Revealed by Waves: A Stratigraphic,Palaeoecological, and Dendrochronological Investigation of a Prehistoric Oak Timber and Intertidal Peats,Bay of Ireland,West Mainland,Orkney

An oak timber was discovered in 2013 within intertidal peats at the Bay of Ireland, Stenness, Orkney, representing a unique archaeological find. Subsequent excavation and rescue of the timber took place in 2014 to investigate its stratigraphical relationship before further eroding. Dendrochronological and morphological study identified the timber as a possible radially split log, c. 150 years of age when felled. No dendrochronological match was possible, and a wiggle-match date obtained provided a Later Mesolithic felling date of 4410–4325 cal BC. This timber is the first and only evidence so far for the use of oak in Mesolithic Orkney. The timber is significant palaeoecologically, suggesting oak may have been indigenous to Orkney. This adds to a growing argument for the existence of areas of “true woodland”. Pollen evidence shows the timber was deposited within reedswamp, fringed by willow-birch carr-woodland, with oak unlikely to have been growing in the immediate location. High microscopic and macroscopic charcoal values indicate Later Mesolithic communities exerted influence on this wetland using burning as a tool for landscape modification. It is unknown what the timber represents; it may have been for construction purposes or as a marker/possible landing place showing the path to the Loch of Stenness.     

“What do people do all day”

U. S. Department of Transportation. Final Environmental Impact Assessment for Darien Gap Highway from Tocumen, Panama, to Rio Leon, Colombia. Washington, D.C.: U. S. Department of Transportation, 1974. xvii + 203 pp. Tables, figures, and appendices. (Available gratis from USDOT.)

Kurt Finsterbusch. A Methodology for Analyzing Social Impacts of Public Policies. Vienna, Virginia: Braddock, Dunn, and McDonald, 1975. ix + 52 pp. Tables, illustrations, and appendices. (Availablegratis from BDM, Inc., 1920 Aline Avenue, Vienna, Virginia 22180.)     

REVIEW

Alternative Strategies for Papua New Guinea. Edited by Anthony Clunies Ross and John Langmore. Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1973. Pp. viii + 263. Price (papercovers) $5.70.     

Reviews

Books reviewed: S. Wahab and J. J. J. Pigram (eds), Tourism, Development and Growth the Challenge of Sustainability L. Sandercock, Towards Cosmopolis: Planning for Multicultural Cities S. Ryan, The Cartographic Eye: How Explorers Saw Australia J. M. Powell, Watering the Western Third Water, Land and Community in Western Australia, 1826–1998 M. C. Campbell, The Kingdom of the Ryans: the Irish in Southwest New South Wales, 1816ndash;1890 L. Sandercock (ed.), Making the Invisible: a Multicultural Planning History M. Ioannou, Barossa Journeys: into a Valley of Tradition N. R. Britton, J. McDonald and J. Oliver (eds), Insurance Liability and Loss Mitigation: Partners in Risk Resolution N. R. Britton and J. Oliver (eds), Financial Risk Management for Natural Catastrophes P. D. Nunn, Pacific Island Landscapes: Landscape and Geological Development of Southwest Pacific Islands, especially Fiji, Samoa and Tonga G. R. McGregor and S. Nieuwolt, Tropical Climatology: an Introduction to the Climates of the Low Latitudes T. M. Berra, A Natural History of Australia G. Cho, Geographic Information Systems and the Law: Mapping the Legal Frontiers     

A COMPARISON OF THE CHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING CHARACTERISTICS OF ANCIENT ROMAN HYDRAULIC CONCRETE WITH A MODERN REPRODUCTION OF VITRUVIAN HYDRAULIC CONCRETE*

The authors have completed structural and compositional analysis of Roman hydraulic concrete using large cores taken from a variety of maritime structures. In 2005 an 8 m³ block of hydraulic, pozzolanic concrete was built in the sea at Brindisi (Italy), applying the materials and procedures specified by the Roman architect Vitruvius. Cores were taken at 6 months and 12 months after construction and subjected to the same analyses as the first‐century bc cores from pilae associated with the Villa of the Domitii Ahenobarbi at Santa Liberata. Results show that a slight variation on the Vitruvian formula yields results closest to the Roman material, and that substantial curing requires 12 months.     

