Site exploitation territories and topography: Two case studies from palaeolithic spain

Several methods of relating on-site and off-site data for developing and testing hypotheses about man-environment relationships and prehistoric subsistence economies have been devised since the original proposal for site-catchment analysis in 1970. We review the principles involved in these methods, and emphasize the importance of distinguishing clearly between Site Catchments (SCs) and Site Exploitation Territories (SETs). We propose that the distorting effects of variable topography have crucial importance in understanding the tactical reasons for using particular sites in regional exploitation strategies and demonstrate a simple technique for calculating this distortion. Two case studies from the Upper Palaeolithic of Spain show the potential of the technique. One focuses on the relationships between site clusters, the other explores the relationships between sites within site clusters.     

A scapula deformity in two burials from medieval England

A scapula malformation is described in two burials from the site of the late medieval Dominican friary at Ipswich, UK. The changes appear most consistent with primary scapular neck dysplasia. One of the burials also showed clear signs of leprosy. The burials are of lay benefactors of the friary. The Ipswich Dominican friary had no known function as a leprosy hospital. Finding of burials of lepers other than in burial grounds of leprosaria is highly unusual for medieval England. Scapular neck dysplasia has a strong genetic component in its aetiology. This, coupled with its rarity, suggests a close genetic link between the two burials. The findings suggest that in this case, family ties with the friary overrode the normal medieval custom of interring lepers in leprosy hospitals. This illustrates that even rare skeletal variants may convey useful biocultural information about past populations. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Responsive advertising regulation: A case study from New Zealand

As the most visible element of the marketing communications mix, advertising has had its critics and, given the choice, developed countries usually select a self-regulatory approach to deal with unacceptable or irresponsible advertising. This article reviews the literature in this area and incorporates thoughtful contributions from research conducted with New Zealand's Advertising Standards Authority. This approach helps bridge the gap between theory and practice and assists advertising practitioners and regulators concerned with advertising control to eliminate undesirable features of such systems in the future. Findings indicate that practice differs from theory in the areas of complaint acceptance procedures and code enforcement. A challenge for future research lies in addressing these two key components of the model in more detail and less breadth.     

Puppet troops revisited: A case study of the Northwestern Army during the Anti-Japanese War

After the Japanese occupation of North China at the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, the Nationalist government adopted the strategy of using the regular army to develop the battlefield to the rear of the enemy in order to sustain a protracted war. As a result, the Northwestern Army, which was organizing anti-Japanese forces in North China, became the Nationalist government's main military force in the occupied area. However, caught between Japanese and Communist troops, the Northwestern Army surrendered to the Japanese for the purpose of self-preservation and thus became a puppet army. From a nationalist point of view, the collaborationists who covered up their self-serving motives and later defended their actions as a crooked path to national salvation had a negative image. In response to Communist expansion, the Nationalist government acquiesced in the measure of collaborating with the puppet troops to annihilate the Communists. To reinforce the battles at the front, the Nationalist government also attempted to plot anti-Japanese mutinies among the puppet troops, but its plan was never implemented. The Northwestern Army forces planned to build an alliance in order to survive as a third force both in the confrontation between the Chinese government and the Japanese army and in the confrontation between the Nationalists and the Communists. Yet, due to the tight control exercised by the Japanese in North China, it was difficult for the Northwestern Army to gain momentum as a third force. After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, the Northwestern Army had to take sides in the Civil War, and this dilemma caused its final collapse.     

