Zooarchaeology and Historical Archaeology: Progress and Prospects

This review assesses the development and current status of zooarchaeological research in historical archaeology. Analytical issues in recovery, identification, quantification and interpretation are discussed with particular reference to assemblages from historical sites. The results section summarizes the substantive contributions zooarchaeological studies of historical assemblages have made to our understanding of past diet, food production systems, social and cultural variation, and archaeological interpretations. The last four decades of research has provided a strong basis for future analyses that draw together diverse strands of zooarchaeological, historical, scientific, and anthropological evidence.     

Dating European Palaeolithic Cave Art: Progress,Prospects, Problems

Over the last decade several dozen direct dates on cave art pigments or associated materials have supplemented more traditional style-based attempts to establish a chronological (and developmental) scheme for cave art. In the “post-stylistic” era an holistic integration of pigment “recipe” analysis, formal stylistic analysis and direct chronometric dating have been applied to a handful of dates. Here, we examine the state-of-the-art of Palaeolithic cave art dating, with particular emphasis on certain radiocarbon and Uranium-series projects. We examine the relative successes and weaknesses of this cutting edge science. We conclude that there are several weaknesses in current applications that are in serious need of addressing. Issues of sample contamination and of the heuristic relationship between materials dated and the production of the art are particularly problematic. It follows that one should at present be very cautious about straightforward interpretations of apparent “dates” of cave art.     

Being Canadian: Dual Citizenship in Historical Perspective

Why do states configure their citizenship laws in certain ways? Why do they allow or prohibit dual citizenship? Why was it only in 1946 that Canada decided to enact its first citizenship law which prohibited multiple national allegiances? Why was a similar proposal abandoned in 1931? And why was this citizenship law changed in 1977 to allow dual citizenship? A common answer is that citizenship reflects the national “identity” of each nation-state. Through a perusal of the debates regarding citizenship laws in Canada, I locate the particular motivation for introducing those laws. I argue that although the symbolic element of citizenship laws is significant, citizenship laws are enacted as a political instrument to achieve immediate and specific goals. In particular, accepting dual citizenship in Canada should be seen as a one of the strategies political elites tried in order to incorporate English and French speakers under the same flag.     

历史事实:史学家建构过去的图景

中外历史哲学界对“历史事实”存在严重的争论,主要问题是关于历史事实的应用范围与含义上的分歧。其实,“历史事实”只能限制在历史认识论的范围内才有意义,而历史事实与史料中的事实也不能等同。从历史学家与“历史事实”的关系来看,历史事实依历史学家的存在而存在,“历史事实”是史学家建立的关于过去的图景,是一个关于过去历史实际的知识体系。     

Low-Fired Earthenwares in the African Diaspora: Problems and Prospects

Local earthenware associated with enslaved African populations in the Americas, variously called Colono-Ware, Afro-Caribbean Ware. Yabbas, and Criollo ware, has received considerable attention from researchers. What unifies this disparate group of ceramics is not method of manufacture, design and decoration, or even form and function but the association or potential association with African diaspora populations. The ceramics incorporate some skills and techniques possibly brought by African potters to the Americas, as well as skills reflecting European and Native American traditions, and local adaptations in form, function, and manufacture. Analogies linking African ceramic traditions to American industries have at times been employed uncritically and have relied on generalized characteristics to infer overly specific meanings. With particular reference to low-fired earthenwares from Jamaica, this paper examines the historical and cultural context of these ceramics and the methodological and theoretical problems faced in their interpretation.     

Economic Analysis in Historical Perspective

Book reviewed in this article: Analytic Narratives, by Robert H. Bates, Avner Greif,Margaret Levi, Jean‐Laurent Rosenthal, and Barry R. Weingast     

American Conservatism 2012: A Historical Perspective

Abstract

This essay examines the peculiar history of American political thought to seek a possible explanation for why conservatism in the United States remains a movement without a spokesperson or a platform to which all citizens of this country who describe themselves as conservative can subscribe. The primary cause of these problems appears to be a serious mismatch between the traditional conservative traits of caution and limits and the historic American spirit of dynamic change and boundless optimism.     

German Postcolonialism in Four Dimensions: A Historical Perspective

In 1919, the German overseas empire came to an end, a direct consequence of defeat in the First World War. Germany has thus been post-colonial, in the sense of being without colonies, longer than most other European nations. This article argues that German postcolonialism can best be understood as a complex, multi-dimensional phenomenon, one that envelops memories of colonialism in white German and diasporic communities, as well as developments in the nation's more recent past. Its most salient aspects include the cultural memory of the colonial period itself, the resonances between colonialism, National Socialism and the Holocaust, the recovery of histories of Afro-Germans, and discussions of race, migration and integration which draw a very broad arc from the colonial past into the multicultural present. The multidimensional nature of German postcolonialism can be both an advantage as well as a disadvantage when it comes to meaningful engagement with Germany's colonial past. This article ultimately seeks a way of re-inserting the ‘colonial’ into German postcolonialism, without flattening the concept.     

Salamander's Wool: The Historical Evidence for Textiles Woven with Asbestos Fibre

Abstract

In 1684 Members of the Royal Society of London discussed the nature of a type of woven cloth described as incombustible linen, or salamander's wool. It was an attempt to explain scientifically the phenomenon described in many cultures over more than 1,500 years, of a cloth which could be immersed in fire and emerge, not only unburnt, but even cleansed. Such cloth is known to have been woven using fibres from the mineral asbestos. This paper explores the evidence for the historical use of asbestos fibre in woven textiles before its rediscovery and commercial development for fire protection in the nineteenth century.