The application of the Submetrix ISIS 100 Swath Bathymetry system to the management of underwater sites

Over the last decade analysis of the HMS Pomone wreck scattered below the Needles has aimed to correlate artefact positions with their terrain and aid research into the distribution process of the wreck-site. However, physical limitations faced by divers on the site have restricted progress. The search for a solution to the difficulties of archaeological surveying was resolved by the Submetrix ISIS 100 system when a bathymetric survey of the wreck-site was performed in a single day. It has provided a contoured terrain model that can aid further investigations and help plans for the future management of the site.     

Constructing a suburban identity: youth, femininity and modernity in late-Victorian Merseyside

Suburban growth was one of the main characteristics of late-nineteenth-century British towns, and a suburban lifestyle rapidly became the aspiration of a high proportion of urban dwellers. This paper explores the experience of one young woman growing up in a late-Victorian suburb, and assesses the ways in which she negotiated the structures of this emerging ‘modern’ environment, so as to construct her own identity and behaviour. Evidence is drawn from one very detailed diary covering the period 1884–1892, and attention is focused on three aspects of everyday life: public and social space; domestic routine; and friendships and relationships. The conventional view of middle-class suburban domesticity is challenged by evidence from this diary, which suggests that it was the public and social life of the suburb that was of particular importance to young women. While older married women's experiences were centred upon maintaining a respectable home, the provincial suburban environment offered to young single women considerable opportunities for independent mobility and action, which were restricted by relatively few familial constraints. The diarist did not fundamentally challenge the culture of middle-class suburbia, but instead was able to manipulate many social expectations to her own advantage. As a site of on-going development and malleable norms, late-nineteenth-century suburbia offered its young elite residents opportunities for a certain degree of social, cultural and spatial autonomy that was understood to be essential to the life of the nascent community.     

‘On Diego Garcia no one never got ill’ (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

The history of the Chagos Islanders was recently highlighted in a semi‐fictionalised production A few man Fridays performed by the Cardboard Citizens Theatre company at the Riverside Studios in London. The month‐long run finished on March 10. I went to the penultimate performance. Also in attendance were a small number of native‐born Chagossians and their children. During the interval, I fell into conversation with Anthony, a 50‐year‐old Chagossian, who was born on the island of Diego Garcia. Along with other members of his family, Anthony was deported from his homeland by the British authorities to make way for a strategically important US base. With 500 or so compatriots he was taken by boat and dumped in the Seychelles. Around 1500 other Islanders were taken to Mauritius. In 2002, however, Chagossians were granted British citizenship. Some 1500 islanders, mainly those from Mauritius but a few from the Seychelles, have now settled in Crawley in West Sussex. But Anthony, along with his sister and her children, is living in rented accommodation in Pimlico in south London. According to Anthony, a primary motivation for his coming to the UK was to seek better healthcare to deal with his type II diabetes. “On Diego Garcia no one ever got ill,” he said. Perhaps this claim should be taken more seriously than conventional functionalist explanations allow.     

Survey and Excavation of the Anglo-Zulu War Fort at Eshowe,KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

Abstract

A programme of topographic and geophysical survey was combined with metal detecting and trial trenching at the site of the British fort at KwaMondi, Eshowe, KwaZulu. Evidence was recovered of the buildings used by the British troops in 1879, together with artefacts from the siege. In addition, the results provided an insight into the history of the site after the end of the British occupation.     