Zu papyri osloenses III

The sixth Roman ode of Horace has usually been dated to 29/28 B.C. from the reference to the great temple restoration programme in the first stanza. This dating, however, tends to affect our reading of the whole cycle. An ‘inner’ dramatic date deliberately established by the poet (post Actium but before 28 B.C.) should not be mistaken for the time of writing (after 28, probably about 25 B.C.). There are even calculated effects arising from the poet's use of a dramatic date. Moreover, the poem is not independent to the effect that it is a self‐contained expression of the poet's political stance. Its provoking diagnosis of contemporary society is a warning reflecting Augustus’ policy and paving the way for reforms. It is instructive to compare epode XVI, to which III 6 bears resemblances which seem to support the late dating of the epode (cf. the author's Horaz und Actium 1984).     

Twenty-Sixth Annual Meeting,St. Alban’s, 1869

A round-headed window in the cathedral close at Winchester, drawn by John Aubrey on or before March 1669 for his Chronologia architectonica, may belong to a hitherto unidentified structure shown by John Speed on his Map of Winchester of 1611. The location suggests that this structure and hence the window may have been part of the royal palace built in the centre of Winchester by William the Conqueror by about 1069–70, said by Gerald the Welshman, writing about 1198, to have been second to the palace in London ‘in neither quality nor scale’     

Historical Masculinities: Regulation,Fantasy and Empire

Dawson, Graham Soldier Heroes: British Adventure, Empire, and the Imagining of Masculinity Sussman, Herbert Victorian Masculinities: Manhood and Masculine Poetics in Early Victorian Literature and Art Hall, Donald E. (ed.) Muscular Christianity: Embodying the Victorian Age Kestner, John Masculinities in Victorian Painting     

Reconstruction of the landscape history around the remnant arch of the Klidhi Roman Bridge,Thessaloniki Plain,North Central Greece

This paper deals with the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the area surrounding the remnant arch of the ancient bridge of Klidhi, Thessaloniki Plain, Greece. 19th century travellers and 20th century historians discussed the age of the monument and concluded that it was built during Late Roman Times (3rd Cent. AD) and supported a branch of the Via Egnatia road. However, few studies have considered the environmental context of the construction of the bridge, and until now, only two hypotheses have been presented: The bridge was built on or over a junction of the Aliakmon and Loudias Rivers, or on a coastal barrier. Within the framework of a geoarchaeological project developed in April 2008, five boreholes were drilled and the sediment cores analysed for microfauna and sedimentology. Seven ¹⁴C AMS dates provided a chronostratigraphic sequence and helped to define the geomorphological evolution of the area. Spatial interpretation of the results was possible using a Landsat TM image (False Colour Composite – FCC). Our data indicate the gradual transition of the site from a marine to a terrestrial environment during Ancient Times. Lagoonal conditions dominated during the construction of the bridge and the presence of a palaeochannel of the Aliakmon River was later revealed (transition from Byzantine and Ottoman periods), overlying sediments of a coastal barrier.     

An Archaeological Survey and Watching Brief at Garston Lock,Kennet and Avon Canal

Abstract

Restoration work at the turf-sided Garston Lock by British Waterways in 1993–4, as part of the reopening of the Kennet and Avon Canal, is described. The discovery of a timber head apron of the mid-eighteenth century has provided additional detail on the construction of turf-sided locks at this time. This apron, comprising a base plate, plank floor and side walls as well as a mitre cill, was abandoned when the lock was shortened. Comparisons have been made with a lock of similar construction and date at Monkey Marsh, Thatcham. Garston lock was subsequently rebuilt, possibly c 1854, to the specifications of John Rennie for locks elsewhere on the Kennet and Avon Canal. The turf sides were retained but were reveted with slate, a unique feature for locks on this canal.     

Perspectives on food systems

Fenton, Alexander, and Eszter Kisbán, eds. Food in Change: Eating Habits from the Middle Ages to the Present Day. Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers, Ltd., 1986. viii + 166 pp. $29.95 paper.

Harris, Marvin, and Eric B. Ross, eds. Food and Evolution: Toward a Theory of Human Food Habits. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1987. ix + 633 pp. including references and indices. $44.95.     

