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The ongoing thread in several usegroups concerning the possible
identification of nicotine in prehistoric pipes has me thinking about a
possible symposium for the 1997 Society For American Archaeology (SAA)
Meetings in Nashville (April 2-6). In 1990, Karen Adams and I organized a
symposium on Nicotiana (tobacco) that was presented at the 1991 SAA
Meetings in New Orleans. The symposium was quite successful, and it ended
up generating a 2 volume book on Nicotiana that will be published by Yale
University Press in 1997 and 1998 (hopefully). What I am now thinking of
is a symposium at the 1997 SAA meetings, on the larger issue of the
archaeobotany, paleobotany, and related topics concerning the SOLANACEAE
plant family, which has produced some of the most impt. New World plants
-- tobacco, potato, chile, datura, groundcherry, tomato, wild potato, wild
tomato, and so on.
Is anyone out there interested in contributing papers to such a symposium?
They could deal with the family as a whole or large parts of it (e.g., Jan
Gish's excellent SEM analysis of the pollen of about 20 species),
individual species (e.g., an overview of what is known about the
prehistory and use of datura, or a review of the ethnobiology of chile),
or technical studies of special relevance (e.g., the results of what I
hope will be a GC-MS analysis of residue in prehistoric pipes). And their
could be even be a medico-anthro paper or two, such as the role of
Brugmansia and Brunsfelsia in ayahuasca. Or a theoretical paper on the
role of the species in this family in the evolution of South American
agriculture. Etc. Etc.
If anyone is interested in contributing a paper to a possible SAA
symposium of this nature, please contact me. Also please note that I have
to submit the proposed symposium packet by Sept. 7, so I would need to
have all paper proposals submitted to me and mulled over no later than
July 30, which would then only give me a month to put together all the
bullcrap that the SAA requires (not only paper and session abstracts but
presenter forms, meeting registration forms, meeting registration fees,
etc). It's a lot of work but well worth it, since SAA symposia can be a
lot of fun and quite worthwhile. Also, I would aim for another book
evolving out of the symposium, with revised papers as chapters. And
finally, yes there is Nashville -- such a great cultural hotspot, with so
much to offer (Grand Old Oprey?? and Graceland, I think (or maybe that's
Memphis), for you Presleyterians).
So let me know what you think, and please pass this message on to anyone
who might be interested. There's no guarantee, ofcourse, that the
symposium proposal will be accepted by the SAA, but its always worth a shot.
Thanks
Joe Winter
Dept. of Anthropology
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
jwinter@unm.edu
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"We did not weave the web of life. We | Lyn Dearborn
are merely a strand in it. Whatever | Naturalist/Person
we do to the web, we do to ourselves" | Native Basketry Instruction
--"Walk gently on Mother Earth" -- | dearborn@anchor.engr.sgi.com
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