Donn Bayard

Pax Americana? Accent attitudinal evaluations in New Zealand, Australia and America

This study describes a series of evaluations of gender pairs of New Zealand English, Australian English, American English and RP-type English English voices by over 400 students in New Zealand, Australia and the U.S.A. Voices were chosen to represent the middle range of each accent, and balanced for paralinguistic features. Twenty-two personality and demographic traits were evaluated by Likert-scale questionnaires. Results indicated that the American female voice was rated most favourably on at least some traits by students of all three nationalities, followed by the American male. For most traits, Australian students generally ranked their own accents in third or fourth place, but New Zealanders put the female NZE voice in the mid-low range of all but solidarity-associated traits. All three groups disliked the NZE male. The RP voices did not receive the higher rankings in power/status variables we expected. The New Zealand evaluations downgrade their own accent vis-a`-vis the American and to some extent the RP voices. Overall, the American accent seems well on the way to equalling or even replacing RP as the prestige—or at least preferred—variety, not only in New Zealand but in Australia and some non-English-speaking nations as well. Preliminary analysis of data from Europe suggests this manifestation of linguistic hegemony as ‘Pax Americana’ seems to be prevalent over more than just the Anglophone nations.

An Evolutionary Approach to the Southeast Asian Cultural Sequence [and Comments and Reply]

Recent archaelogical work has directed attention toward Southeast Asia. However, while the substantive results of this research are significant for tracing worldwide prehistoric developments, the integration of these findings into a regional archaeological framework continues to be a problem. Most traditional chronological-developmental frameworks of Southeast Asian prehistory were patterned after the European paradigm of five prehistoric ages. It was implied that cultural developments occurred in several major stages and were relatively uniform throughout the region. The results of several recent excavations as well as ethnographic evidence contradict these assumptions. It is argued here that an explanation for these contradictions can be found in the ecology of Southeast Asia. Much of the region falls within the zone of the perhumid tropics. Resource distribution and a number of other ecological conditions of that zone are responsible for a high degree of geographical discontinuity of the human ecology and an ever increasing cultural diversity over time.

Early thai bronze: analysis and new dates.

Electron probe analysis of the earliest metal found at the northeastern Thailand site of Non Nok Tha indicates that it is a bronze containing 4 to 6 percent tin. Recent thermoluminescence dates substantiate the presence of a well-developed bronze technology prior to 2300 B.C. and suggest a date of about 2700 to 2500 B.C. for the first appearance of bronze at the site.

Cultural Resource Management and Archaeological Research: The Cache Project [and Comments and Reply]

Cultural resource management studies, which provide archaeological information for planning purposes, are currently burgeoning in American archaeology. A general approach is developed which aims at bringing such studies into conformity with legal requirements and the high standards of modern archaeological research. This approach is founded on the precept that cultural resource management cannot attain its management goals without solid research effort; thus every contract project must obtain research results. Discussions of the Cache Project, an intensive survey undertaken by the Arkansas Archeological Survey in northeastern Arkansas, illustrate how management and research goals can be brought into harmony. Major results of the Cache Project and research designs, as well as other recent progress in cultural resource management studies, are briefly reviewed.

The Development of Metallurgy in Southeast Asia: Reply to Loofs-Wissowa

We find this a most curious attack, both in tone and in substance; Loofs-Wissowa appears to believe that we, Solheim, Gorman, and the media have been engaged in a conspiracy to cloud the minds of Westerners and Southeast Asians alike on the origins of metallurgy in the region. Loofs-Wissowa evidently feels that Southeast Asian laymen view this question as equal in importance to contemporary issues there (which is of course not the case). He also believes that it is the most burning issue in archaeology since Piltdown or Glozel, splitting the profession into “Believers” in the “long dates” and “Non Believers”. This is again rather an exaggeration; we would estimate the “Believers” to number not more than a few hundred, while the “Non Believers” may be counted on the fingers of one hand (Marschall, Sorensen, Sieveking, and of course Loofs-Wissowa himself). The remainder of the archaeological world (i.e., over 90%) has other questions to occupy it. However, Loofs-Wissowa is certainly correct in pointing out the attention paid to the question of early metallurgy over the past few years, and we welcome this opportunity to counter his arguments and distinguish between our views and those published by the media. This may best be done by first pointing out errors of omission in the facts presented by Loofs-Wissowa, by examining basic errors in his conceptual framework, and finally by answering the three specific questions he poses.

Non Chai: New Dates on Metalworking and Trade From Northeastern Thailand

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More on Cultural Resource Management

ABO blood groups (d.f. 3) Upper Assam Brahmin-Kalita . 1044 P> .95 Brahmin-Kaibarta 1.44 .75>P>.50 Kalita-Kaibarta ........ .8921 .90>P> .80 Lower Asam Brahmin-Kalita ........ .36 .95>P> .90 Brahmin-Kaibarta ... . 11.76 P> .01 Kalita-Kaibarta . ,15 . 52 P> .01 Colour blindness (d.f. 1) Upper Assam Brahmin-Kalita ..... .. .3445 . 70>P> .50 Brahmin-Kaibarta 1.04 . 50>P> .30 Kalita-Kaibarta . .4899 . 50>P> .30 Lower Assam Brahmin-Kalita .062 .90>P> . 80 Brahmin-Kaibarta ..853 . 50>P> .30 Kalita-Kaibarta . . 647 . 50>P> .30