Redeeming Byzantine Epistolography

Abstract

The Russian scholar V.A. Smetanin, whose work during the 1970s and 1980s dealt exclusively with Byzantine epistolography, would clearly like to think of himself as an ‘epistolologist', occupied in the specialised field of Byzantine ‘epistolology'. Epistolology is an auxiliary discipline within history, according to Smetanin, which encompasses both theoretical and practical concerns. Its theoretical interests are to work out methods for, (a¹) drawing boundaries between letters and other historical documents, (b¹) dating letters on the basis of their epistolological markings (epistolologicheskich priznakov), and (c¹) understanding the introduction and assimilation of correspondence into learned discourse. On its practical side, epistolology aims to solve problems of, (a²) the immediate components (nepocredstvennoe vychlenenie) of correspondence, (b²) its architectonics, and finally (c²), the introduction and assimilation of the epistolographic legacy into learned discourse. Smetanin opens a middle road within epistolology, too, in effect a series of ‘steps’ (stupenich) which converge on both theory and practice. Thus the so-called ?oχωρισι (a³) takes in the question of the distinguishing features of epistolography, ?ρo? λευσι(b³) works out its manner or conduct and ??ρμoσι (c³) studies its function or use.     

Zoos as heritage tourism attractions: A neglected area of research?

Abstract

Zoos are a form of museum.¹ The main difference between zoos and other forms of museum is that zoos exhibit living objects. These objects are examples of natural heritage. Unlike other museums, the focus of much research in the past decade, zoos appear under‐researched. Zoos, however, are significant tourist attractions. There are over 10,000 zoos worldwide,² many in major world cities and some attract millions of visitors annually. Zoos date back at least three thousand years, but their role has been changing in the past twenty‐five years from menageries to conservation centres. Concern recently has focused on animal welfare when wildlife is in captivity, and this has led to a re‐examination of the purpose of zoos. This article examines the aims of zoos, their nature as heritage‐tourism attractions and the profile of zoo visitors. In an attempt to establish a new research agenda, the article also examines issues about the future of zoos, including questions concerning potential and real conflict between their educational, scientific and entertainment roles.     

‘Imposed Authenticity’: Approaching Eastern European National Characterologies in the Inter-war Period

Abstract

The article analyses the concepts of national specificity and the national past in Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary; focusing on debates in the inter-war period. It seeks to discern the common features, as well as the considerable divergence, between the local versions of this characterological discourse, while also placing them into a wider European cultural context. It concentrates on the use of history and the category of historicity, which became an important question in the inter-war period as nineteenth-century evolutionary narratives encountered challenges. To explain the differences between the characterologies, it goes beyond a monocausal scheme. It provides a contextual analysis of the symbolic resources and available ideological references that were used for creating these discourses in the respective countries. In the light of the three case studies, it also seeks to contribute to discussions of the problem of modernism and anti-modernism in twentieth-century political thought.^*

The present essay draws on several sub-chapters from my forthcoming book, The Terror of History. Visions of National Character in Interwar Eastern Europe.     

Post-Medieval Britain in 1975

Abstract

The various methods and tools used by the post-medieval, leather-producing craftsmen are discussed in order to assist identification and interpretation of archaeological finds. The importance of the leather-making industries to Northamptonshire is examined.¹ Based on a lecture given at the Spring Conference of the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology at Northampton in April 1980.     

David S. Bell and John Gaffney (eds.), The Presidents of the French Fifth Republic,Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, xvi+219pp., £57.50, ISBN 9780230285224

Agir ici—Survie France Cameroun. Croisement dangereux Dossiers noirs de la politique africaine de la France, no. 7 L'Harmattan, 1996 95 pp., no price indicated, ISBN 2 7384 4458 X

ALDRICH, R. and MERLE, I. (eds) France Abroad: Indochina, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, Mayotte University of Sydney, 1997 168 pp., no price indicated, ISBN 1 86451 042 0

ALLEGRE, C. and JEAMBAR, D. Questions de France Fayard, 1996 355 pp., 120F., pbk, ISBN 2 213 59744 8

BADINTER, R. La Prison républicaine (1871–1914) Livre de poche, 1995 44F., ISBN 2 253 136 344

