ON ISOTOPES AND OLD BONES*

This review charts the developments and progress made in the application of stable light isotope tools to palaeodietary adaptations from the 1970s onwards. It begins with an outline of the main principles governing the distribution of stable light isotopes in foodwebs and the quality control issues specific to the calcified tissues used in these analyses, and then proceeds to describe the historical landmark studies that have marked major progress, either in their archaeological applications or in enhancing our understanding of the tools. They include the adoption of maize agriculture, marine‐focused diets amongst coastal hunter–gatherers, trophic level amongst Glacial‐period modern humans and Neanderthals, and the use of savannah resources by early hominins in Africa. Particular attention is given to the progress made in addressing the challenges that have arisen out of these studies, including issues related to the routing of dietary nutrients. I conclude with some firm, and some more speculative, pointers about where the field may be heading in the next decade or so.     

Murujuga,Northwestern Australia: When Arid Hunter-Gatherers Became Coastal Foragers

ABSTRACT

The Dampier Archipelago (Murujuga) in northwestern Australia is a rich rock art province located in an arid-maritime cultural landscape. The archipelago juts into the Indian Ocean just north of the Tropic of Capricorn. When people started inscribing this rugged granophyre landscape it was an inland range more than 100 km from the coast. Murujuga rock art is contextualized by a 47,000-year-old occupation sequence from the Pilbara, a model for stylistic change, and a predictive model that envisages how people may have adapted to this eventual seascape. Initial testing of an outer island suggests that highly mobile coastal foragers took advantage of interior ranges across the Abydos Plain as sea levels rose after the Last Glacial Maximum. This article describes for the first time evidence for Australia's earliest domestic stone structures (dated to between 8063 and 7355 cal BP) and tests the predictive model. Rosemary Island is an inscribed landscape that reveals the emergence of an arid island and provides insights into the dynamics of mobile arid hunter-fisher-gatherers in the early Holocene. It adds to the body of Australian evidence for island abandonment with insulation, but with minimal evidence for subsequent (re)colonization.     

'WHY THEY CAME'; THE COLONIZATION OF THE COAST OF WESTERN SWEDEN AND ITS ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT AT THE END OF THE LAST GLACIATION

Summary.   In this paper we will bring into view new aspects of Late Palaeolithic and early Mesolithic research on the west coast of Sweden. In doing so, we make use of oceanography and tidal modelling, in conjunction with basic research in the fields of archaeology and palynology. The focus of research concerns the Hensbacka culture group in central Bohuslän, a group of hunter-gatherers which visited the area between c.10,300–9300 bp (10,200/10,000–8500 cal BC). Recent investigations indicate that the frequency of Hensbacka sites in the archipelago of central Bohuslän, which at that time had a total land area of c.500 sq km, might well represent the highest site density area in northern Europe during a c.1000-year period of time at the close of the Late Glacial and beginning of the early Post Glacial. In the pages that follow, we will discuss how, and why, this 'seasonal colonization' was possible.     

Weathering evidence for an additional glacial stage in Tasmania

Quantitative studies of relative dating parameters, including subsurface dolerite weathering rind thickness and weathering front penetration, permit the differentiation of three broad groupings of till deposits in several valleys in north-central, western, western-central and south-western Tasmania. An early cold climatic phase–the Linda Glacial Stage–is recognised on the basis of this weathering evidence which also indicates that there have been at least two more recent Glacial Stages of decreasing severity, termed here the Henty and Margaret Glacial Stages respectively. This three-fold model bears a striking similarity to that of Lewis (1945) which was rejected nearly three decades ago. However, whereas Lewis' model was founded upon erosional evidence, the present study is based entirely upon depositional and weathering evidence.     

Southwest Norway at the Pleistocene/Holocene Transition: Landscape Development,Colonization, Site Types,Settlement Patterns

This article contributes a western Norwegian perspective to the ongoing debate on the timing and nature of the earliest colonization of northern Europe. Despite there being a theoretical possibility of Late Glacial settlement, currently available data indicate a populating of the area around the termination of the Pleistocene ca. 10,000 (uncalibrated) yr BP. The earliest radiocarbon date in southwest Norway so far, 9750 BP, is only a terminus ante quem . Environmental, economic, technological and social factors involved as a result of the colonization process are discussed briefly, and trends in the archaeological record are emphasized and commented on. The economy reflected by the first complete annual subsistence patterns is interpreted as having been logistically mobile, highly adaptive and generally of opportunistic character. Particular attention is paid to Early Preboreal coastal and inland settlement of the 'Boknafjord' and 'Myrvatn/Fløyrlivatn' groups, the latter characterized by well-preserved site structures such as tent rings and hearths providing high-resolution radiocarbon dates and palaeobotanical evidence.     

