Italian diplomacy in China: the forgotten affair of Sān Mén Xiàn (1898–1899)

ABSTRACT

In March 1899, about one year before the Boxers’ siege at the diplomatic quarter in Beijing (June 1900), the Kingdom of Italy presented an ultimatum to the imperial government of China, aiming to the occupation of Sān Mén bay (in the Chinese province of Zhèjiāng). The unsuccessful attempt was not considered of significant political relevance at that time. However, diplomats have suggested and subsequently historians have commented that those events convinced the imperial Chinese government to change the strategy towards the Western colonial Powers and finally to support the Boxers’ rebellion against the foreigners and the Christian religion. This article is based on the original diplomatic documents, mainly available at the historical archive of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome. Those primary sources reveal the most controversial aspects of that forgotten episode of diplomatic history.     

The Birmingham Button Industry

Abstract

The city of Birmingham has been the birthplace of many industries and, somewhat surprisingly, one of the most important of these is the button industry, since this small but indispensable item appears to have been a major factor behind the increasing prosperity of 18th- and 19th-century Birmingham.     

TEMPORAL HYGIENE: PROBLEMS IN CULTURAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE LATE PREHISTORIC PERIOD OF THE MIDDLE OHIO RIVER VALLEY

Abstract

Radiocarbon dates are an independent source of data for constructing temporal relationships. Too often dates are shoehorned by preconceptions and hobbled by casual sample selection, reporting, and interpretation. Several authors have established quality-control criteria for evaluating and cleansing regional radiocarbon databases. Recent applications of such temporal hygiene practices in paleoecology and archaeology have resulted in significant reinterpretations of the sequence, timing, and tempo of change. Further, a new appreciation is often gained of the extent of synchronic variability. I apply a minimal hygienic protocol based on three criteria: material dated, method of age estimation, and when the sample was run. I illustrate both the value of and the need for such analyses by cleaning up a small sample of dates (N = 125) from 11 Fort Ancient sites. The single largest problem for determining occupation timing is the use of wood samples. Nearly 80 percent of the assays are unacceptable for use in reconstructing occupation history, except to frame the maximal age of occupation. The modifications to the timing and duration of occupation for these 11 sites significantly undermine the logical inferential structure of current reconstructions of change and difference in the middle Ohio River valley.     

Gete Odena: Grand Island’s Post-Contact Occupation at Williams Landing

Abstract

Two seasons of excavation were conducted at Gete Odena, a Terminal WoodlandlHistoric Period site near Williams Landing. We discuss two significant findings from the post-contact period. The first is the discovery of six pits investigated through a performance-based analysis and thought to be used in hide processing. The second significant finding is the identification of the occupation surfaces associated with the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century component. Our investigation has revealed information about site function, seasonality, and hide-smoking technology during the late prehistoric/early historic Native American occupation of the island.     

Surface and Subsurface Evidence for Community Size at Coapexco,Mexico

Abstract

It has become customary in the Basin of Mexico to derive the population size of prehistoric communities from the density of refuse on the surface of archeological sites. A study of the extensively littered Early Pre classic site of Coapexco leads to reservations concerning this practice. The plotting of all surface refuse over 0.8 ha at Coapexco has suggested that two other factors — elapsed time and the deposition of overburden — account for a substantial part of variation in the distribution and density of surface scatter on the site. Several categories of evidence contribute to this conclusion and are discussed in the paper. A consideration of this evidence tends to show that a) it is not likely that all surface concentrations in the same sampled area are contemporary, despite their cultural homogeneity and relative brief span of time within the Preclassic in which their occupation took place; and b) that the amount of refuse displayed on the surface at anyone point depends on the depth at which occupation strata are buried below present surface.     

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.     

Faunal Remains from Karataş-Semayük In Southwest Anatolia: An Interim Report

Abstract

Karata?-Semayük is a Bronze Age site near Elmali-Antalya in southwestern Anatolia in the region of ancient Lycia. The chief period of occupation was in Early Bronze II. The Bryn Mawr College excavations there began in 1963 and are directed by Machteld J. Mellink.     

Botanical Archaeology at the Norman P Site in Ohio

Abstract

Continuous prehistoric occupation of northern Ohio from 9000 B.P. to 5000 B.P. has often been questioned. Its demonstration is difficult to support. Stratigraphically intact archaeological evidence for this Late PaleoIndian-Early Archaic period is not common in the eastern United States and is generally found in dry rockshelters or in alluvial bottomlands. In northern Ohio, rockshelters are rare and bottomlands have recently been subjected to deep-plowing. The controlled comparative germination of viable seeds in such recently disturbed strata yields an Index of Plowing which can determine the lower limits of such disturbance in the absence of other pedological or archaeological indications. The application of this Index to the Norman P site in Summit County, Ohio, reveals an intact PaleoIndian-Archaic Transitional occupation.     

