Books in Social sciences and humanities

The Horner Site

1st Edition
June 28, 2014
George C. Frison + 1 more
English
eBook
9 7 8 1 4 8 3 2 9 9 3 6 5

The Horner Site: The Type Site of the Cody Cultural Complex covers significant archaeological and geological research studies of the analytic and interpretative analysis of the Horner site. This 11-chapter text specifically explores the early Paleoindian studies at the site. The introductory chapters reflect the history of the Princeton and Smithsonian investigations at the Horner site, including the excavation techniques, geologic studies, stone tool assemblage, and faunal remains. The subsequent chapters discuss the paleoecological studies conducted by the University of Wyoming at the site, specifically the taphonomy of the Horner II bone bed. These topics are followed by descriptions of the projectile points and specialized bifaces from the Horner site, as well as the stone flaking material sources for the site. Other chapters focus on the geological features and the local fauna of the Horner site. The concluding chapters examine the soil formation and paleoenvironmental interpretation at the site. This book will be of great value to archaeologists, geologists, and paleontologists.

Handbook of Human Stress and Immunity

1st Edition
June 28, 2014
Ronald Glaser + 1 more
English
eBook
9 7 8 1 4 8 3 2 9 5 1 2 1

In 1964, George Solomon coined the term psychoneuroimmunolog... In the intervening 30 years, this term has emerged into a dynamic field of study which investigates the unique interactions between the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. The Handbook of Human Stress and Immunity is a comprehensive reference for this dynamic new field. Focusing on how stressors impact the central nervous system and the resulting changes in immune responses, the Handbook is the first to describehow stress specifically affects human immune systems. It discusses how stress generally makes people more susceptible to infection, how personal support systems can counteract the physiological effects of stress, and how stress, or lack of stress, affects the aging process. Chapters are authored by the leading names in the field and cover such diseases as autoimmune disease, viral pathogenesis, herpes, HIV, and AIDS.

Modern Material Culture

1st Edition
June 28, 2014
Richard A. Gould + 1 more
English
eBook
9 7 8 1 4 8 3 2 9 9 2 0 4

Modern Material Culture: The Archaeology of Us presents the relationships between human behavior and materials to contemporary societies. This book discusses the various aspects of material behavior in contemporary human societies. Organized into three parts encompassing 21 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the theory and teaching of the material culture approach. This text then presents ethnographic case studies that posit various general statements about human behavior in relation to materials as varied as herbs, coins, fences, graffiti, and domestic architecture. Other chapters consider a variety of topics ranging from mortuary practices and beliefs to the reuse and recycling of goods in the U.S. This book discusses as well the experimental approaches to material culture studies. The final chapter deals with the artifacts of aboriginal Australian settlements. This book is a valuable resource for archeologists, anthropologists, and readers who are interested in human behavior in relation to materials.

Quantitative Zooarchaeology

1st Edition
June 28, 2014
Donald K. Grayson
English
eBook
9 7 8 1 4 8 3 2 9 9 4 4 0

Quantitative Zooarchaeology: Topics in the Analysis of Archaeological Faunas presents the problems in the quantification of bones and teeth from archaeological and palaeontological sites. This book discusses the various kinds of statistical manipulations that are done with the measurements. Organized into seven chapters, this book begins with an overview of the quantification of vertebrate faunas from archaeological and, to some extent, palaeontological sites. This text then explains the interrelationship between various abundance measures and the size of the samples on which those measures are based. Other chapters consider the fundamental kinds of questions that every faunal analyst asks of a set of bones and teeth from an archaeological site. This book discusses as well the ratio scale measure of taxonomic abundance. The final chapter discusses the three issues that deal with different aspects of archaeological faunal analysis, namely, collection techniques, meat weights, and the analysis of the seasons of the year during which an archaeological deposit accumulated. This book is a valuable resource for archaeological faunal analysts, archaeologists, and paleontologists.

Archaeology of Frontiers & Boundaries

1st Edition
June 28, 2014
J J ROBINSON
English
eBook
9 7 8 1 4 8 3 2 9 4 3 9 1

Archaeology of Frontiers and Boundaries presents a diverse set of case studies that addresses the basic questions concerning social change through the study of anthropological archaeology. This book discusses the methodological difficulties of modeling open systems. Organized into three parts encompassing 13 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the partial solution to assess the openness of human systems through the study of frontiers and boundaries. This text then presents a theoretical treatise on forager–farmer interaction using simulation experiments. Other chapters consider the hunter–gatherer settlement patterns as a response to local resource conditions. This book discusses as well the systemic views of cultural change adopted by archaeologists, which emphasize the processes underlying cultural change rather than the structure of the social units undergoing transformations. The final chapter deals with the relationship between behavior and modern material culture on the one hand, and variables of socioeconomic class and ethnicity on the other. This book is a valuable resource for archaeologists and anthropologists.