Late Holocene Historical Ecology: The Timing of Vertebrate Extirpation on Crooked Island,Commonwealth of The Bahamas

We report eight new accelerator-mass spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dates performed directly on individual bones of extirpated species from Crooked Island, The Bahamas. Three dates from the hutia (Geocapromys ingrahami), recovered from a culturally derived bone assemblage in McKay's Bluff Cave (site CR-5), all broadly overlap from AD 1450 to 1620, which encompasses the time of first European contact with the Lucayan on Crooked Island (AD 1492). Marine fish and hutia dominate the bone assemblage at McKay's Bluff Cave, shedding light on vertebrate consumption by the Lucayans just before their demise. A fourth AMS ¹⁴C date on a hutia bone, from a non-cultural surface context in Crossbed Cave (site CR-25), is similar (AD 1465 to 1645) to those from McKay's Bluff Cave. From Pittstown Landing (site CR-14), an open coastal archaeological site, a femur of the Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer) yielded an AMS ¹⁴C date of AD ～1050–1250, which is early in the Lucayan cultural sequence. From a humerus in a non-cultural surface context in 1702 Cave (site CR-26), we document survival of the Cuban crocodile on Crooked Island until AD ～1300–1400, which is several hundred years later than the well-documented extinction of Cuban crocodiles on Abaco in the northern Bahamas. We lack a clear explanation of why Cuban crocodiles likely survived longer on Crooked Island than on a larger Bahamian island such as Abaco. One AMS ¹⁴C date on Crooked Island's extinct, undescribed species of tortoise (Chelonoidis sp.) from 1702 Cave is BC 790 to 540 (2740 to 2490 cal BP), which is ～1500–1700 years prior to human arrival. A second AMS ¹⁴C date, on a fibula of this tortoise from McKay's Bluff Cave, is AD 1025 to 1165, thereby demonstrating survival of this extinct species into the period of human occupation.     

The Four Good Dissenters in Pollock

The overall theme of this lecture series is great dissenters. This contribution to the series is on the dissenters in the 1895 case of Pollock v. Farmers' Trust & Loan Co. In Pollock, the Supreme Court decided, by a vote of 5–4, that the 1894 federal income tax was unconstitutional. The four dissenters—Justice Henry Brown of Michigan, Justice John Marshall Harlan of Kentucky, Justice Howell Jackson of Tennessee, and future Chief Justice Edward D. White—would have upheld the tax.     

Dendrochronological Dating and Provenancing of Timbers from the Arade 1 Shipwreck,Portugal

As part of a larger project promoting the development of historical dendrochronology in the Iberian Peninsula, ship‐timbers from the Arade 1 wreck (mostly planking and framing elements), stored at the DANS/IGESPAR in Lisbon, were examined. Of these, 52 samples were identified as deciduous oak (Quercus subg. quercus) and two as chestnut (Castanea sativa). Of 24 timbers selected for dendrochronological research, 23 could be dated, placing the origin of the wood in western France and the felling of trees between AD 1579 and 1583. Their homogeneity suggests they are part of the original construction, which probably took place shortly after AD 1583. © 2012 The Authors     

Retraction

Amir Maher S. Lala and Nahla A. A. El‐Sayed, (2015). Controls of Pore Throat Radius Distribution on Permeability. Geofluids. Accepted Article online. doi: 10.1111/gfl.12158 The above article from Geofluids, published as an Accepted Article online on 25 September 2015 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), has been withdrawn by agreement between the authors, Amir Lala and Nahla El‐Sayed, the journal Editors in Chief, Craig Manning, Mark Person and Giuseppe Etioppe, and John Wiley and Sons Ltd. The retraction has been made as a consequence of a change in the publication model of Geofluids, as a result of which the author is free to submit the article elsewhere.     