Testing the ‘Laacher See hypothesis’: a health hazard perspective

It has recently been suggested that the Laacher See volcanic eruption, which occurred around 13,000 years ago, initiated significant demographic fluctuations along the northern periphery of Late Glacial human settlement and that these led to a number of material culture transformations. The origins of the Southern Scandinavian Bromme culture and the northeastern European Perstunian culture as well as the temporary abandonment of Central European regions have been linked to this eruption. However, it remains unclear precisely which aspects of the eruption stimulated Late Glacial foragers to abandon their traditional ways of life. Paradoxically, the culture–historical impact of the eruption appears greater further away from the eruptive centre. Here, we investigate one potential middle-range link between the Laacher See eruption and Late Glacial fauna and foragers: tephra as a health hazard. We use laser-diffraction particle-size analysis to quantitatively investigate tephra from one site with a secure Late Glacial archaeological deposit. In addition, we use values previously reported in the literature and a predictive model to calculate the hazard potential along a transect of two of the three major Laacher See tephra fans. Our results show that the Laacher See tephra may have posed a potential health hazard and that its hazard potential may have increased with distance from the vent. To our knowledge this is the only study that attempts to quantify the changing grain-size composition of tephra fall-out longitudinally in this way, at least with regard to a prehistoric eruption. We close by discussing, more speculatively, other possible health-pertinent effects of the Laacher See eruption and suggest ways in which future work can further evaluate the impact of this eruption on Late Glacial populations.     

江西仙人洞遗址两万年前陶器的年代研究

陶器的出现使得人类生存和社会行为发生了重要转变。我们对江西万年仙人洞遗址出土陶器进行了年代研究、对陶片和碳十四测年样品层位关系开展地层显微结构分析,结果显示遗址出土最早的陶片年代为距今19,000～20,000年,比东亚和其他地区的陶器早了2000～3000年。洞穴内遗存证明这些陶器是在末次冰盛期由采集狩猎者所制造,可能被用做炊煮器。说明陶器在农业出现以前一万年甚至更早就被制造和使用了。     

Returning to that which was never lost: Indigenous Australian saltwater identities,a history of land claims and the paradox of return

In this paper I explore the kincentric ecologies that define sea country for Indigenous Australians, in particular the Yanyuwa of Northern Australia. Despite colonial alienation from their coastal territories, Yanyuwa have sustained a four-decade long legal fight for restitution. Using the framework of ‘urgent patience’ as resistance against ‘social death’, this paper tracks the historical legacy of legislative land rights for saltwater peoples.     

Quaternary Organic Deposit from Newton Creek Valley,Western Tasmania

Pollen and macrofossils from an organic deposit probably 44 ka BP in age record subalpine heath with abundant local Athrotaxis cupressoides. This was succeeded by subalpine heath that included Casuarina, Phyllocladus and Eucalyptus. The pollen/vegetation assemblages are comparable with present subalpine vegetation located between 850–1050 m, though the site is at 550 m and potentially below the limit of temperate rainforest (620 m). It is inferred that the vegetation altered from upper to lower subalpine heath and that the climate became warmer and wetter. The mean temperature is estimated to have been at least 3.2°C to 1.7°C colder than today. The trend of vegetation and climate change compares closely with Late Glacial changes but does not compare with changes recorded from sites of Middle Last Glacial age in the West Coast Ranges. A radiocarbon date of 34 ka BP and a trend towards warming suggests that the deposit may represent the onset of an interstadial during the Early Last Glacial Stage.     

State Ceremonial,Court Culture and Political Power in Early Modern Denmark, 1536-1746

In early modern Europe the court of a prince was many things: the household of a prince, a point of contact between the ruler and the elites, a cultural trendsetter, a focal point of patronage and an important institution of regional and international politics. In short, the court had many functions. In this article the focus is on the main lines of development in the court culture of early modern Denmark, from the Reformation (1536) until early Absolutism. Certain structural changes are highlighted and an attempt is made to explain them in political terms. As a prelude, I offer some theoretical reflections on the meaning of court culture in general and ceremonial culture in particular. Let me say from the outset that I have found my inspiration mainly in German and American historical scholarship, which for the past twenty years or so has witnessed a continuous and fruitful debate on the early modern court.     