A foot deformity from a Romano‐British cemetery at Gloucester,England, and the current evidence for talipes in palaeopathology

A male skeleton from the Romano‐British site at Kingsholm, Gloucester, is described with abnormalities in the humerus, femur, tibia, fibula and foot. Computed tomography of the femora to enable cross‐sectional analysis suggested altered normal gait to compensate for the deformity. Differential diagnoses are considered and a diagnosis of clubfoot deformity is suggested. Palaeopathological evidence for clubfoot is rare in the literature but the cases reported to date are reviewed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The excavation of WWII RAF bomber,Halifax LV881-ZA-V

This article outlines the preliminary results of archaeological fieldwork at the crash site of RAF Halifax bomber LV881-ZA-V and explores some of the challenges presented by the excavation of this military wartime crash site. The aircraft and her crew were shot down by a German night fighter in the early hours of 31 March 1944 during the infamous Nuremberg Raid. Four of her crew were killed and the remaining three were taken prisoner and later took part in the ‘Long March’. All three survived the war. An international team comprised of staff and students from Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and the UK explored what remained of the crash site, located on a hill outside the village of Steinheim, north east of Frankfurt in the German Federal State of Hesse.     

The Politics of Citizenship in 1940s Britain: The British Nationality Act

The article examines the enactment of the British NationalityAct, 1948. The legislation created a legal status—Citizenshipof the UK and Colonies—that included Britons and ‘colonial’British subjects under a single definition of British citizenship,and entrenched their right to enter the UK. Between 1948 and1962, some 500, 000 non-white British subjects entered underthe legislation, despite documented evidence of elite suspicionof non-white Commonwealth migration. The article argues thatthis apparent contradiction can only be understood by examiningthe legislation in the context of past migration patterns andBritain's international position in 1948. The legislation wasonly marginally related to migration; it was rather an attemptto maintain a uniform definition of subjecthood in the faceof Canada's unilateral introduction of its own citizenship,and it was an affirmation of Britain's place as head of a Commonwealthstructure founded on the relationship between the UK and theOld Dominions. ^* For comments on earlier drafts, I owe my thanks to John Dorwin,Katie Goebs, Iain McLean, and Desmond King.     

The Fine Incense of Virginity: a late twelfth century wall painting of the Annunciation at the Monastery of the Syrians,Egypt

Abstract

A richly symbolical wallpainting of the Annunciation was brought to light in 1991 in the western conch of the church of the Virgin at the desert Monastery of the Syrians at Scetis (Wadi al-Natriin) in Egypt (figs. 1–5). The interpretation put forward here is that the scene celebrates the Mother of God as the epitome of perfect womanhood at the moment of Christ's conception with her key role reinforced by explicit symbolism of her virginity. This is stated visually, through the liturgical symbolism of the burning censer at her feet, and verbally through the ‘container’ imagery proclaimed on the scrolls of the accompanying prophets: Isaiah, Moses, Ezekiel and Daniel. A detailed townscape represents the town of Nazareth, both the Virgin's own birthplace and the site of the Annunciation.     

Human osteoarchaeology in the UK 2001–2007: a bibliometric perspective

Bibliometric analysis of osteoarchaeology publications covering the period 2001–2007 in leading journals was carried out. The aims were two‐fold: firstly, to characterise research in this field in the UK and make comparisons with selected other countries, and secondly, to shed light on the use of skeletal collections. It was found that, since a previous survey of this type,covering the period 1991–1995, isotopic and DNA studies have increased. In the UK, work on biodistance studies is minor compared with other countries, and the proportion of palaeopathology work is high. In palaeopathology, substantial effort continues to be devoted to case studies, particularly in the UK where the frequency of problem‐orientated work directed at understanding earlier populations has not increased since the early 1990s. Although it is argued that the case study still has a place in osteoarchaeology, the balance of work needs to shift further in favour of population studies, particularly in the UK. Skeletal collections are vital for primary osteoarchaeological work, and there was little evidence for any great use of skeletal databases such as the Standard Osteological Database. Skeletal collections from the UK were the most used for the research papers analysed, demonstrating the importance of UK‐held collections for research that leads to high profile publication in the international scientific literature. These observations are pertinent since legal, ethical and practical issues in the treatment of human remains, particularly those connected with retention of skeletal collections, are now coming under closer scrutiny in the UK. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Die Frau Metta Catharina von Flensburg: a Danish brigantine wrecked in 1786 in Plymouth Sound,England