Book Reviews

Book reviews in this article: Man, State and Deity: Essays in Ancient History. By Victor Ehrenberg. (London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1974. Pp. 191. Cloth $12.50, paperback $6.00.) The Archidamian War. By Donald Kagan. (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1974. Pp. 392. $17.50.) From Tiberius to the Antonines. By Albino Garzetti. (London: Methuen & Co., 1974. Pp. x, 861. $30.00.) Ancient Rome: From Romulus to Augustus. By Georgina Masson. [A Studio Book.] (New York: The Viking Press, Inc., 1974. Pp. 192. $13.95.) Aspects of Greek Medicine. By E. D. Phillips. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1973. Pp. 240. $12.95.) Muslim Spain: lts History and Culture. By Anwar G. Chejne. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1974. Pp. xvi, 559. $24.75.) Islam and Capitalism. By Maxime Rodinson. Translated from the French by Brian Pearce. (First American Edition; New York: Pantheon Books, 1974. Pp. xviii, 308. $10.00.) Lordship and Community: Battle Abbey and lts Banlieu 1066–1538. By Eleanor Searle. (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1974. Pp. 479. $20.00.) Cromwell: The Lord Protector. By Antonia Fraser. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1973. Pp. xx, 774. $12.50.) Alexander Carlyle: Anecdotes and Characters of the Times. Edited with an Introduction by James Kinsley. [Oxford English Memoirs and Travels.] (London: Oxford University Press, 1973. Pp. xxiv, 318. $14.50.) England's Mission: The Imperial Idea in the Age of Gladstone and Disraeli 1868–1880. By C. C. Eldridge. (Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 1973. Pp. xvii, 288. $10.95.) Liberal Landslide: The General Election of 1906. By Alan K. Russell. [David and Charles Elections and Administrations Series.] (Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1973. Pp. 260. $12.50.) Anglo-American Relations Since the Second World War. Edited, with an Introduction, by Ian S. McDonald. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1974. Pp. 264. $12.95.) Europe's Crucial Years: The Diplomatic Background of World War I, 1902–1914. By Dwight E. Lee. (Hanover, New Hampshire: Clark University Press by the University Press of New England, 1974. Pp. xiv, 482. $15.00.) The Politics of Torch: The Allied Landings and the Algiers Putsch, 1942. By Arthur L. Funk. (Lawrence, Kansas: The University Press of Kansas, 1974. Pp. viii, 322. $11.00.) The Octobrists in the Third Duma, 1907–1912. By Ben–Cion Pinchuk. (Seattle and London; University of Washington Press, 1974. Pp. 232. $10.50.) Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany, 1813. By F. Loraine Petre. With an Introduction by David G. Chandler. (New York: Hippocrene Books, Inc., 1974. Pp. xii, 403. $10.00.) General Maurice Sarrail, 1856–1929: The French Army and Left–Wing Politics. By Jan Karl Tanenbaum. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1974. Pp. xii, 300. $12.95.) The Nazi Party Courts: Hitler's Management of Conflict in His Movement, 1921–1945. By Donald M. McKale. (Lawrence: The University Press of Kansas, 1974. Pp. xii, 252. $10.00.) Pedro de la Torre: Doctor to Conquerors. By John Tate Lanning. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1974. Pp. xiv, 145. $7.50.) Maryland's Revolution of Government, 1689–1692, By Lois Green Carr and David William Jordan. (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1974. Pp. xviii, 321. 115.00.) The Most Dangerous Man in America: Scenes from the Life of Benjamin Franklin. By Catherine Drinker Bowen. (Boston: Atlantic-Little, Brown, 1974. Pp. xiv, 274. $8.95.) Thomas Jefferson; An Intimate History. By Fawn Brodie. (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1974. Pp. 591. $12.50.) The Struggle for Neutrality: Franco-American Diplomacy During the Federalist Era. By Albert Hall Bowman. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1974. Pp. x, 460. 113.50.) The American Revolution of 1800. By Daniel Sisson. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1974. Pp.xiii, 468. $12.50.) American Indian Policy in the Jacksonian Era. By Ronald N. Satz. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1975. Pp. xii, 343. $12.95.) Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made. By Eugene D. Genovese. (New York: Pantheon Books, 1974. Pp. xxii, 823. $17.50.) The North, the South, and the Powers, 1861–1865. By D. P. Crook. