Human osteoarchaeology in the UK 2001–2007: a bibliometric perspective

Bibliometric analysis of osteoarchaeology publications covering the period 2001–2007 in leading journals was carried out. The aims were two‐fold: firstly, to characterise research in this field in the UK and make comparisons with selected other countries, and secondly, to shed light on the use of skeletal collections. It was found that, since a previous survey of this type,covering the period 1991–1995, isotopic and DNA studies have increased. In the UK, work on biodistance studies is minor compared with other countries, and the proportion of palaeopathology work is high. In palaeopathology, substantial effort continues to be devoted to case studies, particularly in the UK where the frequency of problem‐orientated work directed at understanding earlier populations has not increased since the early 1990s. Although it is argued that the case study still has a place in osteoarchaeology, the balance of work needs to shift further in favour of population studies, particularly in the UK. Skeletal collections are vital for primary osteoarchaeological work, and there was little evidence for any great use of skeletal databases such as the Standard Osteological Database. Skeletal collections from the UK were the most used for the research papers analysed, demonstrating the importance of UK‐held collections for research that leads to high profile publication in the international scientific literature. These observations are pertinent since legal, ethical and practical issues in the treatment of human remains, particularly those connected with retention of skeletal collections, are now coming under closer scrutiny in the UK. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ancient DNA Clarifies Osteological Analyses of Commingled Remains from Midnight Terror Cave,Belize

In the past two decades, paleogenetics has made a significant impact on the field of archaeology. Interestingly, paleogenetic methods have not been extensively employed in osteoarchaeology despite its ability to address issues that cannot be resolved through traditional osteological analysis alone. This paper tackles a problem concerning the relationship between human remains in a commingled deposit from Midnight Terror Cave, Belize. Paleogenetics demonstrates that the bones in question belonged to multiple individuals, thus resolving an issue that was at the heart of the interpretation of social processes at the site. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gorazde: the peacekeepers' tale

This review article of a double CD–ROM focuses on the siege of the Bosnian 'safe area' of Gorazde during the period 1994–5. Overshadowed by the attack and massacre at Srebrenica, the defence of Gorazde has received little mention. This is rectified by Gillian Sandford and Mike Price's CD–ROM, in which British soldiers of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment and the Royal Welch Fusiliers discuss their personal experiences of the siege as well as the nature of their responsibilities as peacekeepers in this 'safe area'. The soldiers discuss their support of the 'safe area' and how they contributed to averting a massacre by defending Gorazde until Bosnian forces were able to defend it themselves.     

Historical Osteoarchaeology in Iceland

Historical osteoarchaeology has not been at the forefront of archaeological research in Iceland. Large-scale excavations of historical cemeteries did not start until the mid-twentieth century, and all excavations of historical cemeteries until the early twenty-first century were development led. This fact means that many of the projects carried out did not have an osteoarchaeological focus, nor asked specific osteological questions of the material, as well as the fact that the state of the publication of these sites is very varied. This paper presents a summary of the larger excavations of historical cemeteries in Iceland alongside discussions of the various approaches to the presentation of the analysis of the skeletal remains of those sites that have been published from Jón Steffensen??s focus on identifying the individuals at seventeenth-to-eighteenth-century Skálholt and Hólar; to the evidence presented for the hospital in sixteenth-century Skrieuklaustur and the influence of increased urbanization in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Reykjavík on the palaeopathology of those buried there.     

Heads or Tails? Modified Ceramic Gaming Pieces from Colonial California

Modified ceramic disks have been recovered from historic-era sites across the Americas. Small unperforated disks are commonly interpreted as gaming pieces and larger perforated disks are often classified as spindle whorls. Here, we examine these interpretations in light of collections from three colonial-era sites in central California: Mission San Antonio de Padua, Mission San José, and the Rancho San Andrés Castro Adobe. We argue that the small unperforated disks from our study sites were two-sided dice. These gaming pieces facilitated the social cohesion of Native people living in the large, multiethnic Indigenous communities that formed around Spanish colonial missions and later Mexican-era ranchos.     