BARTRAM, G., SLAWINSKI, M. and STEEL, D. (eds) Reconstructing the Past Keele University Press, 1996 224 pp., £35, ISBN 1 85331 168 5

HARGREAVES, J. Decolonization in Africa Longman, 1996 298 pp., £14.99, ISBN 0 582 24917 1

Impression de la Convention Nationale, 1792 — an IV. Inventaire analytique des unarticles ADXVIII^e 208–357 Archives nationales, 1997 556 pp., 400F., ISBN 2 86000 255 3

LETERRIER, S.‐A. Le XIX^e siècle historien, Anthologie raisonnée Belin, 1997 352 pp., 125 F., ISBN 2 7011 2252 X

School of European Studies, University of Wales Cardiff New readings, vol, 2, 1996 87 pp., no price indicated, ISSN 1359 7485

NORA, P. Les Lieux de mémoire Collection ‘Quarto’, Gallimard, 1997 vol. 1, 1642 pp., 180F., ISBN 2 07 074902 9; vol. 2, 1372 pp., 180F., ISBN 2 07 074903 7; vol. 3, 1756 pp., 180F., ISBN 2 07 074904 5.

WOLOCH, I. (ed.) Revolution and the Meanings of Freedom in the Nineteenth Century Stanford University Press, 1996 447 pp., £40, ISBN 08 047 2748 1     

Isotopic and zooarchaeological investigation of later medieval and post-medieval cattle husbandry at Dudley Castle,West Midlands

Abstract

Zooarchaeological analysis of a substantial assemblage of animal bones excavated from Dudley Castle, West Midlands, revealed two significant changes in cattle management in the late medieval and post-medieval periods: a statistically significant increase in size in the later 14th century; and a gradual reduction in slaughter age. To explore whether these altered husbandry practices were accompanied by modifications to the diet and environment of these animals, a targeted study of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values from 135 cattle bones was conducted. This analysis revealed that δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values were broadly consistent between the mid-13th and mid-18th centuries. Only two statistically significant diachronic variations were identified: a temporary decrease in δ¹³C values in phase 7 (1397–1533); and lower variation in δ¹³C values in phase 9 (1647–1750). A number of explanations for these changes are offered. While the zooarchaeologically attested shifts in cattle husbandry were not accompanied by isotopically detectable changes to diet and environment, the analysis of stable isotopes highlighted other changes that were not detected using traditional zooarchaeological analysis. The complimentary benefits of zooarchaeological and isotopic approaches are extolled.     

Patterns of Resource Use and Isotopic Niche Overlap Among Guanaco (Lama guanicoe), Pampas Deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) and Marsh Deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) in the Pampas. Ecological,Paleoenvironmental and Archaeological Implications

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we analyze the isotopic niche and resource use of the guanaco (Lama guanicoe), pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) and marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) on the temperate plain of the northern Pampa region in the southeast of South America. The measured stable isotope compositions in bone tissue are δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O. All the analyzed samples were recovered from different archaeological sites from the late Holocene. According to the results, the guanaco was strictly confined to the Pampa plain environment, developing a broad niche based on C₃ plants and a variable contribution of C₄ grasses within a grazing trend. The pampas deer preferentially used the Pampa plain, but also the prairies on the borders of the wetland, showing eurioic characteristics and a narrower niche based on C₃ plants. In turn, the marsh deer was strictly confined to wetland environments, developing a C₃ diet–base, within a narrow isotopic niche and stenoic characteristics. The three mammals showed a wide range of intraspecific variability, which was a key factor in their adaptability to spatial and temporal changes in the vegetation coverage. In fact, the temporal trends of their isotopic values were concurrent with the major climatic variations of the Holocene. Differences in the correlations between the values of both carbon sources in both deer species compared with the guanaco suggest a distinct chemical composition of their diet and/or differences in the allocation of nutrients. The isotopic values of nitrogen and spacing of the carbon sources in guanaco (pseudoruminant) and both deer species (ruminants) show no significant differences between them, thus establishing the values for local large herbivores. Significant correlations between δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N were found in the guanaco and marsh deer. The regional and extra–regional variability in the guanaco's δ¹³C_collagen and δ¹⁵N probably reflect the clinal variations in the vegetation coverage and the amount of rainfall. The collagen isotope values in the guanaco throughout the entire Holocene show that the humid Pampa would have shifted between being a more recurrent mesic and temperate plain with minor phases of dry–mesic conditions like during the Little Ice Age, and a humid and warm one at the peaks of the Holocene Thermal Maximum and the Medieval Climatic Anomaly. The guanaco and the pampas deer adapted to all the climatic changes that happened on the humid Pampa until the biological invasions of large European mammals changed the herbivores’ guild composition of this vast plain, pushing them into peripheral habitats due to competition. The within–species variability in isotopic signals through time and space make it necessary to carry out adequate sampling before reconstructing the diets of local past populations.     