Testing the ‘Laacher See hypothesis’: tephra as dental abrasive

In a series of recent studies, changes in material culture and settlement pattern in the Late Glacial of Northern Europe have been linked to the eruption of the Laacher See volcano. This eruption occurred c. 13,000 years ago towards the end of the Allerød chronozone. It is argued that the tephra fall-out from this eruption set in motion significant demographic fluctuations along the northern periphery of Late Glacial human settlement and that these led to a number of material culture transformations. In particular, the emergence of the regionally distinct techno-complexes with large tanged points – the Bromme culture in southern Scandinavia and the Perstunian culture in northeastern Europe – and the temporary abandonment of central European regions are thought to relate to this eruption. While numerous archaeological datasets are in accord with this ‘Laacher See hypothesis’, the forcing mechanism or mechanisms that brought about these archaeologically visible changes have remained largely unexplored. A particular challenge is to explain how some of the culture-historical effects of the Laacher See eruption seem to change or become more pronounced with distance from the eruptive centre. We here investigate one potential middle-range link between the Laacher See eruption and Late Glacial fauna and foragers: tephra as dental abrasive. We use instrumented nanoindentation to quantitatively investigate tephra from a number of sites covering the medial and distal fall-out zones as well as the dental enamel of Homo sapiens and key prey species of Late Glacial foragers. Our results show that the Laacher See tephra contained particles roughly twice as hard as even the hardest portions of any of the teeth investigated. We also suggest that fluoride-induced weakening of dental enamel may have further aggravated tooth wear. These mechanisms may have acted in concert to produce elevated levels of, in particular, animal mortality, which in turn may have led to an abandonment of the affected landscapes.     

Circulation,modernity, and urban space in 1960s Beirut

In this essay, I explore the role of circulation in Beirut’s urban space and society in the early 1960s. Drawing primarily from the Lebanese francophone newspaper L’Orient, I show how the rise of automobility in postcolonial Beirut brought with it the imposition of certain kinds of moral and civic geographies that prescribed how citizens should use and move through the city. I argue that the newspaper’s narratives about matters of infrastructure and traffic law abidance reveal concerns with not just how people moved through the city, but with the everyday configuration of a rational, modern, biopolitical order.     

The Enisei River of Central Siberia in the Late Pleistocene

Recent Paleolithic work along the middle Enisei River of central Siberia has revealed a long history of occupation that almost certainly begins in the Middle Pleistocene. Although the evidence for the Lower Paleolithic is somewhat tentative, there is good reason to believe that hunter-gatherers had periodically occupied the middle Enisei before the last interglacial. The steppe environment of the region during the Upper Pleistocene was relatively bountiful; more than 200 Upper Paleolithic sites, both before and after the Last Glacial Maximum, have been located. The region appears to have been abandoned during the Last Glacial Maximum. Most of Soviet and Russian archaeological work has been guided by a cultural–historical orientation, but recently there has been increased interest in developing adaptationist and ecological research strategies. The middle Enisei and the wider central Siberian region are key to understanding early adaptations to the north and the dimensions of Paleolithic population movements.     

The Scandinavian reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) after the last glacial maximum: time,seasonality and human exploitation

Antlers and bones of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) are the most frequently found vertebrate remains from the Late Glacial deposits of Southern Scandinavia. The Danish collection now consists of more than 350 specimens and of these 47 have been radiocarbon dated extending the range of occurrence in the area with ca. 1300 ¹⁴C yr. Thus the first occurrence is pushed back to ca. 12?500 ¹⁴C yr BP (late Bølling chronozone) while the youngest date lies at ca. 9200 ¹⁴C yr BP (late Preboreal chronozone) establishing that the reindeer survives well into the Holocene. The seasonal dates of the reindeer indicate for the first human occupation (the Havelte group from the Bølling period) a summer, autumn and early winter occupation, with reindeer, as well as man, apparently being absent during the coldest winter months. Finally, it is shown that Southern Scandinavia acted as a calving area throughout the Late Glacial and Early Holocene thus discrediting the North–South model of reindeer groups moving from a wintering area in Southern Scandinavia to a calving area in the foothills of the North European plain.     

The Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus ) as an Accumulator of Archaeological Bones. Late Glacial Assemblages and Present-day Reference Data in Corsica (Western Mediterranean)

Assemblages of 751 bone remains of an endemic Corsican deer (Megaloceros cazioti) from Late Glacial layers at Luri- Grı̀tulu cave (Northern Corsica) show an uncommon taphonomic pattern, mainly characterized by high dominance of third phalanxes and high rate of digestion marks. The authors demonstrate that this pattern cannot result from accumulation by human beings or by large mammal carnivores. The bearded vulture, which is able to accumulate large mammal bones in its nest and the presence of which is attested in the faunal remains at Grı́tulu, is the principal putative accumulator. In order to test this hypothesis, bone contents from 11 nests of modern Corsican bearded vultures (871 bone remains, i.e., more than 105 individual carcasses) are analysed from a taphonomic point of view. They are mainly characterized by overwhelming quantities of third phalanxes from middle-size ruminants, abundance and location of digestion marks around proximal articulations, and few bone flakes. A comparison of the Grı́tulu cave assemblages with these new present-day reference data leads to the conclusion that they have actually been accumulated by Late Glacial bearded vultures. Small discrepancies can, however, be explained by differences in food availability between the Late Glacial and modern times.     

Erotics,love and violence: European women's travels in the northeast of Brazil

In this article I analyze the cross-border sexual and affective relationships women from diverse European countries form with local men in two coastal touristic villages of the state of Ceará, in the northeast of Brazil. Drawing on ethnographic research I consider how, in the frame of ambiguous sexual, economic, and affective exchanges, violence intertwines with erotics and with notions of love. I take the women's narratives as the central reference. My main argument is that the delight provoked by the transformation of their erotic subjectivities and the idea of rehearsing new forms of heterosexual relatedness, which involve what they consider unusual forms of love, feed the ambiguities pervading their relationships with local men, making these women unaware of the economic aspects involved in their relationships and of occasional hostility and subalternization to which they are subjected. Only in the frame of the acute increase in the tensions provoked by the change in these women's status from tourists to foreign residents, they label their partner's economic demands as exploitative and their actions as violence.     

明清时期广东海防“分路”问题探讨

明清时期,广东的海防部署依据不同的区域划分呈现出循序渐进的"分路"特征,即从元末三路分防的萌芽,到明中叶的全面成型,再到清代四路甚至五路的发展。关于广东海防分路的时间,本文认为早在元末已经出现,当时中路的虎头门、南头澳等地均是重要的海防要塞,明初的广东海防从无备到有备,实际上借鉴了元末的海防实践,而对于肇庆府在明清两代并不归属中路海防区域,本文也明确提出自己的看法。从元末到清末,广东海防分路的漫长发展演变不仅是海防部署工作的细化,更体现了明清两代区域海防工作责任的日益繁重。     

Multiple Glaciation of the Upper Franklin Valley,Western Tasmania Wilderness World Heritage Area

Part of an extensive ice cap that developed in the Tasmanian Central Highlands during the late Cainozoic discharged southwards into the valley of the Franklin River and its upper tributaries where it merged with smaller glaciers that accumulated behind local snowfences. Glacial landforms and sediments in the now heavily forested valleys indicate that at least three and possibly as many as six glaciations took place. The earliest and most extensive glaciation occurred during the Pliocene or earliest Pleistocene. At this time ice extended at least 27km down the Franklin Valley and covered at least 326km² of the study area. This ice was confluent with glaciers in the West Coast Range to the west and in the Derwent Valley to the east Such confluence offers the possibility of better correlation of glacial events between western Tasmania and the Central Highlands. The smallest and most recent glaciation occurred during the late Last Glacial Stage when the Franklin Glacier did not exceed 12km in length. The glaciers were characterised by high rates of mass throughput and were of temperate maritime type.     

Irrational Exuberance: Hope,Expectation, and Cool Market Logic

This article examines expectation, optimism, and future-oriented affective postures in financial markets in conversation with theological debates about hope, fanaticism, and enthusiasm. I identify a tendency in economic discourse to valorize calculative and calm rationality over against emotive enthusiasm in market behavior. In recalling the theological debates over passions and interests that proved influential at the inception of capitalism, I argue that the denigration of exuberance in economics bears genealogical links to theological condemnation of the fanatic and enthusiast in early modernity. Retrieving this theological precursor provides an analytical lens for considering the ongoing traction of the language of rationality in economics.