Mining structures are among the most complex economic systems in prehistory. Until recently, research into prehistoric production processes has strongly focused on technological reconstruction. The complexity of production processes, their interconnectedness with the surrounding socioeconomic network and issues of quantification have, quite regrettably, been addressed to a much lesser extent. S...

The ancient lowland Maya have been traditionally portrayed as swidden (shifting cultivation) agriculturalists (1). The persistence of the swidden concept has inhibited field inquiry of past modes of lowland subsistence, often preserving what may be an unfounded bias concerning the cultivation techniques employed by the Maya. Moreover, the absence of adequate subsistence research has, in effect,...

We present here a brief history of the origins and development of the concept of chaîne opératoire, followed by details of the theory of the technological approach (including the protocol), in order to illustrate the gradual shift in lithic analyses in France: • from a Natural Science, and the study of the “progressive development of Prehistoric Humans,” • to Anthropology, and the use of techni...

THE ANCIENT WORLD passed from the Stone Age through the Bronze and Iron Ages to our modern developed society—a society that is dependent on metals and alloys for its very existence. However, an impressive body of metallurgical knowledge developed in the thousands of years since ancient man first found copper and became curious enough to investigate the behavior of this naturally occurring, rela...

Fraud in science is, in essence, a violation of the scientific method. It is feared and denigrated by all scientists. Let’s look at a few real cases that have come up in the past. Piltdown Man, a human cranium and ape jaw found in a gravel pit in England around 1910, is perhaps the most famous case. Initially hailed as the authentic remnants of one of our more distant ancestors, the interspecie...