A Fresh Look at the Egyptian Environment of the Pharaonic Period

Abstract

The article deals with the territorial history of the southern steppe areas of the Levant in the period between ca. 1050–750 BCE. In the early days of the Iron Age, until the mid-9^th century BCE, parts of them, were ruled by local desert entities: in the late Iron I a Moabite polity and in the early Iron IIA and the early years of the late Iron IIA the Tel Masos-Beer-Sheba-Negev Highlands Highlands entity. This situation changed in the later years of the Iron IIA as a result of Damascus' rise to hegemony in the Levant. In the second half of the 9^th century BCE Judah, under Damascene domination, expanded for the first time into the Beer-Sheba Valley. In the first half of the eighth century BCE, with the revival of Assyrian power in the days of Adad-nirari III, Damascene authority was replaced by north Israelite domination in the south.     

Refit and Oxygen Isotope Analysis of Freshwater Mussel Shells from the Tillar Farms Site (3DR30), Southeast Arkansas

ABSTRACT

We investigate the link between the consumption of foodstuffs, excavation of a large pit, and disposal of waste at the Tillar Farms site (3DR30), southeast Arkansas, using refit and oxygen isotope analyses of well-preserved freshwater mussel shells from Feature 1. Only 0.13% of 7,408 valves analyzed were unidentifiable to species.The refit analysis produced 460 refits across 23 species and strongly indicates that the shell midden represents a single episode of shellfish gathering, consumption, and discard. Oxygen isotope analysis of five randomly selected shells are used as a test of the refit results. δ¹⁸O values from the five archaeological shells are compared to modern control samples of live-collected specimens from Bayou Bartholomew in winter of 2011. Refit analysis suggests the accumulation of mussel shells occurred quickly, likely as a result of one collection, consumption, and discard event. δ¹⁸O values suggest this activity took place during a single winter season.     

On the Fourteenth Amendment: A Textual Analysis

Abstract

The most significant and lasting results of the Civil War were the 13^th Amendment, abolishing slavery in the US, and the 14^th Amendment, protecting certain privileges, immunities, and rights of citizens and persons in the US. The meaning of the 123^th amendment has been, for the most part clear and uncontroversial. The same cannot be said for the 14^th Amendment. The language of the 14^th is much more complex than that of the 13^th and the interpretation of the meaning of the Amendment has been very controversial since the very first Supreme Court cast attempting to construe it. My article attempts to show that despite that history of controversy and uncertainty of meaning the 14^th amendment is a model of clear constitutional draftsmanship and translucence of meaning.     

Finding a Relatively Flat Archaeological Site with Minimal Ceramics: A Case Study from Iraqi Kurdistan

ABSTRACT

We present a new technique to detect flat archaeological sites with minimal ceramics using an unmanned aerial vehicle that maps surface stone concentrations. Methods deployed include point pattern analysis of stone concentrations and a machine-learning technique using unsupervised classification of visible stone signature qualities, which are used in simple linear regressions to compare with geophysical and ceramic surface survey results of a site in Iraqi Kurdistan. There is a stronger fit (r^2?=?0.77) between surface stone concentrations and architecture identified by geophysical measurement, while surveyed ceramics show a weaker fit to defined architecture (r^2?=?0.31). Surface stone concentrations are potentially a better proxy than ceramics for determining the presence of past settlement in regions where stone was commonly used, sites are relatively flat, and ceramics are found in low concentrations. The methods advanced here can be scaled to wider areas, particularly in mountainous regions, where surface stone features are present.     

Reviews

The Economy of Islamic Iran: Between State and Market , Thierry Coville, ed., Tehran: Institut Français de Rechere en Iran, 1994, 275 pp.

