Rethinking Easter Island's ecological catastrophe

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) has become a paragon for prehistoric human induced ecological catastrophe and cultural collapse. A popular narrative recounts an obsession for monumental statuary that led to the island's ecological devastation and the collapse of the ancient civilization. Scholars offer this story as a parable of today's global environmental problems. In this paper, I review new and emerging Rapa Nui evidence, compare ecological and recently acquired palaeo-environmental data from the Hawaiian and other Pacific Islands, and offer some perspectives for the island's prehistoric ecological transformation and its consequences. The evidence points to a complex historical ecology for the island; one best explained by a synergy of impacts, particularly the devastating effects of introduced rats (Rattus exulans). This perspective questions the simplistic notion of reckless over-exploitation by prehistoric Polynesians and points to the need for additional research.     

Easter and the Battle of Pollentia

Interest in the battle of Pollentia in recent years has been confined to the issue of dating the year in which it occurred, the extent to which either Claudian or Prudentius, the two late Roman poets who mention it, depended on the other's work, and the significance of the battle in the political and military careers of its two chief protagonists, Stilicho, the Vandal regent of the emperor Honorius, and Alaric, the Visigothic leader and rebellious Roman agent. In this paper, I consider religion as a tactic in the conduct of the battle. We know from Orosius that it was fought at Easter, something for which he chastised Stilicho. While scholars refer to its Easter date and Vanderspoel has found Easter allusions in another of Claudian's poem written in the light of the battle, none has investigated the significance of the battle taking place at Easter. It is argued here that religious considerations were crucial in determining the moment of engagement and not just coincidental and that, by attacking Alaric at Easter, we have another indication of just how precarious Stilicho's position was.     

行走苏格兰

爱丁堡 从英国南部乘火车北上苏格兰,第一站自然是苏格兰的首府爱丁堡.世界上奇特的城市很多,但爱丁堡绝对是一个与众不同的城市,一个会让你过目不忘的城市.在苏格兰的历史上,爱丁堡就像一面旗帜,这面旗帜上留有无数的历史印迹,上面写满了光荣与梦想,也留下了悲伤与惆怅.在苏格兰和英格兰几百年的历史纷争中,爱丁堡就像一个勇敢的古代骑士,坚守着传统的苏格兰精神. 爱丁堡的城市分为旧城区和新城区.旧城区大部分的建筑都是建在山坡上,从著名的王子大街走向爱丁堡城堡恍如置身于中世纪.而要俯视整个老城则要到新城的卡尔顿山山顶.     

生蛋快乐!企鹅产卵的季节

正每年10月下旬开始进入了南极半岛一年一度的夏季,原本寂静的冰雪世界开始热闹起来,巴布亚企鹅、阿德利企鹅以及帽带企鹅都从海洋中返回到陆地上,并在这里开始为期4~5个月的繁殖哺育期。企鹅夫妻来到自己熟悉的繁殖栖息地,在一番恩爱之后,终于在11月中下旬产下1~2颗蛋,两颗蛋之间相隔约3天,一般孵化期在3~4周左右。     

Reception of the Easter Rising in British and American little magazines

This article examines the reactions of writers and readers to the Easter Rising in five British and American little magazines. The New Age, The Egoist, The Little Review, The Masses and The Phoenix have been chosen due to their links with Irish writers and culture, and because they were established periodicals that published over several years. Little magazines have been described as counterpublic spheres, in which oppositional opinions could be given voice against the conventional narratives of the mainstream. Though the politics of these journals was extremely divergent, collectively they operated as discursive spaces for a range of alternative voices. The reactions published in these journals give us a sense of the interaction between modernism and the Easter Rising in its immediate aftermath.