The Danish brigantine Die Frau Metta Catharina von Flensburg, outward bound from St Petersburg to Genoa, was wrecked in Plymouth Sound in 1786. With the consent of the wreck's owner, HRH The Prince of Wales, sports divers carried out a 30‐year‐long project to excavate and display material from the site. Aspects of shipboard life aboard this 18th‐century Baltic trader, together with an insight into her remarkable cargo of ‘Russia’ leather, have been presented to audiences in the UK and abroad. This paper presents a summary of the project upon its completion in 2006. © 2010 The Author     

Dating environmental change using magnetic bacteria in archaeological soils from the upper Thames Valley,UK

An archaeomagnetic date has been recovered from an organic rich sediment at the base of an alluviated ditch section found during archaeological excavations near the village of Yarnton, Oxford, UK. The magnetic minerals carrying this remanence include greigite and biogenic magnetite, derived from magnetotactic bacteria, that both indicate the presence of a micro-aerobic environment. It is proposed that the archaeomagnetic date from this material indicates the onset of floodplain conditions at the site due to increased population pressure and intensification of land clearance in the late British Iron Age.     

New Evidence for Seasonal Human Presence at the Early Mesolithic Site of Thatcham,Berkshire, England

Important new seasonal evidence has been derived from the early Mesolithic site at Thatcham, Berks based upon tooth development stages in dentally immature red deer (Cervus elaphus). Radiographs and visual examination of the developing mandibular molars and premolars have been used to provide an accurate indication of age at death by comparing them with modern known age specimens. Knowledge of their age when killed indicates at what time of the year humans were present at the sites. Determining whether a site was occupied seasonally or year round is critical to subsequent interpretations of human economic and social activity. For the first time clear seasonal evidence has been derived from this important early Mesolithic site. Based on this new line of enquiry there is strong evidence for winter killing red deer at the site. The winter evidence at Thatcham may indicate presence at the site by hunters during the winter months for the express purposes of killed red deer. Alternatively, and more likely, the site was visited for a variety of economic and social purposes at all times of the year.     

Front and Back Covers,Volume 29, Number 4. August 2013

Front and back cover caption, volume 29 issue 4 Front cover Khat to be banned in the UK Yemeni man chewing khat. Khat is a herbal stimulant that has been chewed recreationally in the Arabian peninsula and in East Africa for centuries, but khat has recently become an object of concern in the UK after ‘khat pubs’, popular with Somali, Yemeni, and Ethiopian immigrants, have sprung up across the country. Against the advice of its own Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), the UK government is following countries such as the USA, Canada, and Germany by banning khat. Later this year, the UK will treat khat as a class C drug, making it illegal to supply or possess. This July, the UK home secretary said ‘The decision to bring khat under control is finely balanced and takes into account the expert scientific advice and these broader concerns’. But in response to the government's announcement, Professor David Nutt (chair of the ACMD) retorted, saying ‘Banning khat shows contempt for reason and evidence, disregard for the sincere efforts of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs’, specifically citing khat's ‘relatively low harms’ in his remonstration. In this issue, Ian McGonigle looks at the broader socio‐cultural background of khat in Africa and the Middle East, and analyzes the global khat controversy as a complex anthropological problem entangling development economics, public health management, domestic fears of terrorism, and khat‐mediated democratic formations. Back cover Scapegoating in Burma A 2013 calendar widely on sale inside Burma in the wake of Aung San Suu Kyi's landmark meeting with Barrack Obama in Rangoon, November 2012. Although the military retain majority control in parliament, media laws have been relaxed and limited reforms include a parliamentary role for Aung San Suu Kyi and her party. Major violence erupted in May 2012 against the Rohingya, which was to spread to Muslims more generally by the time the two leaders met. Yet Aung San Suu Kyi remained mostly silent on the issue. Is this ‘hermit state’, the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia, situated at the intersection between Muslim and Buddhist Asia, and a gateway to India and China, succumbing to irrational fears enflamed by the US‐led war on terror? In this issue, Elliott Prasse‐Freeman argues that the Rohingya have become scapegoats for an ill‐defined sense of national identity. True, the Burmese army has also attacked many of the ethnic minorities wishing to retain autonomy, including major offensives against the Kachin and the Shan. But the kind of violence against Muslims is of a different kind. In anticipation of the last free elections in 1960 the army published Dhamma in danger (dhammantaraya) asserting the communist threat to Buddhism, hoping to win the elections. Today, such dangers are projected as coming from Muslim populations interpreted as not rightfully Burmese (the laws require proof of ancestor residence before wholesale immigration began with British conquest in 1823, yet written reference to ‘Rooinga’ occurred as early as 1799). In a country where fears reign, and with a monastic order not hierarchically controlled, many have fallen for this discourse in a way that the country will come to regret. Whither the saffron revolution and Aung San Suu Kyi's revolution of the spirit?     