A first prehistoric case of tuberculosis from Britain

A likely case of tuberculosis in an Iron Age human burial from Dorset, England is described. Osteological examination and biomolecular study support the diagnosis. A radiocarbon determination indicates a date range for the burial of BC 400–230. This case represents the earliest reported case of tuberculosis from Britain, and indicates that the disease was present here prior to the Roman invasion. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Innovations, Competitiveness and Local Embeddedness: A Study of Machinery Producers in Sweden

This paper is about technological relations and firm performance in the Swedish machinery industry. Taking its point of departure in the proliferating literature on the localized nature of learning and innovation processes, the paper sets out to answer three empirical questions: To what extent are firms integrated in localized production systems based on buyer-supplier relations? At what geographical level–local/regional, national or international–are the most important technological relations found? Is there a correlation between localized technological relations and the technological performance of firms? The results indicate that few firms display localized buyer-supplier relations. Rather, the industry is highly internationalized, with the most important customers and competitors located outside Sweden. In terms of technologically important relations, the domestic arena seems to be more important. The majority of the most important technological relations link the machinery producers to other actors in Sweden. Three out of four firms may be classified as predominantly local/regional or national in their technological relations, or technology profile. This survey therefore supports the notion that there exists both local/regional and national innovation systems. Finally, however, despite the fact that most firms are fairly locally embedded in their technology relations, there is no evidence that such embeddedness shows up as superior firm performance, in terms of technology level or innovative capacity.     

Using Information Technologies for Collaborative Learning in Geography: A case study from Canada

In this paper, we share our experiences in designing, offering and evaluating undergraduate assignments that used information technologies to help undergraduate students from different universities collaborate on resource and environmental management problems in Canada. We focus on conditions of collaborative learning and peer review, especially how our uses of information technology reduced or increased the challenges of creating the conditions necessary for collaboration. In particular, we consider our successes and setbacks regarding five challenges: (1) composing effective groups, (2) providing sufficient time, (3) encouraging individual accountability, (4) enhancing regional perspectives, and (5) incorporating peer review and reducing competitiveness.     

Two unique Byzantine immured lead-glazed relief ceramic icons and related tiles from the church of St Basil in Arta,Greece: investigation and interpretation of materials and techniques

St Basil’s late Byzantine church in Arta (NW Greece) is unique among other surviving churches of the same era as a result of two glazed relief ceramic icons and arrays of square glazed tiles that decorate its external wall. The latter decorative items were carefully examined by means of analytical techniques in order to reveal the materials and techniques used for their manufacture and thus interpret their connection to the contemporary Byzantine and Italian ceramics. Analytical results indicate that lead plus quartz suspensions were employed for the fabrication of the majority of the glazes in the spirit of recipes for Italian Archaic majolica pottery, and thus they are differentiated from the common contemporary Byzantine products. Nonetheless, the raw materials used in the Arta area ceramics deviate substantially from those used in the Italian products and, possibly, a local (NW Greece) production is reflected. The unexpected rather rich variety of raw materials and/or techniques that underlies the visual uniformity of the glazed material in consideration might reflect selection of the best products generated upon experimentation with various contemporary technical alternatives. Finally, the decorative arrangement of the glazed items that we see today might reflect a way to circumventing original objections to the ceramic icon innovation.     

老龄服务：美国、日本、瑞典三国的实践经验与启示

随着社会经济的发展与人口老龄化问题的突出,社会对老龄服务的需求不断扩大。为此,大力发展以老年人需求为导向的老龄服务,不仅有利于提升老年群体的生活质量,还有利于缓解我国老龄化过程中的各种矛盾。本文通过梳理与总结美国、日本、瑞典三国在老龄服务方面的经验和实践模式,认为我国老龄服务应当做好四方面的工作：加强社区老龄服务网络建设;建立和完善老龄服务补贴制度和评估制度;着力推进老龄服务队伍的职业化;拓宽老龄服务经费的筹资渠道。     

Limits to interpretation of skeletal trauma — Two case studies from Medieval Abingdon,England

Two adult male skeletons from the Medieval lay cemetery at Abingdon show multiple trauma to the upper limbs and torso. Although this in itself is not uncommon in this cemetery the two skeletons in question stand out by virtue of the near-identical distribution of their injuries. The skeletons are used as examples to discuss the difficulties facing the palaeopathologist in deciding whether to attribute particular examples of trauma to violence. This is particularly relevant to Abingdon, where at least one major episode of civil conflict is documented historically. It was concluded that although the number of skeletons displaying signs of trauma may show the level of violence and high-risk occupations in a society, skeletal evidence rarely can distinguish between the two in individual cases.     