A Century of Revolution: Social Movements in Iran , Social Movements, Protest, and Contention Series, vol. 2, John Foran, ed., Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994, 263 pp., incl. Select Bibliography, Index, $19.95 (paper).

Sutra and Other Stories , Simin Daneshvar, trans. Hasan Javadi and Amin Neshati, Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers, 1994, 189 pp.

The Making of Exile Cultures: Iranian Television in Los Angeles , Hamid Naficy, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993, 283 pp., $44.95 (hard), $18.95 (paper).

Nomads in Archaeology , Roger Cribb, New Studies in Archaeology, Cambridge University Press, 1991, xiv + 253 pp., $69.95 (originally $54.50).

Twenty‐Three Years: A Study of the Prophetic Career of Mohammad ,^cAli Dashti, trans. F. R. C. Bagley, Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Publishers, 1994, xviii + 228 pp. (first published London: George Allen & Unwin, 1985 in hardcover).

Politische und kulturelle Auswirkungen des Auslandstudiums auf die iranische Gesellschaft im 19. Jahrhundert. Unter Berücksichtigung der iranischen Stipendiaten in Westeuropa (1812–1857) , Farideh Jeddi, Frankfurt a/M‐New York, 1992, 276 pp.

Class, Politics, and Ideology in the Iranian Revolution , Mansoor Moaddel, New York: Columbia University Press, 1993, x + 346 pp.

Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of ^cA'isha bint Abi Bakr , D. A. Spellberg, New York: Columbia University Press, 1994.

Crisis and Consolidation in the Formative Period of Shi^cite Islam: Abū Ja^cfar ibn Qiba al‐Razi and his Contribution to Imamite Shi^cite Thought , Hossein Modarressi, Princeton: The Darwin Press, 1993, vii‐viii + 280 pp., incl. Bibliography, $35.00 (hardcover).

Persian Studies in North America: Studies in Honor of Mohammad Ali Jazayery , Mehdi Marashi, ed., Bethesda, Md.: Iranbooks, 1994, xx + 422 + 107 pp.

Fihrist‐i asnad‐i qadim‐i vizarat‐i umūr‐i kharijah: dawran‐i Qajariyah, 1124–1316 , Tehran: Institute for Political and International Studies, 1371 Sh./1992, xiii + 598 pp., 4,500 rials.

Islamic Development Policy: The Agrarian Question in Iran , Asghar Schi‐razi, trans. P. J. Ziess‐Lawrence, Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1993.

Politische Parteien und Bevölkerung in Iran: die Hezb‐e Demokrat‐e Iran und ihr Führer Qavamo s‐Saltana , Ralph Kauz, Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1995, III + 322 pp.

A History of the Armenian People , vol. 2: 1500 to the Present , George A. Bournoutian, Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Publishers, 1994, xviii + 237 pp.

The History of al‐Tabari (Ta'rikh al‐msul wa³l‐mulūk), vol. XXXI: The War between Brothers , Bibliotheca Persica, trans, and annot. Michael Fish‐bein, Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1992.     

Widows,ownership and political culture: Sweden 1650-1800

In this paper we will analyse and discuss the widow's political participation during the second half of the early modern period. We focus on political elections and what possibilities that laid open for peasant and burgher widows to exert their influence at the elections.¹ [Formula: See Text] We would like to thank Hanne Marie Johansen and others that participated in the workshop Enkefolk i skandinavisk historie …, Bergen in October 2003 and colleagues in the Department of Historical Studies, Umeå for valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper.     

Ana Maria Alves,Guerre et exil chez Louis-Ferdinand Céline,Peter Lang, 2013. 414 pp., €86.50, ISBN 978-3-03-43-1297-4

ALMÉRAS, P. Un Français nommé Pétain Robert Laffont, 1995 451pp., 75F., ISBN 2 221 07960 4

BADIE, B., and WIHTOL DE WENDEN, C. (Eds) Le Défi migratoire: questions de relations internationales Presses de la Fondation nationale des sciences politiques, 1994 185pp. ISBN 2 7246 0650 7

BOURDAIS, H. La JOC sous l'occupation allemande Les Editions de l'Atelier, 1995 224pp., 130F., ISBN 2708231855

BRELOT, C. I. and MAYAND, J.‐L. (Eds) Voyages en histoire Annales littéraires de l'Université de Besançon, no. 550 Série Historique, no. 9, 1995 215pp.

