Linnaean systematics is based on evolutionary histories, degrees of difference in reproductive biology and biomechanics among animals. The question of whether people in the past also divided their animal worlds along the same lines has not been critically evaluated in zooarchaeological research. Ingold asserts in The Perception of the Environment that meaningful taxonomy can only be attained once we understand how people negotiate their relationships with one another and with their environments. Though Ingold was referring to contemporary societies, this sentiment has not been adopted in zooarchaeological studies of human-animal interactions. Furthermore, the contextual-interpretive theoretical framework has been widely adopted among archaeologists working with traditional forms of material culture, but zooarchaeology continues to be practiced within the essentialist-positivist paradigm that upholds Linnaean taxonomy as immutable. In order to achieve meaningful interpretation of faunal assemblages, I propose that analysis should be founded on a contextually situated folk taxonomy that may or may not relate to our scientific notions of animal classification.

The issue of burial representativeness is central to any attempt to reconstruct patterns of life and death in the past. Building on the work of Cannon (1995), we examine the impact of progressive inclusion on efforts to study the impact of industrialization and urbanization through the demographic distribution of mortality. To address this issue, we used a sample of 400 gravestones yielding a total of 881 individuals in the Hamilton Cemetery in Hamilton, Ontario. The data were sorted according to birth cohorts and analyzed by age and sex.

Kinship is the primary idiom through which social and political relationships are constructed and maintained in Northern Iroquoian societies. As such, it has often been invoked in explanations for organizational changes observed archaeologically. However, if overly generalized models of Iroquoian kinship are employed to explain the archaeological record we risk masking the variable and contingent nature of social relationships as they existed in practice. In this paper I discuss the historical construction of Iroquoian kinship by anthropologists and how archaeologists have applied the resulting models. I discuss how the terms matrilineage and clan have been used to describe household and village organization and offer alternative suggestions for how kinship-based relationships might be more productively employed (and not employed) in archaeological interpretations of Iroquoian society.

The most prominent occurrence of ancient Maya iron-ore mirrors beyond those excavated archaeologically arises in their depiction in artistic works. The images on painted polychrome ceramics demonstrate mirrors functioning as principal objects in the royal court. Within this elite context, the iconographic evidence demonstrates that the mirrors were meant to be gazed into, but exactly what this gazing indicates is a much more elusive consideration. A consistent patterning of depictions provides the basis for a typology of physical mirror styles. Furthermore, the contexts in which mirrors are represented relative to the associated human actors in the painted scenes suggests possible renderings of the emic function of these objects in ancient Maya religion and socio-political environments. Supplementing the iconographic evidence, the analysis of hieroglyphs associated with the luminescent qualities of mirrors will work towards an interpretive model of a reflective surface complex of ancient Maya cosmology.

In September of 2007 the Department of Anthropology at McMaster University initiated the 'Collections Management Plan'. After decades in storage the materials recovered by archaeological field research conducted in 1960's and 1970's have been re-excavated from their cardboard matrix. The necessity for this came from a need for more storage space for existing materials, but most importantly it came from a recognized responsibility to maintain the collections and their potential for furthering research into Ontario's archaeological history. The objective is to develop and maintain a comprehensive database of excavated sites which will enable us to provide researchers with access to materials and information pertaining to the collections. It has also provided an opportunity to engage current undergraduate students with the changing practices of Canadian Archaeology. We hope that this research will reach the broader archaeological community and present opportunities for learning more about the history of this extensive collection.

This paper examines the important role that the Dundas Islands played in the context of the northern coast of British Columbia. For hunter-fisher-gatherers living in this region salmon and eulachon represented both dietary staples and highly valued trade commodities. There is a volatile history of conflict on the northern coast that may be related to efforts to control the abundant Nass and Skeena River fisheries where these resources were procured. Furthermore, the settlement choices of the region's inhabitants reflect a similar endeavor. Though they are a marginal resource area, intensive settlements were maintained on the Dundas Islands. The strategic location of the islands along transportation routes to both rivers provided a means to both defend and control access to the fisheries.

Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) was used to obtain stable oxygen isotope data from the dental tissues of 12 individuals once interred at Fidler Mounds (EaLf-3), a cemetery mound site located in south-central Manitoba, 19 kilometers north of Winnipeg. Fidler Mounds was originally constructed c.1800BP and was utilized as a burial ground by precontact peoples in Manitoba for approximately 1000 years thereafter. The use of SIMS allowed the researcher to obtain several in situ _18O values from each individual's intact cementum, dentin and enamel. These values show that mobility patterns during Manitoba's middle and late Woodland period were extremely complex and varied. Additionally, intra-tissue _18O variability recorded through SIMS analysis indicates that traditional mass spectrometry may not be appropriate for assessing migration patterns within highly mobile populations.

This research uses a subset of data which contributes to a larger project focusing on shellfish analysis and harvesting strategies from the Dundas Islands Group in northern British Columbia. Relative ages of bivalves obtained from growth increment profiles of the Butter clam (Saxidomus gigantea) were identified in order to examine variability in site-level collection strategies. The results from two camps and two villages indicate intensive levels of shellfish collection at these locations. This suggests that that shellfish were an important dietary contribution, and may have played a critical role in sustaining the population at village sites.

At the beginning of the MM IIIB period a new palace was founded on the Galatas Kephala in the central Pediada, on Crete. Among Minoan palaces Galatas is exceptional because it was abruptly constructed by Knossian architects in an area that had no previous palatial organization.

The Inuit people of northern Labrador had a variety of effects on their landscape. However, there is an absence of archaeological research addressing their inadvertent influence on the soil's chemical record. Here, I contribute to this type of research by investigating the geochemical characteristics of soils from Inuit winter dwellings at Iglosiatik Island, Nachvak Fiord, and Komaktorvik Fiord, northern Labrador. My research at these locations distinguishes the geochemical composition of soils in association with household taskscapes, adding a geoarchaeological perspective to the Inuit use of space within winter dwellings. Spaces in these households had socially prescribed and proscribed functions, and the habitus enacted in these taskscapes modifies the soil's chemical record. As such, repetitive behaviour in spatially discrete locations can increase the concentration of inorganic elements or introduce foreign ones into the soilscape. These geochemical reflections of behaviour are useful for understanding social structures and identifying taskscapes that have no direct architectural or artefactual evidence. The geochemical characteristics of soils from lamp stands, cooking niches, storage niches, dwelling floors, sleeping platforms, entrance tunnels, and refuse disposal areas underwent comparison with off-site control samples to determine their degree of anthropogenic alteration. Elemental compositions of these soils were measured using x-ray fluorescence and inductively coupled plasma – mass spectroscopy, while reduction – oxidation potential, pH, and total dissolved solids were determined using electronic meters. Correspondence and principle components analysis identified the distinct geochemical signatures of these cultural spaces.

This research examines shellfish obtained through bucket-auger sampling of four shell midden sites in the Dundas Island Group, located off the northern coast of British Columbia. Shell fragments >8mm were identified to species level. Samples were analyzed from each twenty centimeter interval from the augers, making it possible to observe variability in site level collection practices. The results from the analysis suggest a relationship between collection practices, species availability and local ecology. Interpretations regarding the availability of shellfish resources are explored, focusing on environmental and cultural factors.