The rise and demise of the Irish and Scottish computer hardware industry

This paper examines the dynamics of the computer hardware industry in Ireland and Scotland in a global context, from its inception in the late 1950s to the present. It provides a detailed account of plant openings and closures in both the system assembly and the component manufacturing segment. It describes the development of the computer hardware industry from mainframe assembly, through minicomputer assembly to microcomputer assembly and the shift of system assembly and component production activity to the Far East and Eastern Europe since the mid-1990s. The developments are analysed in terms of Schoenberger's (1997) model of concentrated deconcentration in the context of time-based-competition. It is shown that the model, with substantial qualification, fits the developments since the 1980s.     

三维激光扫描技术在岩土文物保护中的应用

三维激光扫描是近年来飞跃发展的一项高新测绘与信息技术,在文物保护中发挥了重要作用介绍了三维激光扫描技术的主要特点,从岩土文物保护需求出发,结合实际文物保护工程,重点介绍了三维激光扫描技术在文物信息留存、虚拟修复、监测等方面的应用,最后指出三维扫描技术在岩土文物保护中的心用与发展须与保护需求紧密结合,而硬软件的改进完善及相关技术的集成心用亦是重要研究方向。     

Geographic information systems in archaeological analysis: a predictive model in the detection of rural Roman villae

This paper describes the experimental model that formed the basis for the author's PhD thesis. The main goal of the work is the implementation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in archaeological research. A survey of the state of the art was undertaken to enable an assessment of the model to be tried out and how implementation should be undertaken. The problem encountered then, and which still persists, is that data that are sufficiently reliable for archaeological purposes are hard to come by, in digital format.     

Developing Geographers through Photography: Enlarging Concepts

This paper explores how photographs can be used to teach urban social geography to second- and third-year university students. In it the author describes her work acquainting students with the skill of ‘directed observation’. She argues that teaching geography through photography is not merely asking students to take pictures but rather, the process of looking with intention. Capturing what is seen on film encourages students to engage with geography by seeing how ideas ground themselves on the landscape. This work also challenges how geographers think about what they require of students and calls into question normative classroom practices. Most importantly, it adds to our understanding of concepts that are central to geographic analyses and heightens our awareness of how well students understand. Photographs provide an opportunity to hear multiple voices in multiple ways. The author suggests that the methodological and pedagogical contributions of photographs have been overlooked in geography.     

Editorial note

The Lore of the Land by Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson (2005) contains a substantial selection of English local legends. This paper describes the aims and methods of the authors, and highlights some aspects they found of interest: how English legends fit international patterns, how they relate to their locality, how they develop over time, how some have literary origins that can be dated. The local legend is a widespread and significant form of narrative, deserving further study.     

人民公社供给制探析

本文深刻剖析了 1 958年大办农村人民公社时期 ,人民公社实施供给制分配原则的弊端、原因及经验教训 ,从理论和实践上阐明了平均主义与社会主义、共产主义的原则区别。历史证明 ,随心所欲地改变生产关系 ,制定超前的分配原则 ,一定遭到历史的惩罚。     

基于物联网技术的博物馆室内环境监测

物联网是传感器技术、无线通信技术、网络和嵌入式计算机技术交叉渗透的产物,随着物联网概念的提出,其技术得到了飞速发展,并且在社会多个领域取得了成功应用。针对当前博物馆环境监测存在的问题与难点,提出了基于物联网技术的博物馆室内环境监测系统的总体设计方案,在此基础上,分别给出了传感器节点、汇聚节点的软硬件设计方案,该设计具有低功耗、低成本、扩展灵活等优点。构建的测试平台验证了该系统良好的可行性与稳定性。     

Identifying sword marks on bone: criteria for distinguishing between cut marks made by different classes of bladed weapons

