Augustin F C Holl

The book offers a coherent and comprehensive approach to past visual representations, usually know as Rock Art. The crafted Iconographic approach takes into consideration all pictorial elements featured by past image-makers as well as all the implications of their specific locations. The discussion starts with the profound implications of homo sapiens sapiens cognitive revolution manifest through the emergence of spoken languages, mortuary practices, personal adornment, and representation. Contrary to the initial gradualist perspective, the Ancient Sulawezi images dated to >50,000 years ago show narrative concerns to have presided over the making of the earliest recorded rock images so far. Five case studies from Africa (Sahara and Southern Africa) and Asia (Xinjiang province, China) are used the showcase the theoretical and methodological strength of the Iconographic approach that is replicable with falsifiable results. Beside aesthetic considerations, the book advocates the need for a comprehensive analysis of each elaborate past visual representation composition before formulating generic explanations of past Image-making traditions.

Le livre met en lumi re l'implication de l'auteur dans le travail de terrain et la recherche arch ologique dans le d sert du N guev septentrional en Isra l pendant 12 ans, au cours desquels des personnes bien intentionn es lui ont constamment demand pourquoi il avait d cid de mener des recherches dans cette r gion, tr s probablement en raison de son identit africaine. L'ouvrage rassemble certaines des publications les plus importantes de l'auteur ainsi que de nouveaux chapitres et pr sente de nouveaux th mes et perspectives, tels que l'arch ologie r gionale, la taphonomie et les processus de formation des archives arch ologiques, la th orie et la pratique de l'arch ologie domestique, ainsi que l'int gration de l'aDNA (ADN ancien) et de la g nomique dans l'explication des changements de culture long terme. L'ouvrage propose une critique du concept de "transition" presque universellement utilis comme synonyme de succession dans l'explication du changement d'une culture arch ologique l'autre.

Il libro mette in evidenza il coinvolgimento dell'autore nel lavoro sul campo e nella ricerca archeologica nel deserto del Negev settentrionale in Israele per 12 anni, durante i quali gli veniva costantemente chiesto da persone benintenzionate perch avesse deciso di condurre ricerche in quell'area, molto probabilmente a causa della sua identit africana. L'opera raccoglie alcune delle pubblicazioni pi ampie dell'autore insieme a nuovi capitoli e presenta nuovi temi e prospettive come l'archeologia regionale, la tafonomia e i processi di formazione del record archeologico, la teoria e la pratica dell'archeologia domestica, nonch l'integrazione dell'aDNA (DNA antico) e della genomica nella spiegazione dei cambiamenti culturali a lungo termine. L'opera offre una critica al concetto di "transizione", quasi universalmente utilizzato come sinonimo di successione nella spiegazione del cambiamento da una cultura archeologica all'altra.

Das Buch hebt die 12-j hrige Feldarbeit und arch ologische Forschung des Autors in der n rdlichen Negev-W ste in Israel hervor, w hrend der er immer wieder von wohlmeinenden Menschen gefragt wurde, warum er sich entschieden habe, in diesem Gebiet zu forschen, sehr wahrscheinlich wegen seiner afrikanischen Identit t. Es versammelt einige der erweiterten Publikationen des Autors sowie neue Kapitel und bietet neue Themen und Perspektiven wie regionale Arch ologie, Taphonomie und Entstehungsprozesse der arch ologischen Aufzeichnungen, Theorie und Praxis der Haushaltsarch ologie sowie die Integration von aDNA (Ancient DNA) und Genomik bei der Erkl rung langfristiger Kulturver nderungen. Die Arbeit bietet eine Kritik des Konzepts des " bergangs", das fast durchg ngig als Synonym f r Sukzession bei der Erkl rung des Wandels von einer arch ologischen Kultur zur n chsten verwendet wird.

Książka podkreśla zaangażowanie autora w prace terenowe i badania archeologiczne na p lnocnej pustyni Negew w Izraelu przez 12 lat, podczas kt rych byl nieustannie pytany przez ludzi o dobrych intencjach, dlaczego zdecydowal się prowadzic badania w tym obszarze, najprawdopodobniej z powodu swojej afrykańskiej tożsamości. Książka zawiera niekt re z rozszerzonych publikacji autora wraz z nowymi rozdzialami i zawiera nowe tematy i perspektywy, takie jak archeologia regionalna, taphonomia i procesy formowania zapisu archeologicznego, teoria i praktyka w archeologii domowej, a także integracja aDNA (starożytnego DNA) i genomiki w wyjaśnianiu dlugoterminowych zmian kulturowych. Praca oferuje krytykę koncepcji "przejścia" niemal powszechnie stosowanej jako synonim sukcesji w wyjaśnianiu zmian z jednej kultury archeologicznej do następnej.

O livro destaca o envolvimento do autor no trabalho de campo e na investiga o arqueol gica no norte do deserto do Negev, em Israel, durante 12 anos, durante os quais foi constantemente questionado por pessoas bem intencionadas sobre a raz o pela qual tinha decidido realizar investiga o naquela rea, muito provavelmente devido sua identidade africana. O livro re ne algumas das publica es mais extensas do autor, juntamente com novos cap tulos, e apresenta novos temas e perspectivas, como a arqueologia regional, a tafonomia e os processos de forma o do registo arqueol gico, a teoria e a pr tica da arqueologia dom stica, bem como a integra o do aDNA (ADN antigo) e da gen mica na explica o da mudan a cultural a longo prazo. O trabalho oferece uma cr tica ao conceito de "transi o", quase universalmente utilizado como sin nimo de sucess o na explica o da mudan a de uma cultura arqueol gica para outra.