三门峡彩绘陶器保护浅析

在中华民族的文明史上,陶器是先民们遗留下来的最宝贵的财富之一。陶器的制作经过长期的发展,不同时期、不同地域的器物无论造型、装饰等,都具有各自的特点。彩绘陶器的出现则把陶器的装饰工艺推倒了一个新的高度。 三门峡出土的彩绘陶器主要是战国、汉唐及宋代的实物,到目前为止,累计有近百件。其特点是在烧好的陶器（陶胎的火候一般较高）上,用红、黄、白、黑等矿物颜料绘出多种装饰图案。虽然用色仅有几种,但由于对色料的运用及图案的设计比较协调和自然,产生了强烈的艺术效果,是研究历史文化不可多得的实物资料。但是,这些彩…     

A new method for identifying sherd refits: A case study from the Neolithic of Northumbria,U.K.

Abstract

Here we present a flexible, quantitative methodology for refitting handmade ceramics. Rather than analyzing the physical joins between sherds, we assess the likelihood that non-adjoining sherds of similar appearance are from the same vessel. The customary disregard of non-adjoining sherds in refitting experiments prompts us to address this issue. Using the Neolithic ceramic assemblage from Thirlings (Northumberland, U.K.) as a case study, we test several scoring systems for assessing the probability of two sherds pertaining to the same vessel. The utility of this approach is supported by the comparison of a set of percentage scores statistically verified using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. We conclude with a discussion of the contribution of the new method to post-excavation ceramic analyses, and its applicability to other assemblages.     

Flotation versus dry sieving archaeobotanical remains: A case history from the Middle Horizon southern coast of Peru

Abstract

During excavations at the site of Casa Vieja located in the Peruvian coastal desert, archaeological plant remains were systematically collected to assess whether it is more productive and informative to sieve sandy sediments in dry environments or to process such samples by water flotation, a persistent methodological concern. At Casa Vieja, dual subsamples were collected and analyzed using both of these procedures. For dry, sandy sediment conditions, each processing strategy was found to yield a different view of the botanical remains. Dry sieving recovers more of the larger plant specimens whereas water flotation yields more of the smaller-sized material. These results should be incorporated into archaeological research designs in the future, especially for desert environments.     

Two radiocarbon dates for freshwater shells from hierakonpolis: Archaeological and geological interpretations

Shells of two species of freshwater bivalve (Unio willcocksi Bullen Newton and Etheria elliptica Lamarck) from the predynastic Gerzean (Nagada II) Decorated Tomb at Hierakonpolis, Egypt have given dates of 5000±90 bp for the tomb, and 12,900±120 bp for an episode of Nile terrace accumulation (correlated here with the Sahaba-Darau aggradation event). The archaeological and geological significance of these results is discussed, together with an outline of problems associated with radiocarbon dating of shell. Comparisons are made with the few other radiocarbon dates available for the Predynastic period in Egypt and possible reasons for the presence of shells in the tomb are considered.     

关于牛河梁第二地点一号冢墓葬出土玉器的解读——东北古夷玉巫教探析

牛河梁第二地点一号冢分为东西两区,共26墓,其出土玉器分别代表牛河梁猪灵、鸮灵、云灵崇拜的原生玉巫教与黄帝"云纪"、少皞"鸟纪"等众多玉巫教的各支派系的联合体,并未形成统一的、集权的顶级发展阶段的巫教。同时,牛河梁又是东北古夷玉巫教的圣地。     

Economic Transformation in Russia and China: Two Comments on A Comparison

Two prominent Western observers of the economic transition and development in Russia and China evaluate and supplement the preceding paper (Malle, 2008), which compares the two economies by tracing their evolution from central planning to market-oriented systems. While in general supporting and agreeing with the premise of the comparative analysis presented in that paper, albeit pointing out some instances of disagreement, the authors add observations on the preconditions and structural differences between the countries, on the political context and framework of the transitions, as well as benchmarks for measuring China's success, and reasoned observations on the latter country's policies and sustainable growth.