‘Reckless youth’. Cardinal Maffi and Fascism (1919–31)

The article focuses on Cardinal Pietro Maffi's attitude towards Fascism. As one of the mightiest princes of the Church and a well-known patriot, the Archbishop of Pisa enthusiastically supported the war effort in 1915–18. Concerned by the spread of strikes and social disorders after the victory, he saw Fascism as a bulwark against socialism and tried to make an alliance through celebrations of the ‘heroic’ memory of the Great War together with the Black Shirts. Maffi's strategy seemed to work: with a few exceptions the alliance remained effective and became official with signing of the Lateran Pacts of 1929. Consequently, Cardinal Maffi made a significant contribution to the success of the secular religion of the Fatherland preached by Fascism which shortly after his death in March 1931 would become a major source of tension between the regime and the Church.     

A Physiologist’s War: Captain T. Graham Brown RAMC (1915–1919)

During the five years before the outbreak of the First World War, Thomas Graham Brown (1882–1965) conducted research into the control of locomotion that gained him a deserved and long-lasting reputation as a neuroscientist and, in 1927, was recognized by election to the Fellowship of the Royal Society. In 1915, with the First World War raging, he agonized about continuing his research or joining the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC). Told by his father to seek a commission, he served two and half years in Macedonia with the British Salonika Force. Whilst in Greece, he kept a daily diary. The entries from June 1916 to May 1917 are extant. They are unpublished and provide the background to the narrative to follow. Casualties with traumatic injury to the brain and spinal cord afforded him the opportunity to carry out careful observations, particularly concerning sensory localization, which resulted in novel findings and his observations on shell shock led to him being called as an expert witness to the national inquiry into the nature and treatment of the condition. In 1920, Graham Brown was appointed to the Chair of Physiology in Cardiff, which he held until 1947.     

Geophysical Investigations at Teotepec,Mexico (1000 B.C.–A.D. 1000)

Abstract

Recent investigations at the site of Teotepec in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas in southern Veracruz, Mexico explored Middle Formative through Late Classic (1000 B.C.–A.D. 1000) socioeconomic conditions. A central focus was the form and function of the site's distinctive architectural configuration, the Long Plaza Group. During the 2007 and 2008 field seasons, a systematic geophysical survey of Teotepec obtained initial information on the layout, orientation, and possible function of the site's central architectural core. Results from the survey allow for a clear definition of the site's Long Plaza Group in addition to the identification of a possible ball court along its eastern edge. It is also clear that Teotepecans incorporated natural features into their architectural core by placing a pyramid atop a volcanic landform and modifying a natural basalt flow in order to create a level plaza. Finally, the geophysical data indicate significant time depth in architectural construction by suggesting diffirent mound construction techniques, thus underscoring the importance of Teotepec as a persistent place in a region marked by significant population fluctuations in the Formative and Classic periods.     

RADIOCARBON TRENDS AND THE EAST TEXAS CADDO TRADITION (CA. A.D. 800–1680)

Abstract

Through the employment of radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dates as data, we use the date combination process to refine site-specific summed probability distributions for 555 dates from Caddo sites (n = 19) in East Texas with 10 or more ¹⁴C dates. Summed probability distributions are then contrasted across river basins and natural regions with the remainder of the East Texas Caddo Radiocarbon Database (n = 338 dates from 132 other Caddo sites), highlighting the temporal and spatial character of Caddo archaeological sites throughout East Texas.     

J. D. Rolleston (1873–1946): An Overlooked Scholar of Folk Medicine

J. D. Rolleston was a medical doctor of considerable renown and skill whose scholarly interests in retirement included the study of folk medicine. He authored some seventeen papers on the topic, which are the subject of an annotated bibliography here, together with a short note on his professional life.