CAHM, E. The Dreyfus Affair in French Society and Politics Longman, 1996 211pp., £11.99, pbk, ISBN 0 582 279780

CAIRE, G. L'emploi: des repères pour comprendre et agir Liris, 1994 192pp., 89F., ISBN 2 909420 09 4

COQ, G. Laïcité et République. Le Lien Nécessaire Félin, 1995 335pp., 139F., ISBN 2 86645 196

DREYFUS. F.‐G. Histoire de la Résistance Editions de Fallois, 1996 653pp. 150F., ISBN 2 87706 257 0

ELLIS, K. Music Criticism in Nineteenth‐century France Cambridge University Press, 1995 273pp., £35, ISBN 0 521 45443

GILDEA, R. France since 1945 Oxford University Press, 1996 280pp., £17.99, ISBN 0 19 219246 9

GREILSAMER, L., and SCHNEIDERMANN, D. Un certain Monsieur Paul Fayard, 1994 266pp., 110F., ISBN 2 213 59248 9

JULLIARD, J. and WINOCK, M. (Eds) Dictionnaire des intellectuels francais, les personnes, les lieux, les moments Seuil, 1996 1258pp., 295F., ISBN 2 02 018334 X

KRITZMAN, L.D. (Ed.) Auschwitz and After: Race, Culture, and ‘the Jewish Question’ in France Routledge, 1995 335pp., £40 hbk, ISBN 0 415 90440 4; £14.99 pbk, ISBN 0 415 90441 2.

MAGUIRE, G.E. Anglo‐American Policy towards the Free French Macmillan, 1995 210pp., £35, ISBN 0 312 12710 3.

PEDLEY, A. As Mighty as the Sword: a Study of the Writings of Charles de Gaulle Elm Bank Publications, 1996 226pp., £24.99, ISBN 0 9502595 3 5

RAJSFUS, M. La Police de Vichy, les forces de l'ordre français au service de la Gestapo, 1940–1944 Le Cherche‐Midi, 1995 286pp., 115 F., ISBN 2 86274 358 5

RIGAUD, J. L'exception culturelle: culture et pouvoirs sous la V^e République Grasset, 1995 299pp., 120F., ISBN 2 246 5143 1 2

TEYSSIER, A. La V^e République 1958–1995 de de Gaulle à Chirac Pygmalion/Gérard Watelet, 1995 557pp., 150F., ISBN 2 85704 461 5

ULLMANN, B. Jacques Soustelle Plon, 1995 443pp., 159F., ISBN 2 259 02793 8

WRIGHT, G. France in Modern Times W. W. Norton, 1995 490pp., £14.95, ISBN 0 393 96705 0     

The Invisible Dance: The Supreme Court and the Press

Abstract

In America, Tocqueville writes, men were born equal; they did not have to become so.¹ But he is not unaware of the radical democratic character of the American revolution of which Gordon Wood has reminded us.² Prior to 1776, Tocqueville observes, the democratic principle was “far from dominating the government of society.” It was the Revolution that made it “the law of laws.” “The war was fought and victory obtained in its name” (1:1, ch. 4. 59).     

Reviews

Herrscher, Gemeinwesen, Vermittler: Ostiran und Transoxanien in vormongolischer Zeit , Jürgen Paul, Beiruter Texte und Studien, Bd. 59, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1996, viii + 322 pp., bibliography, indices; German, English, and Russian summaries.

Khatireha‐ye Amir ^cAlam Khan , Amir ^cAlam Khan, Tehran: Markaz‐e Motala^cat‐e Irani, 1373/1994, 55 pp., illustrations.

Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 7: From Nadir Shah to the Islamic Republic , ed. by Peter Avery, Gavin Hambly, and Charles Melville, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991, xxiii+1072 pp.

Iranian Intellectuals and the West: The Tormented Triumph of Nativism , Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1996, 255 pp., index, bibliography.

Revolutionary Horizons: Regional Foreign Policy in Post‐Khomeini Iran , John Calabrese, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994, xii + 221 pp.

Classical Persian Sufism: From its Origins to Rumi , ed. Leonard Lewisohn. London/New York: Khaniqahi Nimatullahi Publications, 1993, xl + 666 pp., bibliography, index, illustrations.