The book highligths the author's involvement in fieldwork and archaeological research in the northern Negev desert in Israel for 12 years, during which he was constantly asked by well-intentioned people why he had decided to conduct research in that area, very likely because of his African identity. It assembles some of the author's expanded publications along with new chapters and features new themes and perspectives like regional archaeology, taphonomy and formation processes of the archaeological record, theory and practice in household archaeology, as well as the integration of aDNA (Ancient DNA) and genomics in the explanation of long-term culture change. The work offers a critique of the concept of "transition" almost universally used as synonymous to succession in the explanation of change from one archaeological culture to the next.

The unexpected re-discovery and the ensuing excavation of the African Burial Ground - known in the 18th century as the "Negro Burial Ground" - lifted the lid on the early history of African presence in this part of the United States East Coast. The African Burial Ground Memorial is today one of the land-mark managed by the National Park Service, as a tribute to these men, women, and children, enslaved to build the wealth of that extraordinary and vibrant metropolis. The author of Archaeology of Urban Bondage has been part of the African Burial research project from its beginning in 1993 to its end in 2006 and this volume is the only comprehensive presentation of this unique project in its multidisciplinary dimension. It looks at the enslavement of Africans in the Atlantic world from their origins in Africa, their life and death in New Amsterdam-New York in the 17th-18th East coast, relying on history, archaeology, and bio-anthropology. The argumentation is rigorously fact-based and inferences data driven. The archaeology and history of the African presence in northeast United States are not limited to a European-African face to face. The genesis of the "Negro Burial Ground" is the result of different strands of history. Some issues, like the location of the African burial ground, generally taken for granted as starting point, are problematized in this book. Important questions as "why is the African burial ground located where it was?", "how was the cemetery built up?", "what are the key patterns of the buried population?", "can agency and intentionality be discerned in the archaeological record at hand?", are framed and addressed. Organized in two parts and framed from the "Global Africa" theoretical perspective, the book weaves data from history, archaeology, and biological anthropology to craft an integrated narrative on the deceased buried in the African Burial Ground.

This work explores the long-term evolutionary implications of the "Mobility Imperative:" the foundational nature of mobility for human beings and their societies. The author puts forward a parsimonious but comprehensive model based on Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) rationales. The selected case studies range from the emergence and expansion of humans to cattle domestication and beyond.

This work explores the long-term evolutionary implications of the "Mobility Imperative:" the foundational nature of mobility for human beings and their societies. The author puts forward a parsimonious but comprehensive model based on Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) rationales. The selected case studies range from the emergence and expansion of humans to cattle domestication and beyond.

Archaeology of Mounds clusters in West Africa aims to understand the dynamics that enhanced and sustained the settlement systems made of distinct but close mounds. Most of the mounds-clusters are found in low-lying and flat areas in West Africa sahel and savanna. It has been suggested that West-Africa mound-clustering resulted from patterns of residential segregation articulated on ethnicity, specialized occupation, and/or both. However, most of the archaeological research conducted so far on this kind of settlement has failed to test this hypothesis, and does not address the very issues of their processes of formation and patterns of development. The methodology adopted - single mound sampling approach - does not allow for such explorations. The comprehensive approach presented in this book is articulated on the implementation of complementary excavation strategies. This involves the test excavation of all the mounds of two of the largest mounds clusters found in the study area, and the sampling of a third one, located in a different environmental context. The fine-grained chronology obtained allows the probing of the patterns of growth and diversification of mounds clusters through time, showing the operations of a broad range of settlement location decisions. Bio-anthropological data points clearly to warfare during the scramble for land that took place during the first quarter of the second millenium AD. Depending on time-sequences, special purpose mounds - iron producers, weavers, karite-oil producers - are differentially integrated in each of the tested mounds-clusters. No single settlement strategy fits all.

West African Awdaghost (Tegdaoust) emerged as a vital medieval trade center before its decline in the sixteenth century AD. Extensively excavated and accompanied by a large body of published material, Awdaghost provides a unique opportunity for the application of household archaeology to a West African settlement. By examining the building sequences of the habitation complexes, with their evolving space allocations, this monograph demonstrates how the household units in Awdaghost reflect fluctuating social organization and economic conditions.

This book addresses issues of continuity and change in past life-ways as well as radical shifts in techniques, innovation and achievements of the Saharan people during the Holocene period, the last 10,000 years. The project is accomplished through a series of precise case studies, each addressing a topical space-time problem. The key pre-occupation linking the case studies is a concern with the replicability of research protocols and the testability of suggested results. The anthropological perspective advocated in this book is anchored on the investigation of dynamic processes that have shaped the archaeological record and the evolution of past Saharan societies. The approach is a broad one and does not focus exclusively on any one of the many conflicting approaches currently debated by archaeologists. Theoretical issues are systematically woven with the empirical record and consistently tested, supported or refuted with hard archaeological facts.