The Franchthi Cave Flint Survey: Some Preliminary Results (1974)

Abstract

Six seasons of excavation have been conducted at Franchthi Cave, a large prehistoric site in southern Greece which has given evidence of essentially continuous human occupation from ca. 20,000 B.C. to ca. 3000 B.C. (in radiocarbon years). A detailed survey of the raw materials used in the local chipped stone industries was initiated in 1973 and is being carried out by one of the authors (DMVH). The objectives of this survey include the identification of the types and the distribution of locally available raw materials with the hope that this information will contribute further to our understanding of the human ecology of the site and its environs. A summary of some of our preliminary observations resulting from a modification of original sampling procedures will be given in the following paragraphs.     

The Evolution and Destruction of Oorlam Communities in the Rustenburg District of South Africa: The Cases of Welgeval and Bethlehem, 1850s–1980

Abstract

This is a study of two Oorlam communities in the Rustenburg district. The one, Welgeval, was predominantly rural, the other Bethlehem, otherwise known as the Oorlam Locasie, in Rustenburg town itself, was mostly urban in character. They were situated no more than 60 kilometres apart. They were both off-springs of Boer, later Afrikaner society, and, to a lesser extent, of attachment to missionaries. They both survived for approximately the same duration, and both were victims, in slightly different ways, of apartheid. There was some known contact between the two communities. The emergence of their respective histories has rested in part on land restitution claims, which like many across South Africa, have brought to light previously forgotten or uncovered remembrances. There are, therefore, significant points of similarity and comparison between them. This article further complements the existing literature of previous scholars on the Oorlam by uncovering the experiences of two more sites of Oorlam occupation. Finally a study of the two communities raises interesting issues regarding their identity and the ways in which they have remembered and reconstructed their pasts.     

The Prehistoric Local Environment of Grasshopper Pueblo,Arizona

Abstract

The prehistoric local environment near Grasshopper Pueblo, east-central Arizona, is reconstructed by analysis of mammalian microfauna recovered at the site. Changes in the vegetation surrounding the pueblo during the span of occupation (ca. 1300–1400 A.C.) are described and the present and past environments at the site are contrasted. Paleoenvironmental analyses to date have failed to produce evidence for a rapid prehistoric climatic shift with negative consequences for agricultural productivity.     

Social scientists and native title cases in Australia

Abstract

Recent legal developments in Australia have led the courts to reject the doctrine of terra nullius, which denied pre-existing Aboriginal rights to land ownership, and Aboriginal prior occupation and ownership of land are now acknowledged. However, in the absence of consent determinations the courts have to evaluate the justification for legally recognizing native title based on specific local evidence for continuities in the traditional customs and laws of Aboriginal claimants since British sovereignty. Much of the evidence for such continuities can come from the Aboriginal claimants themselves. However, proving the time, depth and relevance of these continuities and presenting them in a form that is considered acceptable by the courts has drawn upon the ‘expertise’ of academics. This paper considers the types of evidence that anthropologists, linguists, historians and archaeologists are able to present and makes some suggestions as to how this could be improved in the future.     

The partial re-erection of the Temple of Trajan at Pergamon in Turkey: A German Archaeological Institute project

Abstract

The re-erected Temple of Trajan, one of the most prominent monumental structures visible today at Pergamon, is based on the principles of anastylosis. The first task of the team, working under the auspices of the German Archaeological Institute, was the complete documentation of all existing architectural elements. When the preserved fragments yielded sufficient information, these pieces were joined together and restored to their original position in the Trajaneum. If necessary, missing parts of the temple were added using an artificial stone formed from a mixture of crushed marble and white cement, a material that is clearly distinguishable from the original natural stone. This re-erection preserves the integrity of the temple, while simultaneously enabling the visitor to imagine the original splendour of this monumental building.     

How the mosquito (man) liberated Cuba

Disease is a more efficient killer of armies than man, but military historians tend not to dwell on this fact, for fear of relegating human volition to a secondary role in the outcome of wars. Thus, studies of the Cuban War of Independence from 1895 to 1898 tell of thrilling machete charges and awe-inspiring battleships, but pay insufficient attention to the insects and microbes that really killed the Spanish army and prepared the ground for the liberation of Cuba. This essay argues that the mosquito and yellow fever did most of the work of freeing Cuba from Spanish military occupation. It also tells how the theory of a Cuban physician, Carlos Finlay, helped to liberate the island from yellow fever following the American occupation in 1898. In this way the essay unites two sundered histories that belong together, and then goes on to explain why the medical community ignored Finlay for almost 20 years, just time enough to allow Cubans to found a new nation.     

Coastal Feasts: A Pleistocene Antiquity for Resource Abundance in the Maritime Deserts of North West Australia?