Shark Hikmat al‐Ishraq [li‐Shihab al‐Din Suhrawardi] (Commentary on the Philosophy of Illumination [by Shihab al‐Din Suhrawardi]), Shams al‐Din Shahrazuri, edited, with introduction and notes, by Hossein Ziai, Tehran: Institute for Cultural Studies and Research, 1993, xxiii pp., English + 646 pp. Arabic + 84 pp. Persian.

Symbol and Secret: Qur'án Commentary in Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb‐i Íqán , Christopher Buck, Studies in the Babi and Baha'i Religions, volume 7, Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1995.

Studies in Honor of the Late Hasan M. Balyuzi , ed. Moojan Momen, Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, vol. 5, Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1988, xx + 293 pp.

Law of Desire: Temporary Marriage in Shi^ci Iran , Shahla Haeri, Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1989, 272 pp., cloth and paper.

The Persian Revayat “Ithoter”: Zoroastrian Rituals in the Eighteenth Century , Mario Vitalone, Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale, 1996, 301 pp.

Pand‐o Sokhan: Mélanges offerts à Charles‐Henri de Fouchécour , ed. by Christophe Balay, Claire Keppler, and ?iva Vesel, Bibliothèque Iranienne, 44, Tehran: Institut Français de Recherche en Iran, 1995, 348 pp., illustrated.

Standardization and Orthography in the Balochi Language , Carina Jahani, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, Studia Iranica Upsaliensia 1, Uppsala, 1989, 286 pp., ISBN 91–554–2487–2, ISSN 1100–326X

L'Argento Di Un Povero Cuore: centuno ghazal di Sa^cdi Shirazi , Persian text of one hundred and one ghazals by Sa^cdi, Italian translation, notes, introduction and concluding essay by Setrag Manoukian, with a preface by Riccardo Zipoli, Rome: Istituto culturale della Repubblica islamica d'Iran in Italia, 1991.

The Image of Arabs in Modern Persian Literature , Joya Blondel Saad, Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1996, ix + 139 pp., index, paper, ISBN 0–7618–0330–0

Recasting Persian Poetry: Scenarios of Poetic Modernity in Iran , Ahmad Karimi‐Hakkak, Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1996, 326 pp., $45.00, cloth.

The Marsh [Gavkhūni] , Jafar Modarres‐Sadeqi, trans. Afkham Darbandi, intro. Dick Davis, Bibliotheca Iranica, Persian Fiction in Translation Series, no. 3, Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers, 1996.

Bihzad, Master of Persian Painting , Ebadollah Bahari, foreword by Annemarie Schimmel, London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 1996, xiii + 272 pp., 70 color and 48 black and white illustrations, map, appendices, bibliography, index, ISBN 0–85043–966–4     

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.     

Crop Fertility Conditions in North-Eastern Gaul During the La Tène and Roman Periods: A Combined Stable Isotope Analysis of Archaeobotanical and Archaeozoological Remains

ABSTRACT

Considerable archaeobotanical datasets describe cereal cultivation in north-eastern France, from the Iron Age to the Roman period. This study aims to complement these by using stable isotope analysis on charred cereal grains. Soil fertility was investigated through δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C analyses of 1480 charred cereal grains, dated from the Late La Tène to the Late Antiquity periods. In the Île-de-France, charred grain Δ¹³C values suggested good hydric conditions, with drier episodes in the 1st and 3rd century AD; while in Champagne, the lower Δ¹³C values for spelt reflect the lower water holding capacity of the chalky soils. A wide range of cereal δ¹⁵N values (0.8–8.7‰) implies a wide range of soil fertility conditions. Jouars-Pontchartrain and Palaiseau (Île-de-France) yielded the highest cereal δ¹⁵N values, whereas Acy-Romance (Champagne) delivered among the lowest. From these three sites, the δ¹⁵N values of red deer bone collagen were used to estimate the reference δ¹⁵N values for unmanured plants. Unlike in Acy-Romance, there were significant differences in Palaiseau and Jouars-Pontchartrain, indicating that the cultivated cereals inherited their high δ¹⁵N values from manured soil. At Jouars-Pontchartrain, the δ¹⁵N value (almost 9‰) suggested a high trophic level manuring source, possibly from pig and/or human faeces.