feel that the benefits of a symposium on these lines are many, and we hope that you will be able to attend. There is much to learn, not only in terms of interpretation but also in terms of basic methodological approaches.

For further information contact: http://www.uchile.cl/vaa/americanista/

World archaeology courses at the University of Oxford

Oxford offers both a

One-year MSt (Master of Studies) degree in World Archaeology and a
Two-year MPhil (Master of Philosophy) degree in World Archaeology

Students make full use of the opportunities for study and research provided by Oxford's Ashmolean and Pitt Rivers Museums and their respective libraries, as well as the University's other archaeological resources.

These taught courses in World Archaeology allow graduate students to develop their interests in areas of the world beyond Europe and further back in time than the development of farming. Major areas of regional expertise lie in sub-Saharan Africa, Australasia, Palaeolithic Europe and the Islamic world. Staff members have particular research interests in, and can provide teaching that covers, hunter-gatherer archaeology, the archaeology of colonial contact and archaeological method and theory.

For more information see our web site: http://athens.arch.ox.ac.uk/masters/

MSc in Environmental and Contextual Archaeology

Department of Geography and Anthropology, Oxford Brookes University

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/social/postgrad/envarch/masters_home.html

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