Analysis of Qualitative Data

1st Edition
Volume 2
June 28, 2014
Shelby J. Haberman
English
eBook
9 7 8 1 4 8 3 2 9 4 3 5 3

Analysis of Qualitative Data, Volume 2: New Developments focuses on the variety of models used in the analysis of qualitative data. The book first elaborates on multinomial response models and incomplete tables. Discussions focus on models for incomplete tables with ordered categories, incomplete two-way tables and migration, multinomial response models for one or more continuous independent variables, and multinomial response models for two-way tables. The book also reviews symmetrical tables and adjustment of data, including the adjustment of marginal totals using unsaturated models, symmetry models for multi-way tables, and distance models. The publication ponders on latent-class models, as well as models with several latent variables, iterative proportional fitting and latent-class models, maximum likelihood equations for the traditional latent-class model, and the scoring algorithm. The manuscript is a vital reference for researchers interested in the models used in the analysis of qualitative data.

Applied Iterative Methods

1st Edition
June 28, 2014
Louis A. Hageman
English
eBook
9 7 8 1 4 8 3 2 9 4 3 7 7

Applied Iterative Methods discusses the practical utilization of iterative methods for solving large, sparse systems of linear algebraic equations. The book explains different general methods to present computational procedures to automatically determine favorable estimates of any iteration parameters, as well as when to stop the iterative process. The text also describes the utilization of iterative methods to solve multidimensional boundary-value problems (such as discretization stencil, mesh structure, or matrix partitioning) which affect the cost-effectiveness of iterative solution procedures. The book cites case studies involving iterative methods applications, including those concerning only three particular boundary-value problems. The text explains polynomial acceleration procedures (for example, Chebyshev acceleration and conjugate gradient acceleration) which can be applied to certain basic iterative methods or to the successive overtaxation (SOR) method. The book presents other case studies using the iterative methods to solve monoenergetic transport and nonlinear network flow multidimensional boundary-value problems. The text also describes the procedures for accelerating basic iterative methods which are not symmetrizable. The book will prove beneficial for mathematicians, students, and professor of calculus, statistics, and advanced mathematics.

Adaptive Responses of Native Amazonians

1st Edition
June 28, 2014
Raymond B. Hames
English
eBook
9 7 8 1 4 8 3 2 9 4 2 3 0

Adaptive Responses of Native Amazonians investigates the adaptive responses of the aborigines of Amazonia from the ecological perspective within anthropology. The discussions are organized around the major modes of Amazonian subsistence (cultivation, hunting and fishing), nutrition, and settlement pattern. Comprised of 15 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of Amazonian ecosystems, citing environmental models of Amazonian adaptive behavior and sociocultural evolution as well as the problematic definition or measure of the concept of adaptation. The reader is then introduced to shifting cultivation among the Machiguenga, Native American inhabitants of the tropical rainforest of the Upper Amazon, and the Kuikuru, one of three Carib-speaking villages located at the headwaters of the Xingú River. Subsequent chapters focus on the adaptive strategies of the Wakuénai people to the oligotrophic rainforest of the Rio Negro Basin; neotropical hunting among the Aché of Eastern Paraguay; trekking by the Mekranoti-Kayapó Indians of Central Brazil in lowland South America; and fishing patterns among the Cocamilla Indians of Achual Tipishca in the Huallaga River Basin in northeastern Peru. The book also considers nutrition and settlement patterns among native Amazonians. This monograph will be a useful resource for anthropologists, scholars, specialists, and others who are interested in the general fields of human ecology, South American ethnology, and tropical studies.

Practices of Archaeological Stratigraphy

1st Edition
June 28, 2014
Edward C. Harris
English
eBook
9 7 8 1 4 8 3 2 9 5 8 2 4

Practices of Archaeological Stratigraphy brings together a number of examples which illustrate the development and use of the Harris Matrix in describing and interpreting archaeological sites. This matrix, the theory of which is described in two editions of the previous book by Harris, Principles of Archaeological Stratigaphy, made possible for the first time a simple diagramatic representation of the strategraphic sequence of a site, no matter how complex. The Harris Matrix, by showing in one diagram all three linear dimensions, plus time, represents a quantum leap over the older methods which relied on sample sections only.In this book 17 essays present a sample of new work demonstrating the strengths and uses of the Harris Matrix, the first ever published collection of papers devoted solely to stratigraphy in archaeology. The crucial relationships between the Harris methods, open-area excavation techniques, the interpretation of interfaces, and the use of single-context plans and recording sheets, is clarified by reference to specific sites. These sites range from medieval Europe, through Mayan civilizations to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. This book will be of great value to all those involved in excavating and recording archaeological sites and should help to ensure that the maximum amount of stratigraphic information can be gathered from future investigations.

Principles of Archaeological Stratigraphy

2nd Edition
June 28, 2014
Edward C. Harris
English
eBook
9 7 8 1 4 8 3 2 9 5 8 5 5

This book is the only text devoted entirely to archaeological stratigraphy, a subject of fundamental importance to most studies in archaeology. The first edition appeared in 1979 as a result of the invention, by the author, of the Harris Matrix--a method for analyzing and presenting the stratigraphic sequences of archaeological sites. The method is now widely used in archaeology all over the world.The opening chapters of this edition discuss the historical development of the ideas of archaeological stratigraphy. The central chapters examine the laws and basic concepts of the subject, and the last few chapters look at methods of recording stratification, constructing stratigraphic sequences, and the analysis of stratification and artifacts.The final chapter, which is followed by a glossary of stratigraphic terms, gives an outline of a modern system for recording stratification on archaeological sites. This book is written in a simple style suitable for the student or amateur. The radical ideas set out should also give the professional archaeologist food for thought.

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