Swords have been one of the major weapons used in violent conflicts for much of human history. Certain archaeological situations, especially those dealing with the recovery and analysis of battle casualties, may raise questions about what type(s) of bladed weapon was used in a particular conflict (e.g., the battle of Kamakura, Japan, AD 1333; the battle of Wisby, Sweden, AD 1361; the battle of Towton, England, AD 1461). Little work has been done, however, on developing criteria to differentiate sword cut marks from other types of cut marks, or to distinguish between marks created by different sword types. To develop such criteria, bovine tibiae (n = 7) were struck using six different types of bladed weapon and the resulting marks (n = 92) were analyzed. Eight traits describing the morphology of the cut mark – such as shape, the presence and unilateral/bilateral state of flaking and feathering, the presence of bone shards, associated breaks, etc. – are defined and related to blade type used. Sword marks were found to be easily distinguishable from knife marks. The variation in marks made by different sword types is significantly correlated with differences in blade weight (p < 0.0001), grip (p < 0.0113), and sharpness (p ≤ 0.0179). The criteria and analyses developed and implemented in this study will be of use to researchers in forensics and osteoarchaeology who want to infer bladed weapon type from marks on bones.     

From Contention to Co‐governance: The Case of the Right to Inhabit Movement in Rome (2000–2013)

Based on interviews with activists and local government officials and on secondary data, this paper analyzes the development and effects of the Roman Right to Inhabit Movement (RIM) from its origins till 2014. The first section describes the origins and characteristics of the new housing question in Rome. The second presents a brief genealogy of the RIM, paying special attention to how it has framed the housing question. The third describes the activities of the RIM by focusing on its interplay with the city politics and administration and the resulting changes in the housing policy of the city of Rome. The fourth section analyzes the modes of state regulation and of political articulation of the housing question that these transformations have brought about. The final section argues that these emerging arrangements are a significant example of how new forms of social protection are being created by urban movements after the neoliberal erosion of the welfare mechanisms.     

Who Makes Weapons Procurement Decisions?

Despite the absence of scientific support for a tripartite alliance in defense policymaking, political scientists and the general public continue to subscribe to a sub government explanation. This article addresses the sub government dilemma as it applies to the area of weapons procurement. More precisely, it asks whether the sub government model accurately describes and adequately explains the decisions to develop and build major weapons systems. In answering this question, the critical assumptions or propositions that comprise the model are tested, relying upon published research and original data drawn from 19 cases of military hardware decisions. The findings do lend some qualified support for a military subgovernment.     

Biodiversity for billionaires: capitalism, conservation and the role of philanthropy in saving/selling nature

This article examines the role of philanthropy in conservation as a way of exploring how and why conservation might be becoming more neoliberal. It describes how conservation philanthropy supports capitalism both discursively and in more practical ways. Philanthropy is examined in terms of the two forces considered to be driving the neoliberalization of conservation — the need for capitalism to find new ways of making money, and the desire of conservationists to engage with capitalism as the best way of getting things done. It demonstrates how philanthropy can speak to both of these logics simultaneously, particularly through emerging ideas of philanthrocapitalism, which may be enhancing the neoliberalization of both philanthropy and conservation.     

Eselsohren: the Journal of History of Art,Architecture and Urbanism, 1/1, 2013

Abstract

This article first describes the prime movers surviving in three Irish distilleries, and shows how steam and water power were used in conjunction at two of them. The second section describes surviving stationary steam engines in other industries, and these are described in order of technological development, so giving an indication of the evolution of the stationary steam engine between about 1895 and 1940.     

DIAGNOSTICS FOR REGRESSION MODELING IN SPATIAL ECONOMETRICS*

ABSTRACT. This paper describes statistics for model criticism in spatial econometrics. The purpose of these statistics is to evaluate how well a chosen model fits the data and to identify influential cases and how they affect the aggregate picture. The paper reviews results in Martin (1992) for the regression model with correlated errors where the coefficients of the variance matrix are assumed either known or fixed. The problems of applying the statistics in spatial econometric modeling are discussed. An application is reported which considers diagnostics for the mean function and highlights cases that might influence estimates of the parameter of the error model. Different ways of assessing the influence of cases are also described.