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1975. Pp. x, 405. $11.95.) The Memoirs of Henry Heth. Edited by James L. Morrison, Jr. [Contributions in Military History, Number 6.] (Westport, Connecticut-London, England: Greenwood Press, 1974. Pp. lxxvi, 303. $13.95.) Breckinridge: Statesman, Soldier, Symbol. By William C. Davis. [Southern Biography Series.] (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1974. Pp. xxii, 687. 117.50.) Gideon Welles: Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy. By John Niven. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1973. Pp. x, 676. $17.50.) America, The Middle Period: Essays in Honor of Bernard Mayo. Edited by John B. Boles. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1973. Pp. xviii, 278. $8.50.) American Transcendentalism, 1830–1860: An Intellectual Inquiry, By Paul F. Boiler, Jr. (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons and Books, 1974. Pp. xxvi, 227. $6.95.) American Gunboat Diplomacy and the Old Navy, 1877–1889.[Contributions in Military History No. 4.] By Kenneth J. Hagan. (Westport, Connecticut, and London, England: Greenwood Pres, 1973. Pp. x, 262. $11.50.) Nature's Yellowstone. By Richard A. Bartlett. (Albuquerque, N.M.: University of New Mexico Press, 1974. Pp. xii, 250. $10.00.) The Hard Rock Men: Cornish Immigrants and the North American Frontier. By John Rowe. (London and New York: Barnes and Noble, 1974. Pp. x, 296. $18.00.) Pat Garrett: The Story of a Western Lawman. By Leon C. Metz. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1974. Pp. xii, 329. $8.95.) Radical Visions and American Dreams: Culture and Social Thought in the Depression Years. By Richard H. Pells. (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1973. Pp. xv, 424. $12.50.) The Intelligence of a People. By Daniel Calhoun. (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1973. Pp. xiii, 408. $14.50.) The Radical Immigrant. By Sally M. Miller. [The Immigrant Heritage of America Series.] (New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1974. Pp. 169. $7.50.) The Emancipation of Angelina Grimke. By Katharine Du Pre Lumpkin. (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1974. Pp. xv, 265. $11.95.) Samuel Gompers and the Origins of the American Federation of Labor 1848–1896. By Stuart Bruce Kaufman. (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1973. Pp. xiv, 274. $11.50.) The Tariff, Politics, and American Foreign Policy, 1874–1901. By Tom E. Terrill. (Westport, Conn., and London: Greenwood Press, 1973. Pp. ix, 306. $12.00.) Debtors and Creditors in America: Insolvency, Imprisonment for Debt, and Bankruptcy, 1607–1900. By Peter J. Coleman. (Madison: The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1974. Pp. xiii, 303. $17.50.) A History of Regulatory Taxation. By R. Alton Lee. (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1973. Pp. xi, 228. $15.25.) Progress and Pragmatism: James, Dewey, Beard, and the American Idea of Progress. By David W. Marcell. [Contributions in American Studies No. 9.] (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1974. Pp. xiv, 420. $13.95.) Richard Irvine Manning and the Progressive Movement in South Carolina. By Robert Milton Burts. (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1974. Pp. viii, 262. $9.95.) Progressives and Prohibitionists: Texas Democrats in the Wilson Era. By Lewis L. Gould. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1973. Pp. 339. $10.00.) Lindbergh of Minnesota: A Political Biography. By Bruce L. Larson. Foreword by Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr. (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1973. Pp. xix, 363. $14.50.) The Hofstadter Aegis: A Memorial. Edited by Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1974. Pp. xiv, 384. $10.00.) An Alternative Vision: The Socialists Party in the 1930's. By Frank A. Warren. (Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press, 1974. Pp. xiii, 273. $10.00.) Deterrence in American Foreign Policy: Theory and Practice. By Alexander L. George and Richard Smoke. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1974. Pp. xii, 666. $17.50 hardcover, $6.95 paperback.) Closing the Open Door: American-Japanese Diplomatic Negotiations, 1936–1941. By James H. Herzog. (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1973. Pp. xi, 295. $12.50.) Formosa: Licensed Revolution and the Home Rule Movement, 1895–1945. By George H. Kerr. (Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii, 1974. Pp. xxviii, 265. $12.50.)     

