Humans,Birds and Burial Practices at Ipiutak,Alaska: Perspectivism in the Western Arctic

ABSTRACT

Archaeological and ethnohistoric evidence from the coast of western Alaska and St. Lawrence Island indicate that human inhabitants over the past 1500–2000 years incorporated birds into their diets, cosmologies, material culture, and daily activities. Following a brief discussion of the archaeological and ethnohistoric evidence for human–bird relations, this article explores the evidence for birds as both an economic and cosmological resource at the Ipiutak site on the northwest coast of Alaska. Several lines of evidence indicate that hunters and shamans have consistently attempted to mimic or acquire the abilities and physical attributes of select bird taxa, reflecting a sophisticated knowledge of bird behaviours and life histories. A specific concern with vision – shamanic, predatory, and post-mortem – is inferred from an unusual Ipiutak burial assemblage that contained a loon skull with ivory eyes. Considered in light of the broader cemetery assemblage, which includes artefacts with bird imagery, the Ipiutak material is interpreted as evidence of perspectivism in western arctic prehistory.     

Theology and the Origins of Conflict

Abstract

War has its origins in the clash of socially-constructed identities, interests, and norms of behavior of states and armed nonstate actors. This essay examines the economic, political, and cultural factors that contributed to the construction of such identities, interests, and norms during the Shining Path insurgency and the Peruvian government’s response in the years from 1980 to 2000. Drawing on the three levels of liberation outlined by Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez, the essay then describes how theology enriches without replacing socio-political and cultural explanations of the Peruvian conflict. The practices that formed both the Shining Path and the government’s response to it can be described as social sin, whereas the Catholic Church in Peru’s commitment to truth and the creation of community solidarity became practices that, by imitating the self-giving love of Christ, helped overcome violence and build peace.     

Impeachment Practice in the Era of Lethal Conflict

The purpose of this article is to question the widely-accepted notion that the basic norms of the United States Congress have undergone a dramatic change. In the face of an increased workload, a more divisive political environment, and significant alterations of the formal rules, this article suggests that the basic "folkways" of the House and Senate in the 1980s are remarkably similar to those described by students of Congress three decades ago. Despite some interview evidence to the contrary, patterns of legislative behavior, distinctions between "insiders" and "outsiders," and the pathways to legislative power continue to be defined in terms of such basic norms as reciprocity, apprenticeship, and specialization.     

Soils of Various Ages in the Steppe Sands of the Don and the Migration of Peoples in Historical Times

Sequences of buried soils of various ages in the sandy steppe of old river terraces of the Don River and several phases of soil deflation are related to both climatic factors (periods of desiccation or increased moisture caused by latitudinal shifts of storm tracks) and anthropogenic factors such as overgrazing. Climatic and anthropogenic factors are found to have reinforced each other in some periods, as in the 3rd and 16th centuries, and to have canceled each other out in other periods; for example, in times of increased moisture, when the eroded steppe sands again became overgrown with a plant cover despite continuing grazing of stock in the area.     

Contemporary Histories of the Conflict in Solomon Islands

Happy Isles in Crisis. The historical causes for a failing state in Solomon Islands 1998–2004. Australian National University, Canberra: Asia Pacific Press 2004. Pp: xi + 265. By Clive Moore . Price A$35 The Manipulation of Custom. From Uprising to Intervention in the Solomon Islands Australian National University, Canberra: Pandanus Books RSPAS 2004. Pp: 262. By Jon Fraenkel . Price: $34.95     

Curated Ruins and the Endurance of Conflict Heritage

Abstract

Architectural ruins created by bombing, artillery, and fire are a common feature of post-conflict urban and extra-urban environments, serving as stark reminders of the material impact of warfare and violence. Over time most of these ruins are either restored, demolished, or reclaimed by nature. This paper examines another, more unusual category: sites that are carefully maintained in a freshly ruined state, suggesting that their destruction was more recent than it actually was. These sites — most often configured as memorials — raise interesting questions about memorialization, conflict heritage, authenticity, ethics, and whether or not there is a ‘natural’ lifespan or lifecycle for architectural ruins. To illustrate this argument I will draw on case studies of the Frauenkirche in Dresden, Germany, and the ruins of Oradour-sur-Glane in France.     

European Values and the Asylum Crisis

This article examines the threat to European liberal democratic values posed by the current asylum crisis. Drawing on a historical analysis of European asylum policies, it examines the origins of the post-Second World War refugee regime and the sources of the current challenge to its liberal universalist premises. The argument discerns two dominant forms of critique of the liberal model in twentieth-century debates on refugee policy: welfare protectionist nationalism, and ethno-centric or racist nationalism. Both of these justifications for restricting asylum have resurfaced in contemporary debates, used by—respectively—centre-left and far right parties. Having considered why these arguments have resurfaced, the article suggests three scenarios for future European responses to the asylum crisis and their implications for liberal universalist values. It argues that the liberal approach can only be sustained through more effective EU burden-sharing and the reorientation of EU external policies to incorporate refugee and migration issues.