ABSTRACT

Located on the edge of Australia's North West continental shelf, Barrow Island is uniquely located to address a number of research questions, such as the antiquity and changing nature of Indigenous occupation, including shifting uses of regional economic resources in response to post-glacial sea-level rise. These questions are addressed from a range of archaeological, zooarchaeological, and geoarchaeological disciplines. Although only preliminary, results to date indicate the presence of marine resources dating to before sea-level stabilization (～ 7.5 ka) that contain both dietary and utilitarian species, including high-ranked species such as sea turtle. The marine assemblages reflect a variety of habitats and substrates with a 17,000-year record for the presence of a former tidal marsh or estuary. We also note recently obtained ¹⁴C and OSL dates that extend the dietary marine faunas and initial occupation to well before 41 ka. This demonstrates that consumption of coastal resources began prior to the Holocene, when we begin to observe more widespread evidence of marine resource exploitation in the broader Canarvon Bioregion of northwest Australia. This evidence supports arguments for further research to directly test both the productivity of, and human reliance on, marine habitats from initial occupation.     

A Reinterpretation of the Occupational History of the Pendleton Ruin,New Mexico

Abstract

The Pendleton Ruin, an adobe pueblo of approximately 125 rooms in the “boot heel” of sw New Mexico, was excavated by Alfred V Kidder, C. Burton Cosgrove, and Harriet S. Cosgrove in 1933. It defined the Animas phase, dated between A.D. 1150 and 1450. In this paper, the occupational history of the Pendleton Ruin is reexamined, beginning with the excavators' assumption that the lack of trash accumulation indicated a brief occupation. Based on the published report, field notebooks, and collections, it is concluded that the site was occupied longer than thought. Evidence for at least one hiatus in occupation may explain how a long occupation is compatible with low artifact yields. Evidence also points to the construction of a platform mound along the northern side of a plaza. A reinterpretation of regional settlement and social organization, focused on the role and scale of settlement instability, is presented. Finally, the results present a case study of how reanalysis of excavated materials can be a useful archaeological practice.     

Population Estimates from Settlement Area and Number of Residences

Abstract

Using modern data from the Lake Patzcuaro Basin in Mexico, the author evaluates in this paper the correlations between settlement areas and populations in order to assess the possibilities of estimating the size of prehistoric populations on the basis of the extent of occupation areas. The relationship between number of residences and population is similarly explored. Predictions within the defined categories are accurate in nearly two-thirds of the cases. This result suggests that the method has some value for estimating populations in archaeological situations where the required continuity of patterns of residence assures the relevance of historical data.     

Determining the settlement history of Hellenistic,Roman, and Byzantine sites in the Galilee,Israel: Comparing surface,subsurface, and stratified artifact assemblages

Abstract

Archaeological field survey is the basic method for determining the history of settlement on the regional level. The backbone of survey is locating and surveying individual sites, estimating their size, and uncovering their settlement histories. Various biases place doubt on the reliability of surface data and the conclusions drawn from them. This study presents three methods for investigating multiperiod sites in eastern Galilee, Israel: advanced surface survey, shovel test sampling, and large-scale stratigraphic excavations. Advanced surface survey was carried out at 46 sites settled during the Hellenistic through Byzantine periods (ca. 300 b.c.–a.d. 650). Three of these sites were later sampled using shovel test pits. Large-scale excavations were conducted at two of these sites, Khirbet Wadi ?amam and Nasr ed-Din enabling the comparison of the three methods. Applying these three methods to the same sites allowed us to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each method for determining settlement history. The results indicate that a thorough surface survey of a site in an area where local pottery is well documented can provide a clear picture of its occupation history. However, these data are not sufficient to determine variations in the size of the site over time. Shovel test sampling presents no advantage over surface survey with regard to documenting periods of activity at a given site, but it is preferable for tracing changes in the intensity of occupation during different periods. Excavation is the most informative method, but because it is costly and time consuming, it often sheds light only on small portions of selected sites.     

News and Short Contributions

Abstract

Muralla de Leon is a dry stone wall construction on an elevated plateau NE of Lake Macanche, in the central portion of the Department of Peten, Guatemala. Surrounded by water on three sides, the wall attains a maximum height of 4 m. and has a perimeter of 1.4 km. Twenty-one structures are located inside the wall, their construction spanning the Terminal Preclassic through the Postclassic periods. Most interesting are quantities of Floral Park Protoclassic materials as well as a Postclassic “temple assemblage” inside the wall. Problems associated with dating the fortification are discussed, and processes that may have contributed to the construction and occupation of the Muralla de Leon site are reviewed. The times of apparent construction and occupation of the Muralla de Leon area suggest the possibility of a broader role of conflict in the evolution of Maya civilization during the Protoclassic period than previously recognized, and illuminate the role of warfare in the interrelationships of Postclassic communities in the Central Peten.