The Late Prehistoric,Protohistoric, and Early Historic periods in Eastern Arabia (ca. 5000–1200 B.C.)

This paper presents an overview of cultural developments in eastern Arabia during the Late Prehistoric, Protohistoric, and Early Historic periods (ca. 5000–1200 B.C.) as defined here. Emphasis is placed on the indigenous lithic industries, ceramics, architecture, burial practices, and subsistence data, while interregional ties and comparative chronology are treated as well. A unified chronological schema for the entire region is proposed which can function alongside local, regional sequences.     

Review - H. B. Clarke,M. N Mhaonaigh,R. Ó Floinn (eds.): Ireland and Scandinavia in the Early Viking Age

Magdalena Midgley: The First Farmers of the North European Plain. Edinburgh University Press, 1992. XVI + 550 pp. 132 figs. ISBN 0 7486 0348 4.

Julian Thomas: Rethinking the Neolithic. (New Studies in Archaeology). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1991. xvi + 212 pp. 60 figures. ISBN 0–521–40377–4 (hardback).

Stuart J. Fiedel: Prehistory of the Americas. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1992. 400pp. ISBN 0–521–41532–2—ISBN 0–521–42544–1 (pbk.).

Timothy Earle (ed.): Chiefdoms: Power, Economy and Ideology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1991. 34 pp. ISBN 0–521–40190–9.

J?rgen Steen Jensen, Kirsten Bendixen, Niels‐Knud Liebgott and Fritze Lindahl, with the cooperation of Keld Grinder‐Hansen and Gert Posselt: Danmarks middelalderlige skattefund c.1050‐C.1550/Denmark's medieval treasure‐hoards C.1050‐C.1550, I‐II. Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftselskab, Copenhagen, 1992. ISBN 87–87483–23–2.     

Earthquakes and Petticoats: Maria Graham,Geology, and Early Nineteenth-Century ‘Polite’ Science

Re-visiting the controversy caused by the first female-authored report in the Transactions of the Geological Society, this article probes the gendered layers of the early nineteenth-century scientific community. Maria Graham's ‘Account of Some Effects of the Late Earthquakes in Chili [sic]’ (1824) had considerable influence, and was referred to by Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin. In 1834, however, George Greenough, President of the Geological Society, questioned the accuracy of Graham's observations. Graham in turn defended herself adroitly, in an acrimonious exchange which found an international audience. While this dispute has received some attention from historians of science, previous discussions assume that Graham was no geologist, but simply a traveller who witnessed events of great relevance to contemporary geology. Drawing on extensive archival research, this article demonstrates to the contrary that Graham had considerable interest and expertise in this branch of science. Using the dispute to shed light on the multiple milieux in which early nineteenth-century science took place, it explores the constraints and opportunities faced by women with scientific interests, and the rhetorical strategies required of them, as they negotiated the diverse modes of contemporary science. It also highlights little-known networks of friendship, correspondence and intellectual exchange between scientifically minded women.     

Intolerable Cruelty： Marriage,Law, and Society in Early Twentieth-Century China

In Intolerable Cruelty： Marriage, Law, and Society in Early Twentieth-Century China, Margaret Kuo argues that legal reforms allowed wives in the Republican era unprecedented opportunities to leave abusive or undesirable marriages. In addition to reevaluating Republican-era law, Kuo significantly contributes to scholarship by acknowledging the agency of the wives who brought forth their cases in court. In contrast to CCP scholarship that ＂has worked to expunge GMD contributions＂ to women＇s rights and family law （p. 12）, Kuo argues that the Republican era offered flexible solutions during ＂an important transitional period＂ （19. 198）.     

Families of Choice? George Ives,Queer Lives and the Family in Early Twentieth‐Century Britain

This article argues that the stark post-Second World War understanding in which 'straight is to gay' came to be seen as 'family is to non family' has tended to obscure the historical complexity of family life and the ways in which queer men have interacted with and created their families in the past, and used the language of family to conceptualise emotional bonds 'beyond blood'. Using the well-heeled early campaigner for homosexual law reform, George Ives (1867–1950), as a case study, I show how different rhetorics, ideas and experiences of family allowed for the assertion of gender and sexual identity, gave a framework for campaigning work and provided a means of conceptualising intimacy and companionship. Though family was the cause of considerable angst for Ives, it was, I suggest, something he valued not in spite of his homosexuality but at least partly because of it. It was fundamental to the ways in which he understood and articulated who he was, and how he related to others.     

Early Balkan Metallurgy: Origins,Evolution and Society, 6200–3700 BC

Journal of World Prehistory - This paper analyses and re-evaluates current explanations and interpretations of the origins, development and societal context of metallurgy in the Balkans (c....