LATE PREHISTORIC AND PROTOHISTORIC SHELL GORGETS FROM SOUTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

Abstract

Written versions of Cherokee myths, recorded in the late nineteenth century, refer to earthen mounds, rattlesnakes and raptors, and other aspects of Cherokee cosmology. These themes are manifested in the iconography of engraved shell gorgets and masks from late prehistoric and protohistoric sites in Cherokee town areas of southwestern North Carolina. Comparable iconography is seen on gorgets and masks from surrounding areas of the southern Appalachians. This paper summarizes themes from Cherokee myth and legend that are related to iconography engraved on gorgets and masks, describes the content and context of these artifacts from southwestern North Carolina, and discusses the implications of these finds for understanding connections of late prehistoric and protohistoric Cherokee towns to the broader networks in the Southeast through which gorgets and iconography circulated.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Books reviewed: John Barton (ed.), The Biblical World. Stephen Hunt (ed.), Christian Millenarianism: From the Early Church to Waco. Gervase of Tilbury , Otia Imperialia: Recreation for an Emperor. Rachel Fulton , From Judgement to Passion. Devotion to Christ and the Virgin Mary, 800–1200. Malcolm Lambert , Medieval Heresy: Popular Movements from the Gregorian Reform to the Reformation. Carter Lindberg (ed.), The Reformation Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Early Modern Period. Helen Parish and William G. Naphy (eds), Religion and Superstition in Reformation Europe. Peter Matheson , The Imaginative World of the Reformation. Bernard Joassart , Monseigneur Duchesne et les Bollandistes. Correspondence. Bernard Joassart , Friedrich von Hügel, Cuthbert Hamilton Turner et les Bollandistes. Correspondence. Iain M. Mackenzie , God's Order and Natural Law: The Work of the Laudian Divines. Stephan Greenblatt , Hamlet in Purgatory. Hanne Sanders (ed.), Between God and the Devil, Religious and Magical World‐Views in the Nordic Countries 1500–1800. John K. Nelson : A Blessed Company: Parishes, Parsons, and Parishoners in Anglican, Virginia, 1690–1776. John Allen Macaulay , Unitarianism in the Antebellum South: The Other Invisible Institution. Loretta M. Long , The Life of Selina Campbell: A Fellow Soldier in the Cause of Restoration. Linda C. Raeder , John Stuart Mill and the Religion of Humanity. Ralph Waller , John Wesley: A Personal Portrait.. Richard P. Heitzenrater , The Elusive Mr. Wesley. Michael Goldsmith and Doug Munro ,The Accidental Missionary. Tales of Elekana. Allan K. Davidson (ed.), Tongan Anglicans 1902–2002. From the Church of England Mission in Tonga to the Tongan Anglican Church. Lynne Hume : Ancestral Power: The Dreaming, Consciousness and Aboriginal Australians. Heather McDonald , Blood, Bones and Spirit: Aboriginal Christianity in an East Kimberley Town.     

ARCHITECTURAL SYMBOLISM AND CHEROKEE TOWNHOUSES

Abstract

Public structures known as townhouses were hubs of public life within Cherokee communities in the southern Appalachians before and after European contact. Townhouses themselves were architectural manifestations of Cherokee towns. The architectural symbolism of townhouses was related to the symbolism of late precontact Mississippian platform mounds, mythical connections between earthen mounds and Cherokee townhouses, and color symbolism that was widespread in the Southeast during the eighteenth century. These points are evident from documentary sources, oral tradition, and the sequence of protohistoric Cherokee townhouses at the Coweeta Creek site in southwestern North Carolina.     

The Case of William Dick: Ransom County, North Dakota

In May 2009, a decision of the United States Supreme Court with North Dakota roots turned fifty years old. A case unique in the annals of the law, Dick v. New York Life Insurance Company ¹ still fascinates lawyers today. Factually, the case presented a strange question: could an experienced hunter accidentally shoot himself not once, but twice? Some of North Dakota's finest lawyers, including Philip Vogel, Donald Holand, and Norman Tenneson, aimed to get to the bottom of that matter. The judges were equally impressive: Judge Ronald Davies of the federal district court; Judge John Sanborn of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; and Chief Justice Earl Warren and Justice Felix Frankfurter. Finally, as a matter of Supreme Court jurisprudence, Dick may have been the last time the High Court granted a petition for certiorari in a case that turned almost exclusively on questions of fact. In honor of its golden anniversary, this article recounts the captivating story of Dick v. New York Life.