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Editorial
I am pleased to report that this issue continues to display the broadly ranging and eclectic scholarship characteristic of IA. With geographic spread ranging from the American West to the Caribbean; with research based on archaeology, archival study, oral history and environmental assessments; with conclusions revealing the details of Native land claims, the particulars of hazardous wastes on former industrial plants, and the place of sugar in a global marketplace, these articles all characterize thoughtful applications of IA perspectives.
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Based on sometimes subtle material evidence combined with extensive documentary sources, Paul White weaves a tale of complex interactions between Native Americans and the larger society in the context of the mining industry in Death Valley. A nuanced review of land claims, mining equipment and legal testimony reveals the dynamic tale of Native involvement in mining, as well as the forces that often served to separate the people from the lands they had occupied for millennia. This study is primarily anthropological and historical, but key elements of the evidence are drawn from an understanding of the industrial settings in which the action took place.
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Michael Bernstein works in the environmental assessment industry and makes a compelling case for the application of IA perspectives and methods in the process of site evaluation. This paper offers suggestions for IA practitioners to participate in the "real world" of site inspection and the determinations that might influence activities such as purchase and redevelopment. The approach is somewhat different from our usual scholarly attention to preservation, documentation, and interpretation but is entirely appropriate in these pages as an example of applied IA.
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The final article in this volume explores the development of industrial installations to produce sugar in colonial-era Nevis, in the Caribbean. Marco Meniketti summarizes several years worth of research to portray the trajectory of the sugar industry in this singular location over time. Using traditional archaeological tools, such as survey and excavation, along with extensive historical research, Meniketti offers a picture of industrial evolution that includes fine-grained insights into conventions of site orientation and environmental degradation as well as describes the economic costs and benefits of technological change during the period of occupation. The success and ultimate failure of Nevisian sugar is a fascinating tale, well told in this piece.
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| An extensive run of book reviews rounds out this volume, thanks to Terry Reynolds and the careful book reviewers, as well as the presses and authors who send us the books in the first place.
Patrick E. Martin
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