Humans

13 pages, 246 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Gift Giving, Reciprocity and Community Survival among Central Alaskan Indigenous Peoples

by Guy Lanoue

Humans 2023, 3(1), 47-59; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans3010006 - 06 Mar 2023

Viewed by 2238

Inspired by a traditional ritual, the potlatch, Indigenous Dene communities in central-northern Alaska have developed new forms of reciprocity as a response to exogenous political threats to their autonomy. The potlatch involved the ritualized gifting of food and other items to selected guests as a means of creating political equilibrium by inculcating a sense of obligatory reciprocity. Today, people are reluctant to leave their communities and have begun shipping bush food from one community to the next instead of receiving gifts of food as invited guests. This new development is in response to a perceived threat to community survival. Since the 1990s, the Alaskan state government has been threatening to close schools with fewer than 20 students. This would affect most Native communities in the region, which generally have under 200 residents and correspondingly small schools. Closures would force people to move to larger villages with functioning schools or abandon their communities and move to a larger city (Fairbanks, in this case). While the government proposal to close smaller schools has yet to be implemented, it remains a constant threat (it was last revived in 2018). The new form of food redistribution allows people to stay and reaffirm their ties to their communities while reinforcing social ties to people of other communities. Full article

11 pages, 277 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Professional Archaeology in the UK under COVID-19

by Kenneth R. Aitchison

Humans 2023, 3(1), 36-46; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans3010005 - 01 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1821

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic had serious effects on the delivery of commercial archaeology in the United Kingdom during 2020 and 2021. This article presents a contemporary history of two years of practice and political developments. Because of commercial archaeology’s place within the broader construction sector, it became a ‘protected’ industry, resulting in a massive increase in the amount of work undertaken. Archaeology adapted remarkably well to the difficult and dangerous conditions of the pandemic, while encountering new challenges in staff recruitment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Reflections on the Sociology of Archaeology)

11 pages, 236 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

African Archaeological Journals and Social Issues 2014–2021

by Cheryl Claassen

Humans 2023, 3(1), 25-35; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans3010004 - 30 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1278

Abstract

The two waves of reflexivity in archaeology are the identity politics of archaeologists and stakeholder politics. These social issues are considered in this article through the perspective of three African archaeological journals produced from 2014 to 2021. Identity politics is examined through a quantitative analysis of authorship, book reviewing, and the countries covered. I conclude that parity of gender authorship—assuming 61% male and 39% female archaeologists—has been achieved by the African Archaeological Review, Journal of African Archaeology, and Azania. In book reviewing, this is less so. The geographical coverage across the three journals shows lacunae. Stakeholder politics is most visible in book reviews and special issues. Journal ethics and goals and the final topics of open access and other ways of broadening the pool of authors, reviewers, and accessibility are offered. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Reflections on the Sociology of Archaeology)

1 pages, 140 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Acknowledgment to the Reviewers of Humans in 2022

by Humans Editorial Office

Humans 2023, 3(1), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans3010003 - 17 Jan 2023

Viewed by 1042

Abstract

High-quality academic publishing is built on rigorous peer review [...] Full article

14 pages, 245 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Bending the Trajectory of Field School Teaching and Learning through Active and Advocacy Archaeology

by Shawn P. Lambert and Carol E. Colaninno

Humans 2023, 3(1), 10-23; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans3010002 - 15 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1821

Abstract

Many individuals practicing field-based research are subjected to sexual harassment and assault. This fact holds true for people engaged in archaeological field research and may be true for students who are just learning field methods while enrolled in an archaeological field school. We review some of our current research on the means of reducing and preventing sexual harassment and assault at archaeological field schools, as well as ways to create safer, more inclusive learning spaces. Additionally, we suggest that for the discipline to advance field school teaching and learning, we, as field directors, must situate ourselves as active and advocacy anthropologists: an approach that puts our students as a central focus when developing field-based pedagogy. As the authors of this work, we review our identities and positionality in conducting this research and in making meaning from the data we have collected. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Reflections on the Sociology of Archaeology)

9 pages, 236 KiB

Open AccessEssay

Class Barriers to Merit in the American Professoriate: An Archaeology Example and Proposals for Reform

by Michael J. Shott

Humans 2023, 3(1), 1-9; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans3010001 - 22 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1277

Abstract

Consumers and academics alike perceive a status hierarchy among American universities. By this perception, professors are placed in the status hierarchy befitting their scholarly merit. However, a recent study of the archaeology professoriate found no consistent correlation between faculty placement and merit. This essay identifies reasons for the lack of meritocracy, some unique to archaeology and others common to many fields. Archaeology, similar to the American academy at large, ignores class as a bias that handicaps some while favoring others. Notwithstanding challenges of definition and measurement, class should be treated equally with race, gender, and other biases in an academy’s pursuit of true meritocracy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Reflections on the Sociology of Archaeology)

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Humans, Volume 3, Issue 1 (March 2023) – 6 articles

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