Diet in the Iron Age cemetery population at Wetwang Slack,East Yorkshire,UK: carbon and nitrogen stable isotope evidence

This paper reports δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values for human and animal bone collagen from the middle Iron Age site at Wetwang Slack, East Yorkshire, UK. The data indicate a human diet which was high in animal protein, with no evidence for any significant marine food input. No differences were found between high-status vehicle (or ‘chariot’) burials and the rest of the population and no other status differentiations are visible according to burial rite, age or sex groupings, although the data obtained for the older males display an unusual trend. No dietary variation is seen between two site phases and no evidence for an early immigrant group is present. The range of isotope values for the adult human group as a whole is small, indicating that the diet is likely to have been consistent over time and across the population, although two individuals stand out as unusual amongst the 62 analysed.     

Golden Biographies: The Production,Curation, Fragmentation and Deposition of the Armorican-Type Rolled-Gold Bead-Like Ornaments found at Pendleton,Lancashire

A rare Chalcolithic rolled-gold bead-like ornament dated to c. 2400–2200 cal. BC was found in association with sherds of early Beaker ware in an Early Bronze Age Collared Urn burial dated to c. 1545–1450 cal. BC. The grave was located at Pendleton, Lancashire. This paper reports on the AMS radiocarbon dates for the burial context along with X-ray composition analysis of the gold ornament, which shows the object had a high platinum content consistent with alluvial, placer, deposits possibly originating in Brittany, France rather than the British Isles. This unparalleled rolled-gold ornament is compared to the corpus of British and French rolled-gold ornaments and contemporary goldwork and a provenance, manufacture and biography of the find is explored. Both curation and fragmentation are considered in the context of a dated Beaker ware assemblage from the local domestic site of Lower Brockholes, Preston, as well as existing corpora of Beaker and Collared Urn ware from the region.     

The Only Girl in Amoy: Gender and American Patriotism in a Nineteenth-Century Treaty Port

In 1861, twenty-year-old Ruth Bradford accompanied her father to the Chinese treaty port of Amoy where he was to serve as American consul. Bradford recorded this trip in a diary kept from her departure from New York until her 1863 return. Drawing upon her diary, this paper explores how Bradford, as the only American woman in Amoy, refined her sense-of-self through interracial and cross-cultural encounters with the settlement's Chinese and British inhabitants. The paper argues that through critical comparison with these communities, Bradford, like other nineteenth-century American women in China, consolidated and articulated her gendered, racial and burgeoning patriotic national identity.     

Neolithic and Bronze Age ungulate footprint-tracks of the Severn Estuary: Species,age, identification and the interpretation of husbandry practices

Ungulate footprint-tracks provide information regarding the species and age of animals. Combined with other datasets, this contributes to interpretation of seasonal husbandry patterns in the Severn Estuary, focusing on Bronze Age intertidal footprint-tracks at Redwick and Goldcliff East and the Late Neolithic site of Oldbury. Metric dimensions and morphology of modern contemporary ungulate footprint-tracks are used as analogues to help understand the species and age of prehistoric ungulates. Findings indicate that Dexter cattle and Soay sheep are metrically similar to British prehistoric ungulates. The prehistoric sites have a concentration of neonatal and juvenile individuals. Along with evidence provided by environmental data, faunal skeletal assemblages and lipid and isotopic analysis, this leads to the conclusion that the presence of younger animals and evidence at Brean Down for dairying is consistent with saltmarsh grazing activity in spring and summer.     

Multi-disciplinary investigations at PoW Camp 198, Bridgend,S. Wales: site of a mass escape in March 1945

Abstract

The largest escape of German Prisoner of War (PoW) in WW2 was in March 1945 from Camp 198, situated in Bridgend, South Wales, UK. Since camp closure the site has become derelict, and has not been scientifically investigated. This paper reports on the search to locate the PoW escape tunnel that was dug from Hut 9. This hut remains in remarkable condition, with numerous PoW graffiti still present. Also preserved is a prisoner-constructed false wall in a shower room behind which excavated material was hidden, though the tunnel entrance itself has been concreted over. Near-surface geophysics and ground-based LiDAR were used to locate the tunnel. Mid-frequency GPR surveys were judged optimal, with magnetometry least useful due to the above-ground metal objects. Archaeological excavations discovered the intact tunnel and bed-board shoring. With Allied PoW escape camp attempts well documented, this investigation provides valuable insight into German escape efforts.     

IRON AGE DIET AT GLASTONBURY LAKE VILLAGE: THE ISOTOPIC EVIDENCE FOR NEGLIGIBLE AQUATIC RESOURCE CONSUMPTION

Summary.   The British Iron Age site at Glastonbury Lake Village in Somerset is well known for the extensive and prolonged excavations, the comprehensive publications and the superb preservation of organic remains. The environmental material recovered has led to detailed discussion about the nature of the inhabitants' diet. In particular, the recovery of fish and bird bone has led to speculation about the consumption of foods from the wetlands. Previous carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis of British Iron Age skeletal material has failed to detect significant levels of aquatic resources in the diet during this period, even where sites are located directly on the coast or close to river systems. There is also very little archaeological evidence to suggest that fishing was a major subsistence strategy. The isotopic analysis of skeletal material from Glastonbury Lake Village was undertaken with the hypothesis that if aquatic resources were to be found at significant levels in the diet of a British Iron Age community, this was a site which might reveal it. The results suggest that such consumption is not visible isotopically and was negligible.     

Power and Historical Figuring: Rachael Pringle Polgreen's Troubled Archive

Rachael Pringle Polgreen, a freed‘mulatto’ woman who owned an infamous brothel/hotel in Bridgetown, Barbados during the 1770s and 1780s became known to her contemporaries through her role in the (sexual) entertainment of transient naval officers and the visits of Prince William of England. Piecing together ‘evidence’ from her will, estate inventory, a nineteenth‐century novel, a lithograph and an interview with a British officer, I engage Polgreen's complicated and fragmented archive, revealing how Polgreen represents an example of the problems with sources depicting women of African descent who lived in a slave society and the silences that inundate their archive. The first part of this article critically re‐examines pieces of her archive, through which an image of Polgreen emerges incommensurable with narratives of her triumphs. Next, through an analysis of the processes by which Polgreen is historically confined by powerful archival and subsequent historical representations, I challenge previous assumptions about her life. Finally, introducing material from the British parliamentary debates in which an incident involving Polgreen is described and new material from Barbados deeds left by Polgreen's former slave, I expose the nuances of Polgreen's ‘agency’ in a slave society – that which depended upon her sexual subjugation of other women of African descent.